dlehnersauder

Alibaba.com is an e-commerce business that embodies entrepreneurship. The company, founded in 1999 by Ma Yun (Jack Ma) in Hangzhou, China, offers businesses a service that allows them to connect with producers, suppliers, distributors, retailers and consumers from around the world. Alibaba.com, China’s largest e-commerce site has garnered approximately $211 million dollars in revenue in the second quarter of 2010 alone. Since Alibaba.com’s inception, their innovative entrepreneurial business model has proven to be successful – between 1999 and 2000, Alibaba raised US$25 million from investors such as Goldman Sachs, Fidelity and Softbank.

Alibaba.com’s success derives from their ability to embrace the essence of entrepreneurship to the fullest extent. Recognizing a new, growing market of e-commerce for China’s 42 million small and medium sized businesses (in 1999), Alibaba decided to offer a unique, innovative internet service. Soon, businesses from around the world, including giants like Wal-Mart and Proctor & Gamble, were using Alibaba.com’s services. In an extremely short amount of time, an enormous amount of wealth was created. Alibaba’s $1.5 billion IPO in 2007 best exemplifies the magnitude and speed of Alibaba’s growth. The speed of the company’s massive expansion of wealth is attributed to their ability to create a new service in a market formerly devoid of attainable  e-commerce. Further, being the first of its kind expedited their growth in a new market and accentuated the uniqueness of their services.

Alibaba.com exemplifies entrepreneurship. The innovative, unique service that launched a new market amassed a large amount of wealth in a very short time. Alibaba.com conforms to Schumpeter’s View of Entrepreneurship.

Daniel Boissonneau-Lehner

http://www.quickmba.com/entre/definition/

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/123/the-worlds-most-innovative-companies.html