A Collaboration Where Two Opposite People Called Each Other "The Same Animal": Masayoshi Son, Jack Ma, and Alibaba
A person decided to invest $20 million in another person, six minutes after meeting them for the first time. Fourteen years later, he said one line about that person.
"We are the same animal." - Masayoshi Son
Those two were Masayoshi Son and Jack Ma. This is the story of Alibaba, a collaboration where two opposite people called each other "the same animal."
One Made Decisions on Top of a Large Scenario
Masayoshi Son founded SoftBank in 1981, at 24. What he did was always the same: build a large scenario first, then make the next decision on top of that scenario.
In 1995, he invested $2 million in a startup with only five employees. The company's name was Yahoo. Within his scenario that the internet would change the world, he saw that small company as the gateway to internet search. Five years later, Yahoo's market cap exceeded $100 billion.
Son's scenarios were always long. "You have to see 10 years from now, 30 years from now, 300 years from now," is how he puts it. The SoftBank vision board he made laid out plans on a 300-year scale.
In October 1999, Son was in Beijing. It was a "speed-dating" style meeting session organized by the SoftBank China fund. Several Chinese startup founders came in one by one to give Son a short pitch on their business. At that meeting, Son met someone. He recognized, in six minutes, a person who exactly matched a large scenario he had been holding in mind.
What Son did was one thing: build a large scenario first, and immediately recognize the person who exactly matched it on top of that scenario.
That person was Jack Ma.
The Other Moved by the Energy of People
Jack Ma was born in 1964 in Hangzhou, China. As a child, he hung around West Lake in Hangzhou and gave tours to foreign tourists to practice his English. Talking with people to learn English—that was young Jack Ma's everyday.
He failed the college entrance exam twice. He passed on his third try, graduated with an English degree in 1988, and then became an English teacher at a university in Hangzhou. Jack Ma was good at meeting and talking with people in person his whole life.
On a business trip to the United States in 1995, he saw the internet for the first time. There were almost no websites in China yet. What he saw wasn't just a business opportunity—it was a possibility. "If the people of China could be connected through the internet."
In 1999, Jack Ma called 17 friends to his apartment in Hangzhou. They were family, colleagues, and former students. In that apartment, he explained his vision, and the 18 of them pooled their savings to found Alibaba. There was no revenue, no defined business model.
Jack Ma's way of gathering people was always the same: drawing out people's energy through charisma and motivation. What he did was not bring a business plan to investors—it was to make the people who heard his vision stake their own savings on it.
In October 1999, Jack Ma met Masayoshi Son in Beijing. At the speed-dating meeting, he spoke about his vision for six minutes, and within those six minutes Son decided. Jack Ma later recalled:
"We didn't talk about revenues. We didn't even talk about a business model. Both of us make quick decisions." - Jack Ma
Without revenue and without a business model, the two of them recognized each other's essence.
Two People Who Recognized Each Other in Six Minutes
Masayoshi Son — Strategist (S)
One-line definition The strategist who designs a safe path by spotting future risks and possibilities in advance.
Keywords Insight · Scenario · Risk management · Structuring · Long-term vision
Strengths
Long-term scenarios prevent getting trapped in short-term views
Spotting risks in advance prevents repeating the same mistakes
Prioritizing toward the bigger goal
Cautions
Long thinking time may slow immediate execution
Focus on the big picture can delay on-the-ground response
Jack Ma — Energizer (E)
One-line definition The energy booster who immediately lifts the mood and motivation of the team.
Keywords Teamwork · Motivation · Influence · Affinity · Interaction
Strengths
Brings energy so meetings and collaboration spaces aren't heavy
Creates a communication flow where it's easy to share opinions
Provides the drive so the team doesn't stop in front of hard problems
Cautions
Focus on mood can delay tough decisions
Spontaneous changes can disrupt an established pace
October 31, 1999. A meeting room in Beijing. A speed-dating session hosted by SoftBank China. Chinese startup founders came in one by one to give Son a short pitch and left.
Jack Ma's turn came. He began explaining Alibaba's vision in English. Six minutes later, Son decided. "I'll invest $20 million in you." He was taking a 30% stake in Alibaba on the spot. A company with no revenue and no defined business model.
Son once spoke about those six minutes:
"It was the look in his eye. It was 'animal smell.' I invested with my nose." - Masayoshi Son
Son says he "decided by smell," but the truth is that those six minutes were not a spontaneous decision. He met a person who exactly matched the scenario he had been holding in mind: "the internet will change China." It was a decision to immediately recognize, on top of his large scenario, the person who fit that scenario.
Through the Work DNA lens, it becomes clear why the two of them are exactly opposite—and yet why they recognized each other in those six minutes. Son is a Strategist (S) type—someone who puts work and results first, goes through deep thought and long-term scenarios, and arranges priorities within established systems. The essence is the strategist who designs a safe path by spotting future risks and possibilities in advance. Building the 300-year vision, investing in a 5-employee Yahoo in 1995, going to Beijing in 1999 with a scenario that the internet would change China—all of it is Son's essence.
Jack Ma is an Energizer (E) type—someone who puts people and relationships first, acts immediately, and enjoys new attempts every time. The essence is the energy booster who lifts the team's mood and motivation immediately. The charisma that made 18 friends in a Hangzhou apartment stake their savings, the energy that delivered his vision in six minutes, the new attempts every time (Taobao, Alipay)—all of it is Jack Ma's essence.
The two differ on every axis. Centers of gravity differ (Son leans results and strategy, Jack Ma leans people and relationships). Ways of thinking differ (Son takes a full scenario, Jack Ma acts immediately). Stances toward new attempts differ (Son arranges priorities within established systems, Jack Ma always tries something new). All three axes are opposite.
But within those six minutes, the two of them recognized each other. Son recognized a person who exactly matched his scenario, and Jack Ma recognized a person who recognized his vision within six minutes. Two people who differ on all three axes, recognized each other's essence at the deepest level.
Twenty Years That Were Possible Because They Were Opposite
S-E Strengths
• Complete complementarity of long-term scenarios and immediate energy: When S builds a large scenario, E immediately gathers people and pours energy into that scenario. What one has, the other doesn't, so their territories never collide
• The widest area of complementarity: Because all three axes differ, they can fill each other's gaps across the broadest range (opposite signature: "the bigger the difference, the more areas there are to complement each other")
• Natural division between strategy and people: S takes responsibility for strategy, structure, and long-term vision; E takes responsibility for people, motivation, and immediate action—clear separation
• Intuition that recognizes essence at the deepest level: Opposites don't meet by accident. When S recognizes someone who exactly matches a large scenario, or when E recognizes someone who immediately gets their vision, collaboration can begin in as little as six minutes
S-E Cautions
• Highest cost of reaching agreement: Because all three axes differ, perspectives and pace differ on every decision → Need a clear agreement process before deciding (covering both S's scenario validation and E's people-and-motivation perspective)
• Center-of-gravity difference (S leans results and strategy vs. E leans people and relationships) → Build a process that runs decisions through both perspectives (avoid concluding from one lens alone)
• Thinking pace vs. action pace clash (S's careful scenarios vs. E's immediate action) → Clearly divide pace by area (strategy and planning at S's pace; execution and motivation at E's pace)
• Systems vs. new attempts friction (S arranges priorities within established systems vs. E always tries something new) → Position new attempts within the larger scenario and priorities (use E's spontaneity within S's big picture)
Son's $20 million was money Alibaba received just before the dot-com bubble burst. In spring 2000, as the dot-com market collapsed, many startups lost their funding, but Alibaba survived. Son's money carried the company through the dot-com crisis, and Alibaba turned its first profit in 2002.
In 2005, Son joined Alibaba's board. In 2007, Jack Ma joined SoftBank's board. The two of them didn't run the same company—they each ran their own company while sitting on each other's boards. Son grew SoftBank into a global investment firm; Jack Ma grew Alibaba into China's largest e-commerce platform. Their territories were separate, and each moved without hesitation in his own.
In September 2014, Alibaba went public on the New York Stock Exchange. The largest IPO in history at the time, with a market cap of $231 billion. Son's $20 million had become $60 billion at that point—a 3,000x return. At its 2020 peak, SoftBank's Alibaba stake exceeded $200 billion.
On June 25, 2020, the two announced their resignations from each other's boards on the same day. Jack Ma left SoftBank's board after 13 years; Son left Alibaba's board after 15 years. They both emphasized in public statements that "there were no disagreements." Son described his own departure as "graduating."
After 20 years, their partnership ended as a voluntary decision. Even at the moment of leaving the company, their relationship was good.
When two opposite people recognize each other's essence at the deepest level, collaboration begins.
Had there been only Son, Alibaba as a company would not have existed. Without Jack Ma's vision and charisma gathering 18 friends in a Hangzhou apartment, there would have been no person for Son to recognize in six minutes. Had there been only Jack Ma, the company wouldn't have survived the dot-com crisis. Without Son deciding in six minutes on top of his scenario and investing $20 million, Alibaba might have disappeared in spring 2000.
Because two people who differ on all three axes recognized each other's essence at the deepest level, they could stay in the same place for 20 years.
When two opposite people call each other "the same animal," collaboration goes the furthest.