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Famous Business Pioneers
We can't deny that the world is changing and improving by the day. Everyday, there is a new business or a new invention. The most successful inventions or business ideas are those that are ought to make our life more convenient, safer, healthier, and more.
There are a lot of Famous Business Pioneers who have made huge impacts on our world with their creative ideas and inventions. Some of the names that can easily pop in our head when we hear the words Inventions and Business Pioneers are, for instance, Michael Dell who created the famous computer company which carries his Family name, Steve Jobs the Owner and CEO of Apple, Mark Zuckerberg the creator of Facebook, and of course Elopn Musk and Jeff Besos who are considered the wealthiest businessmen in the world.
Some of the most outstanding success stories
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Pierre Omidyar
Creator of eBay
Pierre spent his twenties moving from one tech and programming company to another. In 1995, he created a website dedicated for Sales Bids in order to sell a few items which he wanted to discard.
However, the increasing number of transactions that took place on the website encouraged him to turn the website into a business and named it eBay.
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Koum was born in the Soviet Union and moved to live in America with his mother and grandmother in 1992. At the age of 16, he worked as a janitor in one of the shops to help his mother. He worked for Yahoo for about 9 years after he taught himself Programming.
After Apple launched its App Store in April of 2008, Koum thought he could come up with an app that would replace traditional text messages. He then launched WhatsApp in May of 2009 which wasn't really successful back then.
When Apple had a new update which allowed applications to push notifications on the devices, only then was Whatsapp considered a useful tool. The application was free for the first year, then it was about $1 per year (This obviously changed once Facebook bought WhatsApp).
In 2014, Facebook made an irresistible offer to buy WhatsApp for a whopping $19 Billions.
Jan Koum
Creator of WhatsApp
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Kevin Plank
Creator of Under Armor
Kevin used his genius marketing skill, an amount as little as $3000 which he has made by selling flowers on Valentine's day and his grandmother's basement to create and manage his company.
Kevin took a gamble when he spent all his company profits which consisted of $25k to advertise his products which he named "Under armor" on ESPN. The ad was very successful and made an estimated amount of $1 Million.
The brand's annual profit is estimated to be about $5 Billions and has about 20000 employees.
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Mohamad Sheikh Suliman
Creator of Al Sheikh Group
Mohamad Sheikh Suliman is a Palestinian business from Nazareth. Mohamad Sheikh grew up riding horses with his grandfather. This core memory was the driving force which pushed Mohamad into having his own Stud today. Al Sheikh stud, which is located in Belgium, is home to some of the International Award Winning Arabian horses.
Mohamad Sheikh Suliman has also found the passion in rearing calves. The calves are bred and reared in a farm in Uruguay which provides one of the best environments possible for livestock. The calves are then transferred to Turkey on a ship. The trip takes about 21 days and on-board special crews to care for the calves all along the trip. Al Sheikh today controls over 90% of the meat industry in Turkey.
Mohamad Sheikh Suliman also has other businesses such as Real Estate, and one of the biggest Online International Trading platforms and many more in a variety of niches. All these companies fall under, and are managed by Al Sheikh Group.
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Sophial Amoruso
Creator of Nasty Gal and Girlboss
Sophia Amoruso had a really tough life prior to her success. During her childhood, she suffered from Depression, Hyperactivity and ADHD. She spent her teen years working off jobs. As a young adult, she was forced to steal and feed off of trash bins.
Amoruso's turning point was when she created an eBay account on which she sold old items and thrifted pieces of clothing She called her profile Nasty Gal Vintage. In 2008, she made about $223K, however, in 2011 her profits jumped to $23 Millions.
Mohamad Al Sheikh Suliman
Mohamad Al Sheikh Suliman shares some of the most valuable tips to become a successful business icon. According to him, it's easy to spot a regular employee and a person with a business drive.
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How to become a Business Pioneer ?
“A successful Businessman, according to Mohamad Sheikh Suliman, needs to have the drive. Being a good manager is a great skill, but lacking the drive can't get you anywhere. It's also important to be adventurous. The world of business is not meant for everyone. It can be very risky at times, so it's important to have enough courage to be able to take on adventures on roads not taken. A successful businessman must always be active, and optimistic, and at the same time, prepare for failure. It's very important to have a backup plan in case something goes wrong with the main plan. As the saying goes "Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst". It's crucial to have really good decision-making skills, and be able to make critical decisions under different kinds of circumstances.”
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“A potential successful businessman needs to have a clear vision about the future of the company. In order to advance with the company, there needs to be a set of small goals that ultimately lead to an even bigger goal.”
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“Last, but certainly not the least, when we talk business, we talk about money and finances. In order to be able to finance an idea and turn it into a business, and if one is not able to do so independently, it's important to find investors. Mohamad Al Sheikh's number one advice for finding investors is honesty. Although it's important to use some marketing strategies to attract investors, it's more important to be honest about the business projection, goals, and plans. This would create a sense of trust, accountability and responsibility. ”
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Rags-to-riches
Some people are born into wealth, others are self made. Being truly self made, as the name suggests, means having to rely completely on oneself to succeed. There are a lot of famous self made entrepreneurs in the world.
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Sir Philip Green (Aracadia)
Philip started, with only $25k in his bank , importing jeans from the Far East that were too hard to find, and selling them to street retailers. His net worth today is about $6.2 Billion.
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Richard Branson (Virgin Group)
Richard's story is the most accurate rags-to-riches scenario. Branson dropped out of school at the age of 16. He set up a small business selling records. He declared bankruptcy twice before he started making any profits, and he is worth $5.5 Billion today.
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Kenny Troutt (Excel communications)
To be able to financially support himself, Troutt sold life insurance. He founded the company Excel Communications in 1988 but only made it public in 1996. He made $3.5 Billion by merging with another company Teleglobe.
