Live data from Hacker News

Alibaba F-1

sec.gov

11–20 of 31 posts

Re: Alibaba F-1

#11
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What they mean is AliPay - http://global.alipay.com/ospay/home.htm Jack Ma spoke on it last year at Stanford - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRp4jiJed3c My prediction: Alibaba is on a path to take over the world. In the next 5 years the startup and silicon valley landscape will change dramatically with the introduction of Alibaba as a major player stateside. Yahoo will be bought, all these spree acquisitions and pro…

That's quite the prediction. I have been following Alibaba for a while now and it is an incredible phenomenon. What you predict might very well come true. Reading up on Jack Ma is time well spent. Didn't he retire from Alibaba? He's listed as the CEO on the F-1 so I presume not but he announced his intention to step down quite publicly at some point.

He (Jack Ma) stepped down and Jonathan Lu is now CEO http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-17/alibaba-ceo-lu-rise...

Re: Alibaba F-1

#12

"We operate a micro-finance business that provides micro loans to small- and medium-sized enterprises who are sellers on our wholesale and retail marketplaces, or our SME loan business. We extend micro loans through our lending vehicles licensed by the relevant local governments in China." Turns out reading these is actually useful, I had no idea they issued microloans.

What they mean is AliPay - http://global.alipay.com/ospay/home.htm Jack Ma spoke on it last year at Stanford - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRp4jiJed3c My prediction: Alibaba is on a path to take over the world. In the next 5 years the startup and silicon valley landscape will change dramatically with the introduction of Alibaba as a major player stateside. Yahoo will be bought, all these spree acquisitions and pro…

Jack Ma would say Alibaba was a household name since the beginning http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alibaba_Group#History

:p

Re: Alibaba F-1

#13
post #2

Only raising $1B? Or is that a placeholder? I would have assumed more like $20-30B.

From http://recode.net/2014/05/06/chinese-internet-giant-alibaba-...

"In its initial document, Alibaba said it was raising $1 billion, but that is only a placeholder and will surely change. Demand from investors is likely to be high and analysts have estimated that Alibaba would raise $15 billion or more at a valuation of close to $200 billion."

Re: Alibaba F-1

#14
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What they mean is AliPay - http://global.alipay.com/ospay/home.htm Jack Ma spoke on it last year at Stanford - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRp4jiJed3c My prediction: Alibaba is on a path to take over the world. In the next 5 years the startup and silicon valley landscape will change dramatically with the introduction of Alibaba as a major player stateside. Yahoo will be bought, all these spree acquisitions and pro…

Jack Ma would say Alibaba was a household name since the beginning http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alibaba_Group#History :p

Life is but a series of re-introductions :)

Re: Alibaba F-1

#15
post #11
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's quite the prediction. I have been following Alibaba for a while now and it is an incredible phenomenon. What you predict might very well come true. Reading up on Jack Ma is time well spent. Didn't he retire from Alibaba? He's listed as the CEO on the F-1 so I presume not but he announced his intention to step down quite publicly at some point.

He (Jack Ma) stepped down and Jonathan Lu is now CEO http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-17/alibaba-ceo-lu-rise...

Right, the F-1 lists Jack Ma as "Executive Chairman", so he's leading the board rather than the company.

Re: Alibaba F-1

#17
post #13
post #2

Only raising $1B? Or is that a placeholder? I would have assumed more like $20-30B.

From http://recode.net/2014/05/06/chinese-internet-giant-alibaba-... "In its initial document, Alibaba said it was raising $1 billion, but that is only a placeholder and will surely change. Demand from investors is likely to be high and analysts have estimated that Alibaba would raise $15 billion or more at a valuation of close to $200 billion."

200B valuation is actually very reasonable: it's PE would be roughly 35 compared to Amazon's 400. Now the big question which I have not been able to figure out from their S1 is why they have so much more margin compared to Amazon, given the two are operating more or less in the same space. Is that because US is a free (and more efficient) market, where China has more artificial barriers for other players?

Re: Alibaba F-1

#18

"We operate a micro-finance business that provides micro loans to small- and medium-sized enterprises who are sellers on our wholesale and retail marketplaces, or our SME loan business. We extend micro loans through our lending vehicles licensed by the relevant local governments in China." Turns out reading these is actually useful, I had no idea they issued microloans.

What they mean is AliPay - http://global.alipay.com/ospay/home.htm Jack Ma spoke on it last year at Stanford - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRp4jiJed3c My prediction: Alibaba is on a path to take over the world. In the next 5 years the startup and silicon valley landscape will change dramatically with the introduction of Alibaba as a major player stateside. Yahoo will be bought, all these spree acquisitions and pro…

>My prediction: Alibaba is on a path to take over the world.

I couldn't ask about some sources/information on this? I've only been tangentially aware of alibaba, reading the odd news story here and there, I'd be interested to hear what has inspired such strong words on the subject as that makes me think maybe there's something I'm missing about them.

Re: Alibaba F-1

#19
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From http://recode.net/2014/05/06/chinese-internet-giant-alibaba-... "In its initial document, Alibaba said it was raising $1 billion, but that is only a placeholder and will surely change. Demand from investors is likely to be high and analysts have estimated that Alibaba would raise $15 billion or more at a valuation of close to $200 billion."

200B valuation is actually very reasonable: it's PE would be roughly 35 compared to Amazon's 400. Now the big question which I have not been able to figure out from their S1 is why they have so much more margin compared to Amazon, given the two are operating more or less in the same space. Is that because US is a free (and more efficient) market, where China has more artificial barriers for other players?

Alibaba's model (in eCommerce) is very different from Amazon's. Alibaba is only the middle-man platform, and doesn't keep its own inventory or warehouse.

Re: Alibaba F-1

#20
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From http://recode.net/2014/05/06/chinese-internet-giant-alibaba-... "In its initial document, Alibaba said it was raising $1 billion, but that is only a placeholder and will surely change. Demand from investors is likely to be high and analysts have estimated that Alibaba would raise $15 billion or more at a valuation of close to $200 billion."

200B valuation is actually very reasonable: it's PE would be roughly 35 compared to Amazon's 400. Now the big question which I have not been able to figure out from their S1 is why they have so much more margin compared to Amazon, given the two are operating more or less in the same space. Is that because US is a free (and more efficient) market, where China has more artificial barriers for other players?

I think Alibaba does more bulk shipments, connecting manufacturers. Alibabas' customers are businesses, Amazon is a consumer company. They are not comparable at all. Searching for pens on Alibaba gives you offers with minimum shipment of 500 pens.
Post reply on HN