Jeff Ma: The Man with a Knack for Math and Blackjack Joins Team Microsoft

When Jeff Ma first had designs on being an entrepreneur, he didn’t hang on and wait for venture capital investors to come knocking on his door. Instead, his plans were more on the alternative side. He visited Las Vegas, where he would try his hand at blackjack. Ma saw it as an investment rather than betting on whether the right cards would turn up or not. And now, he has been appointed general manager of Microsoft for Startups, the tech giant’s worldwide start-up outreach program.

In a recent interview, Ma credited his ability to get two startups off the ground to his talents in the areas of math and blackjack. After all, Jeff Ma is a well-known former MIT and Blackjack Whiz. And Blackjack gave him a side income that enables him to spend the bulk of his time on his day job.

Jeff Ma Joins Team Microsoft

A Virtual Team

Ma, who is now 47 years old, began his new role in the middle of the current COVID-19 pandemic. So, he’s yet to meet anyone in his team in real life at this point, instead relying on video calls. Ma is used to working from home, however, having done so when working in his previous role at Twitter.

The corporate culture at Microsoft is improving video call efficiency, anyway, which will help it
widen its scope around the globe. Ma was a part of the MIT Blackjack Team in the ‘90s. The team applied card counting techniques when winning at blackjack at casinos. They became so famous that their story inspired the Hollywood movie 21 with Kevin Spacey. Ma made a cameo in the movie as a dealer.

Ma said that anyone can learn the math behind blackjack if they are prepared to invest the time and money. He added that the key to succeeding with card counting is to not make it obvious that that’s what you’re doing. While card counting doesn't break any laws, as it’s a mental part of the game, casinos have the right to turn down guests if they believe that players are engaging in this technique. You have to act like someone they’ll want to serve. Ma said that this was such a key to his success that he still applies it to this day.

Two Successful Startups

Ma used his gambling profits to start two companies in the ‘90s, which offered him a lot of
experience in the fledgling tech industry. Over the following decade, he started two more
companies. The first of those two companies, Citizen Sports Inc., was bought by Yahoo!. And the second was acquired by Twitter in 2015. Twitter even employed Ma, who assumed the role of vice president of analytics and data science.

Ma explained that the blackjack team shared a number of similarities with a startup. It was a team that was attempting to produce value and wasn’t put off by the idea of taking risks. He added that while entrepreneurs can secure desirable jobs at companies such as Facebook and Google, and earn a great salary, they ignore the temptation in favor of pursuing her dreams. Ma said that being an entrepreneur is never a good idea from a financial point of view, but rather you do it for passion and to build something.

Ma believes that his versatility helps him in both mentoring startups and helping a huge corporation such as Microsoft stay in the game by nurturing innovation. He also believes that entrepreneurs succeed because they operate with limited resources that give them no choice but to prioritise. Now Ma has the opportunity to pass on all his entrepreneurial knowledge to a whole new generation of startups.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has shown that it isn’t only focused on helping entrepreneurs after the recent announcement of a global scheme designed to help individuals increase their skills in the wake of the recent COVID-19 pandemic.

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