Abstract: May 4th Youth Day is coming, invited by the cloud habitat community, to share their growth story. I am currently the product operation expert of Ali Cloud network product team, responsible for a series of market activities and brand building of network products.
On a Sunday afternoon just before Christmas in 2016, I opened my window to see the bright California sun on the street and the soft San Francisco wind blowing in my face. Outside on the lawn across the street, blond children are running and jumping excitedly as their parents fill the Christmas tree with presents. Overlooking not far away, is Twin Peaks running fitness of young men and women big show good figure, melodious church bells drifting several blocks sound in your ears. I was working in my early 30s as a product manager for an enterprise software company in Silicon Valley. My job was easy, my life was easy, but I felt like something was missing. My name is Wei Yun, the product operator of Ali Cloud Network team. Working for ten years, sharing three moments of my life as a memento.
By the end of 2012, Shanghai had already recovered from the global economic crisis a year earlier, and the company was thriving. This was my second year as a project manager in IBM. Led the team to complete the server upgrade project of an international client in The Asia-pacific region. The director patted me on the shoulder with satisfaction and quipped, “Update the server 10 times every three years, and you’ll retire comfortably.” I shuddered. The person next to me who is one year older is doing the same job. Is this my future? I wanted to get in touch with the core functions of the tech industry — product management and strategy. In foreign companies, these functions are often based at overseas headquarters. I also lacked business knowledge and skills, so I started applying to business schools. The average acceptance rate for the Top10 schools in the us is under 10%, and the application process is a marathon. When you get home from work, pull yourself together and apply. The first step is to score high on toefl and GMAT. Brazen up on Linkedin, reaching out to alumni and soliciting references. At the same time, revise your resume and Essay again and again. I gave up my National Day break and traveled all the way from North Carolina to Boston to visit several schools, go on field trips and talk to admissions officers. When I got the call from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, I wasn’t sure if it was an opportunity. Going to the United States meant leaving Shanghai, where I had lived comfortably for nearly 30 years, for a completely strange environment, giving up a decent job, raising more than 1 million yuan (almost the down payment of an apartment in Shanghai at that time), and pursuing an uncertain future. Looking back today, it was the best decision I ever made. Without this step, there would have been no wonderful journey. There are two forces in life. One is gravity, like the earth holding the moon and asteroids in orbit and going round and round by inertia. The other is power, like a rocket pushing away from gravity to explore the wider universe.
In the summer of 2015, I was in Palo Alto, the heart of Silicon Valley, where Stanford University is located, where HP’s garage was born, and where Google, Facebook, PayPal, and many other tech giants were born. During my MBA summer internship in VMware headquarters, I had the opportunity to contact the technology product marketing position I wanted for the first time. Mr. Sy is my Mentor, a native of India who was formerly a consultant at McKinsey, a leading consulting firm. The experience is shining, the person is very humble. The workplace was a different person, and it was extremely hard on me. I was in charge of the pricing project for a new cloud management platform launch. When the project was set up, he asked me which aspects I wanted to investigate. When I said something divergent, he immediately turned black and pointed out that MY thinking was not clear and methodical. I was forced to organize all the elements of the project into a structured framework in a consulting way, and his face brightened. I thought, such a small project, as to make so serious. My idea was soon proved wrong. With Mr. Sai’s words and deeds, I understood what true professionalism is and why Good is not Good enough. The seemingly simple pricing can be divided into qualitative and quantitative parts. Qualitative research includes product classification, sales mode (pre-paid/post-paid), measurement standard, etc. The quantitative part should be specific to a price. Different suppliers were selected for each stage to help carry out the research. Over the course of three months, I traveled to three cities, called no fewer than 10 partners, collected 300 valid online questionnaires, and observed the reactions of 18 groups of customer representatives in group interviews through one-sided glass. The summary report runs to more than 50 pages. For each claim in the report, Mr. Sy meticulously asks, “What data and facts do you have to back this up?” “, “Where does the data come from? . Professionalism is not just about working overtime. It is about deep thinking, efficient execution and rigorous attitude. Silicon Valley is full of professional managers like Mr Sy. One, in charge of price strategy, is a former investment analyst at Barclays, a leading investment bank. The other has a master’s degree from Stanford and Harvard. Much more excellent than me, than I also diligent, I have what reason not to work?
At the end of 2017, after 11 o ‘clock at night, a group of Ali people were sitting in a conference room in Wangjing Center, making a final push for the launch of a new product the day after tomorrow. A month ago, when the launch date was decided, I thought it would be impossible to hold the launch in such a hurry. The product is still in the final test, the venue and supplier have not been determined, and there is not a single PAGE of PPT written. The whole product team has no experience of holding a large press conference before. “Rest assured, no problem”, rong Guide narrowed eyes, smiling, slow way. Mr. Rong, an old Ali man, is in charge of the conference with me. As he moves, his style changes abruptly, as if from a sloth to a cheetah. The pace of speech quickened and the work was “fierce and persistent”. During the three weeks, we improved the PPT again and again, polished every word repeatedly, confirmed the form and effect of the on-site presentation, and forced the supplier to upgrade the visual draft. For a week, we were the last people in the building to leave. As scheduled, the press conference was watched live and live by more than 1,000 people. On stage, I was excited to invite the audience to experience the ultra-high-speed network that sends a 4K HD video to the world in one minute. After being reprinted by more than ten media, our products have been widely known in the industry from nobody, occupying the first three pages of Baidu search. This month’s experience really makes me understand the Ali dialect of “do it immediately, do it brilliantly” and see the passion and power of Ali people. A career lasts 30 or 40 years, and it’s hard to imagine how you can get to the end without passion, without passion, and without it, you just repeat and linger.
When I retire, I want to sum up my career like this. 1) To work for a foreign company to do domestic business in China, 2) to be in charge of global marketing at the foreign company headquarters, 3) to help Chinese companies establish competitiveness in the global market. The first two things have been accomplished; the third is a long way off.
It was early spring in 2018, and the sun was still warm in California. International Network industry conference ONS exhibition hall gathered the world’s top experts and scholars, eyes curiously staring at the booth in front of the yellow young man, this time I for Ali platform, platform for China.
P/S: Welcome to join the team of Ali Cloud Network, the world’s leading cloud network service provider. We provide high-speed, stable and high-quality enterprise network services for companies and institutions from all walks of life. We’re probably behind half the apps on your phone.
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