Before 20 Years Old:

Be a good student. The way to entrepreneur, just learn some experience.

Before 30 Years Old:

Follow somebody. Go to a small company. Normally in a big company it’s good to learn processes. You’re a part of a big machine. But when you go to a small company, you learn the passion, you learn the dreams, and you learn how to do lots of things at any one time. So before 30 years old, it’s not which company you go, it’s which boss you follow. It’s very important. A good boss teaches you differently.

From 30 to 40 Years Old:

You have to think very clearly if you want to work for yourself. If you really want to be an entrepreneur.

From 40 to 50 Years Old:

You have to do all the things that you are good at. Don’t try to drop into the new area, it’s too late. You may be successful, but the rate of dying is too big. Think about how to focus on things that you’re good at.

From 50 to 60 Years Old:

Work for the young people. Because young people can do better than you. So rely on them, invest on them, making sure that they are good.

Over 60 Years Old:

Spend time on yourself, on the beach, sunshine, it’s normally too late for you to change. This is my advice to young people: At 25-years old, make enough mistakes. Don’t worry. You fall, you stand up. Enjoy it. Enjoy the show.

Jack Ma on Regrets:

I regret a lot of things. I regret that I meet the Media. I regret that I speak in the public. Because I could have my own privacy. I regret that I work so hard and spend so little time with my family. If I have another life, I would never do things like this. And my wife said: “You do not belong to me. You belong to Alibaba.” But, in all, Life is so short. It’s all about experience. People seek different views. Some people think you’re rich, you’re successful. But you’re not! Some people say this guy does not have money and he’s a terrible guy. Maybe not! So everybody choose his or her own life. We have a lot of problems that people never thought of. Because running a company for 34,000 young people, operating a company for more than 500 million people. If 1% of the 500 million people are bad guys, you got 5 million bad guys. So it’s a headache. But it’s too late to regret. Forget about regret. Think about I have another 10-20 years to go. So enjoy the show, enjoy the ride. You’re the same.
See Related:
Advice from Jack Ma on Life and Entrepreneurship
Jack Ma’s vision for Alibaba
The Value of Honour – Jack Ma