There has been a lot said about entrepreneurship, but becoming a successful entrepreneur is not something that happens overnight because, although sometimes it may not seem like it, it is something that requires a lot of dedication, effort, patience and perseverance. There are those who assure that, at the time of undertaking, one of the keys to achieve the much desired success lies in the ability to combine a series of steps that will allow you to keep your eyes on the horizon and achieve the objectives set at the beginning.
It is necessary to understand that success is subjective and its conception will depend on the vision of each person. However, there are several characteristics that are common among people who have achieved success and are currently a world reference, not only for daring to see the world from another perspective, but also for having the creativity and audacity to think outside the box. In Palletized we love success stories and that is why we herein set some examples of successful entrepreneurs who took their ideas to another level.
Brian Chesky. Known for being the CEO and co-founder of the hosting service company Airbnb, an industrial designer and businessman of the technological area that, at 38 years old, has a patrimony of approximately $4.2 billion. But, as we said above, this was not something that arose overnight. The story of this undertaking began in 2007 when he and his university friend, Joe Gebbia, being short of money decided to rent the space where they lived in San Francisco to accommodate people attending a design conference, who did not find vacancies in the hotels in the area.
On that occasion they accommodated three person in their home and offered them air mattresses and toasts for breakfast. A year later, after joining his friend Nathan Blecharczyk, they began to be called Air Bed and Breakfast, name that was shortened a that currently we know as Airbnb. Time elapsed, and since then the company has expanded appearing in more than 7 million listings worldwide. More than 500 million guests have been accommodated worldwide since its official launching in 2008, and its most recent valuation rustled in the company being worth about $38 billion, which makes it one of the most valuable startups in the United States. One of the data that attracts most attention towards Chesky is that, beyond his audacity, his level of philanthropy is exemplary because, in 2016 together with the co-founders of Airbnb, he signed the Giving Pledge initiative, where he promised to donate more than halve of his wealth, in the course of his life, to charities, in addition, his lifestyle is relatively modest.
Elon Musk. Another of the successful entrepreneurs that we should mention for being one of the most versatile. He is co-founder of PayPal (the largest on-line paying system in the world), Hyperloop, OpenAl, Tesla Motors and Space X, serving as executive director of the latter two, in addition, he is president of Solar City, a company that supplies renewable electricity for Tesla cars. Musk is known worldwide for having created the Tesla Roadster, first electric car viable for modern era production, he is a visionary entrepreneur that has taken is project to another level. He has participated in several initiatives that have changed the way we see the world, with constant work being one of his premises to build a better world in the hands of technology.
One of Musk’s most visionary projects, in to establish a colony on Mars for 2040, with at least 80 thousand people, where electric transport may be used. Musk’s fortune, according Forbes magazines, is valued at about $20.700 million, making him one of the richest men in the United States. However, altruism is also part of the life of Musk, who has given his support on several occasions, especially in situations of natural disasters such as Hurricane Florence in 2018, Hurrican Maria in 2017 and the construction of a mini submarine to try to contribute to the rescue of the Thai soccer team in the mishap at the Tham Luang cave in 2018. In order to achieve success, Musk has overcome a number of difficulties and obstacles that have led him to go beyond the imaginable. Perseverance and not stopping at the negatives of others has been a key factor. Musk is a clear example that when there is passion for what is done, entrepreneurship becomes a lifestyle that allows you to go from one idea to another.
Phil Knight. Currently he is one of the most outstanding successful entrepreneur of our modern history. Tycoon and philanthropist for being co-founder and current emeritus president of Nike, Inc., and previously served as president and CEO of said company. He owns the stop motion film production company Laika. Like in the above examples, Knight’s success and fortune that nowadays is valued at about $37.6 billion, did not arrived overnight. Before Nike, Phil Knight served as Certified Public Accountant and then became accounting professor at Portland State University.
Nike (formerly Blue Ribbon Sports) emerged after a trip Knight made to Japan in 1962 where he discovered the Tiger brand running shoes. He met with their manufacturer, Onitsuca, managing to secure Tiger’s distribution rights for the western United States, Knight and Bowerman became partners in 1964 creating BRS. The first sales were made from a car and thanks to the receptivity, Knight was able to leave his job as accountant and devote full time to BRS. In 1971 changed its name to Nike as we know it today. Up to this date, Knight has donated more than $2 billion from his wealth to different educational institutions and initiatives.
Undoubtedly, these three successful entrepreneurs not only have managed to transform our way of seeing the world today, but also share many characteristics that make them stand out from others, such as their ability to reinvent themselves, know how to face new challenges, flow with the typical changes of technology and the digital era, as well as the ability and willingness to share with others a large part of their profits, all this thanks to the work, dedication, perseverance and passion with which they do things.