Entertainment mogul: Starting his business with the internet

Chapter 518 Avoid its edge
As the Pioneer 1 rocket pierced the sky, Ma Jieke was sitting at his desk, checking the announcement of the winning bid for the construction of the China Railway 12306 passenger service platform system on his computer.

He rubbed his temples wearily, leaned back in his chair, and glanced at the two core executives opposite him, Wang Jian and Lu Zhaoxi.

He shook his head helplessly: "The company offered a sincere price of 120 million, which would inevitably result in a loss, but Tengda Technology won the bid with 180 million."

China State Railway Group was willing to spend an extra 60 million yuan to choose Tenda's cloud computing technology; the difference is far beyond price, and the superior technological strength is immediately apparent.

Upon hearing this, Wang Jian's face showed even more guilt.

As the head of Alibaba Cloud Computing, he had pushed the price down to the point of loss, but ultimately still failed miserably, and felt deeply guilty for failing his responsibilities.

"Mr. Ma, I'm so sorry, I messed up the bidding."

Ma Jie raised his hand and interrupted Wang Jian decisively, his eyes blazing: "Engineer Wang, it's just one setback, nothing to brag about."
This experience has only strengthened my belief that cloud computing is a fiercely contested area for the future! Alibaba's investment in this field will only increase, not decrease in the slightest!

This resounding promise acted as a reassurance, finally putting Wang Jian's mind at ease.

He had been on tenterhooks, fearing that this setback would lead to a strategic contraction of the group in the field of cloud computing. Fortunately, Ma Jieke was ambitious and not short-sighted.

Lu Zhaoxi, standing nearby, also remarked with emotion: "With the surging tide of the Internet, cloud computing has long become the cornerstone of the industry."

Looking back now, it's truly laughable. At the IT Leaders Summit back then, Robin Li even asserted that cloud computing was "old wine in new bottles," which was truly ridiculous.

“That’s true.” Wang Jian nodded in agreement, his emotions easing slightly. “In the competition of technology and strategy, time will tell.”

Looking back now, it's clear that Jack Ma and Mr. Song from Tenda truly demonstrated foresight and keen insight by seeing the right direction amidst the conflicting opinions and persisting in investing in cloud computing.

"Don't flatter me." Ma Jieke gave a wry smile, his eyes showing a hint of seriousness. "Song Ci is the one who is truly wise and far-sighted."

The three buildings that Tengda built on the coast of the East China Sea were initially thought to be its second headquarters.

Now, who doesn't know that those are the three central hubs of their big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence strategy? The early planning and massive investment are truly astonishing.

At this point, Ma Jie's expression turned serious, revealing an undeniable decisiveness: "My mind is made up. Starting in the second half of the year, Alibaba will increase its R&D investment in cloud computing by 50%!"

Wang Jian was overjoyed upon hearing this.

Previously, Ma Jieke promised to invest one billion yuan annually, and increasing that figure by half means an additional five hundred million yuan in real money each year!

This is undoubtedly a timely help for Alibaba Cloud, which is at a critical stage.

Lu Zhaoxi's lips moved slightly, and a hint of worry flashed across his brows. All business lines of the group were facing fierce market competition and were eager for financial support.

This additional $500 million investment in cloud computing will inevitably mean that other projects will need to be postponed or have their budgets reduced.

But seeing the determination in Ma's eyes, and thinking about the rapid development of Microsoft Azure and Amazon AWS globally, as well as Tenda's increasing pressure in China, he realized that Alibaba had no way out in the field of cloud computing and had to go all out.

In the end, he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue and simply nodded silently in support.

Wang Jian then gave a brief report on the progress of several tasks, and then, filled with new mission and excitement, took his leave.

As the office door closed gently, Lu Zhaoxi leaned forward slightly, his face grave: "Mr. Ma, there have been some unusual developments at Taobao recently."

"Oh?" Ma Jie immediately sat up straight, his expression turning serious. Taobao was the lifeblood and foundation of the Alibaba Group, and could not afford the slightest mishap. He asked in a deep voice, "What exactly happened? Tell me in detail."

“In the past month, more than ten long-term employees with employee numbers below 1,000 have submitted their resignation applications, and the resignation process was very straightforward.”

"Resigned voluntarily?" Ma Jie frowned, his face full of confusion and bewilderment. "They didn't even want the N+1 compensation? These people actually gave it up voluntarily?"

“Yes!” Lu Zhaoxi nodded emphatically, his tone becoming more serious.

"These people are veterans who have grown up with Taobao and experienced the difficult early stages of entrepreneurship. They are very familiar with the company's internal processes, operating models, and even its drawbacks."

"And..." He suddenly stopped speaking, a hint of hesitation on his face, as if he was considering the most appropriate way to put it.

This hesitant attitude made Ma Jieke slightly displeased, and he tapped his fingertip lightly on the table.

He urged, "Zhaoxi, at this time, just say what you have to say, don't beat around the bush!"

Lu Zhaoxi carefully chose his words and reported cautiously: "These veterans who have recently resigned are almost all core confidants and former subordinates of Sun Tongyu when he was in charge of Taobao."

"Sun Tongyu's former subordinates?!" Ma Jieke's expression changed abruptly, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. He pressed, "Are these people still in key positions?"

"No, that's not it. After Mr. Sun left office, his faction was already transferred from key positions and marginalized."

Jack Ma nodded slightly, feeling somewhat relieved.

It is common for a new emperor to bring in a new court; former officials are often marginalized or even leave after a new president takes office.

But this sense of relief was fleeting, and the unease in his heart lingered. He immediately and solemnly instructed, "Find out where these people are immediately! Something is definitely amiss!"

“We’ve already arranged for people to investigate,” Lu Zhaoxi replied immediately.

Ma Jieke nodded again and stopped talking, his thoughts drifting back to Taobao's journey, through countless trials and tribulations.

From fierce battles with eBay to dealing with various vertical B2C challenges, it has already built a strong competitive advantage, with a very complete user base and ecosystem.

He has almost absolute confidence in this platform that he has nurtured and continuously evolved.

On second thought, even if Sun Tongyu, the "father of Taobao," is unwilling to give up and wants to make a comeback, can he really create a new platform out of thin air that is enough to overturn the existing order outside Alibaba's impregnable e-commerce barriers?

Business logic, capital strength, user habits, brand awareness... countless rational factors all tell him that this possibility is extremely slim.

But the warning signal that came from years of business intuition was mixed with a sense of apprehension about the unfathomable strategic layout of Tengda Technology's Song Ci.

His understanding of Sun Tongyu's personal abilities and resilience made it impossible for him to completely let go of the matter.

After a long pause, he slowly began to speak: "I will talk to Jiang Fang about some issues concerning the changing mindset of the early founding members and organizational cohesion. I need to hear her insights."

A moment later, there was a knock on the door, and Cai Zhongxin entered the office.

"Sit down, Chongxin." Ma Jieke temporarily suppressed his fear of Sun Tongyu and said seriously, "I have something to discuss with you two. Let's get the three of us talking first!" Cai Chongxin and Lu Zhaoxi sat up straight, waiting for Ma Jieke to speak.

“I’ve been reflecting on this for a while now,” Ma Jieke said, his voice unusually clear. “Why are internet companies, including Alibaba, repeatedly at a disadvantage when competing with Tenda?”

We invested just as many resources as they did, and our team's execution was just as strong, but we always seemed to fall short at crucial moments.

His calm gaze swept across the faces of his two capable lieutenants, and his voice suddenly rose a few decibels: "Because we have always been in the rhythm of our opponents!"

It's like two martial arts masters sparring; if we always react passively, clashing head-on in their area of ​​expertise, the result will naturally be less effective.

Cai Zhongxin gently pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses. As the head of Alibaba's finances, he understood the cost of this competition better than anyone else.

From January to April, in response to Tenda's offensive in mobile payment, food delivery and other fields, the group invested hundreds of millions of yuan in marketing expenses, but the results were minimal.

"I keep thinking about where Alibaba's strengths lie and where Tenda's weaknesses lie."
It wasn't until recently, when Tenda made a high-profile announcement about releasing computing power to small and medium-sized enterprises, euphemistically calling it "empowering the national economy," that I finally understood!

Ma Jieke's eyes shone with clarity: "Tengda's strength lies in social networking and traffic, and its moat is its C-end users."

Taobao serves millions of merchants and SMEs; our foundation lies in the B2B market. This should be our home turf, but now the enemy has come to our doorstep!

Cai Zhongxin nodded thoughtfully, but a look of worry appeared between his brows: "Jack, Tenda Technology's unlimited computing power plan is indeed aimed directly at Alibaba's Achilles' heel."

Leveraging their technological advantages, they are rapidly penetrating our core customer base.

Forgive my bluntness, but Alibaba is indeed inferior to Tenda in terms of technological reserves, a weakness that is difficult to overcome in the short term.

“You’re right, but not entirely.” Ma Jieke smiled knowingly. “I had my team conduct a very interesting survey.”

He then picked up a document from the table and handed it to Tsai Chung-hsin, saying, "Our investigation found that over 83% of small and medium-sized enterprises are using personal social media for internal communication."

Employees mix work and personal information, and the company lacks dedicated approval, attendance, and log functions, causing management considerable distress.

Upon hearing this, Lu Zhaoxi's eyes flashed with sudden realization: "I understand! What Alibaba needs to do is not to confront them head-on, but to find another way!"

“Exactly!” Ma Jie said confidently. “I hope to create a pure business communication software and mobile office platform that seamlessly integrates communication with workflows.”

This is not just about creating a product; it's about building an entry point for digital transformation for small and medium-sized enterprises!

Tsai Chung-hsin quickly sketched out a business blueprint in his mind: "Professional enterprise communications, this is indeed a blue ocean that Tenda has not yet ventured into."

Moreover, once we capture this market, it will create a closed loop with our existing Alibaba Cloud and e-commerce services.

“Not only that,” Ma Jieke said, getting more and more excited, waving his hands around, “if we can get companies to get used to using our platform for daily management, it’s like building a solid fortress in the B2B battlefield.”

At that time, we will not only be able to hold our ground, but may even use it as a springboard to achieve a roundabout way to counterattack social media!

Lu Zhaoxi was also delighted: "Brilliant! This strategy of 'besieging Wei to rescue Zhao' can both avoid Tengda's sharp edge in the C-end market and leverage our advantages in the B-end market."

Moreover, the enterprise services market has higher customer loyalty, and once it reaches a certain scale, it becomes a formidable competitive advantage.

The three of them were on the same page at that moment, and the originally tense atmosphere in the office immediately became lively.

Cai Zhongxin calmly raised the key question: "Jack, this project is no small matter. Who do you think is most suitable to take on this important task?"

Ma Jieke walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, gazed at the distant lakeside garden, and pondered for a moment: "Chen Hang."

She turned around, her gaze resolute, "It's him I'll choose."

“Chen Hang!” Cai Zhongxin searched his memory for information about the name. “He is indeed the best candidate. He once led the ‘Laiwang’ project.”

Although he failed to challenge Tenda's dominance in social media, he gained valuable experience. More importantly, he possesses the indomitable spirit characteristic of Alibaba employees.

Ma Jie walked back to his desk and slammed his fingers heavily on the surface: "I'm going to name this project 'DingTalk'!"

With a firm and powerful tone, he said, "We must embody the spirit of Alibaba employees, like nails driven into a hole, taking one step at a time, nailing down every detail, and nailing down every customer!"

He then went on to deploy specific plans: "Chen Hang will lead a capable team to carry out closed development of my lakeside garden private residence."

The project remains physically isolated from the group, and all participants have signed the highest level of confidentiality agreements.

Upon hearing this arrangement, Cai Zhongxin's pupils contracted slightly: "Jack, are you worried about the internal workings of the group?"

"Prevention is better than cure!" Ma Jie interrupted, his eyes becoming deep and wary. "Business warfare is like a battlefield; in real competition, no means are off-limits."

Although Tenda has always been innovative, I have never doubted its ability to learn from others. Everyone knows that Tenda is good at imitating internet products.

Before the official launch of the DingTalk project, the fewer people who know about it, the better.

Looking around at his two core partners, he said solemnly, "Chongxin, you are responsible for setting up a dedicated funding channel to ensure that there are no worries about the project's research and development."

Zhaoxi, you are in charge of selecting technical personnel. Focus on quality, not quantity; each person must be a leader in their respective field.

"Understood!" the two said in unison, knowing that the success or failure of this project could determine Alibaba's development trajectory over the next ten years.

Ma Jie walked to the bookshelf by the wall, took out a copy of "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu, and gently stroked the spine: "The skillful strategist brings the enemy to his own ends, rather than being brought to his own ends. This time, I will make my opponent follow Ali's rhythm."

Back in his seat, his gaze swept over his two comrades: "DingTalk is not just a product; it will carry the mission of Alibaba's second entrepreneurial endeavor."

The goal of this platform is to help tens of millions of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in China achieve digital transformation. This is a path no one has walked before, but that's precisely why it's worthwhile for Alibaba to pioneer it.

Cai Zhongxin nodded slightly, already planning the financial strategy for the DingTalk project in his mind: "I will set up a special purpose entity to manage the project funds and ensure that the flow of funds is completely hidden."

Lu Zhaoxi added, "For the technical team, I will prioritize veterans who have worked on the 'Laiwang' project, as they have a deep understanding of the essence of social products."

The discussion in the office grew increasingly heated, with the three repeatedly deliberating on details such as product positioning, technical architecture, and market strategy, eagerly anticipating the launch of DingTalk.

(End of this chapter)