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.'
Interpretation
Initial struggles can lead to eventual success, and support can come from unexpected places.
This quote by Jack Ma reflects on the challenges he faced in the early days of his entrepreneurial journey, where he struggled to generate revenue for his business. It emphasizes the importance of perseverance in the face of adversity and highlights the kindness and support from customers who believed in him, illustrating that success can come from community and goodwill.
In practice
In a motivational speech about overcoming hardships in business.
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.
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.
A leader should have higher endurance and ability to accept and embrace failure.
I discovered a long time ago that if I focus on doing the right thing for the long term to improve the lives of consumers and customers all over the world, the business results will come.
The safest way to get what you want is to deserve what you want.
You can often measure a person by the size of his dream.
Like me or not, I am the only one who has won the world's three most important leagues. So, maybe instead of the 'Special One', people should start calling me the 'Only One'.
If you hate to lose, you do whatever you need to do to make sure you're business is successful.
It never entered my father's mind nor my mind ever to do a job other than at one's best ability.
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