If it's true that dreams can change the world, then Jack Ma may be on to something big.
Alibaba's founder spoke at the Economic Club of New York, and told of his vision to take China's e-commerce titan into the next decade, and even the next century as he seeks to fulfill a promise for Alibaba to last 102 years.
Not sounding like the typical American CEO of a major company, Ma wove in references to religion, politics, climate change and social good into his remarks.
Read Forbes, Jack Ma at the Waldorf.
China Venture Capitalists Agree It's
A Nerve-Wracking Time
| Silicon Dragon panelists in Beijing: James Mi, Lei Yang, Chun Xia, Michael Zhu and Kefei Li |
It's a nerve wracking time for venture capitalists doing deals in China today. Valuations to invest in hot startups that could be the next unicorn have escalated to new heights. Yet no one wants to take a pass on a deal that just might be the next Albaba, Baidu, Tencent or Xiaomi in the world's second-largest venture market.
The competition is fierce and the pace fast. Yet the experienced venture capitalists who spoke at Silicon Dragon's recent event in Beijing said they are trimming the number of deals they're investing in this year and being more selective about teams and business models they back.
At the same time, these VCs are encouraging entrepreneurs and founders of emerging Chinese companies to take in as much capital as possible now while the boom lasts.
Read Forbes, China's Hot Tech
See video clip of dealmaker panel in Beijing:
Silicon Dragon at YouTube
Silicon Dragon at Youku
For more videos and photos of Silicon Dragon's Beijing event, see Silicon Dragon Beijing 2015
Chinese tech firms have fallen out of love with America, and it shows - a growing number of them are looking to drop their listings in New York and head back home.
Many Chinese tech executives are betting on higher share valuations in China where stock markets have recently caught fire. They also hope to evade any legal mess when Beijing formally outlaws foreign shareholder control of firms in protected tech sectors.
An exodus of Chinese tech firms would spell the end of a profitable line of business for Wall Street underwriters.
Read Reuters report: disenchantment.
Read related article: list locally in China.
Silicon Dragon's Rebecca Fannin was interviewed by Reuters TV about this trend for a CCTV2 show called Global Connections.
SILICON DRAGON @ FORBES
Follow
Mary Meeker's latest Internet trends reports highlight India on the tipping point of becoming a major tech player up there next to China. See Meeker.
DEALS, FUNDS, TRENDS
CHINA
China's 500(dot)com Jumps on $124 Million Investment From Tsinghua http://bloom.bg/1duT0G8
Alibaba Invests $194 Million Into China Business News To Build A Financial Data Platform http://tcrn.ch/1SY0TVk
Chinese social ecommerce startup Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book) raises $10M+ from GGV http://bit.ly/1dZCH4W
Baidu Leads $11.5M Investment In Startup That Provides WiFi For China's Commuters http://tcrn.ch/1EZXIBM
Baidu to launch driverless car later this year http://bbc.in/1duUIHy
With U.S. as a Model, China Envisions Network of National Parks http://nyti.ms/1cLA4SW
There's Never Been A Better Time To Start A Company In China: Qunar Co-Founder http://tcrn.ch/1duTFrh
Xiaomi, China's New Phone Giant, Takes Aim at World http://on.wsj.com/1dYF1t5
Fast-growing smartphone maker Xiaomi hires Qualcomm's head honcho of China onforb.es/1KWogZP
Jack Ma's Private Fund Agreed To Invest 200M Yuan In Chinese Medical Device Maker http://onforb.es/1dYGkYY
TAIWAN
Taiwan-based hardware development platform @HWTrek closes US$4 million Series A funding round http://bit.ly/1dKZkKr
ISRAEL
OurCrowd launches $10 million very early-stage fund OurCrowd First for startups globally. on.mktw.net/1GdeNMG
Chinese investors continue to show growing interest in Israeli high tech, with Chinese investors set to inject an estimated $500 million in Israeli venture capital in 2015.
http://bit.ly/1
INDIA
Indian fashion discovery and shopping app Voonik Gets $5M from Sequoia and Seedfund http://tcrn.ch/1KpWhDD
Practo in talks internationally for Rs 400 crore funding round http://ow.ly/O3xf5
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