Jack Ma: The future has come

Chapter 14 Young people are the future (1)
1. The Chinese dream and the American dream are interlinked
43 years ago, US President Nixon visited my hometown Hangzhou, and many foreign tourists came to Hangzhou.At that time, I happened to be in junior high school, and there were not enough teachers in the school, so our English teacher was a Chinese teacher who was not very authentic.I insist on being a free tour guide for foreign tourists at the entrance of the hotel, so as to learn English by myself. After 9 years, I not only mastered a certain language ability, but also learned some American culture.Thinking about it today, without the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and the United States at that time, and without opening up to the outside world, it is impossible to have the current Alibaba.These two major events that changed my personal destiny are inseparable from the friendly cooperation between China and the United States.

Sleepless in Seattle
After 20 years, I came to Seattle again and spent a "Sleepless Night in Seattle"! Twenty years ago, I was still a teacher, and I came to Seattle for the first time when I came to the United States.In an office building in the city center, I used a computer and surfed the Internet for the first time in my life, but I found that there was almost no information about China on the Internet at that time.While feeling the great charm of the Internet, I also discovered where the market opportunities lie.After returning to China, I borrowed 20 RMB to start a business, and I have persisted until now.

Seattle is where my entrepreneurial dreams started.The Internet inspired me, and after 20 years of persistence in China, our dream has come true.The Chinese talk about the Chinese dream, and the Americans talk about the American dream. In fact, the Chinese dream and the American dream are essentially the pursuit of a better life, a healthier, happier, and happier life.Therefore, I believe that as long as China and the United States can sincerely cooperate to achieve a new type of major-country relationship, the people of China and the United States will have more and better Chinese dreams, American dreams and world dreams.We are all beneficiaries of China-US friendly cooperation.It is precisely because everyone participated in the big market of China's reform and opening up with hope and confidence that we are what we are today.Of course, Chinese and American entrepreneurs are active builders and promoters of Sino-US friendly cooperation. Without the efforts of entrepreneurs, it is hard for us to imagine such a huge achievement between China and the United States today.

Chinese dream, world mind
China and the United States are very different. It is because of both differences and similarities that there is both competition and cooperation.Over the past few decades, successful global companies have always looked for commonalities and learned to appreciate, respect and understand each other's differences.Only in this way can our enterprises win-win cooperation and face the future together.Neither China nor the United States can do without each other. Entrepreneurs should become an important bridge of communication between the two countries, build mutual trust, and reach market consensus. This will be our common future!

It is normal to have misunderstandings due to different cultural backgrounds, different national conditions, and even different religious beliefs.Excellent entrepreneurs understand that communication is the only key to eliminating misunderstandings.As long as we actively communicate and face difficulties together, there are no problems that cannot be explained clearly.

There is no easy day for human beings. Doing business in China is not easy, and doing business in the United States is also not easy.The problems that exist today are the opportunities left for us. It depends on whether we focus on the future or stick to the present.I think it is precisely because the leaders of the two countries had a long-term strategic vision for the future Sino-US relations that today's results can be achieved.I believe that today's problems can only be solved by focusing on tomorrow.

In addition to some misunderstandings in Americans' understanding of China's economy, there is another point that there are cultural differences between China and the United States.Americans believe that there is downward pressure on the Chinese economy, and the Chinese will stop spending.but it is not the truth.Consumer data on the Alibaba platform shows that since 2015, China's consumer confidence has remained strong, with a clear upward trend. Against the background of slowing investment and exports, domestic consumption has not decreased but increased.This is beyond the comprehension of Americans.Americans are good at spending tomorrow's money and other people's money, while Chinese people's sense of crisis is caused by history and culture. We are always spending yesterday's money and the money we have saved.Chinese people like to save money. China has the highest saving rate of residents in the world. Chinese people save money to save money in times of difficulty.Therefore, you will find that when the economy is difficult, the Chinese still have money to spend.

At present, there are nearly 3 million middle-income people in China, and this number will increase to nearly 10 million in the next 15 to 5 years.For this group of people, their income has reached the middle level, but their consumption level is still elementary.There is a huge consumption potential in it.This is not only a huge driving force for China's economic transformation, but also a huge driving force for the world economy.Therefore, while we are talking about the increasing operating pressure of traditional Chinese enterprises today, we should also see that the growth momentum of China's new economy is no less than that of the United States.In just 16 years, the consumption scale of Alibaba's network can be compared with the global scale of Wal-Mart. This is not because our achievements are so great, but it shows China's huge market potential.I believe that the development of China's huge domestic demand market and the rapid development of China's high-tech and emerging industries are exactly the direction of China's economic transformation and upgrading, and they are also the expectations of the world economy for China's economy.The foundation of openness and transparency laid by anti-corruption and the rule of law will make the order of China's market economy more and more standardized.

Editor's note:

On September 2015, 9 local time in the United States, the Sino-US Entrepreneur Symposium co-sponsored by the Paulson Institute and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade kicked off in Seattle. President Xi Jinping attended the meeting and delivered a policy speech.Fifteen CEOs from China and the United States participated in the China-US Entrepreneurs Roundtable.The companies participating in the symposium involved multiple industries. The Chinese side included companies such as Alibaba, Tencent, Lenovo, Bank of China, and Haier Group, and the American side included companies such as Amazon, Cisco, Apple, Boeing, and PepsiCo.When Beijing meets Seattle, it means that the economic development of China and the United States has entered a new pattern.Ma Yun pointed out at the meeting that the Chinese market has huge potential, and Chinese consumption has its own inherent resilience, and the cooperation between Chinese and American entrepreneurs will become an important boost to promote the economic development of China, the United States and even the world.

2. Complain less, insist more

When I started my business, I said I wanted to do the Internet, 23 people opposed it, and only 1 person said you should try it.Because I don't seem to have any qualifications, knowledge or ability, I have never studied management, I don't understand computers, I am not very good at reading... But, I have a dream, and I firmly believe that I can start a business.

no one sees my failure

At that time, there were few things that people thought possible to succeed, and we persisted for 15 years without any resources to support it.The 18 of us pooled 50 yuan, and thought that the 50 yuan would last for 12 months.As a result, we had no money until the eighth month.I went to Silicon Valley with Vice Chairman Tsai Chongxin to raise funds, and we were all rejected by more than 30 venture capital funds.

Dreams and ideals are very different.Everyone has dreams when they are young.Some parents told me that my children change their dreams every three days, thinking about this today and thinking about that tomorrow. I said this is normal and it is better than no dream.But the ideal is different. An ideal is a group of people who work together to do one thing firmly, and have plans, practices, and actions to turn it into reality bit by bit.Entrepreneurship is a group of people.In fact, before Alibaba was established, I had already started my business for four years. I worked in the "China Yellow Pages" for two and a half to three years, and I worked as a temporary worker in the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation for 13 months, all of which failed.However, no one sees these failures of mine.

At that time, I complained about Bill Gates and Larry Ellison (the founder of Oracle Corporation) every day, complaining that they took away the best resources and the best opportunities.At that time, I wanted to make software, and I had a Microsoft; I wanted to make hardware, and I had an IBM; I wanted to be a shopping mall, and I already had a Wal-Mart.

So, we chose to do the Internet.Everyone already knows today that the vast majority of people working on the Internet did not succeed, but Alibaba was lucky to succeed.What I want to share with you is that if you start a business, you should spend more time thinking about why others fail instead of wondering why others succeed.There are many reasons for success, but they are often not reproducible, and failure is precisely what you can not repeat.Three or four years ago, everyone thought that Alibaba was terrible, with a problematic business model, and bad services and products... But now, Alibaba has become a very large company all over the world.When others are not optimistic about us, we must have confidence; when others are optimistic about us, we must also adjust our mentality.

We didn't think we would get to where we are today, and I'm not sure if that success could be replicated if we did it all over again.Everyone only sees our brilliance today, but they don't see when we make mistakes, when we are frustrated, when we have conflicts, when the government "causes trouble", when customers are dissatisfied, when we have no money and cannot pay wages ... The dazzling success is instantaneous, but the price paid, the setbacks and sufferings experienced are very long.

Fortunately, we know how to warm ourselves.What should I do when my salary cannot be paid?What should we do when we can only give our employees 2000 yuan a month and others are willing to pay 5000 yuan?Now I understand that the bigger the business, the more troubles and the greater the responsibility.Entrepreneurs all over the world have a book of hardships. There are big difficulties and small pains, but they must maintain a good attitude.Some people say Jack Ma is very wise.Where does the wisdom come from?Smart people must be unlucky people.All the wise people known by people are people who have experienced great physical and psychological pain!
In the past 15 years, I have thought about giving up 1 times
I have some experiences that I want to share with all young people: first, look at the future with optimism; second, complain less and seriously examine your own problems; third, have perseverance beyond ordinary people.Without these qualities, you won't get very far.

First, be optimistic. It is impossible for people who are not optimistic to start a business.I'm sort of an optimist.Human society will definitely encounter various difficulties in the process of development, but human society is always moving forward!Therefore, during the financial crisis in 2008, I told many colleagues that this is an opportunity.Crises are always there and renewing, but our ability to solve them is also improving!

Second, complain less.When you hear others complaining, you are complaining if you want a chance.Very early on, many people complained that it was difficult for China to export, and they had to go to the Canton Fair if they wanted to export.However, what should I do if I cannot apply for the license qualification of the Canton Fair?Why not build a platform on the Internet so that everyone can trade directly online?Therefore, Alibaba appeared amidst everyone's complaints.The truly successful people must be those who have the courage to change themselves.Do less to change others!

Third, all successful people always check themselves first when they run into trouble and make mistakes.

In the past 15 years, we have thought about giving up 1 times, but when we want to give up, we spend 2 minutes thinking about it, and when we persist, we spend another 2 minutes thinking about it.Thinking all the way like this, persisting, we came over.

Editor's note:

On February 2015, 2, Ma Yun participated in the exchange meeting "A Date with Youth: From Dream to Successful Entrepreneurship" hosted by the United Hong Kong Foundation and delivered a speech.

3. Learn more about how others fail
Alibaba was an extremely small company 15 years ago. We never thought that we could communicate with so many big entrepreneurs today.To be able to go today is because the times have given us opportunities, the country has given us opportunities, society has given us opportunities, and colleagues have given us opportunities.

In June 2010, I came to Taiwan to participate in the Innovation Forum.At that time, the host told me, you see how great we are in Taiwan, and entrepreneurs at such an age are still talking about innovation.It makes me anxious.In my opinion, innovation is something for young people. Although there are a few old entrepreneurs who have done a good job, generally speaking, young people should do better.

I discussed it with Mr. Jin Yong, and I said that in his novels, the older the person, the better the martial arts, which is against the law.We should leave opportunities to young people.If you believe in the future, you should believe in young people.Only when you believe in young people can you truly say: the future is bright.

Whose youth is not confused

In the past 15 years, earth-shaking changes have taken place in China, especially in the economic field. There have been many companies that people have never seen or heard of 15 years ago.Most importantly, these are young businesses founded by young people, especially in the Internet field.Unfortunately, in the past 15 years, there have not been many new enterprises and entrepreneurs in Taiwan.

People say that I am young, but I am not young anymore, I am 50 years old this year.At my age, there are more things to worry about.I never worried about saying the wrong thing before, but now I worry about saying the wrong thing, which proves that I am old.

Many young people today feel hesitant, feeling that there are not enough opportunities.In fact, I have also been confused, and I have also been hesitant.Many people have seen the story of me applying for a job on the Internet.I did apply for over 30 jobs and none of them got accepted.One of them was a fast food company. 25 people applied for the job, and 24 people were accepted. I was the only one who was not accepted.

What brought me to where I am today?Successful people are mostly thinking about their own problems, while losers are always judging others.The young people in Taiwan and the mainland receive much better education now than they did 20 years ago.I told my colleagues that if someone like me applies for a job at Alibaba, they will basically be rejected because my diploma is not enough.Only through the tempering and setbacks of life can the things taught by school education truly become your own knowledge.My education is not good, but I think Hangzhou Normal University is the best university in the world.If I didn't have those [-] times of setbacks and so many years of hesitation, I wouldn't be where I am today.It is normal for young people to hesitate, and it is important to think about what they should do.

Some people say that I look very strange, much like an alien ET.In fact, except that I look like ET, I am the same as ordinary people. 15 years ago, I started a business with 17 young people in my apartment. At that time, our idea was very simple, just to try it out.If all of us can succeed, then 80% of the people in China can succeed.We do not have rich fathers or rich uncles. Up to now, we have not asked the government for a penny, and we have been walking bit by bit by ourselves.

But today, young people say, Ma Yun, you have gone too far, we can't catch up.In fact, 15 years ago, I was like all young people.Now Alibaba’s market value is very high, but many people used to think that our company was unreliable, that our company did not make money, and our ideas were weird.At that time, many people said that our company was bad, but I knew that we were not that bad; today, people say that we are strong, but we are not that strong.When others think you are omnipotent, you are actually very close to danger.

If I say that I am different from others, it is that I observe problems from a different angle and see problems in a different depth than others.Every person and every generation has its own opportunity, it's up to you to take advantage of it.Some people see opportunities as disasters, while others see disasters as opportunities.Unfortunately, the world is full of people who see opportunities as disasters.

If a person often has good luck, there must be many things behind him that you haven't discovered.If a person is always unlucky, there must be something hateful about him.Taiwan's "Chip King" Mr. Zhang Zhongmou[12] has his opportunity, our generation has the opportunity given by the Internet, everyone has his opportunity, the key is how you grasp it.

(End of this chapter)