Quality, Search for Perfection, Perseverance, Inventiveness, and Family. This is a real entrepreneur & family business story that started in Billund, Denmark in 1932. After overcoming multiple setbacks and never giving up, The LEGO Group has grown to generate USD4.7 billion in revenue and USD1.1. billion in net profit for 2013 while hiring 11,755 worldwide. The company has expanded into the amusement park business, LEGOLAND as well. Silicon Valley was neither the first nor only place where entrepreneurship emerged.
The LEGO story (17 minutes) below is highly recommended for every entrepreneur and family business owner.
Ma applied for a job at KFC with 23 other applicants. And all of them were accepted other than him. Also, he was rejected by Harvard ten times.
If every one else thinks your idea is good, your business is destined to fail for sure. Don’t be afraid to be called crazy. You may be crazy, but not stupid.
This CEO is out for blood: Elizabeth Holmes founded her revolutionary blood diagnostics company, Theranos, when she was 19. It’s now worth more than $9 billion, and poised to change health care.
Both on the stage and in audience were wonderfully fulfilled to have such a moment, even once in a life time. Loving and being loved are the two most noble things to do.
And how the band got started. Hope you enjoy the lyrics.
”When I am myself, I am happy, and have a good result.”
“Never give up. Today is hard, tomorrow will be worse, but the day after tomorrow will be sunshine.”
“I want to change history, do something important in my life, and influence individuals like we have with millions of small businesses on Alibaba. Then they love and respect you because you made their life important.”
The Jack Ma interview by Charlie Rose is highly recommended: insightful and philosophical. When you hear Jack Ma, you instantly know how he is different from many other billionaires. Maybe Jack Ma would possibly be remembered better, longer and more respectably by next generations than any other entrepreneurs in this world.
Jack Ma is different from many American tech icons. Being a billionaire was not his primary goal. He remains humble. Ma may be the role model for the new generation of global leaders. It remains impressive even today to watch him presenting to his co-founders in 1999 when he just started Alibaba. Also, his Stanford speech is worth watching.
…Asked about his success, Mr. Ma shares his life story. He was raised in humble origins in Hangzhou in the 1980s, just as China was opening up to the West. Growing up, he overcame one obstacle after another. He was rejected at virtually every school he applied to, even grade schools, because he didn’t test well in math.
He persevered. From age 12 to 20, he rode his bicycle for 40 minutes to a hotel where he could practice his English. “China was opening up, and a lot of foreign tourists went there,” he said. “I showed them around as a free guide. Those eight years deeply changed me. I became more globalized than most Chinese. What foreign visitors told us was different from what I learned from my teachers and books.”
As a young man, he applied for jobs at 30 companies and was rejected every time. At Kentucky Fried Chicken, 24 people applied, 23 got jobs; only Mr. Ma was rejected. So he became an English teacher at Hangzhou Electronics Technology College. In 1999, he visited America for the first time. “I got my dream from America,” he said. “When I visited Silicon Valley, I saw in the evening the road was full of cars, all the buildings with lights. That’s the passion. My role model is Forrest Gump.”
Returning to Hangzhou, he and Joe Tsai, now Alibaba’s executive vice chairman, founded the company in Mr. Ma’s modest apartment. They called the company Alibaba because it is “easy to spell, and people everywhere associate that with ‘Open, Sesame,’ the command Ali Baba used to open doors to hidden treasures in ‘One Thousand and One Nights.’”
Mr. Ma focused on applying his team’s ideas to help businesses and consumers find hidden treasures of their own. Yet he was unable to raise even $2 million from venture capitalists in America. Once again, Mr. Ma persevered. Eventually he raised $5 million through Goldman Sachs. Later, Masayoshi Son of Japan’s SoftBank invested $20 million, making it Alibaba’s largest shareholder. That stake is now worth about $75 billion. Today, the Alibaba companies serve 600 million customers in 240 countries.
With Friday’s I.P.O., Mr. Ma became China’s wealthiest citizen, worth more than $18 billion. Yet when he asked his wife several years ago whether it was more important to be wealthy or to have respect from business people, he said they agreed on respect. Mr. Ma talks about building the Alibaba ecosystem to help people, a philosophy that is baked into the DNA of the company. At the founding of the company, Mr. Ma issued generous stock option packages to early employees because he wanted to enrich the lives of all involved in his venture. He insisted that Alibaba’s six values — customer first, teamwork, embrace change, integrity, passion and commitment — be placed on the pillars of the New York Stock Exchange the day of the I.P.O.
For all his success, Mr. Ma has retained his authenticity. He recognizes that leadership is character, and he is focused on building his team. His role model is a well-oiled soccer team where 11 players work together for the success of the team. He would rather hire entrepreneurs than seasoned business executives, who are always looking over their shoulders, trying to please their bosses rather than their customers.
His own commitment to a cause larger than himself has propelled him onward. “My vision is to build an e-commerce ecosystem that allows consumers and businesses to do all aspects of business online. I want to create one million jobs, change China’s social and economic environment and make it the largest Internet market in the world.”
American tech leaders like Steven P. Jobs, Larry Page, and Mark Zuckerberg have emphasized technology and product above everything. Not Mr. Ma. “I’m not a tech guy,” he said. “I’m looking at technology with the eyes of my customers, normal people’s eyes.”
Mr. Ma said this Was not just about making money. “I’m just a purist. I don’t spend 15 minutes thinking about making money,” he said. “What is important in my life is influencing many people as well as China’s development. When I am myself, I am relaxed and happy and have a good result.”
His lighthearted nature has helped create a unique culture and fun atmosphere at Alibaba where employees are given cans of Silly String, encouraged to do handstands to bolster their energy during breaks, and participate in an annual talent show where Mr. Ma sings pop songs. He practices tai chi and uses the nickname “Feng Qingyang,” a reference to a Chinese kung fu guru who trained an apprentice into a hero. Mr. Ma called martial arts “the most down-to-earth way of explaining Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism,” adding, “They cherish brotherhood, morality, courage, emotion and conscience.”
He said he worried that China lost an entire generation when Mao Zedong phased out Confucianism and other forms of spirituality. But he said he hoped to restore that sense of values and purpose to the next generation. “It’s not policies that we need, but genuine people,” he said. Asked about corruption in China, he said, “I would rather shut down my company than pay a bribe.”
He listed three worries: continuing to create genuine value for his customers, working cooperatively with the government and building his team of global leaders. What will he do with his fortune? His big dream is to found a university for entrepreneurs that can create the new generation of Chinese entrepreneurs.
Jack Ma is a force of nature. He may become the role model for the new generation of global leaders, not only in China, but also throughout the world. “Our challenge,” he said, “is to help more people to make sustainable money that is not only good for themselves but also good for society. That’s the transformation we are aiming to make.”
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” Chinese proverb
“I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse.” Florence Nightingale
“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.” Amelia Earhart
“Do it or not. There is no try.” Yoda
“Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover.” Mark Twain
“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.” Lao Tzu
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” Alice Walker
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” John Lennon
“Eighty percent of success is showing up.” Woody Allen
“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” George Eliot
“When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” Henry Ford
“You can’t fall if you don’t climb. But there’s no joy in living your whole life on the ground.” Unknown
“Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” Joshua Marine
“If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.” Booker T. Washington
“Rarely have I seen a situation where doing less than the other guy is a good strategy.” Jimmy Spithill
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” Steve Jobs
“I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.” Stephen Covey
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou
“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” Mark Twain
“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” Anais Nin
“There is only one way to avoid criticism: Do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.”Aristotle
“Do what you can, where you are, with what you have.” Teddy Roosevelt
“Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” George Addair
“Fall seven times and stand up eight.” Japanese proverb
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” Robert Frost
“The extra mile is a vast, unpopulated wasteland.” (OK, that one’s mine)
“What’s money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do.” Bob Dylan
“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” Albert Einstein
“The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person who is doing it.” Chinese proverb
“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” Maya Angelou
“You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.” Wayne Gretzky
“Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs.” Farrah Gray
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” Confucius
“If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” Tony Robbins
“You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try.” Beverly Sills
“Few things can help an individual more than to place responsibility on him, and to let him know that you trust him.” Booker T. Washington
“Remember, no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Eleanor Roosevelt
“The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.” Ayn Rand
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” Steve Jobs
Evan Reas is the cofounder of Circle, a mobile social app that helps people know when their friends are nearby and acts as a local news network, updating users on activities and events. The app counts 12 million registered users, and Reas says millions of people actively use Circle each week. Reas graduated from Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2009. He spoke with us about living a high-impact life, stalking potential advisers and learning from imaginary mentors.
In 10 words or fewer, what is the big idea behind your business?
Connect people who are near each other.
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Marc Andreessen, one of our investors, told me in our first meeting that I should choose to spectacularly succeed or spectacularly fail, but not allow myself to fall in the middle. In business, as in life, it is a helpful reminder to make sure you are aiming big. Shoot for the stars! I don’t let myself get upset about the small things, like a flat tire. I think, “What can I do that is powerful today?”
What was the most difficult lesson you have learned on the job?
Some of the smartest people I’ve ever worked with think differently than I do. My mistakes have been in not putting enough time or energy into understanding them. One of my mantras is: “Seek first to understand, then give your point of view.” I’m a very competitive person, and oftentimes I just want to win an argument. I am trying to let go of that and actively get to the best answer, versus trying to win.
What advice would you give other entrepreneurs on how to build a great business?
Do the most impactful thing every single day. When you are running a business, there are always so many things to do, and you can get stuck on things that don’t matter. There are very few things that matter: product/market fit, great team, retention. It starts with identifying your goals. On a weekly basis, I think about the goals I want to achieve. From that I create action items. I constantly reassess. Each morning, I spend an hour thinking about the three most impactful tasks I can do that day. I compare them with my weekly goals. I keep them in a booklet in my pocket. I don’t go to bed until each of those three things are done. When I catch myself doing something else, I say “Why are you wasting your time?” and I switch gears. I schedule very few appointments. I do almost everything over email asymmetrically.
If there were one thing that has enabled you to be successful as an entrepreneur, what would it be?
It comes down to this: Are you going to give up or not? That is how I got my first investor, Scott Cook. He spoke at Stanford, and I emailed him afterward. I told him I would love to stay in touch. He never responded. I kept sending him updates on the company every month for the next seven months. At the bottom of each note, I said, “If I am annoying you, let me know and I’ll stop.” He never said to stop, so I kept going. Finally I said, “This thing we are working on is growing well, I’d love to see if you are interested in investing.” I shared some stats on our growth. He emailed me in five minutes. I have tons of stories like that. I will do whatever it takes. I think it’s my Wisconsin work ethic. When I was an undergrad, I went to a small village in Africa with a volunteer program. We needed to dig an 8-foot hole for a latrine. I was told it would take a week. I didn’t sleep for 26 hours, and then it was done. People would watch me digging and laugh.
How do you come up with your best ideas?
I have a set of people I go to for advice. One example is Ben Horowitz, an investor of ours. He is a phenom when it comes to management, leadership, and providing feedback. I read a lot of management books. I have advisers I have never met. I do visualization exercises. I imagine I am sitting with them: What would this person say to me right now? What advice would they give me? I got the idea from reading books by athletic coaches. They talk about the power of visualizing yourself winning a championship or a trophy. I thought, “What if I visualized the best mentors? What would our conversation be like?”
What is your greatest achievement?
I think I have figured out how to deliberately improve myself. It is a process of learning on a day-to-day basis. After we leave school, we forget how to learn. It starts with a specific goal — say, “I want to become one of the best recruiters in the world.” I look for the best teachers, the five best recruiters I can think of. If they are nearby, I will email them and tell them I want to learn from them. If they are not nearby, I read about their methods and set goals that are objective and measurable. For example, with recruiting, I might say I want every single person I email to come to the office or everyone I interview to say yes to an offer. I read everything from those experts and set specific objectives based on their advice. I have pretend sessions where I sit with them and they tell me how I did that week. I’m learning from the best.
What do you consider your biggest failure?
Any day when I didn’t get better over the previous day. There are urgent things, like taxes. You have to pay them, but while you are doing them, you are not getting better. I want to do things that are important but not urgent, like being great at recruiting or building a great product.
What values are important to you in business?
Persistence. Execution. Loyalty. Directness.
What impact would you like to have on the world?
I want to touch as many people as possible and make their lives better than if I hadn’t been there. I have lots of ideas on how to do that. One way is by connecting people and making it easy for them to interact with each other.
Why are you an entrepreneur?
I am unemployable. I don’t like rules. If I worked at a large company and my boss told me “I need X report” and I didn’t think it was important, I would say “That’s a waste of my time, and I’m not going to do it.” I see the world as it is, but then I like to pretend nothing is there. If this were totally new, what would it look like? If I started from scratch, what would I do? I try to think like this at least once a week with my company. That can ruffle feathers sometimes.
What was your first paying job?
I had a lot of little jobs as a kid. I mowed lawns and sold lemonade. I sold gems I mined in Montana. Every two months, I would get a new hobby. Then I would turn it into a business. When I was 14, I got interested in the stock market. I started with a fantasy account. After a while, I convinced my parents to let me invest $10,000 from their retirement accounts. A week later 9/11 happened, and I lost 80% of it in one day. I couldn’t breathe. Then I got disciplined. I said, “I’m sure there are undervalued stocks out there. I’ll find the best ones.” By the end of the year, I got it up to $11,000. I didn’t tell my parents what happened until I made it back. It was a great lesson in failure. You have to keep going.
Do you think there is such a thing as balance? How do you achieve balance in your life?
As humans, time and energy are the most important things we have. We can allocate them however we want. The more you can allocate toward something, the better you will get at that thing, and the faster it will happen. It also means you will degrade in everything else. People who have become the best in their fields sacrificed everything else. They had to always be thinking about it. You sacrifice mind space, too.
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