In an interview with Charlie Rose at Alibaba’s Gateway ’17 conference in Detroit, Alibaba founder and executive chairman Jack Ma shared his wisdom about entrepreneurship. Among the interview’s gems: if you find yourself interviewing someone and “you think he will be your boss in five years,” Ma said, “hire him.”
Later he advised entrepreneurs to “be paranoid,” citing the unexpected reversal in the fortunes of internet companies Netscape and Yahoo.
Still, entrepreneurship is not a perpetual cold sweat.
“As an entrepreneur,” Ma said, “Today is very difficult. And tomorrow is even more difficult. But the day after tomorrow is very beautiful.”
Watch other highlights from the interview here.