Jack Ma is a Chinese business magnate and philanthropist. He is the founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group, a multinational conglomerate holding company specializing in e-commerce, retail, Internet, and technology.
He led the company as it grew into one of the world’s largest e-commerce and technology companies, and helped to popularize online shopping in China. He’s widely known as one of the most prominent entrepreneurs in China and is a respected figure globally.
Jack Ma’s quotes offer wisdom on entrepreneurship, leadership, and the power of perseverance.
On Entrepreneurship and Innovation Quotes
A good boss is better than a good company.” — Jack Ma
“Leadership is your instinct, then it’s your training. Leaders are always positive, they never complain.” — Jack Ma
“Never give up. Today is hard, tomorrow will be worse, but the day after tomorrow will be sunshine.” — 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
“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 care about revenues.” — 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
A leader should incentivize, but not with money. You give trust, respect, appreciation, and correct, heartfelt advice.” — Jack Ma
“I don’t want to be liked. I want to be respected.” — Jack Ma
“When we see something is coming, we have to prepare now.” “My belief is [that] you have to repair the roof while it is still [sunny].” — Jack Ma
Jack Ma’s Leadership and Team Building Quotes
“My favorite movie is ‘Forrest Gump.’ He said nobody makes money catching whales, people make money catching shrimps. So we serve small business.” — Jack Ma
“The very important thing you should have is patience.” — Jack Ma
“Opportunity lies in the place where the complaints are.” — 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
“You should learn from your competitor but never copy. Copy and you die.” — Jack Ma
“Women balance the logic and the instinct. I would say this is the ‘secret sauce’ of the company.” “Men think about themselves more; women think about others more.” — 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
“We are never short of money. We lack people with dreams, who can die for those dreams.” — Jack Ma
“If you want your business to succeed, it is critical to appoint enough female leaders.” — Jack Ma
“Philanthropy is not about helping others, it’s about helping yourself. When you change, the world changes.” — Jack Ma
Successful Jack Ma Quotes
“Once in your life, try something. Work hard at something. Try to change. Nothing bad can happen.” — Jack Ma
“In the 21st century, no matter whoever you are or whatever your organization is, you should not pursue size and power. You should be good. Kindness is the strongest power.” — Jack Ma
I do everything to make sure my customer is happy, my employee is happy, and society is healthy. I would focus on customers, I would focus on not making money, I would focus on making values.” — Jack Ma
“If there are nine rabbits on the ground, if you want to catch one, just focus on one.” — Jack Ma
“A leader should be visionary and have more foresight than an employee.” — Jack Ma
“If you want your life to be simple, you shouldn’t be a leader.” — 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
“Forget about your competitors, just focus on your customers.” — Jack Ma
“If you want to grow, find a good opportunity. Today, if you want to be a great company, think about what social problem you could solve.” — Jack Ma
“Today is difficult, tomorrow is much more difficult, but the day after tomorrow is beautiful. Most people die tomorrow evening.” — Jack Ma
Jack Ma’s Famous Quotes
“The opportunities that everyone cannot see are the real opportunities.” — Jack Ma
Of course, you’re not happy when people say ‘no.’ Have a good sleep, wake up, and try again.” — Jack Ma
“Luck is very important. Of course, you can’t wait for luck, because it won’t come. While you start a journey, luck may eventually come to you.” — Jack Ma
“On the path to success, you will notice that the successful ones are not whiners, nor do they complain often.” — Jack Ma
“If you want to be successful, learn from other people’s mistakes, not their successes. No matter how smart you are, you will encounter these mistakes, and you’ll know how to deal with them.” — 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
“In my life, it’s not how much we’ve achieved, it’s how much we’ve gone through the tough days.” — 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
“Reading can give you a good head start; this is often what your peers cannot obtain. Compared to others, readers are more likely to know other industries’ strategies and tactics.” — Jack Ma
“China is opening, opening the door. And the internet is the best way to let the people understand what’s happening outside.” — Jack Ma
Globalization and International Business Quotes
“A real businessman or entrepreneur has no enemies. Once he understands this, the sky’s the limit.” — Jack Ma
“Philanthropy is not about helping others, it’s about helping yourself. When you change, the world changes.” — Jack Ma
“When you are small, you have to be very focused and rely on your brain, not your strength.” — Jack Ma
“If you view everyone as your enemies then everyone around you will be enemies.” — Jack Ma
“Last century, people competed with muscle. This century, it’s not muscle, it’s wisdom. If a person wants to be successful he should have a high EQ. If he doesn’t want to lose quickly, he should have a high IQ, but if he wants to be respected, he should have a high LQ, the Q of love.” — Jack Ma
“When everybody else believes it you have no chance. When only a few people believe it, you believe it, you prove it, that’s your chance.” — 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
“If you have a different mindset, you will have a different outcome.” — Jack Ma
“I call Alibaba ‘1,001 mistakes.’” — Jack Ma
Technology and the Future of Industry Quotes
“The lessons I learned from the dark days at Alibaba are that you’ve got to make your team have value, innovation, and vision.” — Jack Ma
“Hire as many young people as possible, because they are never scared. We make wrong decisions, we make the wrong policies, we kill their future. So trust the young people. Trust the small business. Build (an) environment, build the ecosystem for them. This is our future.” — Jack Ma
“Don’t hire the most qualified, hire the craziest.” — Jack Ma
“If you don’t give up, you still have a chance. Giving up is the greatest failure.” — Jack Ma
“No matter what one does, regardless of failure” — Jack Ma
“Success and profitability are the outcomes of focusing on customers and employees, not objectives.” — 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
“You have to get used to failure.” — Jack Ma
“I come to this world not to work, but to enjoy this life. I don’t want to die in my office, I want to die on the beaches.” — Jack Ma
“Before I’m 50 years old, my job is making money. After I’m 50 years old, my job is spending money, helping others, because you can’t spend all that money.” — Jack Ma
Education and the Importance of Continuous Learning
“Your attitude is more important than your capabilities. Similarly, your decision is more important than your capabilities.” — Jack Ma
“If you cannot get used to failure — just like a boxer — if you can’t get used to [being] hit, how can you win?” — Jack Ma
“Only fools use their mouths to speak. A smart man uses his brain, and a wise man uses his heart.” — 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
“I hate to hire people who come as experts because there are no experts of the future, they’re always experts of yesterday.” “There are no best people. The best people are always in your company, you train them to become the best.” — Jack Ma
“Never ever compete on prices, instead compete on services and innovation.” — 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
“Customer first, employees second, and investor third.” — Jack Ma
Details about Jack Ma
| Name | Jack Ma |
| Fullname | Jack Ma Yun |
| Born | 10 September 1964 |
| Country | Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China |
| Education | Hangzhou Normal University (BA) |
| Height | 1.7 m |
| Occupations | Business Magnate, Investor & Philanthropist |
| Nationality | Chinese |
| Known for | Co-founder of Alibaba Group |
| Title | Co-founder of Yunfeng Capital |
| Spouse | Zhang Ying |
| Children | 3 |
| Father | Cui Wencai |
| Mother | Ma Laifa |