Today, Jack Ma is the Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group, but in the early days of his entrepreneurial journey, he was nothing more than a common “salesman.” In the CCTV documentary “Scholar Jack Ma,” the slender Jack Ma is seen with a half-up hairstyle, carrying a black single-shoulder bag, knocking on doors to find potential clients. He would approach everyone and say, “I am here to sell China Yellow Pages.” However, faced with people who looked confused or impatient, he was often politely “asked” to leave.
In 1996, Jack Ma went to Beijing to promote China Yellow Pages to a certain national commission. He envisioned that “the commission would be advertised on the information highway, putting all of China into computers, so the world could understand China.” However, the response was impatient: “You should have made an appointment first. Without an appointment, it is difficult for me to give you a satisfactory reply.”
Although Jack Ma looked just like any other salesman on the street, the repeated rejections and cold stares did not shake his belief in the internet. Instead, they became the spiritual driving force behind Alibaba’s development. This was perhaps his greatest difference from others. Even after founding Alibaba, it was common for employees to be chased by dogs or driven away by security guards when promoting services in person.
The Alibaba team had worked on government projects in Beijing for a period. Eventually, Jack Ma decided to move south to Hangzhou to start again. During the final 14 months in Beijing, Jack Ma never took his team out for a leisure trip. On the last day, they decided to visit the Great Wall. That evening, at an unknown small restaurant, heavy snow was falling. Everyone drank from large bowls and ate meat in large chunks. Finally, they embraced and wept together. They sang “True Hero” and then other old songs, one after another. These men who had traveled widely deliberately avoided the word “parting,” which was too heavy for them.
This move south marked Jack Ma’s fourth consecutive entrepreneurial failure since he was 30 years old.
External narratives about Alibaba’s investment often casually mention Masayoshi Son’s $20 million and Yahoo’s later $1 billion, appearing quite stylish. However, much more pain remained unknown to the public. At that time, Alibaba did not have a luxurious team setup, nor was there a successful American model to reference. Compared with peers in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, Alibaba was once the “ugly duckling” of the internet industry. The internet industry is known for high cash burn, and Alibaba faced significant funding pressure after its establishment. At the most destitute moment, there were only 200 yuan left in the bank account.
Once, Jack Ma visited an investor in Shanghai who offered harsh terms. Jack Ma was dissatisfied but hesitated. He slipped out to ask his finance colleague and learned that the account had no money left. Back at the negotiation table, Jack Ma gritted his teeth and refused the investment. He did not speak of it publicly, and only he knew how agonizing his inner state was at that time.
It was not until 15 years later, at the IPO roadshow in New York, that Jack Ma revealed the awkwardness of those days in a joking manner: “15 years ago, I came to New York to raise $20 million and failed. For 15 years, I never gave up. I came to New York this time just to ask for more money to take back. Initially, you ignored me; now, you can’t afford me.”
