Jack Ma's quotes impress Hanoi students

"Learn from other people's failures, not from their successes," Jack Ma shared with students in Hanoi.

During the 90-minute dialogue with Hanoi students on the afternoon of November 6, Jack Ma had many sayings that expressed his optimistic spirit and inspired young people.

Put your trust in the youth

“Last night, while walking around Hanoi, I saw many young Vietnamese people looking very happy, always smiling and playing folk games. I wondered why they were so happy? I think firstly because they were young, secondly because they had hope for the future of the country.”

“I was not born into a rich family, I don't have a rich father, I don't have a powerful uncle, but to me those are wonderful things.”

“Countries with many young people, who believe in young people, those countries have a future. The government should pay attention to the next 30 years, to young people under 30 years old, to businesses with less than 30 employees.”

Jack Ma shares his success story with students in Hanoi. Photo: Ngoc Thanh.

"I see that many successful people in the world like Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs... have something in common: they never complain, never are negative."

“54% of the Vietnamese population uses smartphones, but many people spend time playing games on them. Find ways to buy and sell, communicate with people online. Take advantage of the Internet to gain knowledge and information.”

“The moment that shaped me to who I am today was when I invited 17 people to start the idea. We were not smart, we knew nothing about technology, but we believed in the future and tried step by step.”

Optimistic spirit despite countless failures

“Learn from other people's failures, not their successes. To succeed, you must understand the story of why they failed.”

“I call Alibaba 1,001 mistakes. But the more mistakes you make, the stronger you become.”

“I don’t think I’m smarter than you. I failed the university entrance exam three times. I fell, I got up, fell again, and got up again. And I succeeded.”

“Young people, don't worry about failure, it's just a challenge in life, it makes you stronger.”

“I have so many problems every day, if crying could solve them, I would cry all day. However, crying will only make me feel better, but my team will not be happy. So what I have to do is make myself happy. I warm my left hand with my right hand.”

"I don't believe in superheroes. I believe in the spirit of super fighting, never giving up."

“People who are not as good-looking as me can still become actors. I try to become a singer, an actor, a painter. I want to experience those things in my life. I just participated in a Kung Fu movie and I know it is not easy to become an actor.”

Startup Advice

“If you want to build a good business, you have to build a good team. Find the right people, the most suitable people, not the best people.”

“One person can go very fast, but if you want to go far, you need a team.”

“The most important thing in business is not money but good ideas and people with the same ideas.”

“There is no business opportunity that will make you successful tomorrow or next year.If you want to do something today, remember that if you keep doing it, you will be successful in 10 years.

“When you want to do something, you need ideas and dreams. Ideas are things you can do that others can't, things you can do better than others, things you can do differently from the majority. If you do the same as others, you have no chance of being better than them.”

3,000 students attended the dialogue with Jack Ma. Photo: Ngoc Thanh.

“No one is superman. If you want to succeed, you have to be realistic, focused and work as a team.”

“I don’t want employees to come to the company with smiles but leave with tears. I want customers, partners, and shareholders to leave with smiles from Alibaba.”

“My advice is when looking for partners, don't invite friends into the company. Many people in the world tend to invite friends, but close friends are often not good partners.”

“I don't want my friends to be my colleagues. But when someone is my colleague, I try my best to be their friend.”

“When you are 20-30 years old, you should find a good boss, not a good company, and learn from him. When you are 30-40 years old, if you want to do something for yourself, do it. When you are 40-50 years old, do what you are good at. When you are 50-60 years old, you should give opportunities to young people.”

“Any age is a good time to start a business.”

“We need EQ, IQ and also LQ (Love Quotient). EQ helps us understand, support and help others. IQ helps us gain knowledge to work better. Why do we need LQ? Many people earn a lot of money but never respect others. You need to care about others. That is my advice.”

According to VNE