Name: Vojtech's review of Alibaba by Duncan Clark
Item: Alibaba
Rating: 4
Author: Vojtech

Duncan Clark

An engrossing, insider’s account of how a teacher built one of the world’s most valuable companies—rivaling Walmart & Amazon—and forever reshaped the global economy. In just a decade and half Jack Ma, a man from modest beginnings who started out as an English teacher, founded and built Alibaba into one of the world’s largest companies, an e-commerce empire on which hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers depend. Alibaba’s $25 billion IPO in 2014 was the largest global IPO ever. A Rockefeller of his age who is courted by CEOs and Presidents around the world, Jack is an icon for China’s booming private sector and the gatekeeper to hundreds of millions of middle class consumers. Duncan Clark first met Jack in 1999 in the small apartment where Jack founded Alibaba. Granted unprecedented access to a wealth of new material including exclusive interviews, Clark draws on his own experience as an early advisor to Alibaba and two decades in China chronicling the Internet’s impact on the country to create an authoritative, compelling narrative account of Alibaba’s rise. How did Jack overcome his humble origins and early failures to achieve massive success with Alibaba? How did he outsmart rival entrepreneurs from China and Silicon Valley? Can Alibaba maintain its 80% market share? As it forges ahead into finance and entertainment, are there limits to Alibaba’s ambitions? How does the Chinese government view its rise? Will Alibaba expand further overseas, including in the U.S.? Clark tells Alibaba’s tale in the context of China’s momentous economic and social changes, illuminating an unlikely corporate titan as never before.

The House that Jack Ma Built

Alibaba

Vojtech

Timeo Williams

Detailed Jack Más childhood briefly, and then went into the history of Alibaba to it's present state. (2016).

Cristian Garcia

Un libro perfecto para entender de dónde viene Jack Ma y Alibaba. Son el tipo de empresa y persona que seguirán creciendo, por lo que entender la genesis de la empresa es importante. El impacto de Alibaba en diversas industrias es realmente impresionante. Queda por ver como se desata la lucha con Amazon y menor medida con Flipkart en India.

Arturo Hernández

This book serves as an essay on the life of Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, Alipay, Taobao, Tmall and more companies that form the Alibaba Group and have huge stakes on the eCommerce market in China, mostly.

It narrates with lots of specifics the tale of how Jack managed to build Alibaba to what it is today. The challenges, the opportunities and the current blockers that they face.

If you’re interested in finding more about what China is doing in the sense of internet based companies, this is a must read for you.

Todd Luallen

This book was a bit of a disappointment. It reads more like a collection of news stories that might be interesting to investors. I was hoping for a bit more insight into his personal life. The Phil Knight auto-biography "Shoe Dog" set the bar pretty high, and perhaps it's a bit much to expect so much from Mr. Clark. Regardless, it wasn't as enjoyable as I had hoped. The book will give the reader insight into the founding of Alibaba and it's various IPO's. But it's not going to give you any insight about Jack Ma that isn't readily available in press releases and speeches. Having said that, it is well written and researched and it moves along at a decent pace. If you want a decent look at the founding of Alibaba, and perhaps the business acumen of Jack Ma, you'll probably find it here.

Rohit Gupta

It is good book considering the depth of information available on Ma. I have always fancied his approach and the Chinese business scene in general. The book helped me understand it better. The writing style is not very great. It is fragmented and I felt a bit hazy about the timeline. They could add a simple graphic to resolve that. Overall I wanted it to be 3.5 but not 4. It's worth a shot if you want to understand how a business can function and proliferate in China.

Omar Fernandez

Interesting and good information about Alibaba, but definitely choosing to focus more on the positive based on the author's association with Alibaba and a bit oddly edited.

An engrossing, insider’s account of how a teacher built one of the world’s most valuable companies—rivaling Walmart and Amazon—and forever reshaped the global economy In just a decade and a half, Jack Ma, a man from modest beginnings who started out as an English teacher, founded Alibaba and built it into one of the world’s largest companies, an e-commerce empire on which hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers depend. In 2014, Alibaba’s $25 billion IPO was the largest global IPO in history. A Rockefeller of his time, who is courted by CEOs and presidents around the world, Jack is an icon for China’s booming private sector and the gatekeeper to hundreds of millions of middle-class consumers. Duncan Clark first met Jack in 1999 in the small apartment where Jack founded Alibaba. Granted unprecedented access to a wealth of new material, including exclusive interviews, Clark draws on his own experience as an early adviser to Alibaba as well as his two decades in China chronicling the Internet’s impact on the country to create an authoritative, compelling narrative account of Alibaba’s rise. How did Jack overcome his humble origins and early failures to achieve massive success with Alibaba? How did he outsmart rival entrepreneurs from both China and Silicon Valley? Can Alibaba maintain its 80 percent market share? As it forges ahead into finance and entertainment, are there limits to Alibaba’s ambitions? How does the Chinese government view its rise? Will Alibaba expand farther overseas, including into the United States? Clark tells Alibaba’s tale in the context of China’s momentous economic and social changes, illuminating an unlikely corporate titan as never before. Advance Praise For Alibaba “Anybody who thinks the Chinese just copy or steal technology from the West should read this book and think again. Jack Ma is part Bill Gates, part Steve Jobs, part Larry Page, part Sergey Brin, and part Mark Zuckerberg, all rolled into one.”—Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP “Duncan Clark gets into the heart and soul of Alibaba and its founder, Jack Ma, who deftly maneuvered through the discontinuities and barriers in China to create one of the greatest companies in the world. China has thrived under the leadership of Jack Ma. This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the present China and the heartbeat of a great entrepreneur.”—Tim Draper, founder of Draper Associates, DFJ, and Draper University “This book provides excellent insight into the world of Jack Ma, perhaps the most famous of the leaders of the new economy in China. Duncan Clark is a real China ‘Old Hand,’ unique in his knowledge of the Jack Ma generation. This book is definitely on the short list for those who wish to understand the Chinese economy today.”—Ken Wilcox, Chairman Emeritus, Silicon Valley Bank

The House That Jack Ma Built

Gigi V

Niels Andersen

Adi Suresh 

Dhruv Chopra

Jimmy Cerone

Ben Roberts

Albert Dong

Drew Spartz

Ketan Nayak

Garrett Jansen

alali moe

Vinit Kumar

Jaime

Ricardo Parro

In just a decade and half Jack Ma, a man who rose from humble beginnings and started his career as an English teacher, founded and built Alibaba into the second largest Internet company in the world. The company’s $25 billion IPO in 2014 was the world’s largest, valuing the company more than Facebook or Coca Cola. Alibaba today runs the e-commerce services that hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers depend on every day, providing employment and income for tens of millions more. A Rockefeller of his age, Jack has become an icon for the country’s booming private sector, and as the face of the new, consumerist China is courted by heads of state and CEOs from around the world. Granted unprecedented access to a wealth of new material including exclusive interviews, Clark draws on his own first-hand experience of key figures integral to Alibaba’s rise to create an authoritative, compelling narrative account of how Alibaba and its charismatic creator have transformed the way that Chinese exercise their new found economic freedom, inspiring entrepreneurs around the world and infuriating others, turning the tables on the Silicon Valley giants who have tried to stand in his way. Duncan explores vital questions about the company’s past, present, and future: How, from such unremarkable origins, did Jack Ma build Alibaba? What explains his relentless drive and his ability to outsmart his competitors? With over 80% of China’s e-commerce market, how long can the company hope to maintain its dominance? As the company sets its sights on the country’s financial and media markets, are there limits to Alibaba’s ambitions, or will the Chinese government act to curtail them? And as it set up shop from LA and San Francisco to Seattle, how will Alibaba grow its presence and investments in the US and other international markets? Clark tells Alibaba’s tale within the wider story of China’s economic explosion—the rise of the private sector and the expansion of Internet usage—that haver powered the country’s rise to become the world’s second largest economy and largest Internet population, twice the size of the United States. He also explores the political and social context for these momentous changes. An expert insider with unrivaled connections, Clark has a deep understanding of Chinese business mindset. He illuminates an unlikely corporate titan as never before, and examines the key role his company has played in transforming China while increasing its power and presence worldwide.

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Alibaba by Duncan Clark

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