Jack Ma / Alibaba

Jack Ma taught English for $12 a month before founding Alibaba in his apartment in 1999, with 17 friends and $60,000 pooled together. He had zero technical background, but saw a gap. Small Chinese manufacturers could not reach international buyers, and international buyers could not find them. Geography created the information asymmetry. Ma built Alibaba as a wholesale marketplace. Buyers and sellers posted listings. Search connected them. Alibaba took a 2 to 5% commission on each transaction and charged sellers $3,000 to $8,000 annually for premium storefront placement. Network effects compounded. More sellers attracted more buyers. More buyers attracted more sellers. Alibaba reached 100,000 suppliers by 20 or 2 without spending on advertising.