Alibaba Group's executive chairman Jack Ma and Microsoft founder Bill Gates at Alibaba's Chinese culture feast on the first day of the World Economic Forum 2018 Annual Meeting on January 23, 2018 in Davos, Switzerland. VCG | Getty Images

Ma said that when he first started Alibaba in 1999, he believed that the prices charged by such large companies were making it difficult for start-ups, like his own then-tiny Chinese e-commerce company, to gain access to technology. But, he went on to say, he soon realized it was not Gates or any of the other major names that were at fault. Rather, he was blocking his own opportunities by using a common excuse that holds back many would-be entrepreneurs. "Most people keep on complaining," Ma noted. "But if you can solve the complaining, if you solve the problems, then that is the opportunity." For Ma, that meant coming up with a simpler, cheaper technology that could be used by Alibaba and the millions of small businesses he hoped to add to the platform.