Almost everyone can succeed

Jack Ma grew up in Hangzhou, China where, after his university studies, he applied and was fired from 30 jobs before becoming an English teacher. Then, after being introduced to the Internet during a trip to the United States in 1995, he then founded the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba without any technical or commercial skills, he said. Today, Ma is worth $ 35 billion and the company he founded has a market capitalization of over $ 396 billion.

"I think everyone can succeed if you make big efforts," Ma said at the Viva Tech conference in Paris in May.

He thinks that because he has lived it. Ma founded Alibaba in her apartment in 1999, without money and with a small team that used her oppressed status as motivation.

"[O]One of the things we wanted to prove: if Jack Ma and his team can succeed, 80% of the world's inhabitants can do it … "

Here are three keys to Ma's success for companies that do not require any special knowledge, money or relationships.

"If everyone agrees, then there is no opportunity," Ma said in Paris.

"If people criticize you, you have to think, and I spent most of my time thinking about the future, I spent most of the time listening to complaints because people like me , we do not have money, we do not have technology, we do not have a strong relationship, the only thing we compete with others is our vision of the future. "

Seeing a future could not give Ma a competitive edge when he started Alibaba. When he was first introduced to the Internet during a trip to Seattle in 1995, he searched for the term "China." There was "no data on China," Ma told Charlie Rose in 2015.

"So I spoke to my friend: Why not do something about China?" So we created a very ugly little page called "China," Ma said to Rose. This is the genesis of the creation of Alibaba, which began as an "electronic information market," Ma said.

"If I believe the future as this way and these people this Of course, we are different. And when we believe that it's the future, we start doing it. "

"When everyone believes it, you have no chance.When few people believe it, you believe it, you prove it, it's your chance," Ma said in Paris.

Ma was rejected in his life.

"I have failed twice in the key test of elementary school and three times for college," Ma said to Rose. "I applied for Harvard – 10 times rejected," Ma said to Rose. But eventually, Ma attended the Hangzhou Teacher's Institute and graduated with a major in English language education.

Ma was also fired for a job at Kentucky Fried Chicken (24 people applied and everything except Ma was hired), as a policeman and for a waiter position in a four-star hotel in Hangzhou (her cousin got the job ).

Even after launching Alibaba, he faced a rejection. In 2001, Ma attempted to raise $ 5 million of venture capital funds from US investors and was rejected. But Ma persisted and in 2005, Yahoo acquired a majority stake in Alibaba. In 2014, Alibaba issued an initial public offering of $ 25 billion.

The key, says Ma, is not to let the rejection hold you back for long.

"Of course, you are not happy when people say no." Sleep well, wake up, try again, "Ma said in Paris.

Ma told Charlie Rose that he had inspired Forrest Gump in this regard: "I love Forrest Gump," said Ma. "Simple – never give up."

"I do not know anything about technology, I do not know anything about marketing, I do not know anything about [the legal] stuff, "said Ma in Paris. I only know people. "

So Ma used that. He had learned to inspire and empower people in his first job, when he was an English teacher, and he translated that by motivating and encouraging his team.

It should be noted that Ma focused his energy on the people that he served and who were building his business, the foundation of his business. He is not too concerned about keeping investors happy, noting that these can be fickle – "when you have problems, they run so fast".

"Spend time on your customers, spend time with your employees, your own team," said Ma. "Do not waste time with your investors – do not waste time with your competitors. you want to serve.When you look at the people you work with together, they are happy, you will win.It's very simple. "

See also:

Alibaba, Billionaire, Jack Ma: I do not know anything about technology or marketing – that's the secret of my success

Alibaba's founder, Jack Ma, declares that overtime is a "great blessing"

The majority of billionaires in the world are self-made

Alibaba group president, Jack Ma, at the China Global Philanthropy Institute and the joint education initiative for philanthropy at the Diaoyutai State Guest House on November 12, 2015 in Beijing, China.

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