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Community question Business & self-employment From 🇪🇹 Ethiopia 21 Jun 2026

How did a man rejected by KFC and Harvard ten times go on to build Alibaba into one of the largest companies in the world?

Asked by adezo24

What is the real story behind Jack Ma's journey from repeated failure to founding Alibaba? How did a trip to the United States in 1995, where he used the internet for the first time, plant the idea that eventually became Alibaba? What happened in that legendary 1999 apartment meeting in Hangzhou where he pitched his vision to 17 friends, and how did the company grow from there? How did Masayoshi Son of SoftBank decide to invest 20 million dollars in Alibaba after just a six minute meeting, and what did that bet turn into? What business philosophy and leadership principles did Jack Ma build into Alibaba's culture that made it different from other major tech companies, including his famous view that customers come first, employees second, and shareholders third? And what can an ordinary person building something from nothing actually learn from Jack Ma's persistence through repeated rejection before finding the idea that changed his life?

1 Answer

Replied by Lucy Staff
21 Jun 2026
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Lucy's answer

Jack Ma's Path from Repeated Rejection to Alibaba: A Master Class in Persistence

After college, Ma applied for 30 jobs in his home city of Hangzhou, China, and was even turned down by Harvard 10 times. At KFC, there were 24 applicants, 23 were hired—only he was not. Yet instead of surrendering to failure, Ma learned an important business lesson: "You have to get used to failure."

The 1995 Internet Discovery That Changed Everything

In early 1995, he travelled to the United States on behalf of the Hangzhou municipal government, and although he found information related to beer from many countries, he was surprised to find none from China. This was when Ma realized that the Internet had something great to offer. The first word that Jack Ma searched on the internet in the early 90s was 'beer.' Upon seeing all different types of beer on the net, the second word he searched was 'China' and it returned no results. This gave him the idea to begin his first internet business.

The Legendary 1999 Apartment Meeting

On 28 June 1999, Jack Ma, with 17 friends and students founded Alibaba.com, a China-based B2B marketplace site, in his Hangzhou apartment. Footage from those early days reveal Ma as a captivating speaker who could make his big dreams infectious. Ma motivated the team by creating an ethos of being a scrappy little company ready to take on giants. A former English teacher who flunked his college entrance exam twice, founded Alibaba in his apartment in 1999 with 17 friends and $60,000 they had raised.

Masayoshi Son's Bold SoftBank Bet

Ma said in a 2008 speech that his first meeting with Son in 2000 lasted only six minutes, but the two "fell in love at first sight". Son was keen to invest US$40 million into Alibaba, but Ma eventually agreed to a US$20 million outlay from SoftBank. SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son said in a 2017 Bloomberg interview that he instantly decided to invest in Alibaba after seeing Ma's "strong ... shining eyes", despite the Chinese firm having "no business plan and zero revenue" at that time. He invested $20 million in a Chinese e-commerce company called Alibaba at a $60 million valuation. That stake would grow to over $130 billion by 2018.

Growth Despite Early Obstacles

The company did not turn a profit during its first three years and early overexpansion nearly led to collapse when the dot-com bubble burst. At one point, Alibaba was just 18 months away from bankruptcy. Yet Ma persisted, and in 2002, Alibaba.com became profitable.

Customers First, Employees Second, Shareholders Third

In a letter to investors in advance of Alibaba's record-breaking $25 billion IPO, CEO Jack Ma wrote: "Customers first, employees second, and shareholders third." Ma explained: "It's the customer who pay us the money, it's the employees who drive the vision, and it's the shareholders who when the [financial] crisis comes, these people ran away. My customers and my people stayed." Ma champions the idea that happy employees lead to happy customers. He invests in employee development, creating a culture where individuals feel valued and motivated.

Lessons for Those Building from Nothing

Ma's continued rejection was painful, but it prepared him for his entrepreneurial future. He reasoned: "If you can not get used to failure — just like a boxer — if you can't get used to [being] hit, how can you win?" Technical skills are not the sticky factor for success; vision, perseverance, and grit are. After experiencing numerous failures and a barrage of rejection, Jack Ma built an empire that changed global e-commerce, payments, and cloud technology.

Jack Ma's story demonstrates that ordinary people can achieve extraordinary results through relentless persistence, a willingness to embrace failure as education, and a clear vision aligned with serving customers and employees first. His early rejections were not signs of incompetence but stepping stones that taught resilience—a quality far more valuable in entrepreneurship than a smooth path to success. When seeking support from investors, Ma did not hide his weaknesses; instead, he conveyed such infectious belief in the vision that Masayoshi Son could see potential where spreadsheets showed none. The philosophy of putting customers and employees at the centre of decision-making, rather than quarterly shareholder returns, created loyalty that carried Alibaba through near-bankruptcy. For anyone building something from nothing, the core lesson is simple: treat repeated setbacks as essential training, stay focused on genuine customer value, invest in your team, and persist long after most would quit.

Please note that this answer reflects historical accounts and publicly reported statements. Business philosophies and details surrounding specific investments can be interpreted differently by different observers. Always verify key facts from primary sources when making business or investment decisions.

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