On May 4, 2013, the Stanford Program on Regions of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SPRIE) of the Stanford Graduate School of Business and Alibaba Group co-hosted CEO Jack Ma and CTO Dr. Wang Jian for a conversation about the challenges and opportunities within China’s internet industry. Titled “Jack Ma Discussion with Silicon Valley Tech Elites: E-Commerce and the China Opportunity,” the event provided a platform for two executives of one of the world’s largest internet firms to discuss their vision of Alibaba’s future of the company and technology.

Dr. Jian Wang, Alibaba’s CTO and the first keynote speaker, opened his speech with a discussion of Alibaba’s technology. Alibaba Group currently operates one of China’s largest online marketplaces, a payment network, and is also producing a mobile OS. Due to its scale, the company faces challenges few others do: Alibaba has processed over 100 million transactions and nearly 60% of the internet’s fraudulent websites have been discovered through the company’s tools. Alibaba also maintains a cloud computing service. What makes Dr. Wang most excited, however, is Aliloans—the company’s foray into finance. “The smallest loan made has been one yuan,” he announced excitedly, “and we do it on credit!” This is a big step in a country where it has traditionally been difficult for ordinary people to secure a loan.

After Dr. Wang’s speech, Founder and CEO Jack Ma took to the stage to discuss Alibaba from a less technical perspective. “Why did we survive the internet bubble and grow to become the company we are today?” he asked the audience. His answer: “Because first, we didn’t have money; second, I don’t understand technology; and finally, I never planned.” Elaborating on his management style, he explained that a lack of money forced the company to be scrappy in its early days; because he couldn’t understand technology, Mr. Ma wasn’t prone to micromanaging his engineers; and finally, because he never confined himself to business plans, Mr. Ma was able to take advantage of unforeseen changes. As he put it, a business plan for a website in 1999 that connected Chinese manufacturers with Western buyers would never have included starting China’s equivalent to eBay or creating a financial-services unit.

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Dr. Jian Wang, Alibaba Group's CTO, spoke at the event.

“We live in an epic era, both the best of times and the worst of times,” he commented. “In order to change the world, one needs an idea and the ability to execute on it; but execution isn’t enough, and competition is harsh. Success comes from living at the right time, having good friends, and luck.” Responding to the question of how to build a good company culture, he responded that there’s no such thing as a “good” culture; only a culture that fits certain kinds of people. “It’s like the relationship between a husband and wife.” That said, he mentioned his belief that Alibaba is different from other big-name technology companies because of an emphasis on learning. Alibaba doesn’t necessarily hire the best and brightest, but those most willing to learn about things outside their area of expertise.

In the week after securing a US $8 billion loan and announcing a US $586 million investment in Sina Weibo, Mr. Ma came across as relaxed and optimistic. Though he claimed to be “too old for the internet” and will step down from his role as CEO shortly, Mr. Ma ended his speech by inviting the audience to consider working in China, even if it’s not at Alibaba, and most importantly, to “enjoy life and be healthy.”