5 LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF JACK MA FROM THE BOOK ALIBABA: THE HOUSE THAT JACK MA BUILT BY DUNCAN CLARK 

START SMALL BUT DREAM BIG

Alibaba started in Jack Ma's sitting room with just a few friends. But even on that day, in that cramped room, Jack Ma told his co-founders that Alibaba would become the biggest company in China. Start small but dream big. Alibaba is currently one of the companies with the largest valuation worldwide. It has a market cap of more than $200 billion. It started in a sitting room.

ACCUMULATE ADVANTAGES

At the age of 12, Jack Ma was obsessed with learning English. He hung around foreign visitors to pick up English as they spoke to each other. One of them noticed his determination and took him under his wing. This was a small decision, but it would have a monumental on his career. With his English, he could relate to people from the western world. In the ensuing years, his knowledge of English enabled him to understand the internet even when others in China could not understand it. Small advantages accumulate.

GET USED TO FAILURE

Jack Ma failed at several things. By the time he started Alibaba, he was a confirmed failure. Harvard rejected his application ten times, he failed a primary school exam twice; in high school, he had to write an exam more than once, and when he applied for jobs, he was rejected often. He applied for the police; five people applied, four were selected, and one person was rejected. He was that one person. He applied for a KFC job; 25 people applied, 24 were selected, and one was rejected. He was the one person rejected. When asked about this, he said he got used to failure and was no longer afraid to fail therefore allowing him to try big things.

FOCUS ON SURVIVING IN THE BEGINNING

In the early years of Alibaba, Jack Ma focused on surviving, not making a profit. He just wanted to create a business that people could trust, use and recommend to others. He was not focused on making a profit. When the Dot Com bubble came, so many companies went bankrupt, but because Jack Ma was focused on surviving, Alibaba survived. He once said, "Today is brutal, tomorrow is more brutal, but the day after tomorrow is beautiful. However, the majority of people will die tomorrow night.” If you survive long enough for your competitors to run out of business, you will be the last man standing, the winner.

SEIZE OPPORTUNITIES

Opportunities come to everyone. However, many people waste their time thinking about what would happen if they fail at that opportunity. Not Jack Ma. Jack Ma always told himself that every missed opportunity was regrettable. He would take every opportunity until he got it right. That's how he took the opportunity when the internet came to China. He set up Alibaba in a market that was just new, and the government was known for muzzling businesses. But Jack Ma could not watch the opportunity pass by. Seize opportunities. Try. If you fail, you learn. If you succeed, you will be happy.

Every entrepreneur should read this book.