Alibaba and Jack Ma’s big success

“We had no money, didn’t know technology well, and even didn’t have a plan.” If this sounds like an excuse for a failure, you are wrong. This is the key to success of Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba Group and the richest man in China this year, according to a report of Bloomberg. He meant that he did not waste money because he had no money, he listened carefully to top talents because he did not know technology, and he was able to adapt to changes because he had no plan.

Global financial markets are stirred by the upcoming Alibaba initial offering on Friday (local time). People are interested in whether the public offering of the company with high growth potential would set a new record initial offering price. After being listed, its market capitalization is expected to be around 168 billion U.S. dollars. Jack Ma, a former English teacher, did not have a good background or qualification. He was born to a poor family and managed to get into a college in Hangzhou in his third attempt thanks to the lack of applicants. He applied to companies more than 30 times only to fail.

Ma set up a translation company first and experienced the internet during his business trip to Seattle in 1999. It was the moment that he instantly felt the potential of the Internet, which will change the world. He borrowed 20,000 yuan from his friends and set up a small e-commerce business in the same year. He named the company “Alibaba” because he liked the positive vision in the words “open sesame!” In just 15 years, he has grown a small venture company into a global IT giant that can compete with Google and Amazon. As a leader leading the world’s future, Ma says that his corporate philosophy is not making money but creating jobs so that he can give hopes to society.

Ma encourages people to find opportunities rather than complaining about the unfair reality. He says to young people, “Giving up is the biggest failure.” Hopefully, his advice could encourage young Korean people who are starting up a company rather than seeking a job. “Today is cruel. Tomorrow is crueler. And the day after tomorrow is beautiful," Ma says.