A real businessman or entrepreneur has no enemies. Once he understand this, the sky's the limit.
Interpretation
True entrepreneurs see others as collaborators rather than competitors, which opens limitless opportunities.
Jack Ma emphasizes that a successful businessman or entrepreneur recognizes that having no enemies is key to achieving success. By understanding that collaboration and building relationships are more valuable than competition, one is free to explore endless possibilities, thereby reaching new heights in their endeavors.
In practice
During a business conference, one could quote this to inspire fellow entrepreneurs to collaborate rather than compete.
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.
I would prefer to grow with the team inside Nintendo rather than taking anyone from outside. It would be a joy for me if someone who was working with me became a big success.
The giants of the race have been men of concentration, who have struck sledge-hammer blows in one place until they have accomplished their purpose. The successful men of today are men of one overmastering idea, one unwavering aim, men of single and intense purpose.
I expected to be a pretty good NBA point guard and hopefully win a championship. But MVP and all this stuff? Not really.
It has been a long road. From a mountain coolie, a bearer of loads, to a wearer of a coat with rows of medals who is carried about in planes and worries about income tax.
One of the things young people always ask me about is what is the secret to success. The secret is there is no secret. It's the basics. Blocking and tackling.
Most people search high and wide for the key to success. If they only knew, the key to their dreams lies within.
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