Jack Ma, from poor English teacher to world billionaire

Thanks to nine years of self-study English, Jack Ma earned $ 12 a month as a teacher and found great opportunities.

Jack Ma, birth name is Ma Yun, born on October 15, 1964 in Hangzhou, southeastern China. He has an older brother and a younger sister. During his childhood, his family was very poor and struggled with rice money.

Failure from school to graduation

According to Business Insider, Jack Ma is a slim day, often fighting with his classmates. "I'm never afraid of bigger opponents," he told in Alibaba, a book by Liu Shiying and Martha Avery. However, Jack Ma has the same interests as any kid. He likes to dig and play cricket, able to distinguish the size and types of crickets by their cry.

Jack Ma is not a good student, even near the second grade. "I missed important exams in elementary school twice, skipped the test in secondary school three times, failed in the college entrance examination twice," he said.

The Entrepreneur said he only scored 1/1 of the college entrance exam. A score of less than 1% is not due to lack of revision. In essence, Jack Ma learned math poorly, although Alibaba founded him as the most valuable technology company in China.

When he graduated from college, he did not know what to do, so he applied for jobs in many places, even for police officers. In his inspirational conversations, he was not shy about mentioning being denied ten times by Harvard University, being dismissed by 30 companies, the only person out of 24 who was eliminated in the interview. Sales staff position in KFC because appearance does not meet.

"My cousin and I lined up for two hours as a waiter at a four-star hotel in the city. It was a very hot day. His grades are much lower than mine but he was chosen and I was eliminated, "he added.

Even later, when running the company, he underwent many failures, so called himself Alibaba is "1,001 mistakes."

Became a teacher thanks to nine years of self-learning foreign languages

After President Nixon visited Hangzhou in 1972, his hometown of Jack Ma became a tourist attraction. In the age of 12-13, he began to love English, but at that time there were not any books or places suitable to study. For nine years, despite the rain or snow, Jack Ma always get up early, cycling 40 minutes each morning to the main hotel of the city. Leading foreigners to tour free, Jack Ma is trained in English speaking skills. The nickname "Jack" is derived from an American tourist whom he helped with both his father and husband taking the name.

"I was made 100% from China. I never had a training day outside of China. When talking to me, people say: Jack, how can he speak English like that? Why do you sometimes talk like a Western? I think it was nine years. Western visitors have helped me to open my mind because everything they tell me is very different from what I learned from my school and my parents, "Alibaba said at the 2016 World Economic Forum.

Without money or relationships, the only way to help Jack Ma move forward is through education. Two times college failures beat him. Pursuing revisiting, Jack Ma finally passed the third challenge, becoming a student at Hangzhou Normal University. At this time, he was elected president of the university and then president of the student council of the city. He earned his bachelor's degree in English in 1988.

When recruited as a teacher of English and international trade at Hangzhou Danzi University, although earning only 100-120 yuan (12-15 dollars) per month, Ma Yun teacher is very close to the student. and love his work.

Sharing with the Economics Club of New York in 2015, Jack Ma says happiness as a poorer teacher faces the responsibility of a business tycoon, one of China's richest men. His life became more complex when he started operating the e-commerce corporation Alibaba.

"The money I have today is a responsibility. That is the belief people put on me, "he said.
English helps change lives

According to Eyerys, English language ability helped Jack Ma set up his own translation company. Working with some of the first US and foreign companies in China, he began to become aware of their success stories.

During his time in the United States as an interpreter, he contacted a Chinese friend living in Seattle. As a guest at your home, you are exposed to the computer for the first time. At that time, personal computers almost did not exist in China.

"I was scared, because very few companies in China have computers. It is considered very high technology and very expensive. My friend must say: Jack, do not have to bomb, just touch where you want. I never touched the keyboard before. That's why I call myself a blind man riding on a blind tiger, "he shared in an interview.

Enjoy the computer and the Internet, Jack Ma asked you to create a website for his translation company, which was officially launched in 1995.

The business idea comes from Jack Ma's discovery of no results in Chinese beer when typing in the search box online. He set up China Pages, a Web site that lists Chinese businesses and products, and brings in tons of emails from around the world to find partnerships. In order to expand and get more funding, Jack Ma decided to partner with a government company. However, due to lack of experience and vision, Jack Ma failed.

Alibaba was born in 1999 when Jack Ma gathered 17 friends to develop the idea of ​​e-commerce market. This venture led to another setback when Silicon Valley refused to invest on the grounds that it was "unprofitable and unsustainable". The company did not generate revenue for the first three years and faced bankruptcy in 18 months, businesses were skeptical about the online market, the problem of internal turmoil.

Despite these difficulties, the little man made history. Breaking debris, he led Alibaba forward, challenging big businesses like eBay. In five years, Jack Ma "wiped out" eBay from China, and with the help of Yahoo founder Jerry Yang, Alibaba expanded into the international market.

Now Jack Ma is one of the richest men in the world, the boss of one of the largest e-commerce companies on the planet. In 2009 and 2014, Jack Ma was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by Time Magazine. He also appeared on the front page of Forbes magazine.

"The lesson I learned from the dark days in Alibaba is that you have to create value, innovation and vision for your team. If you do not give up, you still have the opportunity. Quitting is the biggest failure. When you are small, you have to focus on the brain and not on the strength, "he said. This philosophy has become the guide of many young people.