{"id":523,"date":"2014-07-13T10:22:15","date_gmt":"2014-07-13T02:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.www.innovationiseverywhere.com\/?p=523"},"modified":"2014-07-13T10:22:15","modified_gmt":"2014-07-13T02:22:15","slug":"startup-movies-1-a-crocodile-in-the-yangtze-alibaba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/innovationiseverywhere.com\/fr\/startup-movies-1-a-crocodile-in-the-yangtze-alibaba\/","title":{"rendered":"Startup movies #1: A crocodile in the Yangtze (Alibaba)"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve just watched\u00a0A Crocodile in the Yantgze<\/a>\u00a0yesterday night, which wraps-up part of the\u00a0story of Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, China’s e-commerce giant<\/strong>. The director is none other than\u00a0Porter Erisman<\/strong><\/a>, a US citizen who has been Alibaba’s vice-president between 2000 and 2008 (the company was officially founded in 1999), so it’s an insider point of view.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

A crocodile in the Yangtze: the story of a non-US global startup<\/h2>\n

Of course, it’s fascinating to watch the documentary today, when\u00a0Alibaba is about to enter its (second) IPO in the US<\/strong>, after a successful one in Hong Kong a few years ago. The different scenes also show – and honestly, it’s a relief in our globalized world –\u00a0how different will be startups and success stories out of the US<\/strong>\u00a0and the Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n

\"Alibaba-Jack-ma-early-days-china-startup-e-commerce-a-crocodile-in-the-yangtze-story-innovation-is-everywhere.\"<\/a><\/p>\n

For instance,\u00a0Jack Ma had 17 (yes, seventeen) co-founders<\/strong>\u00a0the day he launches Alibaba in his apartment of Hangzhou, not far from Shanghai. In a vast country of more than a billion people, where\u00a0family is everywhere<\/strong>\u00a0and friends turn into family, it’s no surprise that this number of cofounders is so high. Different parts of a Crocodile in the Yangtze also show the parties at Alibaba, which combines the grandeur of startups knowing they are being successful and an obvious family spirit. Kids run in every corner of the rooms, and employees cries when they hear Jack Ma’s speeches.<\/p>\n

Is Jack Ma the product of a China startup ecosystem? No<\/h2>\n

As we continue our research and world tour of startup ecosystems in emerging startups, I was particularly interested to see in what kind of environment Alibaba had grown. A lot of key insights are visible in a Crocodile in the Yangtze, and emerging markets should really bear that in mind:<\/p>\n