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Jack Ma: You are poor because you have no ambition.
muganda
#1 Posted : Tuesday, October 07, 2014 6:06:52 PM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 9/15/2006
Posts: 3,907
Before I founded Alibaba, I invited 24 friends to my house to discuss the business opportunity. After discussing for a full two hours, they were still confused — I have to say that I may not have put myself across in a clear manner manner then. The verdict: 23 out of the 24 people in the room told me to drop the idea, for a multitude of reasons, such as: ‘you do not know anything about the internet, and more prominently, you do not have the start-up capital for this’ etc etc.

There was only one friend (who was working in a bank then) who told me, “If you want to do it, just try it. If things don’t work out the way you expected it to, you can always revert back to what you were doing before.” I pondered upon this for one night, and by the next morning, I decided I would do it anyway, even if all of the 24 people opposed the idea.



When I first started Alibaba, I was immediately met with strong opposition from family and friends. Looking back, I realised that the biggest driving force for me then was not my confidence in the Internet and the potential it held, but more of this: “No matter what one does, regardless of failure or success, the experience is a form of success in itself.” You have got to keep trying, and if it doesn’t work, you always can revert back to what you were doing before.

As with this quote by T.E. Lawrence –
“All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream in the dark recesses of the night awake in the day to find all was vanity. But the dreamers of day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, and make it possible.”

People lose out in life because of these 4 reasons:
1. Being myopic to opportunity
2. Looking down on opportunities
3. Lacking understanding
4. Failing to act quickly enough


You are poor, because you have no ambition.

Ambition is living a life of great ideals; a magnificent goal in life that must be realised.

In this world, there are things that are deemed unfathomable, but there is nothing in this world that cannot be done. The depth of one’s ambition determines the potential of one’ future.

Lessons...

• You are poor because you do not have the desire to become successful.
• You are poor because you lack foresight.
• You are poor because you cannot overcome your cowardice.
• You are poor because you lack the courage and determination.

• With ambition you can overcome all inferiority and maximise your potential!
• With ambition you can persevere, continuously learn new things and strive for perfection.
• With ambition you can defy all odds, and create miracles when others daren’t.
• No matter how poor your family is, do not doubt your own abilities and lose sight of your ambition.

Go big, or go home. Otherwise, you’re wasting your youth.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2...e-poor-35-you-deserve-it
quicksand
#2 Posted : Wednesday, October 08, 2014 8:28:57 AM
Rank: Veteran

Joined: 7/5/2010
Posts: 2,061
Location: Nairobi
muganda wrote:
Before I founded Alibaba, I invited 24 friends to my house to discuss the business opportunity. After discussing for a full two hours, they were still confused — I have to say that I may not have put myself across in a clear manner manner then. The verdict: 23 out of the 24 people in the room told me to drop the idea, for a multitude of reasons, such as: ‘you do not know anything about the internet, and more prominently, you do not have the start-up capital for this’ etc etc.

There was only one friend (who was working in a bank then) who told me, “If you want to do it, just try it. If things don’t work out the way you expected it to, you can always revert back to what you were doing before.” I pondered upon this for one night, and by the next morning, I decided I would do it anyway, even if all of the 24 people opposed the idea.



When I first started Alibaba, I was immediately met with strong opposition from family and friends. Looking back, I realised that the biggest driving force for me then was not my confidence in the Internet and the potential it held, but more of this: “No matter what one does, regardless of failure or success, the experience is a form of success in itself.” You have got to keep trying, and if it doesn’t work, you always can revert back to what you were doing before.

As with this quote by T.E. Lawrence –
“All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream in the dark recesses of the night awake in the day to find all was vanity. But the dreamers of day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, and make it possible.”

People lose out in life because of these 4 reasons:
1. Being myopic to opportunity
2. Looking down on opportunities
3. Lacking understanding
4. Failing to act quickly enough


You are poor, because you have no ambition.

Ambition is living a life of great ideals; a magnificent goal in life that must be realised.

In this world, there are things that are deemed unfathomable, but there is nothing in this world that cannot be done. The depth of one’s ambition determines the potential of one’ future.

Lessons...

• You are poor because you do not have the desire to become successful.
• You are poor because you lack foresight.
• You are poor because you cannot overcome your cowardice.
• You are poor because you lack the courage and determination.

• With ambition you can overcome all inferiority and maximise your potential!
• With ambition you can persevere, continuously learn new things and strive for perfection.
• With ambition you can defy all odds, and create miracles when others daren’t.
• No matter how poor your family is, do not doubt your own abilities and lose sight of your ambition.

Go big, or go home. Otherwise, you’re wasting your youth.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2...e-poor-35-you-deserve-it

Think Think
It always gets my goat when people talk like this after they have made it ....,but when they are struggling, hassling? No grandiose speeches from the soapbox, condescending putdowns about how you are poor cause you have no ambition. We seem to have this belief that rich people are infallible, immune to follies that befall the rest of humanity. There are plenty of ambitious, hard workers out there, not all of them get onto the billionaire-millionaire gravy train. There is an element of luck anointing your hard work, and for 98% entrepreneurs out there, luck just gives them the middle finger.
I get invited to invest in hare-brained ideas all the time, and guess what, I invest in what I know! I wouldn't throw money at a venture if I didn't understand how it works, if the proponent in future makes millions and then says 'when I started, I asked Quicksand to put seed money into this and he refused cause he is an idiot and did not understand the business model' -I would kick myself but then I would be fine with it. The flip-side is losing money constantly.
Chaka
#3 Posted : Wednesday, October 08, 2014 9:31:37 AM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 2/16/2007
Posts: 2,114

What if you were doing "nothing" before?
arkard
#4 Posted : Wednesday, October 08, 2014 12:51:11 PM
Rank: New-farer

Joined: 9/24/2012
Posts: 63
Chaka wrote:

What if you were doing "nothing" before?


Even better, as you have nothing to lose.
Above all, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.
murchr
#5 Posted : Wednesday, October 08, 2014 6:58:42 PM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 2/26/2012
Posts: 15,980
quicksand wrote:
muganda wrote:
Before I founded Alibaba, I invited 24 friends to my house to discuss the business opportunity. After discussing for a full two hours, they were still confused — I have to say that I may not have put myself across in a clear manner manner then. The verdict: 23 out of the 24 people in the room told me to drop the idea, for a multitude of reasons, such as: ‘you do not know anything about the internet, and more prominently, you do not have the start-up capital for this’ etc etc.

There was only one friend (who was working in a bank then) who told me, “If you want to do it, just try it. If things don’t work out the way you expected it to, you can always revert back to what you were doing before.” I pondered upon this for one night, and by the next morning, I decided I would do it anyway, even if all of the 24 people opposed the idea.



When I first started Alibaba, I was immediately met with strong opposition from family and friends. Looking back, I realised that the biggest driving force for me then was not my confidence in the Internet and the potential it held, but more of this: “No matter what one does, regardless of failure or success, the experience is a form of success in itself.” You have got to keep trying, and if it doesn’t work, you always can revert back to what you were doing before.

As with this quote by T.E. Lawrence –
“All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream in the dark recesses of the night awake in the day to find all was vanity. But the dreamers of day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, and make it possible.”

People lose out in life because of these 4 reasons:
1. Being myopic to opportunity
2. Looking down on opportunities
3. Lacking understanding
4. Failing to act quickly enough


You are poor, because you have no ambition.

Ambition is living a life of great ideals; a magnificent goal in life that must be realised.

In this world, there are things that are deemed unfathomable, but there is nothing in this world that cannot be done. The depth of one’s ambition determines the potential of one’ future.

Lessons...

• You are poor because you do not have the desire to become successful.
• You are poor because you lack foresight.
• You are poor because you cannot overcome your cowardice.
• You are poor because you lack the courage and determination.

• With ambition you can overcome all inferiority and maximise your potential!
• With ambition you can persevere, continuously learn new things and strive for perfection.
• With ambition you can defy all odds, and create miracles when others daren’t.
• No matter how poor your family is, do not doubt your own abilities and lose sight of your ambition.

Go big, or go home. Otherwise, you’re wasting your youth.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2...e-poor-35-you-deserve-it

Think Think
It always gets my goat when people talk like this after they have made it ....,but when they are struggling, hassling? No grandiose speeches from the soapbox, condescending putdowns about how you are poor cause you have no ambition. We seem to have this belief that rich people are infallible, immune to follies that befall the rest of humanity. There are plenty of ambitious, hard workers out there, not all of them get onto the billionaire-millionaire gravy train. There is an element of luck anointing your hard work, and for 98% entrepreneurs out there, luck just gives them the middle finger.
I get invited to invest in hare-brained ideas all the time, and guess what, I invest in what I know! I wouldn't throw money at a venture if I didn't understand how it works, if the proponent in future makes millions and then says 'when I started, I asked Quicksand to put seed money into this and he refused cause he is an idiot and did not understand the business model' -I would kick myself but then I would be fine with it. The flip-side is losing money constantly.



BECAUSE THEY WERE BUSY TRYING TO MAKE IT, NO TIME FOR SPEECHES AND NO ONE WOULD LISTEN ANYWAY
"There are only two emotions in the market, hope & fear. The problem is you hope when you should fear & fear when you should hope: - Jesse Livermore
.
JkMwatha
#6 Posted : Wednesday, October 08, 2014 7:58:46 PM
Rank: Veteran

Joined: 9/11/2007
Posts: 816
murchr wrote:
quicksand wrote:
muganda wrote:
Before I founded Alibaba, I invited 24 friends to my house to discuss the business opportunity. After discussing for a full two hours, they were still confused — I have to say that I may not have put myself across in a clear manner manner then. The verdict: 23 out of the 24 people in the room told me to drop the idea, for a multitude of reasons, such as: ‘you do not know anything about the internet, and more prominently, you do not have the start-up capital for this’ etc etc.

There was only one friend (who was working in a bank then) who told me, “If you want to do it, just try it. If things don’t work out the way you expected it to, you can always revert back to what you were doing before.” I pondered upon this for one night, and by the next morning, I decided I would do it anyway, even if all of the 24 people opposed the idea.



When I first started Alibaba, I was immediately met with strong opposition from family and friends. Looking back, I realised that the biggest driving force for me then was not my confidence in the Internet and the potential it held, but more of this: “No matter what one does, regardless of failure or success, the experience is a form of success in itself.” You have got to keep trying, and if it doesn’t work, you always can revert back to what you were doing before.

As with this quote by T.E. Lawrence –
“All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream in the dark recesses of the night awake in the day to find all was vanity. But the dreamers of day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, and make it possible.”

People lose out in life because of these 4 reasons:
1. Being myopic to opportunity
2. Looking down on opportunities
3. Lacking understanding
4. Failing to act quickly enough


You are poor, because you have no ambition.

Ambition is living a life of great ideals; a magnificent goal in life that must be realised.

In this world, there are things that are deemed unfathomable, but there is nothing in this world that cannot be done. The depth of one’s ambition determines the potential of one’ future.

Lessons...

• You are poor because you do not have the desire to become successful.
• You are poor because you lack foresight.
• You are poor because you cannot overcome your cowardice.
• You are poor because you lack the courage and determination.

• With ambition you can overcome all inferiority and maximise your potential!
• With ambition you can persevere, continuously learn new things and strive for perfection.
• With ambition you can defy all odds, and create miracles when others daren’t.
• No matter how poor your family is, do not doubt your own abilities and lose sight of your ambition.

Go big, or go home. Otherwise, you’re wasting your youth.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2...e-poor-35-you-deserve-it

Think Think
It always gets my goat when people talk like this after they have made it ....,but when they are struggling, hassling? No grandiose speeches from the soapbox, condescending putdowns about how you are poor cause you have no ambition. We seem to have this belief that rich people are infallible, immune to follies that befall the rest of humanity. There are plenty of ambitious, hard workers out there, not all of them get onto the billionaire-millionaire gravy train. There is an element of luck anointing your hard work, and for 98% entrepreneurs out there, luck just gives them the middle finger.
I get invited to invest in hare-brained ideas all the time, and guess what, I invest in what I know! I wouldn't throw money at a venture if I didn't understand how it works, if the proponent in future makes millions and then says 'when I started, I asked Quicksand to put seed money into this and he refused cause he is an idiot and did not understand the business model' -I would kick myself but then I would be fine with it. The flip-side is losing money constantly.



BECAUSE THEY WERE BUSY TRYING TO MAKE IT, NO TIME FOR SPEECHES AND NO ONE WOULD LISTEN ANYWAY

Nice one.
Um Sayala
#7 Posted : Wednesday, October 08, 2014 8:10:19 PM
Rank: Veteran

Joined: 12/17/2010
Posts: 1,163
Location: Sudan
Ambition it is. Don't waste your youth. If you still have it
"Peace is our profession, War is our business" ...Unknown
quicksand
#8 Posted : Wednesday, October 08, 2014 8:17:36 PM
Rank: Veteran

Joined: 7/5/2010
Posts: 2,061
Location: Nairobi
murchr wrote:
quicksand wrote:
muganda wrote:
Before I founded Alibaba, I invited 24 friends to my house to discuss the business opportunity. After discussing for a full two hours, they were still confused — I have to say that I may not have put myself across in a clear manner manner then. The verdict: 23 out of the 24 people in the room told me to drop the idea, for a multitude of reasons, such as: ‘you do not know anything about the internet, and more prominently, you do not have the start-up capital for this’ etc etc.

There was only one friend (who was working in a bank then) who told me, “If you want to do it, just try it. If things don’t work out the way you expected it to, you can always revert back to what you were doing before.” I pondered upon this for one night, and by the next morning, I decided I would do it anyway, even if all of the 24 people opposed the idea.



When I first started Alibaba, I was immediately met with strong opposition from family and friends. Looking back, I realised that the biggest driving force for me then was not my confidence in the Internet and the potential it held, but more of this: “No matter what one does, regardless of failure or success, the experience is a form of success in itself.” You have got to keep trying, and if it doesn’t work, you always can revert back to what you were doing before.

As with this quote by T.E. Lawrence –
“All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream in the dark recesses of the night awake in the day to find all was vanity. But the dreamers of day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, and make it possible.”

People lose out in life because of these 4 reasons:
1. Being myopic to opportunity
2. Looking down on opportunities
3. Lacking understanding
4. Failing to act quickly enough


You are poor, because you have no ambition.

Ambition is living a life of great ideals; a magnificent goal in life that must be realised.

In this world, there are things that are deemed unfathomable, but there is nothing in this world that cannot be done. The depth of one’s ambition determines the potential of one’ future.

Lessons...

• You are poor because you do not have the desire to become successful.
• You are poor because you lack foresight.
• You are poor because you cannot overcome your cowardice.
• You are poor because you lack the courage and determination.

• With ambition you can overcome all inferiority and maximise your potential!
• With ambition you can persevere, continuously learn new things and strive for perfection.
• With ambition you can defy all odds, and create miracles when others daren’t.
• No matter how poor your family is, do not doubt your own abilities and lose sight of your ambition.

Go big, or go home. Otherwise, you’re wasting your youth.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2...e-poor-35-you-deserve-it

Think Think
It always gets my goat when people talk like this after they have made it ....,but when they are struggling, hassling? No grandiose speeches from the soapbox, condescending putdowns about how you are poor cause you have no ambition. We seem to have this belief that rich people are infallible, immune to follies that befall the rest of humanity. There are plenty of ambitious, hard workers out there, not all of them get onto the billionaire-millionaire gravy train. There is an element of luck anointing your hard work, and for 98% entrepreneurs out there, luck just gives them the middle finger.
I get invited to invest in hare-brained ideas all the time, and guess what, I invest in what I know! I wouldn't throw money at a venture if I didn't understand how it works, if the proponent in future makes millions and then says 'when I started, I asked Quicksand to put seed money into this and he refused cause he is an idiot and did not understand the business model' -I would kick myself but then I would be fine with it. The flip-side is losing money constantly.



BECAUSE THEY WERE BUSY TRYING TO MAKE IT, NO TIME FOR SPEECHES AND NO ONE WOULD LISTEN ANYWAY


We too are trying hard to make it... if you ever make those obscene amounts of wealth, enjoy it quietly with your family and people and restrain from adding to this "ambition" din. Enough has been said and written on the matter.
murchr
#9 Posted : Wednesday, October 08, 2014 8:43:44 PM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 2/26/2012
Posts: 15,980
quicksand wrote:
murchr wrote:
quicksand wrote:
muganda wrote:
Before I founded Alibaba, I invited 24 friends to my house to discuss the business opportunity. After discussing for a full two hours, they were still confused — I have to say that I may not have put myself across in a clear manner manner then. The verdict: 23 out of the 24 people in the room told me to drop the idea, for a multitude of reasons, such as: ‘you do not know anything about the internet, and more prominently, you do not have the start-up capital for this’ etc etc.

There was only one friend (who was working in a bank then) who told me, “If you want to do it, just try it. If things don’t work out the way you expected it to, you can always revert back to what you were doing before.” I pondered upon this for one night, and by the next morning, I decided I would do it anyway, even if all of the 24 people opposed the idea.



When I first started Alibaba, I was immediately met with strong opposition from family and friends. Looking back, I realised that the biggest driving force for me then was not my confidence in the Internet and the potential it held, but more of this: “No matter what one does, regardless of failure or success, the experience is a form of success in itself.” You have got to keep trying, and if it doesn’t work, you always can revert back to what you were doing before.

As with this quote by T.E. Lawrence –
“All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream in the dark recesses of the night awake in the day to find all was vanity. But the dreamers of day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, and make it possible.”

People lose out in life because of these 4 reasons:
1. Being myopic to opportunity
2. Looking down on opportunities
3. Lacking understanding
4. Failing to act quickly enough


You are poor, because you have no ambition.

Ambition is living a life of great ideals; a magnificent goal in life that must be realised.

In this world, there are things that are deemed unfathomable, but there is nothing in this world that cannot be done. The depth of one’s ambition determines the potential of one’ future.

Lessons...

• You are poor because you do not have the desire to become successful.
• You are poor because you lack foresight.
• You are poor because you cannot overcome your cowardice.
• You are poor because you lack the courage and determination.

• With ambition you can overcome all inferiority and maximise your potential!
• With ambition you can persevere, continuously learn new things and strive for perfection.
• With ambition you can defy all odds, and create miracles when others daren’t.
• No matter how poor your family is, do not doubt your own abilities and lose sight of your ambition.

Go big, or go home. Otherwise, you’re wasting your youth.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2...e-poor-35-you-deserve-it

Think Think
It always gets my goat when people talk like this after they have made it ....,but when they are struggling, hassling? No grandiose speeches from the soapbox, condescending putdowns about how you are poor cause you have no ambition. We seem to have this belief that rich people are infallible, immune to follies that befall the rest of humanity. There are plenty of ambitious, hard workers out there, not all of them get onto the billionaire-millionaire gravy train. There is an element of luck anointing your hard work, and for 98% entrepreneurs out there, luck just gives them the middle finger.
I get invited to invest in hare-brained ideas all the time, and guess what, I invest in what I know! I wouldn't throw money at a venture if I didn't understand how it works, if the proponent in future makes millions and then says 'when I started, I asked Quicksand to put seed money into this and he refused cause he is an idiot and did not understand the business model' -I would kick myself but then I would be fine with it. The flip-side is losing money constantly.



BECAUSE THEY WERE BUSY TRYING TO MAKE IT, NO TIME FOR SPEECHES AND NO ONE WOULD LISTEN ANYWAY


We too are trying hard to make it... if you ever make those obscene amounts of wealth, enjoy it quietly with your family and people and restrain from adding to this "ambition" din. Enough has been said and written on the matter.


There's no way of enjoying it quietly without someone asking how I made it, then I will unleash a momo paragraph of inspirations and what have yous. Its nature, learn to live with it
"There are only two emotions in the market, hope & fear. The problem is you hope when you should fear & fear when you should hope: - Jesse Livermore
.
murchr
#10 Posted : Wednesday, July 12, 2017 5:29:57 AM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 2/26/2012
Posts: 15,980
Coming to Kenya to meet young entrepreneurs.
"There are only two emotions in the market, hope & fear. The problem is you hope when you should fear & fear when you should hope: - Jesse Livermore
.
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