Jack Ma: The future has come

Chapter 20 Our Responsibilities (3)
Objectively speaking, Alibaba is already the leader in the fight against counterfeiting in the world today, and we have invested unprecedented technology, capital and manpower in our anti-counterfeiting work.We not only fight against counterfeit goods online, but also link all forces to promote the crackdown on the production and distribution channels of counterfeit goods offline.Alibaba's powerful data processing and analysis system enables us to scan more than 1000 million newly launched products in real time, and we have a clear understanding of the attributes of each product, such as product trademarks, prices, geographical locations, consumer spending habits, consumer feedback.In fact, every time we receive a request from a brand owner to remove a product from the shelves, our system has already actively removed 8 products from the shelves.

But let's not forget that this will be a constant battle and there will be no shortcuts as it is a battle against human greed.I would rather tell the truth than avoid the question.

Alibaba has established an unprecedented online business platform in the world, and the platform is still developing at an astonishing speed.On this platform, we pursue and promote brands and manufacturers to directly connect and trade with consumers, and establish a positive interactive relationship.This platform is becoming more and more popular with a large number of consumers, so it has also attracted countless small and beautiful merchants and many international big brands to actively participate.This is the trust of all customers in Alibaba. We have the responsibility to make this platform more transparent, fair, and full of efficiency, so that the interests of every participant on the platform are protected.We work hard every day to protect consumers from counterfeits and share our technology, experience, and our efforts to protect intellectual property with brands, regulators, and other industry partners.

That's where I stand on the matter.Alibaba will not hesitate to protect the intellectual property rights of brand owners, because this is the result of years of innovation and investment by brand owners.At the same time, I also have the responsibility to tell our business partners that the world is undergoing amazing changes, but we have the opportunity to adapt to the needs of the vast changes and continue to lead new trends quickly.

Everything Alibaba does is to achieve the long-term goal of the company's 102-year development, and to achieve this goal, it must be based on authentic and reliable principles.Alibaba's mission is to make it easy for the world to do business. As long as it helps everyone judge the future, as long as we can see trends and trends, we will clearly and firmly speak out and share them with you.

Editor's note:

On June 2016, 6, Ma Yun published a signed article in the "Wall Street Journal", showing Alibaba's firm attitude towards counterfeiting.

6. Zhejiang merchants should stick to the "four nos"

A company has not experienced cruel times and cannot withstand storms
I am quite opposed to professional managers controlling the company.Seven years ago, we designed the partnership mechanism. In order to convince everyone, I gave an example: the difference between professional managers and entrepreneurs is like everyone going to the mountains to hunt wild boars.If the wild boar was not killed after the professional manager fired the gun and rushed over, the professional manager would throw the gun and run away; Pick up the hatchet and rush up.Real entrepreneurs have nothing to fear, they are not trained, they come from the sea of ​​business in the market all the way.

"The Prophet of Plumbing Ducks in the Spring River." Entrepreneurs have intuition about the economic situation.The current economic situation is indeed not good, so as a wild animal entrepreneur, it is necessary to practice internal skills.

I want to tell you a bad news first, the current economic situation is very bad, and it may last for a long time, but I also want to tell you a good news, that is, everyone is not good.In fact, there is nothing to be nervous about. Since everyone is similar, it has nothing to do with you if the economic situation is good; on the contrary, it has nothing to do with you if the economic situation is not good.Because in a good situation, there are a lot of bad companies; in a bad situation, there are also a lot of good companies.Most of China's good companies are not made in a good economic situation.Because I don't understand technology, management, or finance, I specialize in researching what disasters must be experienced in the process of a company's growth.

I'm particularly interested in cases of business failure.In a bad economy, you will find that 80% to 90% of the best companies have experienced three or four very brutal failures.If an enterprise has not experienced cruel times, internal strife, external struggle, and labor pains, then it cannot withstand storms.

Therefore, when the stock market is good, those who make money must not call themselves investors, that is stock speculation; when the stock market is bad, only those who still make money are called investors.I don't think it's appropriate for you to call yourself an investor when every old lady on the street can make money in the stock market.

So why is the economy really bad?Judging from the recent situation, the United States is raising interest rates, and it is estimated that interest rates will be raised again. Capital outflows are very severe; RMB depreciation, stock market shocks, negative growth in exports, weak investment, overcapacity, sluggish entities, plummeting commodity prices, and entrepreneurial confidence Insufficient, the economy of emerging countries is slowing down, and the environmental capacity has reached its limit... Almost no one feels that their life is easy.

However, everyone must remember that reform cannot be carried out at a good time. Reform is forced out, and innovation is also forced out; in today's bad economic situation, reform has come when it must be changed. .However, the reform should not start until the central government issues a document.

I'm not bragging, Alibaba didn't wait for the central government to issue a document saying that we should start e-commerce quickly, and then we did it.Many good companies in China don't wait for a certain document to do it.In fact, once the central government issues a document stating that a certain industry is to be developed, the probability of your death after entering is 90%.Because thousands of troops and horses cross the single-plank bridge, you will definitely die, so the entrepreneur's vision and judgment are extremely critical.

When the economic situation is not good, everyone must remember to stay calm.I often use a story to remind myself: before the storm comes, three people are going to the same place, the first person has a good umbrella, the second person has a good raincoat, and the third person has nothing.After the storm came, the person with the umbrella and the person with the raincoat set off without hesitation, but when the two arrived at the destination, one broke his leg and the other broke his waist; but look at the one without the umbrella and the raincoat. He just spent two hours hiding, exercising his muscles and bones, and ran out after the rain stopped. He was actually safe and the first to arrive.We need to combine rationality and sensibility. Everyone knows these principles, but it is quite difficult to do.

Before the reform and opening up, China's GDP was not much different from that of the poorest African countries; before the reform of China's state-owned enterprises, 85% of the state-owned enterprises were loss-making; before the reform of China's financial system, the four major banks were basically in negative equity.Now, the largest banks in the world come from China.China's supply-side reform this time is because of the serious overcapacity, and it cannot be done without reform.Is the Internet industry good?We are also walking on eggshells.

When it comes to innovation, everyone is innovating. I think the economic slowdown will continue for a period of time in the future, and in the next five to 15 years, it is quite remarkable that our country can sustain an economic growth rate of 5%, because we are the first in the world. Even if the second largest economy grows by 3% to 5%, the growth of some industries is still double digits, even 20% to 30%, and of course some are negative.In fact, some local negative growth at this time is not a bad thing.Alibaba has a very important evaluation index that is different from other companies. Some of our departments are evaluated based on growth rate, and some departments are evaluated by 5000 people this year. If 3000 people will do it next year, we will reward them. As for growth, don't care.It is very important to have better troops and simpler administration, and some departments are really unnecessary, and they will be rewarded if they are closed.Because we have to think clearly, within the company, which businesses must be removed, which models must be changed, which departments must be shut down (closed), and some operations must be performed with pain.Therefore, in the next five to 15 years, I am increasingly optimistic about the Chinese economy.Why?This is related to the reforms China has made today.First, anti-corruption has laid a foundation for a more transparent and standardized market economy; second, poverty alleviation is a huge opportunity.

The influence of the government on the economy will become weaker and weaker in the next five to 15 years. What does this mean?It means that the power of the market will become stronger and stronger, and the power of enterprises will become stronger and stronger.As long as your enterprise can create value and create value for a long time, you may survive in the market economy.

The pain of many enterprises today comes from the impact of the global economic downturn on the one hand, and on the other hand, in the next ten to 15 years, when enterprises are moving more and more towards the market mechanism, your mechanism and culture are not suitable, and you If your talents don’t adapt and your organization doesn’t adapt, then you will die miserably.

There must be a price for transformation, just like pulling a tooth, it will definitely hurt.But if you don’t treat this disease, it will hurt every day. Although it won’t hurt people to death, it will make people miserable.We must be psychologically prepared and tolerant of the pain brought about by the reform, and we must be able to bear it.Commodity prices will definitely drop; outdated industries will be shut down and turned around; things that could be sold in the past will not be sold today. This pressure is real.

No company that has grown up smoothly can stand the long-term test. If it wants to stand the long-term test, it must toss itself, not the market.When we are strong, we toss the market, and when the situation is not good, we toss ourselves, which is fine.

A crisis in an enterprise will test the CEO and corporate culture

The first is to test the CEO, and the second is to test whether the company's original culture can withstand it. The CEO has two main tasks. When the situation is very good, he must make a judgment, what is bad, and which crises must be eliminated; Where are the good opportunities, so that employees are full of confidence.This is the first responsibility of the CEO. Only a leader will do such a thing, and professional managers will not think about these issues.

This requires the CEO of the company to have vision, mind, and strength.

The first is vision, which is the angle, depth and breadth of looking at a problem.When the economy is in trouble, when the company is facing difficulties, all bosses should calm down and answer a question: Why did you start such a company in the first place?Are those things you were optimistic about at the beginning still there today?What are you optimistic about today?What do you believe in?It’s not that others say this industry is good, competitors are doing this, and the government is encouraging you to do this, so you should do it, but have you ever figured out whether this is what you want to do, even if you die, you will die on this road.Only when you think about this issue clearly, you do what you love, you do what you believe in, and you gather together people who believe in you and what you do, can you have a chance , you have energy.

The second is mind.In the process of change, young people have become a very important force, but young people's ideas may really be different from yours, so we should learn to listen to young people.Although sometimes the young man may not be right, and many things he said are different from what we say, but for you, this is to broaden your mind.This mind is very important.

The third is the ability to resist blows, neither blindly optimistic nor blindly pessimistic.In the past ten years, we have said "difficult" every year at the end of the year and at the beginning of the year. Ali's employees are used to it. In 2003, we said that 2004 will become more and more difficult. Everyone is ready; in 2004, we said that 2005 will be more and more difficult. Get ready guys... Indeed, you can only be objective if you see the toughest stuff, and rightly so.If you get complacent without seeing where the difficulties lie ahead, your optimism is blind.Entrepreneurs must be very clear about what in your industry will kill you.

What is the difference between Alibaba and other companies?We spend a lot of time thinking about how to reform the company to adapt to the future.

In 2012, Ali made a budget. In 2013, all indicators, profits, and income will be doubled. In 2012, Taobao and Tmall were in full swing. I said we had to double. In fact, I knew in my heart that I would double it even if I didn’t say it. But what is the basis for doubling?At that time, I asked everyone to make a "personal" budget. How many employees would it take to double the number of employees?At that time, Ali had a total of more than 2 employees, and the budget made said that if it wanted to double, it would need to add another 8700 people.I said no, I can't accept it; the second re-plan was 7800 people, and I still can't accept it; the last time it was reduced to 5000 people, I still said no, only 200 people!There are more than 200 people, all employees, including the management, including me, all have no bonuses and no year-end bonuses.What is the end result?All indicators have more than doubled, while the number of new recruits is only nearly 300.This shows that the reform was forced out.

The solution is to figure it out.Because you block the door, employees will do everything possible to improve technology, improve products, and innovate systems. Otherwise, it would be very simple for them to do it, just add people and raw materials, but it would be a mess .

The so-called reform is to reform oneself

There are still many opportunities to do the right thing at the right time.

The first is the pull of consumption.The position of China's consumer market today is unique in the world.I hope that everyone will re-examine the entire Chinese consumer market.Only if you understand the Chinese market and market laws, can you do it.For example, things that work well in the United States sometimes don't work well in China.Americans spend tomorrow's money and other people's money, while Chinese people spend yesterday's money and their own money. The two markets have completely different personalities.

For another example, I found that many companies, especially multinational companies, often raise salaries for executives, but Chinese companies must raise salaries for ordinary employees. This is the other way around.When an executive raises salary, if you add 10 or 200 yuan a month to him, he doesn’t really feel it. He thinks I earn 3000 million yuan anyway; but if you add 5000 yuan or [-] yuan to ordinary employees, He will be very grateful, and morale is the combat effectiveness of the enterprise.

Another important point is that the Chinese study the United States all the time, but we need to study ourselves, China's unique market, and its market laws.I think that if you understand the human nature of the Chinese people and understand the Chinese market, you can find opportunities.

Some people complain about the Internet economy, but there is no need to complain at all.If you complain, it is there; if you don't complain, it is still there, and it grows faster and faster.Everyone says that the real economy is not good, but 11% of the merchants participating in the "Double 75" shopping festival this time are from the new real economy. These companies produce products completely according to the needs of consumers, especially young people and emerging groups. Consumer demand, the demand created by these new generations has never been heard of before.Therefore, new entities and new consumption are being born. It's not that the entity is dead, but your own entity is dead; it's not that retail is dead, but your retail is dead.

(End of this chapter)