Robin Li runs from adoring crowds

This is a photo I took of Baidu founder Robin Li. He is such a celebrity in China that he has to run away from fans. This photo was taken at an entrepreneur conference in Beijing, where Robin was a featured panelist. He made a dash for the door right after his panel ended to avoid being cornered by young Chinese entrepreneurs who want nothing more than to follow in his footsteps.

Alibaba too high?

Alibaba shares nearly tripled on the opening day of trading, then sunk 17% the following day. Analysts say the stock is still overvalued. Trades are at 320 times the company's $83.4 million in net profits for 2007.
The only Chinese Internet stock that comes near Alibaba is Baidu, which is at a 177 price to earnings ratio.
How high can Chinese IPOs fly? The valuations could be a sign of an Internet bubble in China, not unlike the crash and burn times of Silicon Valley during the hyped up late 1990s.

Alibaba IPO soars

Alibaba raised $1.5 billion in a record initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Only Google could claim a more stunning performance.

See Jack Ma practicing his golf swing in celebration.

The story of how Alibaba founder Jack Ma got ahead can be read in my upcoming book, Silicon Dragon, due in bookstores in January 2008.