Blind TigerHouse of Alibaba

Back from the future, suitcase full of code Planted the China Pages flag on a digital road My partner He Yibing, a true believer too Selling websites to clients who ain't even got a view We were selling ghosts, promises on a wire Printing out screenshots to fuel the damn fire "Trust me, you're online," that was the whole pitch Twenty thousand yuan to scratch an unknown itch But the vision was working, the traction was slow Lakeview Hotel booked solid, watchin' the seeds grow We were the first, mapping out a ghost town, feeling like kings Didn't know the jungle had bigger, hungrier things. Riding a blind tiger, couldn't see the claws Thought we were partners, learned the state plays by different laws Yeah, I built the whole damn thing from a single thought Then watched 'em feed my dream to the beast I brought That's the price of a lesson that can't be taught. The joint venture handshake, a Trojan horse in a suit Hangzhou Telecom, a branch with a bitter fruit They invested their capital, I invested my soul Then the boardroom dynamics swallowed me whole Five votes to my two, every motion they refute My creation, my baby, strangled in a corporate dispute They stole the name, the concept, the damn domain Left me as a general manager in the pouring rain A title with no power, a captain on a sinking ship Felt the taste of betrayal on my goddamn lip Had to walk away empty, watched 'em erase my name That's the first rule of power in this dirty game. Riding a blind tiger, couldn't see the claws Thought we were partners, learned the state plays by different laws Yeah, I built the whole damn thing from a single thought Then watched 'em feed my dream to the beast I brought That's the price of a lesson that can't be taught. Traded my founder's chair for a desk and a government tie A dot-gov casualty on the information highway, watching my rivals fly by Buried in bureaucracy, a fish out of the sea Then they told me, "Play tour guide for the king of Yahoo, Jerry." Stood with him on the Great Wall, a giant from another coast He spoke of Silicon Valley, and I was just his host But in that conversation, a flicker in the dark He saw a fellow founder, not just a government mark It was a reminder of the world I was meant to seize Planted a single seed of hope in the bitter Beijing breeze. Packed my bags that night. The air was thick with defeat. But a lesson paid for in blood is a lesson you keep. Vowed I'd never be a minority share in my own future. Never ride a tiger you don't own. Back to Hangzhou. Back to the apartment. This time... we build a fortress.