'Our Competition Is Not In China, But..': Alibaba’s Jack Ma Says In A Viral Video From 1999

In the video, he says, “We are here to discuss what we will do in the next 5-10 years. So Alibaba becomes the future. I have always said that our competition is not domestic websites but overseas"

The video is gaining traction online, and several internet users have come forward to share their take

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Alibaba’s co-founder Jack Ma’s one of the old videos from the year 1999 is going viral on the social media platform Instagram. The video shows him addressing 17 friends in his apartment, presenting his vision for Alibaba and outlining his strategy to compete with major US internet giants.

In the video, he says, “Today, we are here to discuss what we will do in the next 5-10 years. So Alibaba becomes the future. I have always said that our competition is not domestic websites but overseas websites. Our competitors are not in China but in America’s Silicon Valley. So first, we should establish Alibaba as a global website, not just a domestic website. Second, we need to learn the hard-working spirit of Silicon Valley.” 

“If we go to work at 8 am and return at 5 pm, then this is not a high-tech company. And Alibaba will never be successful if we have that 8-5 kind of spirit. Then we should go and do something else. Americans are strong at hardware and systems, but Chinese brains are as good as theirs on information and software. All our brains are as good as theirs,” he added.

“This is the reason we dare to compete with Americans. If we are a good team and know what we want to do, one of us can defeat ten of them. We can beat government agencies and big famous companies,” he said.

The video is gaining traction online, and several internet users have come forward to share their take. One user wrote, “Tbh Alibaba is a huge business site at this point, they kinda succeeded.”

Another user added, “Could be a legendary movie scene.”

Meanwhile, Jack Ma, China's most prominent tech entrepreneur, openly criticised Chinese regulators during a speech in October 2020, which led to the cancellation of a significant listing for Ant Group, the fintech company he founded. This incident triggered a wave of regulatory crackdowns on the Chinese tech industry, resulting in Ma largely stepping back from public life.