We are thrilled to announce that Porter Erisman, ex-Vice-President at alibaba.com, will speak at Lift and host the first Swiss screening of "Crocodile in the Yangtze" during Lift 14, Feb 5-7 2014. This documentary follows China’s first Internet entrepreneur and former English teacher, Jack Ma, as he battles US giant eBay on the way to building China's first global Internet company, Alibaba Group. Besides the screening, which will be followed by a Q&A session, Porter will also speak on the Lift stage and share his inspiring "story of a westerner inside China's alibaba.com".
Alibaba was created in 1999 and in a little less than 13 years became the largest E-commerce group in China and probably in the world. Founder Jack Ma started the company in his own flat in the city of Hangzhou and became one of the most inspiring and successful entrepreneurs. "Crocodile in the Yangtze" is an independent memoir written, directed, and produced by Porter Erisman, an American who worked at Alibaba for eight years. With his documentary Porter captures the emotional ups and downs of life in a Chinese Internet startup at a time when the Internet brought China face-to-face with the West and in particular with the leading E-commerce giant ebay.
Crocodile in the Yangtze was awarded "Best Film on Innovation and Entrepreneurship" at the Silicon Valley Film Festival. Drawing on more than 200 hours of footage filmed by 35 sources, the film presents a rare behind-the-scenes look at China's Internet revolution and we can't wait to show it at Lift14! Inc Magazine calls the film "Gripping… Emotional… it's like the real-life version of The Social Network."
