200+ Jack Ma Quotes On Entrepreneurship, Success, Failure
Jack Ma is a person who inspires and teaches others in the constantly changing world of starting businesses. Jack Ma is one of the individuals involved in the founding of Alibaba Group, a significantly large e-commerce company. His story emphasizes that success can be accomplished from any initial position with perseverance and innovative thinking.
His pearls of wisdom, encapsulated in inspiring quotes, have become guiding lights for aspiring entrepreneurs and anyone striving for success.
Jack Ma’s quotes resonate deeply with people because they distill complex ideas into simple, relatable concepts. The statements and beliefs conveyed by these words have been instrumental in his success, offering valuable perspectives on his thinking process. These words are not mere ink on a page but practical instruments for individuals striving to conquer challenges, embrace setbacks and accomplish their objectives professionally and personally.
This article will discuss several inspirational quotes from Jack Ma regarding success, entrepreneurship, and overcoming the fear of failure. These quotes are still inspiring and motivating to millions of people worldwide.
Inspiring Jack Ma Quotes About Success
I’m coming to this world not to work. I want to come to this world to enjoy my life. I don’t want to die in my office. I want to die on the beaches. – Jack Ma
Never give up. Today is hard, tomorrow will be worse, but the day after tomorrow will be sunshine. – Jack Ma
No matter how tough the chase is, you should always have the dream you saw on the first day. It’ll keep you motivated and rescue you (from any weak thoughts). – Jack Ma
Without the internet, there would have been no Jack Ma, and no Alibaba or Taobao. – Jack Ma
We are never in lack of money. We lack people with dreams, who can die for those dreams. -Jack Ma
Life is so short, so beautiful. Don’t be so serious about work. enjoy life. ― Jack Ma
You have got to keep trying, and if it doesn’t work, you always can revert back to what you were doing before. ― Jack Ma
I think U.S. and Chinese businesses need a common language and dialogue. ― Jack Ma
If you are poor at 35 you deserve it. ― Jack Ma
When I am myself, I am happy and have a good result. ― Jack Ma
I’m not a tech guy. I’m looking at the technology with the eyes of my customers, normal people’s eyes. – Jack Ma
Leadership is your instinct, then it’s your training. Leaders are always positive, they never complain. – Jack Ma
Trust the young people; trust this generation’s innovation. They’re making things, changing innovation every day. And all the consumers are the same: they want new things, they want cheap things, they want good things, they want unique things. If we can create these kinds of things for consumers, they will come. – Jack Ma
If we are a good team and know what we want to do, one of us can defeat ten of them. – Jack Ma
30% of all people will never believe you. Do not allow your colleagues and employees to work for you. Instead, let them work for a common goal. – Jack Ma
My job is to help more people have jobs.- Jack Ma
We’re never in lack of money. We lack people with dreams, (people) who can die for those dreams. – Jack Ma
Successful people never complain. – Jack Ma
I’m coming to this world not to work. I want to come to this world to enjoy my life. I don’t want to die in my office. I want to die on the beaches. – Jack Ma
Success and profitability are outcomes of focusing on customers and employees not objectives. – Jack Ma
As soon as the weather gets cold, apparel starts to sell a bit better. – Jack Ma
If you don’t give up, you still have a chance. Giving up is the greatest failure. – Jack Ma
Help young people. Help small guys. Because small guys will be big. Young people will have the seeds you bury in their minds, and when they grow up, they will change the world. – Jack Ma
A peace talk is always difficult, always complicated. – Jack Ma
The opportunities that everyone cannot see are real opportunities. – Jack Ma
Only fools use their mouth to speak. A smart man uses his brain, and a wise man uses his heart. – Jack Ma
Instead of learning from other people’s success, learn from their mistakes. Most of the people who fail share common reasons to fail whereas success can be attributed to various different kinds of reasons.– Jack Ma
The scariest things about starting up is the inability to see, to be snobbish, to be unable to understand what is going on, as well as to be unable to keep up with the pace. – Jack Ma
My dream was to set up my e-commerce company. In 1999, I gathered 18 people in my apartment and spoke to them for two hours about my vision. Everyone put their money on the table, and that got us $60,000 to start Alibaba. I wanted to have a global company, so I chose a global name.” – Jack Ma who can die for those dreams. – Jack Ma
If you’ve never tried, how will you ever know if there’s any chance? – Jack Ma
If we work so hard and put all the money in the hospital to buy medicine – it will be a disaster. Why we should work? So without a healthy environment of this Earth, no matter how much money you make, no matter how wonderful you are, you have a bad disaster. – Jack Ma
I don’t care about revenues. – Jack Ma
I try to make myself happy because I know that if I’m not happy, my colleagues are not happy and my shareholders are not happy and my customers are not happy. – Jack Ma
You should learn from your competitor but never copy. Copy and you die. – Jack Ma
Opportunities lie in the place where the complaints are. – Jack Ma
We appreciate yesterday, but we’re looking for a better tomorrow. – Jack Ma
It doesn’t matter if I failed. At least I passed the concept on to others. Even if I don’t succeed, someone will succeed. – Jack Ma
China is still the fastest growing economy in the world, but we need to learn how to use money in a better way, and it’s about quality, not quantity. – Jack Ma
Before you’re 30, work for a small company, learn passion, learn to dream. – Jack Ma
When we have money, we start making mistakes. – Jack Ma
Grow your mind, grow your culture, grow your values, grow your wisdom. – Jack Ma
I believe when you have $1 million, that’s your money – when you have $20 million, you start to have a problem. When you have $1 billion, that’s not your money, that’s the trust society gave you. They believe you can manage the money better than the government and others. – Jack Ma
I know nothing about technology, I know nothing about marketing, I know nothing about (the legal) stuff. I only know about people. – Jack Ma
I don’t think I’m a workaholic. Every weekend, I invite my colleagues and friends to my home to play cards. And people, my neighbors, are always surprised because I live in the second-floor apartment, and there are usually 40 pairs of shoes in front of my gate, and people play cards inside and play chess. We have a lot of fun. – Jack Ma
I don’t want to be liked. I want to be respected. – Jack Ma
A leader should never compare his technical skills with his employees. – Jack Ma
Today making money is very simple. But making sustainable money while being
responsible to society and improving the world is very difficult. – Jack Ma
A lot of people complain about yesterday. We have no power to change yesterday. But this very day, 30 years later, is what we can control and decide. Change yourself, take baby steps, and stay determined for ten years. – Jack Ma
No one is a superhero. If you want to succeed, you have to be realistic. – Jack Ma
There are big problems that change the world. If we are working together, that will make us understand each other, appreciate each other, help each other. – Jack Ma
You need the right people with you, not the best people. – Jack Ma
So we hope that for Double Eleven in the future the country will give everyone a half-day off. – Jack Ma
If you want to be a great company, think about what social problem you can solve. It’s about solving social problems. – Jack Ma
Never ever do business with the government. Be in love with them, never marry them. – Jack Ma
A startup for entrepreneurs is like a baby, and I have five babies so far – experienced father. – Jack Ma
When you are small, you have to be very focused and rely on your brain, not your strength. – Jack Ma
The very important thing you should have is patience. – Jack Ma
Everybody should have a dream. – Jack Ma
A great opportunity is often hard to be explained clearly; things that can be explained clearly are often not the best opportunities. – Jack Ma
If we got to work at 8 am and go home at 5 pm, this is not a high-tech company, and Alibaba will never be successful. If we have that kind of 8 to 5 spirit, then we should just go and do something else. – Jack Ma
Hire the person best suited to the job, not the most talented. This can be a very painful lesson. There’s no point putting in a Boeing jet engine when you need to run a tractor. – Jack Ma
Nobody wanted to believe Jack Ma. – Jack Ma
Once in your life, try something. Work hard at something. Try to change. Nothing bad can happen. – Jack Ma
We should never finish a 20-year program in two years. – Jack Ma
I don’t want people to have deep pockets but shallow minds. – Jack Ma
If we want to change the world, we change ourselves.- Jack Ma
If the customer loves you, the government will have to love you. – Jack Ma
It doesn’t matter how wealthy or powerful you are, if you can’t enjoy the sunshine, you can’t be truly happy. – Jack Ma
It’s impossible for China to keep 10 to 15% growth annually. The economy needed to slow down, and we have to learn to slow down. – Jack Ma
The world will not remember what you say, but it will not forget what you have done. – Jack Ma
You never know how much can you do in your life. – Jack Ma
If you have a different mindset, you will have a different outcome. – Jack Ma
I find that when a person makes a mistake or fails if he or she always complains or blames others, that person will never come back from the failure. But if the person checks inside, this person has hope. – Jack Ma
A leader should incentivize, but not with money. You give trust, respect, appreciation, and correct, heartfelt advice. – Jack Ma
We should keep on going along the path of globalization. Globalization is good… when trade stops, war comes. – Jack Ma
Never ever compete on prices, instead of competing on services and innovation. – Jack Ma
A real businessman or entrepreneur has no enemies. Once he understands this, the sky’s the limit. – Jack Ma
I call myself a blind man riding a blind tiger.- Jack Ma
Don’t complain; you can find opportunities. – Jack Ma
Money is very important, if you have no money, you cannot be happy. However, money does not make you fully happy. What you need is an accomplishment. – Jack Ma
Trade is a communication of cultures and values. – Jack Ma
If you want to win in the 21st century, you have to empower others, making sure other people are better than you. Then you will be successful. – Jack Ma
The current technological revolution will bring about the most profound changes in human history. . – Jack Ma
We will make it because we are young and we will never, never give up. . – Jack Ma
A trade war would be a disaster for the world. It’s very easy to slip into a trade war. – Jack Ma
Today is cruel. Tomorrow is crueler. And the day after tomorrow is beautiful. – Jack Ma
You need the right people with you, not the best people. – Jack Ma
You should find someone who has complementary skills to start a company with. You shouldn’t necessarily look for someone successful. – Jack Ma
I’m a normal guy. – Jack Ma
Intelligent people need the fool to lead them. When the team’s all a bunch of scientists, it is best to have a peasant lead the way. His way of thinking is different. It’s easier to win if you have people seeing things from different perspectives. – Jack Ma
I want people to learn what democracy means. – Jack Ma
If there are nine rabbits on the ground, if you want to catch one, just focus on one.
– Jack Ma
You never know that the things you’re doing are that meaningful to society. – Jack Ma
A leader should have higher grit and tenacity, and be able to endure what the employees can’t. – Jack Ma
I think in 10 years we’ll be bigger than Walmart.- Jack Ma
When KFC came to China, 24 people went for the job, 23 people were accepted, I was the only guy. ― Jack Ma
A good boss is better than a good company. ― Jack Ma
Consumption is still going up on Alibaba. This is because when the economy goes down people look online to Alibaba to buy cheaper things. – Jack Ma
They called me crazy Jack. I think crazy is good. we’re crazy but we’re not stupid. – Jack Ma
You’ve got to make your team have value, innovation, and vision. – Jack Ma
Wisdom is acquired through experience. Knowledge can be acquired through hard work. – Jack Ma
Today, people write about the success stories of Alibaba. And I really don’t think we were so smart, we made so many mistakes and we were so stupid at times. So, someday, the book I personally really will want to write about is Alibaba’s 1001 mistakes. These are the things people should remember and people should learn. – Jack Ma
I always find people smarter than I am. Then my job is to make sure smart people can work together. Stupid people can work together easily, smart people can’t. – Jack Ma
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. – Jack Ma
Stay hungry and follow your dreams. – Jack Ma
Always let your employees come to work with a smile. – Jack Ma
Don’t even trust that you are able to unify what everyone is thinking; it is impossible. – Jack Ma
I am doing (action) while you’re only watching. – Jack Ma
After each failure, I went home and slept. Tomorrow will be another day to fight. – Jack Ma
Our philosophy is that we want to be an ecosystem. To empower others to sell, to serve, making sure the other people are more powerful than us. With technology, our innovation, and our partners – 10 million small business sellers – they can compete with Microsoft and IBM. – Jack Ma
The company is likely to redirect to a more focused strategy, with greater emphasis on near term profitability as it seeks to redefine its core business over the medium term. – Jack Ma
We learn very little from the success of others but learn a lot from their failure. – Jack Ma
As a business person, I want the world to share prosperity together. – Jack Ma
There’s an examination for young people to go to university. I failed it three times. I failed a lot. So I applied to 30 different jobs and got rejected. I went for a job with the police; they said, ‘You’re no good.’ I even went to KFC when it came to my city. Twenty-four people went for the job. Twenty-three were accepted. – Jack Ma
When people think too highly of you, you have the responsibility to calm down and be yourself. – Jack Ma
I want to change history, do something important in my life, and influence individuals as we have with millions of small businesses on Alibaba. Then they love and respect you because you made their life important. – Jack Ma
The most unreliable thing in this world is human relationships. – Jack Ma
Go big or go home. Otherwise, you are wasting your youth. – Jack Ma
I am a very simple guy, I am not smart. Everyone thinks that Jack Ma is a very smart guy. I might have a smart face but I’ve got very stupid brains. – Jack Ma
I think Yahoo is a great company, with great assets. – Jack Ma
Forget about your competitors, just focus on your customers. – Jack Ma
You’ve to make consumers smart. An e-commerce portal doesn’t sell a product at cheaper rates, instead, an offline shop sells it at a costlier price. – Jack Ma
It’s very difficult to know the outside world, but you know yourself. You know your needs and what you want. If I know myself better, I can change myself to meet the outside world. – Jack Ma
You cannot unify everyone’s thoughts, but you can unify everyone through a common goal.- Jack Ma
If you want to grow, find a good opportunity if you want to be a great company, think about what social problem you could solve. ― Jack Ma
On the path to success, you will notice that the successful ones are not whiners, nor do they complain often. ― Jack Ma
People say, ‘Well you know the economy’s bad, so China’s consumption will below. No, totally different. You Americans love to spend tomorrow’s money, and other people’s money maybe… We Chinese love to save money. ― Jack Ma
The business schools teach a lot of skills about how to make money and how to run a business. But I want to tell people that if you want to run a business, you have to run the value first, to serve the others, to help the others – that’s the key. ― Jack Ma
As entrepreneurs, if you’re not optimistic, you’re in trouble. So the people I choose, they have to be optimistic. ― Jack Ma
If you’re doing business, not that simple to only buy. You have to create something. You have to create something that never exists in the future. – Jack Ma
What starting your company means: you will lose your stable income, your right to apply for a leave of absence, and your right to get a bonus. However, it also means your income will no longer be limited, you will use your time more effectively, and you will no longer need to beg for favors from people anymore. – Jack Ma
Never deceive others, in business or in life. In 1995, I was deceived by four companies — four companies that are now closed. A company cannot go far by deceit. – Jack Ma
You will never learn to swim until you are in the water. – Jack Ma
If tears can solve my problems, I will cry all day. But I have to make myself happy. I made my hand warm by myself. – Jack Ma
I think the young generation is always better than the last generation. No matter you like it or don’t like it.– Jack Ma
Before I’m 70 years old, I can do something in other fields, in areas like education. – Jack Ma
If you want your company to operate with wisdom, with care, then woman are the best. – Jack Ma
I am going to enjoy some other things apart from business. – Jack Ma
Spending money is much more difficult than making money. – Jack Ma
Remember that your past success may lead to your future failure. However, if you learn a lesson from every failure, then you may ultimately succeed. – Jack Ma
Rather than having small smart tricks to get by, focus on holding on and persevering. – Jack Ma
Make enough mistakes. Any mistake is a wonderful revenue for you. – Jack Ma
If you don’t do it, nothing is possible. If you try to do it, at least you have hope. – Jack Ma
Alibaba is not just a job. It’s a dream. It’s a cause. Let the Wall Street investors curse us if they want. – Jack Ma
I absolutely don’t have $20 billion. But I’d love to, right? – Jack Ma
Don’t hire the most qualified, hire the craziest. – Jack Ma
The world needs new leadership, but the new leadership is about working together. ― Jack Ma
Today is hard, tomorrow is harder, but the day after tomorrow is beautiful. ― Jack Ma
Every technological revolution takes about 50 years. ― Jack Ma
The quality of a good leader, therefore, is his vision, tenacity, and his capability. ― Jack Ma
Players should never fight. A real businessman or entrepreneur has no enemies. Once he understands this, the sky’s the limit. ― Jack Ma
The big businesses are less willing to take risks. I talked to some young people in Hong Kong, and they said they are lost. Young people indeed have fewer opportunities than before. But is it true that there are no more opportunities for them? No! – Jack Ma
If you do not know where your competitor is, or overconfident and snobbish about your competitor, or are unable to comprehend how your competitor became a real threat, you will surely fall behind him. Don’t be the “they” in this idiom: First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. – Jack Ma
Our philosophy is, using internet technology; we can make every company become Amazon. – Jack Ma
When I started my career, I often asked my co-workers whenever I was in trouble. At the bigger company, I still asked my co-workers. It’s teamwork, not just doing one job together. I never conceal anything with my co-workers; we discuss each other openly and frankly. – Jack Ma
I want to stress the importance of being fair to our readers. You should not impose your own view and prejudice on the readers and try to lead them to a conclusion. As a reader, I understand what a fair report is. – Jack Ma
Teachers always want their students to exceed them, so the responsible thing… for me and the company to do is to let younger, more talented people take over in leadership roles. – Jack Ma
You, American people, worry too much about the Chinese economy. Every time you think China is a problem, we get better, but when you have a high expectation for China, China is always a problem. – Jack Ma
It’s not that other countries steal jobs from you guys. It’s your strategy. Distribute the money and things in a proper way. – Jack Ma
One of the secret sauce of Alibaba’s success is that we have a lot of women. – Jack Ma
IBM, Microsoft, the profit they made was larger than the top four banks in China put together… But where did the money go? – Jack Ma
In carrying out e-commerce, the most important thing is to keep doing what you are doing right now with passion, to keep it up. – Jack Ma
Philanthropy is not about helping others, it’s about helping yourself. When you change, the world changes. – Jack Ma
The most important thing is to make the technology inclusive – make the world change. Next, pay attention to those people who are 30 years old, because those are the internet generation. They will change the world; they are the builders of the world. – Jack Ma
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. – Jack Ma
Your employees should have superior technical skills than you. If he doesn’t, it means you have hired the wrong person. – Jack Ma
No one is perfect; don’t think that you make your team successful. Instead, you should think that your team makes you successful. – Jack Ma
Women have always played an integral role in Alibaba since its establishment two decades ago. – Jack Ma
The American multinational companies made millions and millions of dollars from globalization. – Jack Ma
In the age of AI, women’s attention to experience and detail can outperform machine learning, whereas men’s traits of rational thinking will be challenged by machines. – Jack Ma
Our focused customers are small businesses and young people. We did a great job in China. How can we help those young people in India, in Pakistan, in Africa? If they can use it in the same ways. – Jack Ma
No matter how successful you are in your career, you must always remember that we are here to live. If you keep yourself busy working, you will surely regret it. – Jack Ma
I do everything to make sure my customer is happy, my employee is happy, society is healthy. I would focus on customers, I would focus on not making money, I would focus on making values. – Jack Ma
I got my story, my dream, from America. The hero I had is Forrest Gump… I like that guy. I’ve been watching that movie about 10 times. Every time I get frustrated, I watch the movie. I watched the movie before I came here again to New York. I watched the movie again telling me that no matter whatever changed, you are you. – Jack Ma
If no one helps you, do not be surprised, it is natural. If someone helps you, that’s unusual. – Jack Ma
I got rumors from outside China, saying:’ It’s because the government wants to push you down.’ Nobody can [ push you out ], if you don’t want to leave, right? Because I know it’s nothing about politics or government. – Jack Ma
What a publication can do is to help people get a clearer picture without jumping to any rash conclusion. I’m very happy that the ‘Post’ can take the responsibility to report on China in a broader and deeper way. I believe the ‘Post’ must be fair to our readers. We should let our readers see China from more angles and perspectives. – Jack Ma
To do philanthropy well, you need to use commercial means. While bearing a philanthropic heart, do not use philanthropic means and bear a commercial heart. – Jack Ma
Every government says they love small businesses, but what have they done for them? We should pull down all the barriers. – Jack Ma
Put the customers first, the employees second, and the shareholders third. – Jack Ma
Today is difficult, tomorrow is much more difficult, but the day after tomorrow is beautiful. Most people die tomorrow evening. – Jack Ma
I respect Apple. It’s a great company that changed the world, especially the mobile time. – Jack Ma
We need to learn from others’ failures. For success, there are many reasons, but for failures, it is very few. Find out why people fail. We try to avoid falling; every time we fall is a lesson. – Jack Ma
When I was starting out, I thought about how the Internet is global and that we should have a global name, a name that’s interesting. At that time, the best name was Yahoo! Suddenly I thought, Alibaba is a good name. – Jack Ma
Alibaba is an ecosystem that helps small businesses to grow. – Jack Ma
Reform when you are in the best shape and before the downturn sets in. It will be too late to fix the roof once it starts raining. Borrow an umbrella while the sun is still shinning. – Jack Ma
Of course, you’re not happy when people say ‘no.’ Have a good sleep, wake up, and try again. – Jack Ma
Hong Kong people say Hong Kong needs to preserve its uniqueness. I say Hong Kong’s uniqueness is in its diversity, its tolerance of different cultures… China does not want to see Hong Kong in decline. I have full confidence in the future. – Jack Ma
When I first failed, I was very sad. After that, I watched movies and learned that life was like a chocolate box, but the taste was bitter. Always be silly and aim to your dream, do not think too much . . – Jack Ma
My vision is to build an e-commerce ecosystem that allows consumers and businesses to do all aspects of business online. – Jack Ma
I don’t shop online, but my wife buys everything at home. We buy sea crabs, fresh crabs, all kinds of things. – Jack Ma
My investment philosophy is: do not lose money. – Jack Ma
In my life, it’s not how much we’ve achieved, it’s how much we’ve gone through the tough days. – Jack Ma
I flunked my exam for university two times before I was accepted by what was considered my city’s worst university, Hangzhou Teachers University. I was studying to be a high school English teacher. In my university, I was elected student chairman and later became chairman of the city’s Students Federation. – Jack Ma
I think the young generation is always better than the last generation. No matter you like it or don’t like it. My father said, ‘Jack, I’m so good, you’ll never be – but I’m better than him. My father is better than my grandfather. My children will be better than us. – Jack Ma
Today the financial market is no good, but the money is there. – Jack Ma
China is opening, opening the door. And the internet is the best way to let people understand what’s happening outside. – Jack Ma
China’s government is so strong on investment, so strong on exporting, but they’re too weak on domestic consumption. – Jack Ma
Chinese people, young people, they don’t go shopping a lot in department stores. All department store guys hate me. They say business is bad because of Jack. – Jack Ma
If machines can do things better, we have to change the way we teach. The key things are value, believing, independent thinking, teamwork, care for others, making sure humans are different from machines. – Jack Ma
I believe the most important thing for the media is to be objective, fair, and balanced. We should not report a story with preconceptions or prejudice. – Jack Ma
I always tell myself that we are born here not to work, but to enjoy life. We are here to make things better for one another. – Jack Ma
The world is getting so small. Young people are mobile; they want to travel around the world. When you travel around the world, you exchange culture, you want to make friends, you want to exchange things. – Jack Ma
Inspiring Jack Ma’s Quotes About Success remind us that with perseverance and a resilient mindset, anyone can conquer challenges, achieve entrepreneurship goals, and turn failures into stepping stones towards success.