Mark Zuckerberg, Co-founder, Chairman and CEO, Facebook
The web czar founded Facebook out of his Harvard dormitory. Some things you can learn from Mark include his ability to trust his ideas, aim big, stay focused and wait for the right opportunity. For example, when FB started out, Yahoo wanted to buy it, but Mark refused because he believed that no one but him could handle the website. Also, a lot of people initially wanted him to monetise FB through advertisements but he insisted on first making the website popular and then go for ads – an idea that worked well for the social media portal.
People don't care about what you say, they care about what you build
Dhirubhai Ambani, Founder, Reliance Industries
How the son of a high school teacher from Junagadh (Gujarat) went on to create one of the richest firms of the world, is a story you should revisit every time you intend to fuel your dreams. And do you know what the most exceptional part about his rise was? He not only made money for himself, but also for his millions of stakeholders. After all, what's success if it doesn't benefit people who put their trust in your dreams? Now, did you know that the company which now has over 2.5 lakh employees and contributes almost 5 per cent of the central government's total tax revenue, was started with just two people – Dhirubhai Ambani and Champaklal Damani, his second cousin?
“If you don’t build your dream, someone else will hire you to
help them build theirs”.
Jeff Bezos, Founder, Amazon
When they say that your formative years determine your future, they are not bluffing. According to an article written in 'The Guardian', "His mother still has a copy of a speech he made at school declaring his ambition to build a fleet of habitable orbiting space stations and turn the planet into a vast nature reserve". Interestingly, Bezos, the founder and CEO of the largest online retail company, has also started a company called The Blue Origin which will make private space travels accessible. Take your school seriously!
Life’s too short to hang out with people who aren’t resourceful.
N R Narayana Murthy, Co-founder, Infosys
There is a woman behind every man's success, it’s true in case of Murthy. His first company, Softronics, failed within 18 months of its operations, but that didn’t deter Murthy from pursuing his dream of setting up India's most reputed software globally – Infosys. Murthy and six other people founded Infosys in 1981 with `10,000 invested by Murthy's wife Sudha. Murthy is known to be a man who does not compromise on work ethics, and that’s what has established Infosys as one of the best companies in the world.
It's very important to learn quick lessons from your failures, very important to recognise symptoms of failure pretty early, and it is very, very important to not be attached too much to the idea – you have to know when to give up an idea.
Bill Gates, Founder, Microsoft
He is consistently ranked as the world's richest man; however, that's not what makes his life a muse for everyone who wants to do something big in life. It's the story of how he co-founded a computer software company in 1975 and made the entire world live around the company's idea of networked personal computers that is truly special about his rise to the top. In 1968, when Gates was an eighth grader, his school invested some $3,000 to develop a personal computer. Gates became a part of the club that was formed to develop the personal computer, and he became a super active performer of that group. He and other members of the group worked day in and day out to build the state-of-the-art computer. And rest as you know is history. Now think, what is the biggest takeaway his life? Get involved in your school clubs, it's the place where future is built!
Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into
thinking they can’t lose.
SIR RICHARD BRANSON, Founder of the Virgin Group
A lot of entrepreneurs (like Vijay Mallaya), have wanted to be like him, at least as far as his lavish persona is concerned, but not every one of them had the business acumen of Branson who launched his first business venture, a student magazine, at the age of 16. Maybe that’s why there is just one Richard Branson. At 19, he started a mail-order record shop called Virgin. You should read his August 29, 2017 blog post where he shares four tips to turn your dreams into success.
Everything you've ever wanted is on the other side of fear
JAN KOUM, Co-founder and CEO of WhatsApp
If you are able to connect with your family and friends without spending a penny on the phone call, Koum is the person you should thank. Roughly, one in seven people on this planet use WhatsApp. Bigger than the success of the app is the success of its founder who grew up in a rural area outside Kiev, Ukraine. He immigrated to California with his mother when he was 16. He dropped out of San Jose State University, where he was studying maths and computer science so that he can learn programming. Then, he joined Yahoo, but after working there for nine years, he quit and travelled across the world. In 2009 when Apple launched the App Store, Koum along with a Yahoo employee, Brian Acton, co-founded WhatsApp, which is now sort of oxygen for the smartphone generation. In 2014, WhatsApp was sold to Facebook for $19 billion. Koum's net worth right now is $9.3 billion.
Experiences from our youth shape what we do later in life.
Steve Jobs, Founder, Apple Inc
What can we really tell you about the man who has left behind such a motivating legacy? Even though Jobs was never in favour of attending a formal school, he was a brilliant student who was deeply interested in electronics and accountancy – all thanks to his adoptive parents Paul Reinhold Jobs and Clara Jobs who were professional engineer and accountant, respectively. Jobs founded Apple out of his dad's garage to sell Apple I computer which Steve Wozniak invented in 1976. The rest as you know, is history. Interestingly, Apple is not the only company founded by Jobs that revolutionised the category it operated in. Pixar Animation Studios, which has made films like ‘Cars’, ‘Finding Dory’, ‘Toy Story’, and ‘The Good Dinosaur’, was also co-founded by Steve Jobs.
Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.
Warren buffett, Investor, business magnate, and philanthropist
It was his birthday on August 30 which prompted us to do this feature. By far, the most successful investor in the world, Buffett's investment patterns decide which way the money will flow. Buffett who was born to Leila and Congressman Howard Buffett in 1930 graduated from University of Nebraska at the age of 19. Interestingly, when he was in high school he got the job of delivering 'The Washington Post', – at present, Buffett is the largest shareholder of the company. Buffett has always insisted that you should do what you love so that you can love what you do. It's an important life lesson especially for those who want to be the shepherd and not the sheep.
Rule No.1: Never lose money. Rule No.2: Never forget rule No.1.
Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Founder: Google
All of you who use Android, Gmail and Hangout, will need to thank them! Page and Brin founded the search engine giant on September 4, 1988, while attending Stanford University. While Page is now CEO of Google's parent company, Alphabet Inc, Brin is the president.
Coming up with an idea is the least important part of creating something great. It has to be the right idea and have good taste, but the execution and delivery are what’s key.
—Sergey Brin
“Always work hard on something uncomfortably exciting.
—Larry Page