Imagine you are born in China in 1964 in the midst of the cultural revolution. Despite every thing in your society and environment leading you to believe ambition is evil. Eventually, you interact with foreign tourists to improve your english and even go on to teach the subject at monthly income of just $12.
Imagine growing up in communist China, facing rejections right from primary school. Imagine 23 out of 24 applicants selected for a job at KFC and you are the only one rejected. The same fate awaits you in police trials. Imagine facing this till the age of 31.
This is the life of Jack Ma, the Founder of Alibaba Group and the sixth wealthiest person in China with a net worth of $30.1 billion.
Inspired by a visit to the US in 1995, he ventured into website development at a time when computers were scarce in China. This at the age of 31, after a life full of failures.
He had the vision to build something huge despite life throwing everything against him. His infectious energy inspired 17 friends to join him in this journey. He started Alibaba out of his apartment.
Jack Ma was no coder or programmer. But he was a leader, the best as it turned out. He became the driving force behind one of the world’s largest e-commerce networks, second only to WalMart.
In his own words, “I’m not good at technology.”
However, Jack Ma made up for this with an uncanny entrepreneurial intuition. He faced a lot of skepticism from both within his company and investors in 2003 when he launched Taobao. This was at a time when Alibaba was yet to turn a profit, and securing funding from VC’s was increasingly challenging.
His intuition proved to be spot on. By 2007 Taobao had become the largest online shopping platform in China, even outperforming eBay. So much so that eBay had to withdraw from the Chinese market
Alipay was another one of his intuitions gone right with it becoming the world’s largest internet payment service beating out PayPal.
Jack Ma turns 60 today. His life is proof that anyone can become successful if they work hard and build their skills. Formal education isn’t the only route to triumph. Persistence, adaptability, and spirit are more important.
Happy birthday Jack Ma! Have a good one
