[One Thousand Characters a Day] 'Great Speeches of the World' - Ma Yun

Editor's NoteAsia Economy provides daily 1,000-character transcription content for readers of the 'One Day, One Thousand Characters' newsletter. The transcription content is carefully selected according to daily and monthly themes from Eastern and Western classics, Korean literature, famous columns, and notable speeches. Today’s excerpt is from a speech given by Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group and known as 'Asia's richest man,' at the World Internet Conference on November 20, 2013. It is featured in the book by Kim Yang-ho, Director of the Korean Language and Culture Institute (Ph.D. in Education). The text contains 1,072 characters.

Jack Ma, Founder of Alibaba Group

Fifteen years ago, we resolved to work for small businesses. Small businesses face great difficulties. Thirty to forty years ago, we visited about thirty places in Silicon Valley, but no one showed interest in us. Most said, "You cannot succeed with this business model." Their reasoning was that since this model did not exist in the U.S., what basis was there to believe it could work in China?

Their words were correct. At that time, doing internet business in China was merely copying what the U.S. had done. Therefore, the model we envisioned for small and medium enterprises did not gain sympathy. The sentiment was, 'How much meat can there be on a mosquito’s leg? There isn’t much to eat.'

If you cannot make money from sharks or whales, you have to create money from small shrimp meat. It is also possible to get people to take money out of their own pockets. But to make them do so, you must create unique value every time. This is something other technology-based companies cannot do. So for 15 years, Alibaba focused on small and medium enterprises. The current model did not emerge overnight; we made countless mistakes. Then, about seven to eight years ago, we reached a clear value: to create an ecosystem that supports small businesses.

To help small merchants, we had to send talent to communicate with them and develop solutions. Small businesses need many things: logistics, credit, information, data, payment, and systems. We cannot create all of these ourselves. So we sought collaborators in each area to build together and find opportunities for success.

In any business, you must think about three victories. First, the customer must win. Second, the partners must win. Third is your own victory.

When creating any product or service, first ask, 'Is this necessary for the customer?' It does not matter if the developer feels it has value or is good. If the customer does not use it, it is useless. Think from the customer’s perspective. Next, consider whether there are opportunities for many participants. And finally, consider whether we can sustain ourselves while doing all this work.

- Kim Yang-ho, (Vision Korea, 19,800 KRW)