Chapter 518: Avoid the Edge

When the Pioneer-1 rocket pierced the sky, Ma Jieke was sitting at his desk, checking the announcement of the winning bid for the construction of the National Railway's 12306 passenger service platform system.

He rubbed his brows tiredly, leaned back in his chair, and glanced at the two core executives opposite him, Wang Jian and Lu Zhaoxi.

He shook his head helplessly: "The company quoted a sincere price of 120 million, and this investment is bound to lose money, but Tengda Technology won the bid with 180 million.

The China Railway Corporation would rather spend an extra 60 million yuan to choose Tenda's cloud computing technology. The difference is no longer measured by price; the difference is immediately determined by technical strength."

Upon hearing this, Wang Jian's face became even more filled with guilt.

As the helmsman of Alibaba Cloud Computing, he had already lowered the price to the point of loss, but ultimately still failed miserably, feeling deeply burdened with responsibility.

"Mr. Ma, I'm really sorry. I messed up the bid."

Ma Jieke raised his hand and decisively interrupted Wang Jian, his eyes blazing: "Engineer Wang, it's just a failure, what's the big deal?

This experience has made me even more convinced that cloud computing is a must-win market in the future! Alibaba's investment in this field will only increase, not decrease!

This resounding promise was like a reassurance, finally putting Wang Jian's heart at ease.

He had been worried before, fearing that this failure would lead to the group's strategic contraction in the field of cloud computing. Fortunately, Ma Jieke had great ambitions and was not short-sighted.

Lu Zhaoxi, standing by, also said with emotion: "As the Internet wave surges, cloud computing has long become the cornerstone of the industry.

It's really laughable now that Li Yanhong asserted at the IT Leaders Summit that cloud computing was 'old wine in new bottles'. It's really laughable."

"Indeed." Wang Jian nodded in agreement, his mood slightly softened. "In the competition of technology and strategy, a journey of a thousand miles tests the strength of a horse.

Looking back now, Mr. Ma and Mr. Song from Tengda were truly farsighted and insightful in their ability to see the direction clearly amidst the various opinions and to persist in investing in cloud computing despite all the opposition.

"Don't flatter me." Ma Jieke smiled bitterly, his eyes showing a seriousness, "Song Ci is a man of true wisdom and far-sightedness.

The three buildings built by Tengda on the coast of the East China Sea were originally thought to be its second headquarters.

Who doesn't know by now that these are the three core areas of their layout: big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence? The early planning and the sheer scale of their investment are truly astonishing."

At this point, Ma Jieke's expression straightened, displaying unquestionable decisiveness: "I've made up my mind. Starting from the second half of this year, Alibaba's investment in cloud computing R&D will increase by 50%!"

Wang Jian was overjoyed when he heard this.

Previously, Ma Jieke promised to invest 1 billion yuan every year. Increasing it by half means that there will be an additional 500 million yuan in real money every year!

This is undoubtedly a timely help for Alibaba Cloud, which is currently in a critical period.

Lu Zhaoxi's lips moved slightly, and a hint of worry flashed across his brows. All business lines of the group were facing fierce market competition and were in urgent need of financial support.

The extra $500 million investment in cloud computing will inevitably mean that other projects will need to be postponed or have their budgets cut.

But seeing the determination in Ma Jieke's eyes, thinking of the rapid development of Microsoft Azure and Amazon AWS worldwide, as well as Tenda's relentless pursuit in China, he understood that Alibaba had no way out in the field of cloud computing and had to go all out.

In the end, he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue and just nodded silently to show his support.

Wang Jian briefly reported on the progress of several work items, and then took his leave with a new mission and excitement.

The moment the office door gently closed, Lu Zhaoxi leaned forward slightly, his face solemn, "Boss Ma, there have been some unusual movements at Taobao recently."

"Oh?" Ma Jieke sat up straight, his expression turning serious. Taobao was the lifeblood of the Alibaba Group, and there was no room for error. He asked gravely, "What exactly happened? Tell me in detail."

"In the past month, more than ten veteran employees with employee numbers under 1,000 have submitted their resignation applications, and the resignation process was very straightforward."

"Voluntarily resign?" Majieke's brows furrowed, his face filled with confusion and bewilderment. "They don't even want the N+1 compensation? These people actually gave up on their own initiative?"

"Yes!" Lu Zhaoxi nodded heavily, his tone becoming more serious.

"These people are veterans who have grown up with Taobao and experienced the difficult early stages of the company's development. They are fully aware of the company's internal processes, operating models, and even its shortcomings."

"And..." His words suddenly stopped, and a hint of hesitation appeared on his face, as if he was considering the most appropriate expression.

This hesitant attitude made Ma Jieke feel a little unhappy, and he tapped the table with his fingertips lightly.

He urged, "Zhao Xi, at this moment, if you have something to say, just say it directly. Don't hesitate!"

Lu Zhaoxi weighed his words carefully and reported cautiously, "These recent departures are almost all from Sun Tongyu's former core and trusted staff when he was in charge of Taobao."

"Sun Tongyu's former subordinates?!" Ma Jieke's expression suddenly changed, a cold light flashed in his eyes, and he asked, "Are these people still in key positions?"

"That's not the case. After Mr. Sun left office, his team was transferred out of key positions and marginalized."

Jack Ma nodded slightly, feeling a little relieved.

A new emperor appoints new ministers. It is normal for the old ministers of the previous dynasty to be gradually marginalized or even leave after the new president takes office.

But this sense of peace was fleeting, and the uneasiness in his heart still lingered. He immediately warned in a deep voice: "Immediately find out where these people have gone! Something must be wrong if things are not going well!"

"We have arranged someone to investigate." Lu Zhaoxi responded immediately.

Ma Jieke nodded again and stopped talking. His thoughts spread quietly. Taobao had gone through countless ups and downs along the way.

From the fierce battle with eBay to responding to various vertical B2C challenges, it has already built a moat, and its user base and ecosystem are very complete.

He has almost absolute confidence in this platform that he has personally nurtured and continuously evolved.

On second thought, even if Sun Tongyu, the "Father of Taobao", is unwilling to give up and wants to make a comeback, can he really create a new platform out of thin air that can subvert the situation outside of Alibaba's impregnable e-commerce barriers?

Business logic, capital strength, user habits, brand awareness... countless rational factors tell him that the possibility is very small.

However, the warning signal in his heart, which came from years of business intuition, was mixed with fear of Song Ci's unfathomable strategic layout of Tenda Technology.

His understanding of Sun Tongyu's personal abilities and resilience made it impossible for him to completely let go.

After a long pause, he slowly spoke, "I'll have a chat with Jiang Fang. I need to hear her insights on some of the issues concerning the changing mindsets of early-stage founders and organizational cohesion."

After a while, there was a knock on the door and Cai Chongxin entered the office.

"Sit down, Zhongxin." Ma Jieke temporarily suppressed his fear of Sun Tongyu and said seriously, "I have something to discuss with you two. Let's talk to each other first!"

Cai Zhongxin and Lu Zhaoxi sat upright, waiting for Ma Jieke to speak.

"I've been reflecting on this for a while now," Ma Jieke said clearly, "Why do internet companies, including Alibaba, often find themselves at a disadvantage when competing with Tenda?

We invested as much resources as the other team, and our team's execution was strong, but we always fell behind at critical junctures."

His calm gaze swept across the faces of the two capable men, and his voice suddenly rose a few degrees: "Because we have always been in the rhythm of the opponent!

It's like two martial arts masters fighting each other. We always passively accept the opponent's attacks and go head-to-head in the opponent's strongest field, which naturally results in half the effort and twice the result."

Cai Chongxin gently pushed his gold-rimmed glasses. As the financial helmsman of Alibaba, he knew the cost of this competition better than anyone else.

From January to April, in order to respond to Tencent's offensive in mobile payment, food delivery and other fields, the group invested hundreds of millions of additional marketing expenses, but with little effect.

"I kept thinking, what are Alibaba's strengths and what are Tengda's weaknesses?

It wasn’t until a while ago when Tenda announced that it would release computing power to small and medium-sized enterprises, euphemistically calling it ‘empowering the national economy,’ that I suddenly realized what was going on!

Ma Jieke's eyes were clear, "Tengda is strong in social networking and traffic, and its moat lies in C-end users.

Taobao serves millions of merchants and small and medium-sized enterprises, and our foundation is on the B-side. This was once our home turf, but now the enemy has reached our doorstep!

Cai Zhongxin nodded thoughtfully, but a look of worry appeared between his brows: "Jack, Tenda Technology's unlimited computing power plan is indeed a direct attack on Alibaba's vital point.

With their technological advantages, they are rapidly penetrating our core customer base.

"With all due respect, Alibaba is indeed inferior to Tenda in terms of technological reserves, and this is a flaw that is difficult to make up for in the short term."

"You're right, but not entirely." Majek smiled meaningfully. "I had my team conduct a very interesting investigation."

He then picked up a document on the table and handed it to Cai Zhongxin, "The survey found that more than 83% of small and medium-sized enterprises use personal social software for internal communication.

Employees mix work and personal information, and the company lacks specialized approval, attendance, and log functions, causing management to suffer greatly.

When Lu Zhaoxi heard this, a flash of enlightenment flashed in his eyes: "I understand! What Alibaba needs to do is not to compete head-on, but to find another way!"

"That's right!" Ma Jieke said, "I hope to create a pure business communication software and mobile office platform that seamlessly integrates communication and workflow.

This is not just about making a product, but also about creating a gateway for digital upgrades for small and medium-sized enterprises!"

Cai Zhongxin quickly sketched out a business blueprint in his mind: "Professional corporate communications is indeed a blue ocean that Tenda has not yet entered.

Furthermore, once we capture this market, we can form a closed loop with our existing Alibaba Cloud and e-commerce services.”

"Not only that," Ma Jieke said, his hands waving as he grew more excited. "If we can get companies used to using our platform for daily management, it will be like building a solid fortress on the B-side battlefield.

By then, we will not only be able to hold our ground, but we may even be able to use this as a springboard to achieve a roundabout way forward and counterattack social media!"

Lu Zhaoxi was also delighted: "Great! This tactic of surrounding Wei to save Zhao can not only avoid Tengda's edge on the C-end, but also play to our advantages on the B-end.

Furthermore, the enterprise service market has higher customer stickiness, and once scale is achieved, it becomes an insurmountable moat.”

The three people's ideas were perfectly aligned at this moment, and the originally solemn atmosphere in the office suddenly became lively.

Cai Zhongxin calmly asked the key question: "Jack, this project is very important. Who do you think is the most suitable person to take on this important task?"

Ma Jieke walked to the French window, staring at the distant lakeside garden, and pondered for a moment: "Chen Hang."

Turning around, his eyes were determined, "It's decided on him."

"Chen Hang!" Cai Zhongxin searched his memory for information about this name. "He is indeed the best candidate. He once led the 'Laiwang' project.

Although he failed to challenge Tenda's dominance in social media, he gained valuable experience. More importantly, he possessed the unyielding tenacity that is so characteristic of Alibaba employees.

Ma Jieke walked back to his desk and pressed his fingers hard on the surface. "I'm going to name this project 'Ding Ding'!"

His tone was powerful, "It's all about embodying the persistent spirit of Alibaba people, taking one step at a time, focusing on every detail, and every customer!"

Then he continued to lay out a specific plan: "Chen Hang will lead a capable team to carry out closed development in my Lakeside Garden private residence.

The project is physically isolated from the group, and all participants sign the highest level of confidentiality agreement.”

Hearing this arrangement, Cai Zhongxin's pupils shrank slightly: "Jack, are you worried about the internal affairs of the group?"

"It's better to take precautions before they happen!" Ma Jieke interrupted, his eyes becoming deep and alert. "Business wars are like battlefields, and real competition often involves resorting to extremes.

Although Tenda has been innovating all the time, I have never doubted its ability to learn from others. Everyone knows that it is good at imitating Internet products.

Before the DingTalk project is officially launched, the fewer people who know about it, the better."

He looked around at his two core partners and said in a serious tone, “Shigenobu, you are responsible for setting up exclusive funding channels to ensure that there are no worries about project development.

Zhaoxi, you are responsible for selecting technical personnel. We should select the best, not the most numerous. Each person must be the best in their field."

"I understand!" The two said in unison, knowing that the success or failure of this project may be related to Alibaba's development trajectory in the next ten years.

Ma Jieke walked to the bookshelf by the wall, took out a copy of The Art of War, and gently stroked the spine. "A skilled warrior attacks his opponent, not himself. This time, I'm going to make my opponent follow Ali's rhythm."

Returning to his seat, he scanned the faces of his two comrades, saying, "DingTalk is more than just a product; it carries Alibaba's second entrepreneurial mission.

Through this platform, we aim to help tens of millions of small and medium-sized enterprises in China achieve digital transformation. This path has never been taken before, but precisely because of this, it is worth pioneering for Alibaba."

Cai Zhongxin nodded slightly, already mentally planning the financial plan for the DingTalk project. "I will set up a special purpose entity to manage the project funds and ensure that the flow of funds is completely concealed."

Lu Zhaoxi also added: "For the technical team, I will give priority to veterans who have worked on the 'Laiwang' project. They deeply understand the essence of social products."

The discussion in the office became more and more intense. The three of them repeatedly deliberated over details such as product positioning, technical architecture, and market strategy, and were extremely looking forward to the launch of DingTalk.

(End of this chapter)