John Gokongwei Success Story

John Gokongwei life story is another rags to riches success story of a true Filipino Taipan entrepreneur. His
business empire company known as John Gokongwei Summit Holdings, Inc. or J.G. Summit Holdings, Inc. for
short has been one of the most successful conglomerate in the Philippines today competing with more solid
names such as SM Malls, PAL, and Ayala.

It has business interests in branded consumer foods (Universal Robina Corp.), real estate property
development (Robinson’s Land Corp.), air transportation (Cebu Pacific Air), banking and financial services
(Robinson’s Bank), telecommunications (Sun Cellular and Digitel), petrochemicals (J.G. Summit Petrochemical
Corp.), and United Industrial Corp. of Singapore.

John Gokongwei Story started in 1927 in the Chinese province of Fujian where he was born. Because they
needed to escape the turmoil in China, they migrated to the province of Cebu here in Philippines where his
grandfather Pedro Gotiaoco operated a successful chain of movie houses. Let’s view another entrepreneur
story as we witness Gokongwei’s inspiring story with the various challenges that he faced delivered as part of
his speech to the 20th AD Congress last November 21, 2007.

Before I begin, I want to say please bear with me, an 81-year-old man who just flew in from San Francisco 36
hours ago and is still suffering from jet lag. However, I hope I will be able to say what you want to hear…

Ladies and gentlemen, good evening. Thank you very much for having me here tonight to open the Ad
Congress. I know how important this event is for our marketing and advertising colleagues. My people get very
excited and go into a panic, every other year, at this time.

I would like to talk about my life, entrepreneurship, and globalization. I would like to talk about how we can
become a great nation.

You may wonder how one is connected to the other, but I promise that, as there is truth in advertising, the
connection will come.

I was born to a rich Chinese-Filipino family. I spent my childhood in Cebu where my father owned a chain of
movie houses, including the first air-conditioned one outside Manila. I was the eldest of six children and lived in
a big house in Cebu ‘s ForbesPark. A chauffeur drove me to school everyday as I went to San Carlos
University, then and still one of the country’s top schools. I topped my classes and had many friends. I would
bring them to watch movies for free at my father’s movie houses. When I was 13, my father died suddenly of
complications due to typhoid. Everything I enjoyed vanished instantly. My father’s empire was built on credit.
When he died, we lost everything-our big house, our cars, our business-to the banks. I felt angry at the world
for taking away my father, and for taking away all that I enjoyed before. When the free movies disappeared, I
also lost half my friends.

On the day I had to walk two miles to school for the very first time, I cried to my mother, a widow at 32. But she
said: “You should feel lucky. Some people have no shoes to walk to school. What can you do? Your father died
with 10 centavos in his pocket.” So, what can I do? I worked.

My mother sent my siblings to China where living standards were lower. She and I stayed in Cebu to work, and
we sent them money regularly. My mother sold her jewelry. When that ran out, we sold roasted peanuts in the
backyard of our much-smaller home. When that wasn’t enough, I opened a small stall in a palengke (market). I
chose one among several palengkes a few miles outside the city because there were fewer goods available for
the people there. I woke up at five o’clock every morning for the long bicycle ride to the palengke with my
basket of goods. There, I set up a table about three feet by two feet in size. I laid out my goods-soap, candles,
and thread-and kept selling until everything was bought. Why these goods? Because these were hard times
and this was a poor village, so people wanted and needed the basics: soap to keep them clean, candles to
light the night, and thread to sew their clothes. I was surrounded by other vendors, all of them much older.
Many of them could be my grandparents. And they knew the ways of the palengke far more than a boy of 15,
especially one who had never worked before. But being young had its advantages. I did not tire as easily, and I
moved more quickly. I was also more aggressive.

After each day, I would make about 20 pesos in profit! There was enough to feed my siblings and still enough
to pour back into the business. The pesos I made in the palengke were the pesos that went into building the
business I have today. After this experience, I told myself, “If I can compete with people so much older than
me, if I can support my whole family at 15, I can do anything!” Looking back, I wonder, what would have
happened if my father had not left my family with nothing? Would I have become the man I am? Who knows?
The important thing to know is that life will always deal us a few bad cards. But we have to play those cards the
best we can. And WE can play to win! This was one lesson I picked up when I was a teenager. It has been my
guiding principle ever since. And I have had 66 years to practice self-determination. When I wanted something,
the best person to depend on was myself. And so I continued to work.

In 1943, I expanded and began trading goods between Cebu and Manila. From Cebu, I would transport tires
on a small boat called a “batel”. After traveling for five days to Lucena, I would load them into a truck for the
six-hour trip to Manila. I would end up sitting on top of my goods so they would not be stolen! In Manila, I would
then purchase other goods from the earnings I made from the tires, to sell in Cebu. Then, when World War II
ended, I saw the opportunity for trading goods in post-war Philippines. I was 20 years old. With my brother
Henry, I put up Amasia Trading, which imported onions, flour, used clothing, old newspapers and magazines,
and fruits from the United States.

In 1948, my mother and I got my siblings back from China. I also converted a two-story building in Cebu to
serve as our home, office, and warehouse all at the same time. The whole family began helping out with the
business.

In 1957, at age 31, I spotted an opportunity in corn-starch manufacturing. But I was going to compete with
Ludo and Luym, the richest group in Cebu and the biggest cornstarch manufacturers. I borrowed money to
finance the project. The first bank I approached made me wait for two hours, only to refuse my loan. The
second one, China Bank, approved a P500,000-peso clean loan for me. Years later, the banker who extended
that loan, Dr. Albino Sycip said that he saw something special in me. Today, I still wonder what that was, but I
still thank Dr. Sycip to this day. Upon launching our first product, Panda corn starch, a price war ensued. After
the smoke cleared, Universal Corn Products was still left standing. It is the foundation upon which JG Summit
Holdings now stands. Interestingly, the price war also forced the closure of a third cornstarch company, and
one of their chemists was Lucio Tan, who always kids me that I caused him to lose his job. I always reply that if
it were not for me, he will not be one of the richest men in the Philippines today. When my business grew, and
it was time for me to bring in more people- my family, the professionals, the consultants, more employees- I
knew that I had to be there to teach them what I knew. When dad died at age 34, he did not leave a
succession plan. From that, I learned that one must teach people to take over a business at any time. The
values of hard work that I learned from my father, I taught to my children.
They started doing jobs here and there even when they were still in high school. Six years ago, I announced
my retirement and handed the reins to my youngest brother James and only son Lance. But my children tease
me because I still go to the office every day and make myself useful. I just hired my first Executive Assistant
and moved into a bigger and nicer office. Building a business to the size of JG Summit was not easy. Many
challenges were thrown my way. I could have walked away from them, keeping the business small, but safe.
Instead, I chose to fight. But this did not mean I won each time.

By 1976, at age 50, we had built significant businesses in food products anchored by a branded coffee called
Blend 45, and agro- industrial products under the Robina Farms brand. That year, I faced one of my biggest
challenges, and lost. And my loss was highly publicized, too. But I still believe that this was one of my defining
moments. In that decade, not many business opportunities were available due to the political and economic
environment. Many Filipinos were already sending their money out of the country. As a Filipino, I felt that our
money must be invested here. I decided to purchase shares in San Miguel, then one of the Philippines’ biggest
corporations. By 1976, I had acquired enough shares to sit on its board. The media called me an upstart. “Who
is Gokongwei and why is he doing all those terrible things to San Miguel?” ran one headline of the day. In
another article, I was described as a pygmy going up against the powers-that- be. The San Miguel board of
directors itself even aid for an ad in all the country’s top newspapers telling the public why I should not be on
the board. On the day of reckoning, shareholders quickly filled up the auditorium to witness the battle. My
brother James and I had prepared for many hours for this debate. We were nervous and excited at the same
time. In the end, I did not get the board seat because of the Supreme Court Ruling. But I was able to prove to
others-and to myself-that I was willing to put up a fight. I succeeded because I overcame my fear, and tried. I
believe this battle helped define who I am today. In a twist to this story, I was invited to sit on the board of
Anscor and San Miguel Hong Kong 5 years later. Lose some, win some. Since then, I’ve become known as a
serious player in the business world, but the challenges haven’t stopped coming. Let me tell you about the
three most recent challenges. In all three, conventional wisdom bet against us. See, we set up businesses
against market Goliaths in very high-capital industries: airline, telecoms, and beverage.

Challenge No. 1: In 1996, we decided to start an airline. At the time, the dominant airline in the country was
PAL, and if you wanted to travel cheaply, you did not fly. You went by sea or by land. However, my son Lance
and I had a vision for Cebu Pacific: We wanted every Filipino to fly. Inspired by the low-cost carrier models in
the United States, we believed that an airline based on the no-frills concept would work here. No hot meals. No
newspaper. Mono-class seating. Operating with a single aircraft type. Faster turn around time. It all worked,
thus enabling Cebu Pacific to pass on savings to the consumer. How did we do this? By sticking to our
philosophy of “low cost, great value.” And we stick to that philosophy to this day. Cebu Pacific offers incentives.
Customers can avail themselves of a tiered pricing scheme, with promotional seats for as low a P1. The earlier
you book, the cheaper your ticket. Cebu Pacific also made it convenient for passengers by making online
booking available. When we started 11 years ago, Cebu Pacific flew only 360,000 passengers, with 24 daily
flights to 3 destinations. This year, we expect to fly more than five million passengers, with over 120 daily
flights to 20 local destinations and 12 Asian cities. Today, we are the largest in terms of domestic flights, routes
and destinations. We also have the youngest fleet in the region after acquiring new Airbus 319s and 320s. In
January, new ATR planes will arrive. These are smaller planes that can land on smaller air strips like those in
Palawan and Caticlan. Now you don’t have to take a two-hour ride by mini-bus to get to the beach. Largely
because of Cebu Pacific, the average Filipino can now afford to fly. In 2005, 1 out of 12 Filipinos flew within a
year. In 2012, by continuing to offer low fares, we hope to reduce that ratio to 1 out of 6. We want to see more
and more Filipinos see their country and the world!

Challenge No. 2: In 2003, we established Digitel Mobile Philippines, Inc. and developed a brand for the mobile
phone business called Sun Cellular. Prior to the launch of the brand, we were actually involved in a transaction
to purchase PLDT shares of the majority shareholder. The question in everyone’s mind was how we could
measure up to the two telecom giants. They were entrenched and we were late by eight years! PLDT held the
landline monopoly for quite a while, and was first in the mobile phone industry. Globe was a younger company,
but it launched digital mobile technology here. But being a late player had its advantages. We could now build
our platform from a broader perspective. We worked with more advanced technologies and intelligent systems
not available ten years ago. We chose our suppliers based on the most cost-efficient hardware and software.
Being a Johnny-come- lately allowed us to create and launch more innovative products, more quickly. All these
provided us with the opportunity to give the consumers a choice that would rock their world. The concept was
simple. We would offer Filipinos to call and text as much as they want for a fixed monthly fee. For P250 a
month, they could get in touch with anyone within the Sun network at any time. This means great savings of as
much as 2/3 of their regular phone bill! Suddenly, we gained traction. Within one year of its introduction, Sun
hit one million customers. Once again, the paradigm shifts – this time in the telecom industry. Sun’s 24/7 Call
and Text unlimited changed the landscape of mobile- phone usage. Today, we have over 4 million subscribers
and 2000 cell sites around the archipelago. In a country where 97% of the market is pre-paid, we believe we
have hit on the right strategy. Sun Cellular is a Johnny-come- lately, but it’s doing all right. It is a third player,
but a significant one, in an industry where Cassandras believed a third player would perish. And as we have
done in the realm of air travel, so have we done in the telecom world: We have changed the marketplace. In
the end, it is all about making life better for the consumer by giving them choices.

Challenge No. 3: In 2004, we launched C2, the green tea drink that would change the face of the local
beverage industry — then, a playground of cola companies. Iced tea was just a sugary brown drink served
bottomless in restaurants. For many years, hardly was there any significant product innovation in the beverage
business. Admittedly, we had little experience in this area. Universal Robina Corporation is the leader in snack
foods but our only background in beverage was instant coffee. Moreover, we would be entering the playground
of huge multinationals. We decided to play anyway. It all began when I was in China in 2003 and noticed the
immense popularity of bottled iced tea. I thought that this product would have huge potential here. We knew
that the Philippines was not a traditional tea-drinking country since more familiar to consumers were colas in
returnable glass bottles. But precisely, this made the market ready for a different kind of beverage. One that
refreshes yet gives the health benefits of green tea. We positioned it as a “spa” in a bottle. A drink that cools
and cleans- thus, C2 was born. C2 immediately caught on with consumers. When we launched C2 in 2004, we
sold 100,000 bottles in the first month. Three years later, Filipinos drink around 30 million bottles of C2 per
month. Indeed, C2 is in a good place. With Cebu Pacific, Sun Cellular, and C2, the JG Summit team took
control of its destiny. And we did so in industries where old giants had set the rules of the game. It’s not that we
did not fear the giants. We knew we could have been crushed at the word go. So we just made sure we came
prepared with great products and great strategies. We ended up changing the rules of the game instead.
There goes the principle of self-determination, again. I tell you, it works for individuals as it does for companies.
And as I firmly believe, it works for nations. I have always wondered, like many of us, why we Filipinos have
not lived up to our potential. To be a truly great nation, we must also excel as entrepreneurs before the world.
We must create Filipino brands for the global market place.

When we started our own foray outside the Philippines 30 years ago, it wasn’t a walk in the park. We set up a
small factory in Hong Kong to manufacture Jack and Jill potato chips there. Today, we are all over Asia. We
have the number-one-potato- chips brand in Malaysia and Singapore. We are the leading biscuit manufacturer
in Thailand, and a significant player in the candy market in Indonesia. Our Aces cereal brand is a market
leader in many parts of China. C2 is now doing very well in Vietnam, selling over 3 million bottles a month
there, after only 6 months in the market. Soon, we will launch C2 in other South East Asian markets. I am 81
today. But I do not forget the little boy that I was in the palengke in Cebu. I still believe in family. I still want to
make good. I still don’t mind going up against those older and better than me. I still believe hard work will not
fail me. And I still believe in people willing to think the same way. Through the years, the market place has
expanded: between cities, between countries, between continents. I want to urge you all here to think bigger.
Why serve 86 million when you can sell to four billion Asians? And that’s just to start you off. Because there is
still the world beyond Asia. When you go back to your offices, think of ways to sell and market your products
and services to the world. Create world-class brands. You can if you really tried. I did.

As a boy, I sold peanuts from my backyard. Today, I sell snacks to the world. I want to see other Filipinos do
the same.

HENRY SY SUCCESS STORY

Let’s learn and be inspired from another successful entrepreneur story as his daughter Teresita Sy-Coson
narrates the story of his father’s success:

Our company, SM, as many of you may already know, came from the hard work of my dad, Henry Sy, Sr. It is
a rags to riches story that even myself did not realize until I went to trace his roots in China.
His journey from the thatched hut I saw there to the shopping centers he has today is something that amazes
even myself.

His determination, his discipline and his thriftiness have produced an astute and street smart businessman
who has influenced a lot of people. Including us, his children.

My father’s perseverance during the different crises our country has gone through has made our active
business pursuits possible for a half century. True, he was disappointed with the economy many times, but he
never saw the reason to quit and instead pursued his goals relentlessly.

He had many obstacles – both external and internal – in his business, and there were times he could not
understand why things had to be so complicated for him to pursue his business objectives.

It has been written – and I can attest that it is true – that Henry Sy started from the bottom.

He came to the Philippines at the young age of 12, and worked in his father’s small sari-sari store more than
12 hours everyday to help him. It was located on Echague St., which is now Carlos Palanca Sr. St. in Quiapo,
Manila. There, he devised ways to increase his income by developing small portions of products – much like
the sachets we see today in the supermarkets.

He was able to make multiple sales in order to make extra income, spending so much time in the store that he
had no time to go out and play with friends in the neighborhood. It did not take a long time for him to realize,
however, that he can only do so much in a sari-sari store environment.

WWII came and the sari-sari store was looted and burned. He did a lot of buying and selling of odd things
during the war to enable the family to survive.

This must have provided him the hands-on training for his stamina in business. At one time, he was hit by
shrapnel while selling, and quite fortunately was brought to the hospital by his good friend in a kariton.

Without that friend, he could have bled to death. He treasured that friendship and later expressed his gratitude
after the war by making that friend his partner in a shoe store. The partnership lasted for more than 40 years
until the shoe store had to give away to the building renovations of the lessor.
After the war ended in 1945, he ventured into selling American shoes imported by enterprising Gis.

He later saw the opportunities of opening a shoe store, and not long after he was managing three shoe store in
partnership with friends.

With the pleasure of a growing family while at the same time pursuing studies at FEU in the early 50s, he
sought more ways to augment his income.

He studied the market and decided to be different. While other young men went to the US to pursue a higher
education, he went on a long business trip to the East Coast, and came home with a lot of merchandising
ideas.

For a time, he was selling a lot of shoes, accessories, and leather goods, hoping to change the way shoe
manufacturers look at the industry.

Sensing a lot of opportunities, he decided to open SHOE MART – “SM” – the first air-conditioned shoe store
that merchandised shoes in a very inviting and classy format. With the success of that store, he went on to
open more shoe stores, but he could not get enough suppliers.

Many shoe manufacturers at that time could not understand why they had to listen to this shoe retailer who had
very definite ideas on what he wanted to sell. They did not cooperate by providing him with the volume he
needed, and because of that limitation, he gradually shifted to apparel – and thereafter other merchandise –
with the help of my mother.

He was continuously learning from his customers, suppliers, and employees. This on-the-job research gave
him enough confidence to expand to a department store chain. Many things in life grow out of needs, and to
meet the needs, you become determined. With determination you will take extra challenges and do things
differently – which will most likely bring success.

We opened our first department store in 1972, two months after Martial Law was declared. The business had a
slow start, but progressed steadily. During the Martial Law years, he continued to open more department
stores, reaching a point wherein he could not get space he needed in the existing shopping centers during that
time. He then decided think long term, and invest in properties for malls, which were patterned after suburban
shopping centers, which he had been studying for some time.

When we started the construction of our first mall in 1983, the Philippines was in the midst of a debt
moratorium and experienced hyper inflation. The economy decline was further aggravated by the
assassination of Ninoy Aquino. Many bankers predicted our demise because my dad came from nowhere – he
may had a few department stores and shoe stores at that time, but he was not one of the financial heavy-
weights at that time.

Unaffected by criticism, and armed with sheer determination and optimism, he persisted and opened in 1985
with our department store and supermarket and a few tenants. Many potential lessees were saying no to lease
offers.

At about the same time, given the social unrest of the times, our own Shoemart Makati was faced with ugly
strikes. He almost gave up, but through the encouragement of his employees and customers, he continued. At
that time, he decided emotionally draining disturbances should not overpower him or detract him from his
goals. Since that time, he has not faltered in his confidence, and became even more determined to continue
the business. He also convinced everyone of us in the organization to follow his optimism.

Later, we expanded, slowly building malls at that time to get our formula right. The expansion was not without
difficulties. When constructing Sta. Mesa and Megamall, we were faced with delays in construction due to
cement shortages and the 1989 coups.

When the 1997 Asian crisis came, we were planning our mall expansion, including the Mall of Asia, which was
then envisioned to be the biggest mall in the region.

Because my dad felt the tsunami-like effects of the region wide crisis, which was unlike any other he had
experienced, we had to change plans. We deferred opening the Mall of Asia, and went on with the opening of
other malls.

We grew in numbers instead of size, serving different smaller markets. We have also expanded our retail
business beyond department stores to include supermarkets, hardware stores, appliance superstores, and
other retail formats.

At about the same time, we looked into the banking business – both at our bank and at the industry. At the
time, our main bank, Banco de Oro was a medium sized bank. Because we were quite conservative in lending,
the deluge of bad loans that characterized the times did not affect us. Given that, we thought it was an
opportune time to grow amidst some instabilities. We reorganized and strengthened our organizations for
about three years and developed growth strategies that started in the year 2000.

Encouraged by the consolidation program of Central Bank of the Philippines (BSP) in making Philippine banks
more competitive relative to the region, Banco De Oro made few acquisitions because of the moratorium on
banking. It acquired the Dao Heng Philippines branch, the First eBank, the Banco Santander Philippines
branch, the United Overseas Bank branches, and most recently – Equitable PCI Bank.

Opportunity is where you find it, not where it finds you. Crisis and weakness indicate one can look for
opportunities. Transforming problems into opportunities can bring good returns. Prosperity and growth come
only to a business that systematically exploits its potentials and systematically optimizes its performances.

Our business – especially that of shopping centers is a long term business. It takes at least eight years to pay
back. We feel that the country will always be around, and with Filipinos’ love for shopping, there will always be
customers we can sell to.

We also have to continuously innovate. Our other retail formats like supermarkets, hardware stores, appliance
stores, home stores, toy superstores, baby stores, and Watsons are continuously evolving with the shopping
habits of our customers. Because they frequently visit the store, we make sure we have new products all the
time so that their shopping experience will not be boring.

Our group’s policy is to look for opportunities at all times, and to be ready to act when it comes. While crises
may have brought opportunities, we continue our plans in good or bad times with some changes to suit our
demands of the time.

““There is no such thing as overnight success or easy money. If you fail, do not be discouraged; try again.
When you do well, do not change your ways. Success is not just good luck: it is a combination of hard work,
good credit standing, opportunity, readiness and timing. Success will not last if you do not take care of it.”
 NATIONAL BOOKSTORE SUCCESS STORY

National Book Store, the Philippine’s largest chain of bookstores is the featured success story for today as we
witness the life story of the woman behind it, Socorro Ramos or more commonly know to her staffs as Nanay
Coring.

Her story is truly an inspiring one as she built the business National Book Store from scratch with a lot of
challenges and hurdles as she and her husband Jose Ramos literally built and rebuilt the business three times
from scratch. That’s the true entrepreneurial spirit with enough courage and determination.

Nanay Coring or Maria Socorro Cancio in her early years was born in Sta. Cruz, Laguna on September 23,
1923. Ever she was young, she grew up in an entrepreneurial environment as one of the six children born to
entrepreneur parents and grandmother. Her parents used to ran a store selling a lot of stuffs from slippers to
clothes and a lot more while her grandmother had a market stall where the young Socorro got used to seeing
customers withdraw items on credit. Unfortunately, her grandmother did not manage the business carefully not
maintaining a list of those items availed on credit and their business fell.

After that event, they went to Manila. Her mother struggled hard to feed six children and the young Socorro
considered herself as lucky if she got money from her mother. Her elder sisters helped the family by working in
a candy and bubble gum factory and she spent her summer doing summer jobs too. In one instance, young
Socorro was hired to peel off the paper used in old cigarettes so that it can be reuse to make new fresh
cigarette sticks. She received 5 centavos per pack of cigarettes. But the young Socorro started her
entrepreneurial skills and hired kids and their neighborhood paying them 5 centavos for every two pack of
cigarettes leveraging her efforts. Since then, the young Socorro was on her way to become an entrepreneur as
early as 10 years old!

Immediately after graduating from Arellano High School, she worked as a salesgirl at Goodwill Book Store
owned by the family of her present husband Jose Ramos. Socorro’s brother Manuel married one of the Ramos
children and in 1940, they needed someone to look after the branch they set up along Escolta Street, on the
ground floor of Panciteria National. Jose Ramos took over it and asked Socorro to work on him in that branch.
They renamed it as National Book Store.

Their love story began but her parents were against with it as Socorro was just 18 years old back then. She
was told to stay in the province to keep away from marrying Jose Ramos. But as they say, true love never dies,
the young Socorro with just 11 pesos in her pocket, struggled to went back to Manila to marry Jose. Because
of this act, her family was so furious and angry that they considered her dead already. It was short-lived though
lasting only until Socorro gave birth to her twins named Alfredo, who is now the President of National Book
Store and Benjamin, now the Vice President.

As mentioned above, the business National Book Store faced a lot of challenges as it was built and rebuilt
three times from scratch!

First, Socorro admitted that it was not easy to start the business from scratch. She recalled that during the
Japanese occupation, they would look on each and every book title on sale. If they found questionable books,
they would just tear the pages off leaving them useless. So instead of selling books, Socorro and Jose decided
to fill their bookshelves with stuffs from candies, soap, slippers, papers, and cigarettes. During the war, she
would transfer goods to her smaller stores.
Second, when the Japanese were driven away, it was now the time for the Americans. Their National Book
Store stall in Escolta was damaged in the war. They recovered a bit by selling unused greeting cards and
uncensored books, which they had hidden in their home.

Third, in 1945, they relocated their National Book Store previously located at Escolta to Avenida. The business
is doing quite well during first few post-war school years but unfortunately, three years after, a typhoon blew
the roof of their store and they were left with soaked books and stuffs that were worthless. Again, for the third
time, they have to start from zero.

They struggled hard to rebuilt National Book Store for the third time. But since then, every centavo that they
earned were used to buy the lot where the Rizal Avenue Branch of National Book Store stands to this day.
Today, National Book Store is considered as the largest chain of bookstores in the country. They have
ventured into several businesses already such as a convenience-type store named NBS Book Express,
publishing companies named Cacho-Hermanos printing press, Anvil Books and Capitol-Atlas Publishing,
another book store named Powerbooks, music store named Tower Records and Music One, Gift Gate, the
home of Hello Kitty and Swatch, and a department store named Crossings department store. Socorro’s
children and relatives ran all these.

Socorro Ramos’ life and success story and the challenges that she faced with her business National Book
Store business was another inspiring story. In fact, it was recognized when she was chosen as the Ernst and
Young’s Philippine Entrepreneur of the Year in 2005.

Today, at the age of 85, Socorro Ramos or Nanay Coring acts as the General Manager of National Book Store.
And she told that the core values in her success are to keep learning, being actively involved in the business,
being able to read changes and act on them immediately, and most of all, never give up!

Jack Ma Success Story

We are all social creatures always looking for fantasy in real life to trigger our thought process and seek
inspiration from them. On a daily basis we come across a lot of strangers but we seek inspiration from only a
few of them, and what sets them apart is the stories that they have to tell. Even as a child, we grow up listening
to stories of how a hero comes to the rescue of his people and his family, we find solace in such stories.
Studies have also found that such inspirational stories have a positive effect on our brains and helps us
become more emphatic, generous and improve our overall outlook on life.

So, today we’ll talk about a story. The story of the life of a man who has impacted the entire economy and
internet industry of China almost single-handedly. His life is nothing less than the story of Robert, The Bruce
and the Spider, that we were taught as kindergartens. This is the story of Jack Ma.

Jack Ma is the founder of the E-commerce giant Alibaba and is a stakeholder at Alipay, its sister company
which is an e-payment portal. He is now officially the richest man in China with an estimated net worth of $25
Billion, on the back of the recent world record $150 Billion IPO filing of his company. Given all of this, Jack Ma
only holds a 7.8% stake in Alibaba and a 50% stake in Alipay. Alibaba and Jack Ma, although are not
household names out of China, you must know that Alibaba is worth more than Facebook, and processes
goods more than eBay and Amazon combined!
This might be beginning to seem like the story of an arrogant and rich billionaire who hasn’t seen the dark. But
don’t be mistaken by the numbers that you see above, they can fool anyone. Although as simple as it may
sound, Jack Ma has had it hard in his life to get to where he is today. A true rags-to-riches story and definitely
a one which will inspire you even in your darkest days.

Ma Yun a.k.a. Jack Ma is one of those self-made billionaires with humble beginnings. Jack Ma was born in
Hangzhou, located in the south-eastern part of China. He was born and raised along with an elder brother and
a younger sister during the rise of communist China and its isolation from the Western regions. His parents
were traditional Musicians-Storytellers and they didn’t make enough to be even considered as middle class
during those days.

Former US president Richard Nixon’s visit to Hangzhou in 1972 improved the situation of tourism in his home-
town and Jack wanted to make the most of this opportunity. Jack always wanted to learn English as a kid and
he spent his early mornings riding on his bike to a nearby park, giving English tours to foreigners for free. It
was then he met a foreign girl who gave him the nickname ‘Jack’ for his name was hard to spell for her.

Jack, after graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in English, worked as an English teacher at Hangzhou Dianzi
University with a pay of $12 a month! Now here comes the part where it gets more interesting, even before he
has received that degree and became an English teacher.

Jack Ma as an extremely lucky bloke who just became a billionaire in a snap. But it is safe to know that
Rejections are synonymous with Jack Ma. You wouldn’t believe the number of times this man has been
rejected and failed.

In his early childhood, Jack Ma Failed in his Primary School examinations, not once, but Twice! He Failed
Thrice during his Middle School exams. When applying to universities after his High school, Jack failed the
entrance exams thrice, before finally joining Hangzhou Normal University. He even applied and wrote to
Harvard University ten times about being admitted – and got rejected each time. This was only during his
education!

During and after his Bachelor’s degree Jack tried and failed to get a job at a multitude of places. After spending
three years to get into a University, Jack failed to land a job after applying to them 30 times! He recollects in his
interview, “When KFC came to China, 24 people went for the job. Twenty-three people were accepted. I was
the only guy who wasn’t.” He also one of the 5 applicants to a job in Police force and was the only one getting
rejected after being told, “No, you’re no good.”

Also, on his Entrepreneurial undertakings, Jack Ma went on to fail on two of his initial ventures. But that didn’t
stop him in any way of dreaming bigger.

Down, but not Out!

In one of his interviews, when asked about his rejections, this is what he had to say, “Well, I think we have to
get used to it. We’re not that good.” Overcoming the pain of rejections and treating rejections as opportunities
to learn and grow was what Jack Ma made of it.

After finally coming to terms with all of his rejections and failures, Jack Ma visited US in 1995, for a
Government undertaking project related to the building of highways. It was then that Jack Ma was first
introduced to the Internet and Computers. Computers were pretty rare in China then, given the high costs
associated with them and Internet or E-mails were non-existent. The first word he searched on the Mosaic
browser was ‘Beer’, and it popped out results from different countries, but signs of China anywhere. He then
searched ‘China’ and not a single result popped out! He decided it was time for China and its people to get on
the Internet.

Finally, after persuading 17 of his other friends to invest and join him in his new e-commerce startup – Alibaba,
the company began from his apartment. Initially, Alibaba didn’t had a single penny in investment from outside
investors, but they later raised $20 Millio from SoftBank and another $5 Million from Goldman Sachs in 1999.
Building trust among the people of China that an online system of payment and package transfers is safe was
the biggest challenge Jack Ma and Alibaba faced, a challenge that Jack will cherish for his lifetime.

Having started his first successful company at the age of 31 and even after never having written a single line of
code or selling something to anyone, Jack Ma runs one of the biggest E-commerce networks in the world. The
company went on to grow rapidly, expanding all across the world, quickly growing out of its China shell. Only
second to Walmart now in terms of sales per year, Alibaba has become the E-commerce giant that Jack Ma
has envisioned for it.