Before the birth of the Chinese internet industry, he chose to study computer science. After earning his master's degree, he started as an ordinary "coder" and has now become a founding partner and CEO of Alading, achieving a remarkable transformation and becoming a role model for coders. How did Wang Sifeng break through the career ceiling of a "coder"? What lessons and takeaways can we learn from his success?
"Talent is not as important as hard work when talent works harder than you." This saying is often used to describe those who possess both talent and a strong work ethic. Wang Sifeng can certainly be categorized as one of these people. He is highly talented, a top student during his school years, and a technical leader in his work. He knows exactly what he wants, has clear goals and plans, and is able to persist in his efforts.
Determined to Learn Computer Science
Wang Sifeng is from Heze, Shandong. He has been passionate about reading since childhood and was always a top student with strong opinions. In the 1990s, when he was in high school, the internet was not as developed. In the small county where he went to school, one of his favorite places to go was the library, and he often spent weekends reading books and magazines there.
Through the books and magazines in the library, he began to learn about the world beyond his county and gradually became interested in computers. He remembers that at the time, the most popular fields were biology and computer science, but he was clearly more drawn to computers. By the time many of his classmates hadn’t even thought about their future careers, he had already made up his mind to pursue computer science.
In 1995, Wang Sifeng took the college entrance examination and ranked first in his city, gaining admission to Xi’an Jiaotong University to study computer science as he had hoped.
"I was the top scorer in my city in the college entrance exam, and to ensure that I could major in computer science, I chose Xi’an Jiaotong University as my first choice," Wang Sifeng said.
Four years later, Wang Sifeng decided to continue his studies and was accepted into the master’s program in Information Security at Peking University. After graduating in 2002, he joined NetEase as a software developer, responsible for developing the vertical search engine (at the time, NetEase’s general search used Google). He was also the architect behind the technical structure of the vertical search engine.
In 2007, Liu Jianguo, the first CTO of Baidu, founded Aibang.com. Wang Sifeng left NetEase and joined Aibang.com as the technical head. Later, Wang Sifeng left Aibang.com to start his own ventures, working in online tourism, online education, and other industries. In mid-2021, he joined Alading as a founding partner and CTO, and recently transitioned to the role of president, overseeing the company’s operations.
Throughout his journey, Wang Sifeng has remained in the internet industry. Although his roles have varied at different stages, he has never strayed far from technology, always working in product and technology development. His years of experience have taught him that the internet is merely a foundational infrastructure, and its true value comes when it is applied to specific industries, which is why his entrepreneurial efforts have focused on applying internet technology to education and tourism.
Wang Sifeng refers to himself as a "coder." Since he worked part-time as a software developer during his university years, he had early exposure to databases and became familiar with SQL Server, DB2, and other databases. Later, while at NetEase, he worked on search engine research, and his entrepreneurial ventures in the internet field led him to gain deep knowledge in big data and distributed technologies like MapReduce and HBase. He was one of the code contributors to Nutch, the predecessor to Hadoop.
With such a solid technical background and entrepreneurial experience, Wang Sifeng's transition to CTO at Alading was smooth. Not long ago, he became the president of Alading, overseeing the company's overall operations.
Database Migration Under the Context of "Xinchuan" (Domestic Innovation)
Founded in 2015, Alading is a software company that primarily provides HR SaaS software systems. In addition to human resources systems, Alading also offers SaaS services for cost control and flexible staffing. Although Wang Sifeng joined Alading only last year, he had a close relationship with the company for a long time and had provided substantial support and assistance in its development.
Alading’s databases primarily include MySQL for supporting business operations, as well as MongoDB for log and data processing. To ensure a high-quality user experience, Alading has a system availability requirement of 99.99%, which means that the availability and stability of its databases are held to very high standards.
Wang Sifeng explained that Alading has strong technical capabilities and can handle most issues internally. The use of MySQL has been relatively smooth, without significant challenges. However, the demand for migrating from MySQL mainly came from compliance requirements for banking partnerships, and it was also a precautionary measure to prepare for the company’s future growth.
"Due to collaborations with several banks, they had some technical upgrade needs in terms of their databases, and we needed to integrate with their business operations," he said.
Against this backdrop, Alading began evaluating database products to replace MySQL.
After two weeks of testing, OceanBase was quickly chosen. Wang Sifeng shared that in the migration tests, OceanBase performed excellently with almost no issues. Alading had originally used the MySQL version of RDS, but now with the cloud version of OceanBase, the compatibility was great, and the switch was completed effortlessly.
Persistence Brings Rewards
Looking back at his journey, Wang Sifeng believes that his success today is due to his constant pursuit of doing what he loves. Because he loves it, he was willing to invest his time and effort and continuously push himself to improve. If he had treated it as just a job, he likely wouldn’t have progressed as quickly.
"This is what they mean by 'Where there’s persistence, there’s reward.' As long as your belief remains strong, there will be a day when it pays off. The rest is up to fate," he said.
He believes that luck is crucial, and that its importance even surpasses choice and hard work. But compared to the unpredictable nature of luck and choices, effort is something we can truly control. "When luck isn’t on your side, and there are no choices to be made, all we can do is work hard," he explained.
It’s worth mentioning that Wang Sifeng doesn’t simply work hard. He is very clear about what he wants and adjusts himself according to the trends of the times. In fact, Wang Sifeng has consistently adjusted his career direction. While his graduate studies were focused on information security, his later work had little to do with security. His first job was in search engine development, and his entrepreneurial ventures had little to do with search engines.
In Wang Sifeng’s view, each adjustment was made in response to changes in the industry and his own goals. As he grew personally, he set new requirements for himself at different stages, which required constant adjustment of his direction and continuous learning.
Advice for DBAs
Wang Sifeng suggests that to be a successful DBA, one must not only master database operations but also understand development and extend into business areas. That is the basic qualification of a competent DBA. On top of that, one must truly understand the underlying principles of the database to become an excellent DBA.
Wang Sifeng believes that modern professionals need a "T-shaped skillset," meaning they should have both deep expertise and broad thinking. They should be able to focus and invest in a specific area while remaining open to the outside world. They should be capable of thinking deeply about problems’ root causes and designing integrated solutions from a system perspective. "The requirements for a π-shaped skillset are too high, while a T-shaped skillset is relatively easier to achieve," Wang Sifeng said.
For DBAs, understanding the underlying principles of databases represents depth, while extending into development and business fields represents breadth. A DBA should develop their abilities according to this requirement.
"A DBA with a T-shaped skillset has truly mastered the essential foundation for success," Wang Sifeng concluded.
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