If we go to work at 8 a.m. and go home at 5 p.m., this is not a high-tech company and Alibaba will never be successful. If we have that kind of 8-5 spirit, then we should just go and do something else.
Interpretation
Success requires dedication and a break from conventional work hours.
Jack Ma emphasizes that a true high-tech company necessitates more commitment than the traditional 8 to 5 work schedule. This quote reflects the idea that innovation and success demand a relentless pursuit of goals, often requiring flexibility and a willingness to go beyond standard working hours.
In practice
During a motivational speech in a corporate setting.
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.
If we are a good team and know what we want to do, one of us can defeat tons of them.
It's not that other countries steal jobs from you guys. It's your strategy. Distribute the money and things in a proper way.
Helping doing business easier, we choose the name Alibaba because it is a global company. It is founded in China, but it was created for the world.
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.'
Even if your competitor is still small in size or weak, you should take him seriously and treat him as a giant. Likewise, even if your competitor is massive in size, you shouldn't regard yourself as a weakling.
My whole career, I've been an underdog, I've been underestimated. Therefore, I've had a chip on my shoulder my entire career. Being drafted in the second round when you think you're supposed to be in the first round, a lottery pick, the chip grows bigger. And you have more to prove.
I knew I could do it all this time,” said Harry, “Because I'd already done it... does that make sense?
I don't think you can create anything interesting from a comfort zone. You have to work from a place of fear and failure.
Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.
When you reach an obstacle, turn it into an opportunity. You have the choice. You can overcome and be a winner, or you can allow it to overcome you and be a loser. The choice is yours and yours alone. Refuse to throw in the towel. Go that extra mile that failures refuse to travel. It is far better to be exhausted from success than to be rested from failure.
What We want is to make it possible for our unfortunate people to live a life of industry for it is by steady work alone that we hope for our physical and moral rehabilitation. For this reason above all we have undertaken to rally our people around our ideal.
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