Singapore Meetup: Premiere Screening of Alibaba Documentary ‘Crocodile in the Yangtze’
Update: We can’t emphasize enough how important it is that Digital Media Partners (DMP) is making this premiere screening of the Crocodile in the Yangtze possible. Here’s a big thank you to Dmitry, Hannah, and the DMP team. We would also like to thank Singapore Management University (SMU) for providing us the venue.

I’m sure many of you have heard of China’s largest e-commerce company, Alibaba. For our next Tech in Asia Meetup in Singapore, we are honored with the chance to present the premiere local screening of Crocodile in the Yangtze, a documentary about the early days of Taobao, the e-store created by Alibaba founder and former CEO Jack Ma.
The film’s producer, Porter Erisman, who worked at Alibaba for ten years, created the 75-minute documentary to share how Alibaba grew from a startup to the world-class corporation it is today – and to show how it beat eBay in its home market. Porter will also be there at our Singapore Meetup to share his experience of working at Alibaba.
Crocodile in the Yangtze has shown at 16 film festivals and 10 universities, including Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Berkeley, and more. The documentary has been given several awards, including ‘Best Film on Innovation and Entrepreneurship’ at the 2012 Silicon Valley Film Festival.
Catch the trailer below:
If you are interested to catch this startup-to-powerhouse blockbuster film, join us on June 24 at 6:45pm at SMU Administration building, Level 5. Tickets are free, but grab them fast while stocks last!
Agenda:
- Registration: 6.45 – 7.15pm
- Opening Speech from Porter Erisman: 7.15 – 7.30pm
- [Screening] Crocodile in the Yangtze: 7.30 – 8.45pm
- Sharing session by Porter Erisman: 8.45 – 9.00pm
- Networking & Dinner: 9:00 – 10.00pm
Venue: Singapore Management University, Administration Building, Level 5
Speaker: Porter Erisman

Porter Erisman produced and directed the award-winning documentary film, Crocodile in the Yangtze: The Story of a Westerner Inside China’s Alibaba.com. The film is an independent memoir of the eight years he worked alongside China’s first Internet entrepreneur, Jack Ma, as Ma grew Alibaba Group from an apartment into China’s first global Internet company – beating eBay in China along the way.
From 2000-2008, Porter worked as a Vice-President at Alibaba Group, at various times overseeing the company’s international marketing, website operations and corporate affairs. Porter earned an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management and a BA from Stanford University. Crocodile in the Yangtze is Porter’s first film.
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