Quote: (09-20-2014 07:55 PM)TravelerKai Wrote:
Quote: (09-20-2014 07:01 PM)Foolsgo1d Wrote:
Quote: (09-20-2014 04:29 PM)TravelerKai Wrote:
Jack Ma is just another super fucking smart, super hard working guy, that was in the right places with the right opportunities and made the most of them. He started from the bottom. Dude is a straight up hustler. No one can keep someone as determined as he is down. I'm not sure what lessons you can learn from him that others have not shown before him, but he is definitely proof that hard work and determination won't hold you down forever.
In China of all places?
Not to take credit from him but if he was to not give the right palms some grease he wouldn't be where he is. I'm sure if he upset any of the establishment his life would be over.
As long as he keeps people happy he will be on the winning side.
You don't know China very well. In China, guanxi (connections) may be number one indeed, but talent almost always floats to the top there. Jack Ma probably has a ridiculously high IQ and is extremely well spoken. His work ethic is beast mode. He is basically like a Chinese Bill Gates or Steve Jobs.
In China, guys like him find their way in higher positions and ranks very quickly. Bosses are always desperate to find ways to make more money off their talented stock, despite what most think. Ma took it even a step further by having a strong entrepreneur's mindset. China is more of an entrepreneurship country than the US or the UK, in many ways. Anyone can start a business very quickly doing anything and no big dogs will shit on you or stop you with lots of red tape. The only way to get bigger is through connections and greasing palms, but you do not have to do that to get started per se. Just have enough cash to start whatever it is you want.
The biggest limitation back then when he was starting out was the small middle class and low market. He hit it at the right time though, because when the middle class exploded, his business did as well. There are tons of millionaires and quite a few billionaires in China that was in a good position like him.
The Tencent founder billionaire Ma Huateng did the exact same thing more or less that Jack Ma did. Huateng studied in the US though and learned alot from the Silicon Valley giants here.
Anyway Jack shocked everyone recently by stepping down from everything. I'm sure all the politics got in the way of what he enjoyed the most. You cannot become or stay a billionaire in China if you do not play ball with the CCP and let them merge into your companies tightly. I'm sure Jack was tired of it even though no article will tell you that. He has more money than anyone could need and can spend time doing whatever he feels like doing I'm sure.
Awesome post. Jack Ma deserves huge respect for what he has achieved, and the humility he has kept through it all.
He stepped down, I believe, because after it all, he wasn't sure it was worth the time he sacrificed with his family. I'm trying to find the interview with him, before he'd stepped down, but he's holding back tears when asked what his biggest regret is.
The man deserves tremendous respect for what he has achieved, the man he has remained through it all, and for the hard work he has put in to getting to where he is.