Coupang: How a Harvard Dropout Built Korea's Most Valuable Startup | CNBC

This company’s been dubbed戲稱 the Amazon of South Korea and was recently ranked as the country’s most valuable start-up.

這家公司被譽為“韓國的亞馬遜”，最近更被評為該國最有價值的初創企業。

We know the truck it’s gonna go into, the route it’s going to be out on, and then that tells us how it needs to be sorted分類 here and when it needs

我們知道它將被裝入哪輛卡車、走哪條路線，這決定了它在這裡該如何分揀以及何時需要出發。

to leave.

離開。

That’s propelled推動 founder Bom Kim to billionaire status and made Coupang into a national icon.

這一成就將創始人金炳（Bom Kim）推上了億萬富翁的寶座，並使Coupang成為國家象徵。

It’s not an exaggeration to say that we are in every apartment complex and every apartment building at least once a day.

毫不誇張地說，我們每天至少會進入每一個公寓小區和每一棟公寓樓一次。

That’s not bad for a guy who dropped out of Harvard Business School after just six months.

對於一個在哈佛商學院僅讀了六個月就退學的人來說，這成績已相當不錯。

I had a belief when I was in grad school that I had a very short window窗戶 to really make something that had an impact.

我在讀研究生時曾堅信，自己只有很短的時間視窗去真正做出有影響力的事。

During a recent visit to Seoul, I got to sit down with the 41-year-old e-commerce CEO at Coupang’s headquarters.

在最近一次造訪首爾期間，我有幸在Coupang總部與這位41歲的電商CEO進行了面談。

And while he may have reached the heights of success now, he says he didn’t exactly set out to become the next Jeff Bezos.

雖然他如今已登上成功的巔峰，但他表示自己當初並非刻意要成為下一個傑夫·貝佐斯。

In fact, when the $9 billion e-commerce giant巨人 started here in Seoul back in 2010, it was as a different business entirely.

事實上，這家價值90億美元的電商巨頭2010年在首爾起步時，其業務模式截然不同。

The shape of Coupang, the business model of Coupang, what Coupang looks like today, went through a lot of change.

Coupang的形態、商業模式以及今日的面貌，都經歷了巨大的變革。

When Kim dropped out of business school in the late-2000s, he initially起初 started Coupang as a Groupon-style daily deals business.

金先生在2000年代末從商學院退學後，最初創立Coupang時是一家類似Groupon的每日特惠公司。

But as he noticed the growing scope of technology, he quickly transitioned過渡 the company into a third-party online marketplace.

但隨著他注意到科技領域的不斷擴張，他迅速將公司轉型為第三方線上市場。

It was a success.

這取得了成功。

Within three years, Kim says the company crossed $1 billion in sales and was on the cusp邊緣 of an IPO.

金先生表示，三年內公司銷售額突破10億美元，且已處於上市（IPO）的邊緣。

But at the eleventh hour, he pulled the deal and radically changed the business model, convinced he could build something better.

但在最後一刻，他叫停了這筆交易並徹底改變了商業模式，因為他堅信自己能構建出更好的東西。

There had been this nagging令人煩惱的 feeling for months, where we had to be honest with ourselves and said, once you go public, it’s much harder to really change your direction.

那幾個月裡一直有個揮之不去的念頭：我們必須誠實面對自己，一旦上市，再想改變方向就會困難得多。

And was the platform we had built, were the services and experiences that we were providing for our customers, creating a 5% difference or were we creating that kind of world where

我們要問的是：我們搭建的平臺、提供的服務和體驗，究竟只是創造了5%的差異，還是創造了一個能讓

the customers we love, their jaws would drop?

我們所珍視的客戶驚掉下巴的世界？

And the reality was no.

現實情況是否定的。

If we wanted to provide something that really mattered to customers, we had to go through an enormous amount of change.

如果我們想為客戶提供真正重要的東西，就必須經歷巨大的變革。

We had to change our entire technology stack堆疊, the way we did business, our business model.

我們必須徹底改變整個技術架構、經營方式以及商業模式。

That’s a bold move when you’re on the crux關鍵 of an IPO.

當你正處於上市的關鍵時刻，這是一個大膽的決定。

It was very, very difficult.

這非常、非常艱難。

And I think that was the most difficult, but the choice that I’m most proud of.

我認為那是我最艱難的選擇，但也是我最引以為豪的決定。

So Coupang was born again, this time as an end-to-end shopping platform designed to manage the full customer journey, from desktop to door.

因此，Coupang 得以重生，這次轉型為端到端的購物平臺，旨在管理從桌面瀏覽到送貨上門的全流程客戶體驗。

South Korea’s e-commerce market has been growing rapidly over the past decade.

過去十年間，韓國的電子商務市場一直在快速增長。

This year, online sales are projected預測 to expand by 18% to hit over $100 billion, ranking it in fifth place globally after China, the U.S., the U.K. and Japan.

今年，線上銷售額預計將增長18%，達到超過1000億美元，全球排名第五，僅次於中國、美國、英國和日本。

By 2022, it is expected to jump to third place.

預計到2022年，其排名將躍升至第三位。