How I Overcame Failure | Jack Ma | 馬雲/马云
Summary
TLDRThe speaker recounts their journey of perseverance, from failing university admissions and job applications to founding Alibaba. Despite initial skepticism and financial struggles, they remained optimistic and focused on solving others' problems. The speaker emphasizes the importance of hard work, believing in one's vision, and the power of dreams. They advise young people to be proactive, innovative, and to serve others for mutual success.
Takeaways
- 📚 Persistence in Education: The speaker emphasizes the importance of perseverance, having failed to get into university and being rejected multiple times.
- 🏫 Lower Expectations: They attended a less prestigious teacher's college after being rejected by top universities.
- 🙅♂️ Job Rejections: The speaker faced numerous job rejections, highlighting the difficulty of finding employment and the resulting frustration.
- 🌐 Early Internet Vision: In 1994, the speaker decided to pursue the internet, a concept that was met with skepticism and opposition from peers.
- 💡 Belief in a Crazy Idea: Despite being told it was a stupid idea, the speaker believed in the potential of the internet and was determined to prove its value.
- 💸 Financial Struggles: The speaker faced financial challenges, including difficulty borrowing money and securing investment for their vision.
- 🤝 Bootstrapping Success: With $50,000 from 18 founders, they started a business that initially had no revenue, showing the importance of self-funding and bootstrapping.
- 💌 Customer Validation: The speaker found motivation in customer feedback and gratitude, which helped sustain their belief in their business despite no immediate financial gain.
- 🚀 Building an Ecosystem: Over time, they built a business ecosystem, including Alibaba, Tmall, Taobao, and Alipay, demonstrating the power of vision and hard work.
- 🤔 Optimism and Problem Solving: The speaker attributes success to an optimistic outlook and a focus on solving others' problems, rather than complaining about one's own.
- 👨💼 Entrepreneurial Mindset: The speaker encourages entrepreneurial thinking, which involves taking action, being proactive, and being willing to make mistakes.
- 🌟 Pursue Your Dreams: The speaker advises not to worry about money but to follow dreams, as success and happiness come from helping others succeed and being true to one's vision.
Q & A
How many times did the speaker attempt to get into university?
-The speaker attempted to get into university three times but failed.
What was the speaker's experience with applying to Harvard?
-The speaker applied to Harvard ten times but was rejected each time.
What was the educational institution the speaker finally attended?
-The speaker attended a teacher's college that was considered third or fourth class in their city.
How many job applications did the speaker apply for before getting rejected?
-The speaker applied for jobs 30 times and was rejected each time.
What was the speaker's monthly pay as a university teacher?
-The speaker's monthly pay as a university teacher was ten dollars.
In what year did the speaker decide to work on something called the internet?
-The speaker decided to work on something called the internet in 1994.
How many people were against the speaker's idea of working on the internet?
-Twenty-three out of the speaker's peers were against the idea of working on the internet.
What was the initial reaction of venture capitalists to the speaker's business idea?
-Over 30 or 40 venture capitalists rejected the speaker's business idea.
How much money did the speaker and the 18 founders gather to start their business?
-The speaker and the 18 founders gathered 50,000 US dollars to start their business.
How long did it take for the speaker's business to generate revenue?
-For the first three years, the speaker's business did not generate any revenue.
What was the speaker's approach to handling customer feedback when they couldn't pay?
-The speaker used customer feedback and their expressions of gratitude as motivation to continue working on their business.
What advice does the speaker give to young people regarding opportunities?
-The speaker advises young people to be optimistic, not to complain, and to look for opportunities where others complain.
What habits did the speaker develop to improve their English and think differently?
-The speaker developed the habit of waking up early to practice English with foreign visitors and encouraged using one's own brain to think.
What is the speaker's perspective on the relationship between money and dreams?
-The speaker believes that people should follow their dreams, not money, and that money will follow those who are successful and happy.
Outlines
🚀 Entrepreneurial Journey and Resilience
The speaker reflects on their challenging early life, including multiple failures in university admissions and job applications. Despite being rejected by Harvard and facing skepticism about the internet, they persisted. They recount the founding of Alibaba with a small team and initial lack of revenue, emphasizing the importance of customer feedback and belief in their vision. The speaker highlights the value of optimism, problem-solving, and the power of youth, encouraging listeners to be different, take action, and believe in their dreams.
💡 Success Through Helping Others and Following Dreams
In this paragraph, the speaker stresses the importance of focusing on the success and happiness of others as a path to one's own success and happiness. They advise not to worry about money, but to follow dreams instead. The speaker encourages listeners to take initiative, be brave, and think independently. They share a personal anecdote about practicing English with foreign visitors to broaden their perspective. The message is to embrace new opportunities, make moves, and take action regardless of others' beliefs, as long as you and your team believe in the vision.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Persistence
💡Opportunity
💡Entrepreneurship
💡Rejection
💡Belief
💡Optimism
💡Innovation
💡Failure
💡Dreams
💡Hard Work
💡Ecosystem
Highlights
The speaker did not have a rich father and faced multiple failures in university admissions and job applications.
Applied to Harvard ten times but was rejected each time.
Chose to attend a lower-tier teacher's college as a last resort.
Earned only ten dollars a month teaching at the university due to lack of better job opportunities.
In 1994, the speaker decided to venture into the unknown territory of the internet, facing skepticism from others.
Failed to secure a loan of 3,000 U.S. dollars from banks and faced rejection from over 30 venture capitalists.
Believed in the potential of Alibaba despite others considering the business model terrible.
Started Alibaba with 50,000 U.S. dollars from 18 founders, with no revenue for the first three years.
Received emails of thanks from customers, which motivated the speaker to continue despite no immediate financial success.
After 16 years, Alibaba Group, Tmall Group, Taobao Group, and Alipay were established.
Success came from being optimistic about the future, not complaining, and solving others' problems.
Opportunity lies where people complain; the speaker encourages thinking about how to make things different.
The speaker emphasizes the importance of being more entrepreneurial and brave than others.
Mentioned waking up early to practice English with foreign visitors to gain different perspectives.
Encourages using one's own brain to think independently.
Advises not to worry about money, but to follow dreams, as money follows people.
The speaker concludes by urging to take action on dreams and to work for the success and happiness of others.
Transcripts
i didn't have a rich father
i tried it three times for university
all failed
i applied for harvard for 10 times all
failed they don't want to see me
for the last time i went to the
teacher's college
which was considered the third or fourth
class
of my city so i applied jobs
for 30 times got rejected
it was so difficult at that time i was
so frustrated
because i taught in the university my
pay was ten dollars a month
because i could not find a good job in
1994 discuss that i'm going to do
something called internet and 23 of them
against it they say this is a stupid
idea
we have never heard about internet and
you know nothing about computer
and i never thought i was smart
nobody believed that i could be
successful because everybody say well
this guy
think differently thinker crazily you
know they think about something never
work
[Music]
i tried to borrow 3 000 u.s dollars from
the banks
took me three months but i still cannot
get it
we talked to over 30 or 40 venture
capitalists
everybody said no forget it a lot of
people said alibaba is a terrible model
as i said i believe it i think this
thing could be big
if we keep on working i never thought it
would be
that big like today but i believe that
something
something is waiting for me there and i
have to work
hard to prove myself that was the tough
experience
so we gathered 50 000 us dollars from 18
founders
we started for the first three years we
do not have
even one dollar revenue from our
business
what's not easy you don't make any money
you've got extraordinary claims and yet
you make
nothing that's internet yes but what's
the point
are you a millionaire no no do you want
to be
fun well i think i hope
but why it keeps on going ahead
going forward because i received
lots of email of thanks from the
customer they say
this is such a great thing we cannot pay
you
but this thing helped us if you keep on
helping us
one day you will be successful and i
believe this
little by little we build up our
business little by little we build up
our ecosystem
of the infrastructure and now after 16
years
we have an alibaba group we have a tmall
group we have a taobao group we have
alipay and people that you are so smart
how could you make a company like that
[Music]
bill gates warren buffet the jack welch
larry page mark zuckerberg the
difference between those people and
other people
they are always optimistic for the
future
they never complain they always try to
solve
the problems of the others when you're
optimistic
it's always opportunity people same here
today
jeff where is the opportunity i don't
have a job i don't have this i don't
have a debt
the best assets you have is that you
are young don't complain let the other
people complain
the opportunity always lies where people
complain
think about how you can make things
different
and then when you think about this start
to do it i saw a lot of people
young people have fantastic ideas every
evening but in the morning they go to
the office same again
if you really want to be entrepreneurial
you have to do the things
before the other people do you have to
wake up before the other people wake up
you have to be more brave than the
others
when i was young i went to hangzhou west
lake
there's a hotel many foreign visitors
visit there
and i went there every morning five
o'clock to practice my english
the foreign visitors come i practice my
english i don't know why at that time
but i found everything
the foreign visitors told me are so
different from the things
my parents told me my teacher told me
and the newspaper i read
so since then i think everything use my
own brain
use your own brain to think to everybody
to any person tomorrow is new
make the move make the action
whether investors believe in this or not
whether your friends believe it or not
whether your parents believe it or not
that's not important
you believe it your team believe it and
work
day and night on this make enough
mistakes
you fall you stand up
if you really want to work for yourself
think about the others
because only when the other people are
successful
when the other people are happy you'll
be successful
you will be happy don't worry about the
money
money follow the people people should
follow the dreams
if you have a dream just to go ahead
[Music]
you
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