The Story Behind Jack Ma Success

As of 2020, Jack Ma's net worth stands at a staggering $39.7 billion USD. He is also considered by many as humble due to his lifestyle. He even once worked as an English teacher for merely $12 per month but he seems happy with it.


Many people will only see the good side of the rich and the good way of living like a billionaire. But not many see the hardship they all went through to get to where they are currently at now.

Regardless of all the failures that Jack Ma went through, he managed to keep it going and only see the failures as one step toward success.

1. Got 1 out of 120 marks on his math entrance college exam

Getting an F seems like a crushing result for most people but getting only 1 score for your exam definitely makes it even worse. You might think that he did not prepare for the exams and he was too lazy to study, yet there are some people out there despite all their effort, who still cannot get a grip on what they are learning.

Now, Jack Ma is still struggling with his maths even though, he owns a tech company, Alibaba in which Maths seems rather crucial. 

Jack Ma even once said:

I am not good at math, have never studied management and still cannot read accounting reports

By looking at how he is doing now, it may seem that being good at maths might not be what he needed in order to become a billionaire. What makes it even more interesting is the fact that he never even heard of the word "computer" during his childhood.

2. Tried to Work at KFC But Being The Only One Rejected

A lot of people might have heard of the story of how Jack Ma tried to apply to work at KFC. Out of 24 people that applied only 23 were hired and leaving him the only one not getting the job. 

He said that it could be due to him being shorter than everyone else and the way he is dressed. But one thing that Jack Ma reminded us all is that:

We need to get used to being rejected

Not just that but even Jack Ma's wife, Zhang Ying even admit that her husband was not good-looking. She married him because he can do a lot of things that a handsome man is not capable of doing.

3. Never Give Up On Exams at School

Some of us might have struggled at school to the extent that even some of you tried hard many times but ended up getting fail at the end. This can also be said for Jack Ma but the worst part is he did not even get into middle school.

He failed many of his exams consecutively and if you think you are having a hard time to pass on those exams. Don't worry, you're not alone!

But if you look on the bright side, a lot of famous intelligent people also failed in their early life-like Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, and Abraham Lincoln, and in the end, they are considered the popular influencers we see today.

4. Got Rejected to Study at The Top University in The World

You all probably have heard of Harvard. Well, despite many attempts to get into Harvard, he is still being rejected up to 10 times. Most of us probably will give up after the 2nd attempt but persistence is something that describes the true self of Jack Ma.

He also advised many people to always be patient and we will definitely see the fruits of one's labor.

Jack Ma also applied to Hangzhou Normal University and later studied English Major.

5. Failed to Get Silicon Valley Funds

Every new start-up company will need funds in order for them to make faster progress and expand across the globe. Alibaba has failed many times in the early stage and they were also struggling to get funds to support their business.

The mistake that Ali Baba did was that they expanded too fast and cannot cope with the tragedy of the dot-com bubble burst. At that point in time, Alibaba was at the state of nearly getting bankrupt and one of Jack Ma's quotes was:

I call Alibaba '1001 mistakes'

 

 6. 30 Job Applications Declined

Some of us will probably give up and try another field but Jack Ma seems to be optimistic regardless of being turned down by 30 different companies. It seems that he is just not that good in the eye of the companies.

He even got the same treatment when he tried to become a police officer and they simply said that he was no good. 

Looks like life has never been easy for him when it comes to getting a job. If you think you have a hard time getting a job then you might want to reflect on yourself and look at how Jack Ma did it himself.

7. Told His Partners That They Will Not Get Executive Positions

This was by far the biggest mistake that he ever did in his company simply because he is mistreating the people that helped him build up the company. Undervaluing someone will just make them demotivated and probably stop a company to progress even further.

Jack Ma told all his partners that none of them will get a position higher than a manager and instead he will hire them from outside instead. This moment was considered the dark ages for Alibaba and he learns the hard lesson of always making your team more valued. 

The Road to Success

The road to success for Jack Ma was definitely not smooth and he was definitely not born with a silver spoon, unlike some people. One interesting feature that Jack Ma has that managed to make him succeed until today is persistence. 

He doesn't care about failing many times since he believed that for every failure, there will always be something to learn from it. 

To be able to succeed one need to fail first

Source: Entrepreneur 

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