Alibaba.com founder
Jack Ma(left), Baidu.com founder Robin Li(right)
Only those who will
risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. — T.S. Eliot
Success secrets: Innovation, Integrity, Vision, Service to others
One of the reasons I
recently accepted an invitation to attend an international conference of young
ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs in Beijing was the organizers, led by the
efficient staff of Minister Qiu Yuanping, arranged a side trip to beautiful,
historic Hangzhou City to visit the Alibaba e-commerce business founded by
legendary and charismatic self-made billionaire Jack Ma.
Lifestyle Feature (
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I flew from Beijing
to Hangzhou City to visit Alibaba headquarters on May 30, because I admire its
48-year-old visionary founder, former teacher Ma, who has an estimated net
worth of US$3.4 billion despite his firm not yet being publicly listed.
Another self-made
Internet billionaire I admire is the innovative 44-year-old Baidu.com founder
Robin Li, who has a net worth of US$10.2 billion. Baidu is the Google of China.
The name Baidu comes from an 800-year-old Chinese poem depicting one man’s
passionate search for his lover from among a festive crowd.
In their March cover
story, London-based Economist magazine predicted that Alibaba would
possibly become the world’s most valuable company. Bloomberg News predicted
that its planned Initial Public Offering or IPO might be worth at least US$100
billion. On June 7, Reuters reported: “Citigroup Inc. CEO Michael Corbat was
recently in China to meet Alibaba executives” also to discuss the possible mega
IPO.
Jack Ma is
successful because he and his companies exemplify innovation, integrity, vision
and service to others (mainly millions of Chinese small- and medium-scale
entrepreneurs, many of whom became exporters to the world).
Before arriving at
Alibaba corporate headquarters, my tour guide told me that Ma is an icon looked
up to in China not only for success but also for his idealism. She recounted
that when he relinquished his post as CEO in May to younger officials, Hangzhou
TV came out with a report showing that years ago, when Ma was still a teacher
riding a bicycle, the TV station had fake thieves steal sewer caps in the
streets to see how busy city folks would react. As in most cities of the world,
most people didn’t bother with the thieves except for Ma, who was videotaped as
he stopped his bike to angrily reprimand the thieves. That old TV footage shown
last month in Hangzhou showcased Ma’s unique personality as a man with a strong
social conscience and fervent idealism.
Failed in college
applications, exams, or a business?
Jack Ma told
America’s Inc. magazine his secrets to entrepreneurial success, which
could apply to all of us business people or professionals: “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.”
Like the legendary
Albert Einstein, Ma initially failed his college entrance exam but he never
gave up and persevered to even become a student leader. He recalled: “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.”
After college, Ma
became only one of 500 students assigned to teach at a university and his
monthly salary was 100 to 120 renminbi, or about $12 to $15 per month. He
dreamt of working in a hotel or any business. With Deng Xiaoping’s bold
economic reforms changing China’s business environment, he applied for many
jobs, but was rejected everywhere. He recalled one particular job he was
seeking: “I was turned down for secretary to the general manager of a Kentucky
Fried Chicken.”
Then, Ma worked as
an interpreter for a Chinese delegation visiting Seattle, USA, in 1995, and it
was there that the former teacher saw the Internet for the first time. He and
his friend searched for the word “beer” on Yahoo! and they realized there was
no information about China. They then decided to launch a Chinese website. He
got a loan for US$2,000 to start a firm, with no knowledge beforehand about
e-mails, computers and without even having touched a keyboard! He described his
bold venture as “a blind man riding on the back of a blind tiger.”
After a joint
venture with China Telecom didn’t turn out well for him, Ma still dreamt of his
own e-commerce business and invited 18 people to his apartment, where he spoke
about his vision for two hours. They invested $60,000, he started Alibaba and
the rest is history.
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