With the impressive support and favourable conditions on the ground, Qatar has the potential to establish next global companies like Amazon, Alibaba and Facebook, said an expert and former close associate of Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba.
“What Jack Ma’s story of Alibaba proved is that in the Internet era, it really doesn’t matter where you are based? If you have a computer, Internet and brain you can build global business,” said Porter Erisman (pictured), the former Vice-President of Alibaba, addressing at the Qatar Business Incubation Centre’s Speaker Series, yesterday.
Erisman, the author of several books, including his memoir ‘Alibaba’s World’, added: “When I look at Qatar, I can see the sense of dreaming big by just looking at the Doha’s skyline. I think in this era, businesses in Qatar should not only be thinking about being big in the region but to be big globally. Qatar could be a great base for the next global business and companies like Amazon, Alibaba and Facebook.”
He said that he is very happy to know about the kind of support Qatari entrepreneurs and startups are getting from the government and other agencies as Qatar is preparing to have a home-grown tech industry, diversified economy and knowledge-based society.
“I would suggest to the Qatari youngsters and budding entrepreneurs to take advantage of the support. Because it is the entrepreneurs who have to come with innovative ideas and government can be a facilitator in fostering innovation.
The future and the fate of the industry would be on some great entrepreneurs who build the global business with the spirit of my boss, Jack Ma. And I hope to see some of the great future entrepreneurs from Qatar,” noted Erisman, who worked with Alibaba for over a decade from the early days of the global e-commerce giant.
He also noted that one should not think that a particular business sector or industry is already dominated by big players so there is limited scope for growth.
During his speech he extensively quoted Jack Ma and his positive attitude towards the market and about the journey how a small Chinese company started with a humble bagging from a one room space became a $500bn group.
Erisman said that entrepreneur should always think big and global from the day-one like Jack Ma, who deliberately named his company Alibaba, a familiar character both in the East and the West.
He also gave some important tips to his huge number of audience who attended his insightful lecture. He advocated that embrace change and never run away from tough decision; learn from competitors but never copy them; never underestimate yourself, never overestimate your competitors; and build a company for over 100 years.
“Find opportunity from a crisis as Qatar has done from the ongoing siege and became self-reliant in terms of the production of many essential goods…Dream big, really big, because bigger the problem, the greater the opportunity,” he highlighted.
Source from: The Peninsula