With IPO, Alibaba offers inspiration

E-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd went public at $68 a share Friday on the New York Stock Exchange, raising $21.8 billion and becoming one of the largest IPOs in US history.

Although Alibaba is only 15 years old, it ranks as one of the world's top companies. It is something of a miracle. In 1999, company founder Jack Ma Yun said he would like to build the largest e-commerce platform in the world within a decade.

At the time, people thought he was full of hot air. A decade later, however, Alibaba had become the largest e-commerce platform in China and one of the best companies in the world.

Many of its shareholders became millionaires.

As many know, Alibaba could not have succeeded without venture capital, and an innovative businesses model, coupled with the rapid development of the Internet. Its success has great symbolic meaning for other small businesses in China. Many small business owners have been inspired by Alibaba's success. Many have asked whether someone else can duplicate that success.

However, investment in these businesses has been limited, particularly for the thousands of small companies eager for financial support.