A great career cannot be created by just one person. Setting up a career is extremely difficult, so when choosing a partner, you must be very careful.
In the same 1996, Alibaba was founded, but the current position is completely different. Entrepreneurs who share the same dream have joined Jack Ma to push Alibaba to constantly develop and grow.
They came with me to Beijing, the first 14 months we did excellent work. But by May 15, we disagreed. I was really disappointed and decided to return home. At first they were amazed!
I give them 3 options:
One is, if they want to work at Yahoo, I will recommend, Yahoo will definitely accept. Moreover, the salary will be very high.
Second, I recommend to work in Xinlan and Sohu, the salary will also be very high.
Third, come back with me and each person will only be divided 100 yuan, you guys can rent a house just 5 minutes away from my house and have to work from my house. I give you three days to think. You decide for yourself.
They were gone, but three minutes later came back and said to me, "Jack Ma, we're back."
During difficult times, they did not leave Jack Ma, becoming the most solid support for him on his career path. When talking about them, Jack Ma is proud and emotional in each sentence: "When it's difficult, I always meet good people. All of this is based on the relationship between people, on friendship, on relationships with partners.”
When receiving the "Best Collective Award 2007", Jack Ma said emotionally: "Alibaba may not have Jack Ma, but it is impossible without this team".
Jack Ma's point of view is that when starting a business, you should not look for people who are too excellent, successful people to work together, especially at the age of 35-40 because they already have money and are successful. It's very difficult for successful people to get together. At the beginning of your career, you should find a group of people who have not been successful, have a desire to succeed and have a spirit of solidarity. Wait until you have a certain career, then invite some talent. “Starting a business must find the most suitable person, not necessarily the most successful person” – Jack Ma said.
After being invested by Goldman Sachs, Jack Ma immediately recruited a lot of talents from Hong Kong and the US. Of the 12 members of the senior management team, all came from abroad, except for Jack Ma. In the next few years, Alibaba recruited more MBAs, including MBAs from Harvard and Stanford, but 95% of them were fired by Jack Ma.
“Why do 95% of MBAs get fired by me?”
Surely they make mistakes. Because these new MBAs ask for salaries as low as 100,000 yuan, and always talk about strategy. Every time you hear these experts and MBAs talk, you feel energized but don't know where to start.
Jack Ma evaluates these MBAs: "Basic etiquette, professional working spirit, job-loving spirit in a state of alarm". Jack Ma has never denied their qualifications, but the question is whether the plane's control panel is suitable for the tractor? “Talents that match business needs are the real talent.”
Jack Ma believes that people who work at Alibaba must have dreams and consider work as something to learn deeply. After joining Alibaba, it is imperative that you integrate into the culture and accept the company's ideals. If employees cannot integrate, there will be irreconcilable conflicts within the enterprise. Although each person has their own advantages, if they are not like-minded, it will weaken the strength of the business.
When discussing with Ton Chinh Nghia, CEO of Softbank about the choice between the solution - between the 3rd-class implementation level and the 3rd-class idea with the first-class implementation level - which is more important? Both have the same answer: "Third-class idea plus first-class".
The reason is that in the internet age, everything is informationized and unpredictable, Alibaba does not plan ahead but always follows the slogan: "Now, immediately, now".
On various occasions he has asserted that sometimes it is much better to make a wrong decision than to hesitate or not make a decision. Because, in the process, you will have time and opportunity to detect and correct mistakes.
A competent implementer can make up for incomplete alternatives, but a mature alternative can also die due to ineffective execution. From this perspective, the ability to execute is the key to the success or failure of a business.
Wild dog and white rabbit
Alibaba divides all its employees into 3 groups:
The group of employees who have achievements at work but do not have a collective spirit are called "wild dogs".
Those who have three right and no achievements are called "white rabbits".
People who have both achievements and collective spirit are called "hunting dogs".
The content of our daily test for Sales Executives is as follows: Good work record, very high annual sales but low value, basically do not value team spirit and quality service, such people, we call "Wild Dogs", need to be exterminated!
As for those who have good values, are always enthusiastic, honest and friendly, but their achievements in work are too poor, we call them "White Rabbits", and must also be destroyed.
Alibaba just needs "hunting dogs"! Someone asked why it is necessary to eliminate the "white rabbit", Jack Ma replied: "It is natural, employees with good work records and good values are the ones we need, so we need them. , everyone has to work towards that standard.”
People who can't take the job - white rabbits, are a waste to the company. Therefore, Alibaba implements the principle of using employees: excellent retain, poorly trained to effectively arouse their positivity, make the business always in a positive state, improve, overcome problem of people who have a lot of work to do, thereby improving work efficiency and department efficiency.
“Once a year, our company conducts employee voting. If the voting results show you in the last place, even though you try very hard and are also excellent at work, you still have to leave."
In 2001, the internet bubble burst. Chinese internet companies have become a population shunned by foreign investors. In 2002, the internet economy fell into the bleakest period. Beijing's Internet businesses are like an elevator in heaven slowly falling to hell, no hero seems to be able to escape that spiral.
At the bleakest moment of the cold winter of 2000, Jack Ma said: "Even if we kneel to live, as long as we live for one day, we will win" - Dai San, Vice President of Alibaba recalls. From this point on, Alibaba returns to its main B2B business, back to its roots, back to China. Therefore, in Ma Van's words, when others are coldest, we close the door to make our products well, wait until spring comes, we will have a harvest.
At this time, when the Vietnamese market is dominated by a player with too much money like Rocket Internet - as well as the ability to bear losses to gain growth and dominate market share, many Vietnamese e-commerce businesses continuous losses, only a few spend money carefully and carefully like Tiki, Hotdeal (heard of so) can survive, what should other businesses do? Should they close the door to make really good products, or rush to start a business, rush to launch, rush to close after burning all their capital and investors?
“In the past two or three years, whoever can raise an army proves that he is very good. In the US, it is very difficult to feed 300 people, if you don't earn money, the company will quickly go bankrupt. Spending too much money, not counting advertising costs, the monthly expenses alone are enough to drain you. In Europe, so is Hong Kong. Only in mainland China, only in Hangzhou, can such an army of 300 people be gathered.”
After 3 years, Jack Ma has 300 soldiers with an average age of 30, each with 5 years of experience working in the internet field. This army is hard to find in the world. Jack Ma's idealism has not yet pulled him off the ground, in the most important moment, his feet still touched the ground, so Alibaba has the development it is today.
The hardest time to hire was 2001, when the internet fell into a bleak period. First, we don't have a name yet. Second, the capital used was very limited, the whole market was quite desolate at that time, people heard about the internet and ran away. At that time many people came and went. I remember saying to a guy new to the company: "Hopefully in the most difficult times, you will persevere and not leave us".
This young man promised me never to leave for 5 years. In those 5 years, everyone who came with him had left, and in the midst of his frustration, I reminded him of what I said. Today, he continues to work at the company, and is very successful both in terms of work style and assets.
18 people who started their business from the beginning until now still have no shortage of anyone. Other companies pay 4 times as much, they are still not moved. Jack Ma also joked with them: "Brothers, in my opinion, the salary is 4 times, so forget it, but the salary 6 times should be considered".
When Alibaba is successful, they have enough finance and conditions to treat talented people, but at the beginning, how to make those 18 founders still follow them, going through a bleak long time is really difficult. a challenge. You have a good idea, after analyzing you believe that you can start a startup, be successful, make a lot of money, but right then you don't have enough money. How to convince others to do it with you, contribute money, contribute to doing it? You can also follow the most naive way of thinking: raise capital with a beautiful idea.
All of these goals seem impossible at first, but thanks to the superhuman execution powers of Jack Ma's army, they eventually become a reality. The education level of the team today is not the highest compared to other Internet companies, but their execution capacity is certainly the strongest. In this regard, Alibaba is far ahead of other competitors.
An outsider can also lead a person in the profession
Many people believe that, setting up an Internet company, Ma Van's level must be very high. But in reality, he was completely pagan. Up to the time the book "Jack Ma" was written, he could only send and receive emails.
He said:
“Infidels can also lead people in the profession, it is important to respect them. This is a very important point that I conclude. Second thing, you can invite the best people first. For example, if you don't know about technology, you can invite the best technical expert. You don't understand finance, you can invite the best financial expert. You don't understand management, you can invite the best manager… Because I don't understand, I can't argue with them, he works on engineering, of course I respect him… as long as you have a photo With heart, with vision, you can do this. Therefore, we never conflict, the technical staff will not conflict with me."
Although he is an outsider, but Jack Ma has leadership talent and this is an important reason why they can manage people in the profession. Moreover, due to lack of expertise, non-believers always have an open and objective vision. He believes that most customers are like him, so the software is designed to be simple and all must be tested by him.
In some specific industries such as Search or advertising, typically agencies, in my own observations, are led by people with expertise, not just leadership. Moz, Search Engine Land is led by industry legends, where no one doubts the ability of Rand Fishkin or Danny Sullivan.
What do you think about the views of billionaire Jack Ma suggested in the article above? If you find it interesting, please refer to it carefully and apply what is most suitable for you. Good luck.
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