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All the Western companies you’d have to combine to get something like Alibaba

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Re: All the Western companies you’d have to combine to get something like Alibaba

#5
I love this article. Despite the multitudes of news sources telling us about how commerce is now global and business is no longer tied to a place and the internet is changing the world, there is still an ocean of enterprises of which we US-based-or-english-speaking technologists are ignorant.

Take a moment to think about this: Alibaba is a huge company, growing in an absolutely enormous market, providing a pile of services, and most American technologists know nothing about it. Expand this thinking to countries: there are markets that are only just beginning to enjoy the degree of technological luxury the US and Europe enjoys. Who will serve them? These are people just like us, they have needs and desires much like ours. Who will satisfy them?

If you're an entrepreneur, there are millions if not billions of people who are on the cusp of becoming your target market, and the dominant technological discourse and journalistic coverage gives you no insight into the market they occupy. Not the languages they speak, not the companies who would be your competitors, not the cultural differences that would make selling difficult. Nothing.

I hope this article opens peoples' eyes to the fact that the US-based-or-english-speaking countries are soon going to be a relatively small portion of the world. We need news sources like this to practice the globalization sermon they all preach.

Re: All the Western companies you’d have to combine to get something like Alibaba

#6
post #5

I love this article. Despite the multitudes of news sources telling us about how commerce is now global and business is no longer tied to a place and the internet is changing the world, there is still an ocean of enterprises of which we US-based-or-english-speaking technologists are ignorant. Take a moment to think about this: Alibaba is a huge company, growing in an absolutely enormous market, providing a pile of se…

Yes, most Silicon Valley start-ups still seem very Silicon Valley/United States/Apple centric. That has worked well for them in the past, but now the opportunities are a lot bigger than just that market or target type of devices.

Re: All the Western companies you’d have to combine to get something like Alibaba

#8
While the article was interesting, as I didn't know much about Alibaba to begin with, the site could use some design work. I didn't realize I was onto the next article with some type of ad in-between. Nothing was making sense till I got to the kidnapped girls of Nigeria article and realized what was happening.

Re: All the Western companies you’d have to combine to get something like Alibaba

#10
online payments ---- google wallet

cloud services ---- google cloud platform

mobile apps ---- google play

mobile OS ---- android

maps and nav ---- google maps

physical retail ---- ? no google product

shopping deals ---- google offers

cloud storage ---- google drive

instant messaging ---- google hangouts

car service ---- uber (via google ventures)

c2c ecommerce ---- ? no google product

travel booking ---- google flights

b2c ecommerce ---- ? no google product

e-learning ---- ? no google product

social media ---- google+

music streaming ---- google play music (all access)

video streaming ---- youtube / google play movies

money market ---- ? no google product

all the western companies you'd have to combine to cover alibaba's markets would seem to me to be google, and maybe one or two others. i included uber because i know about that one, you could probably fill in a few more gaps with other google ventures companies.

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