savio kwan alibaba sars

Podcasts

Season 2

GGV Live Special

Savio Kwan: How Alibaba Survived SARS and Thrived

Interviewed by Hans Tung.

When the SARS pandemic struck in 2003, Savio was working as president and COO of an internet startup named Alibaba. Not only did the startup survive SARS, it launched a new business called Taobao and emerged as one of the most valuable companies in the world. On a special live podcast session, former President and COO of Alibaba (from 2001-2003) Savio Kwan joined GGV Capital Managing Partner Hans Tung to share the key learnings from Alibaba’s SARS experience and answered live questions from founders in GGV’s global network.

Savio Kwan – Former President and COO of Alibaba Savio Kwan is best known for his time as president and COO of Alibaba from 2001 to 2003. He later took on the chief people officer role in 2004. He has more than 30 years’ global management experience, including 17 years at the medical systems division of General Electric, where he was responsible for sales, marketing, operations, business development and establishing joint venture companies in Asia.

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