Before becoming one of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs, he was rejected again and again.
Jobs.
Universities.
Even basic entry-level applications.
After graduating from university, Jack Ma applied to around 30 different jobs.
Every single one turned him down.
One rejection became almost symbolic.
When KFC opened in China, 24 people applied.
23 were hired.
1 was rejected.
That one person was Jack Ma.
It didn’t stop there.
He applied for a police job.
4 out of 5 candidates were accepted.
He was the only one rejected.
He applied to Harvard University multiple times.
Rejected every time.
Most people would have quit.
But instead, he took a low-paying teaching job and kept going.
Kept learning.
Kept building.
Then in 1999, everything changed.
He gathered 17 friends in his apartment and pitched an idea few believed in at the time:
an internet company from China.
That idea became Alibaba.
Today, the man once rejected by KFC is recognized globally as one of the most influential entrepreneurs of his generation.
And his story is still shared for one simple reason:
Rejection isn’t always the end.
Sometimes it’s just the start of something much bigger.