Quotes by Jack Ma - Page 4

No matter what your current condition, how or where you grew up, or what education or training you feel you lack, you can be successful in your chosen endeavor. It is spirit, fortitude, and hardiness that matter more than where you start.
Jack Ma / Entrepreneur
Resilience
Successful
Training
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I wanted to have a global company, so I chose a global name. Alibaba is easy to spell, and people everywhere associate that with "Open, Sesame," the command that Ali Baba used to open doors to hidden treasures in One Thousand and One Nights.
Jack Ma / Entrepreneur
Doors
Names
Night
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Hong Kong people say Hong Kong needs to preserve its uniqueness. I say Hong Kong's uniqueness is in its diversity, its tolerance of difference cultures... China does not want to see Hong Kong in decline. I have full confidence in its future.
Jack Ma / Entrepreneur
Confidence
China
Decline
Hong Kong
Needs
Tolerance
Uniqueness
Full
Cultures
Difference
People Say
Preserve
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Intelligent people need a fool to lead them. When the team's all a bunch of scientists, it is best to have a peasant lead the way. His way of thinking is different. It's easier to win if you have people seeing things from different perspectives.
Jack Ma / Entrepreneur
Intelligent
Memorable
Team
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The big businesses are less willing to take risks. I talked to some young people in Hong Kong, and they said they are lost. Young people indeed have fewer opportunities than before. But is it true that there are no more opportunities for them? No!
Jack Ma / Entrepreneur
Fewer
Hong Kong
Indeed
Talked
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The most important thing is to make the technology inclusive - make the world change. Next, pay attention to those people who are 30 years old, because those are the internet generation. They will change the world; they are the builders of the world.
Jack Ma / Entrepreneur
Technology
Attention
Internet
Pay
Pay Attention
Change Technology World
Builders
Change The World
Inclusive
Generation
Important Thing
Most Important Thing
The Most Important
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I think globalization is a great thing. And now a lot of people complain about globalization; a lot of people don't like, you know, the globalize of the concept, the idea of the results. I think the globalization is a great idea and to create a lot of jobs.
Jack Ma / Entrepreneur
Jobs
Globalization
Great Idea
Results
Great People Know
Complain
Concept
Great Thing
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If we work so hard and put all the money in the hospital to buy medicine - it will be a disaster. Why we should work? So without a healthy environment of this Earth, no matter how much money you make, no matter how wonderful you are, you have a bad disaster.
Jack Ma / Entrepreneur
Disaster
Earth
Environment
Healthy
Healthy Environment
Medicine
Wonderful
Work Money Will
Buy
Hospital
How Much
How Much Money
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I think young generation is always better than last generation. No matter you like it or don't like it. My father said, 'Jack, I'm so good, you'll never be' - but I'm better than him. My father is better than my grandfather. My children will be better than us.
Jack Ma / Entrepreneur
Grandfather
Generation
Jack
Last
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The lessons I learned from the dark days at Alibaba are that you've got to make your team have value, innovation, and vision. Also, if you don't give up, you still have a chance. And, when you are small, you have to be very focused and rely on your brain, not your strength.
Jack Ma / Entrepreneur
Chance
Brain
Dark
Focused
Innovation
Lessons
Rely
Team
Vision
Days
Small
Learned
Value
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Asia is changing, and China is changing. The 'Post' will have great opportunities. With its access to Alibaba's resources, data, and all the relationships in our ecosystem, the 'Post' can report on Asia and China more accurately compared with other media that have no such access.
Jack Ma / Entrepreneur
Access
Asia
China
Data
Media
Resources
Report
Changing
Compared
Ecosystem
Opportunities
Post
Relationships
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My dream was to set up my own e-commerce company. In 1999, I gathered 18 people in my apartment and spoke to them for two hours about my vision. Everyone put their money on the table, and that got us $60,000 to start Alibaba. I wanted to have a global company, so I chose a global name.
Jack Ma / Entrepreneur
Dream
Apartment
Company
Hours
My Own
Names
Two
Vision
Wanted
Money Start People
Chose
Set
Gathered
Global
Spoke
Start
Table
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We want to help U.S. entrepreneurs, small business owners, and brands and companies of all sizes sell their goods to the growing Chinese consumer class. Chinese consumers will get to buy the American products they want. This, in turn, will help create American jobs and increase U.S. exports.
Jack Ma / Entrepreneur
American Jobs
Brands
Business Owners
Chinese
Goods
Increase
Owners
Products
Small Business
Small Business Owners
Companies
Consumer
Entrepreneurs
Sell
Exports
Sizes
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I'm humble 'cause I think many years ago people say, 'Well, Alibaba's terrible company'. And I know we were not that terrible. We're pretty good; we're better than people thought. But today, when people have a high expectation on you, and I start to worry and nervous because we are not good yet.
Jack Ma / Entrepreneur
Company
Humble
Nervous
Terrible
Today
Worry
Years
Years Ago
Pretty
Cause
High
Expectation
Well
People Say
Pretty Good
Start
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Our philosophy is that we want to be an ecosystem. Our philosophy is to empower others to sell, empower others to service, making sure the other people are more powerful than us. With our technology, our innovation, our partners - 10 million small business sellers - they can compete with Microsoft and IBM.
Jack Ma / Entrepreneur
Business
Technology
Ibm
Innovation
Microsoft
Partners
Philosophy
Powerful
Sellers
Small Business
Business Service People
Sure
Business Technology People
Compete
Ecosystem
Empower
Sell
Small
Making
Million
Service
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I flunked my exam for university two times before I was accepted by what was considered my city's worst university, Hangzhou Teachers University. I was studying to be a high school English teacher. In my university, I was elected student chairman and later became chairman of the city's Students Federation.
Jack Ma / Entrepreneur
Teacher
Accepted
Chairman
Cities
English Teacher
Exam
Federation
High School
School
University
Worst
Teachers
Considered
Became
English
City
Student
Elected
Flunked
Later
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I believe always you should have a philanthropic heart inside but business way. Because you have to get things done. That is what scientists tell us how to do properly. Business should tell us how to get things done efficiently. And government should have the good environment and the foundations of researching.
Jack Ma / Entrepreneur
Environment
Philanthropic
Inside
Good Business Government
Efficiently
Foundations
Business Good Government
Properly
Researching
Scientists
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Trust the young people; trust this generation's innovation. They're making things, changing innovation every day. And all the consumers are the same: they want new things, they want cheap things, they want good things, they want unique things. If we can create these kind of things for consumers, they will come.
Jack Ma / Entrepreneur
Trust
Consumers
Good Things
Innovation
New Things
Unique
Young
Come
Good Day People
Trust Good People
Same
Changing
Create
Day
Every Day
Generation
Making
Young People
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What starting your company means: you will lose your stable income, your right to apply for a leave of absence, and your right to get a bonus. However, it also means your income will no longer be limited, you will use your time more effectively, and you will no longer need to beg for favours from people anymore.
Jack Ma / Entrepreneur
Leadership
Business
Mean
People
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If you do not know where your competitor is, or overconfident and snobbish about your competitor, or are unable to comprehend how yourcompetitor became a real threat, you will surely fall behind him. Don't be the "they" in this idiom: First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
Jack Ma / Entrepreneur
Leadership
Business
Real
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On privacy issues, it's just like hundreds of years ago when people said, 'I would rather put my money under my pillow than in a bank.' But today, banks know how to protect money much better than you do. Today, we may not have the answers to privacy issues, but I believe our young people will come up with the solutions.
Jack Ma / Entrepreneur
Answers
Issues
Pillow
Privacy
Protect
Solutions
Years Ago
Bank
Banks
Hundreds
Hundreds Of Years
Young People
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There's an examination for young people to go to university. I failed it three times. I failed a lot. So I applied to 30 different jobs and got rejected. I went for a job with the police; they said, 'You're no good.' I even went to KFC when it came to my city. Twenty-four people went for the job. Twenty-three were accepted.
Jack Ma / Entrepreneur
Jobs
Accepted
Examination
Police
Rejected
University
Good City People
Applied
City
Good Police People
Failed
Twenty-Four
Young People
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I got my story, my dream, from America. The hero I had is Forrest Gump... I like that guy. I've been watching that movie about 10 times. Every time I get frustrated, I watch the movie. I watched the movie before I came here again to New York. I watched the movie again telling me that no matter whatever changed, you are you.
Jack Ma / Entrepreneur
Dream
Movie
New York
America
Changed
Frustrated
Guy
Hero
Matter
Time Me New
Again
Time Hero Me
Came
Watch
Times
Every Time
Whatever
Story
Telling
York
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I don't think I'm a workaholic. Every weekend, I invite my colleagues and friends to my home to play cards. And people, my neighbors, are always surprised because I live on the second floor apartment, and there are usually 40 pairs of shoes in front of my gate, and people play cards inside and play chess. We have a lot of fun.
Jack Ma / Entrepreneur
Cards
Chess
Colleagues
Pairs
Floor
Gate
Invite
Neighbors
Surprised
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When we first started our internet company, 'China Pages', in 1995, and we were just making home pages for a lot of Chinese companies. We went to the big owners, the big companies, and they didn't want to do it. We go to state-owned companies, and they didn't want to do it. Only the small and medium companies really want to do it.
Jack Ma / Entrepreneur
Big Companies
Chinese
Owners
Pages
Medium
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What a publication can do is to help people get a clearer picture without jumping to any rash conclusion. I'm very happy that the 'Post' can take the responsibility to report on China in a broader and deeper way. I believe the 'Post' must be fair to our readers. We should let our readers see China from more angles and perspectives.
Jack Ma / Entrepreneur
Conclusion
Deeper
Jumping
Publication
Angles
Believe Responsibility People
Report
Broader
Believe I Believe Responsibility
Clearer
Help People
Perspectives
Post
Rash
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The more I come to know about the outside world's perception of China, the more I feel there are all sorts of misunderstandings, and to a certain extent, people do not get the full picture from the media. A lot of foreigners have few opportunities to visit China, and a lot of Chinese people do not have the chance to go to Europe or to the West.
Jack Ma / Entrepreneur
Chance
Certain
China
Europe
Foreigners
Media
Perception
West
World People Feel
Picture
Chance World People
Certain Extent
Chinese People
Full
Extent
Few
Misunderstandings
Opportunities
Outside
Visit
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In the beginning I just wanted to survive. For the first three years, we made zero revenue. I remember many times when I was trying to pay up, the restaurant owner would say, 'Your bill was paid.' And there would be a note saying, 'Mr. Ma, I'm your customer on the Alibaba platform. I made a lot of money, and I know you don't, so I paid the bill.'
Jack Ma / Entrepreneur
Zero
Paid
Pay
Remember
Revenue
Three
Beginning
Bill
Mr
Customer
Owner
In The Beginning
Ma
Note
Platform
Restaurant
Saying
Survive
To Survive
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I call Alibaba '1,001 mistakes.' We expanded too fast, and then in the dot-com bubble, we had to have layoffs. By 2002, we had only enough cash to survive for 18 months. We had a lot of free members using our site, and we didn't know how we'd make money. So we developed a product for China exporters to meet U.S. buyers online. This model saved us.
Jack Ma / Entrepreneur
Money
Buyers
Cash
China
Enough
Members
Months
Online
Saved
Site
Us
Lot
Then
Had
Free
Mistakes
Make
Bubble
Call
Too
Developed
Our
How
Dot-Com
Fast
Model
Layoffs
Meet
Product
Survive
To Survive
Using
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I always tell myself that we are born here not to work, but to enjoy life. We are here to make things better for one another, and not to work. If you are spending your whole life working, you will certainly regret it. No matter how successful you are in your career, you must always remember that we are here to live. If you keep yourself busy working, you will surely regret it.
Jack Ma / Entrepreneur
Careers
Regret
Successful
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A lot of people complain about yesterday. We have no power to change yesterday. But this very day, 30 years later, is what we can control and decide. Change yourself, take baby steps, and stay determined for ten years. I thank the times of change and everyone’s complaints. Because when everyone is complaining, that is your chance, an opportunity. It’s only in times of change that someone can be clear of what he has and wants, and what he needs to give up.
Jack Ma / Entrepreneur
Opportunity
Baby
Giving Up
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Jack Ma Quotes - Page 4

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