Most if not all of the successful people I look up to......
built their wealth by building a business.
Don't get me wrong, I look up to one of my siblings, some family members, and family friends who are in finance as they are hard workers, but I can't help but think people who built businesses from the ground up are more prestige worthy.
Just my opinion though - thoughts? Anyone can punch numbers in a computer, but not everyone can build a business
stupid vague statement
Damn, now why didn't I just think to say that lol.
You're foregoing the fact that to build any business, you have to know what numbers to punch in.
Not only that, but different industries require different types of investment. In tech, you see people go from college to college dropout with a big business in no time flat, but there's a reason for this: tech is a fast-moving industry and once an idea is conceived, it must be executed immediately. The implications for not doing so include some other guy simply "brainstorming" the exact thing you did and "inventing" it himself.
Financial firms are very, very different. When was the last time you saw a college guy start an investment fund and bust Goldman's ass around the block in total earnings for the year? Never. The fundamental drivers of the business are completely different - clients value experience, education, influence, and track record much more than what "idea" you might have.
So, yes, we look up to the "movers and shakers" and the successful entrepreneurial elite, but we must also be aware of the fact that it takes an unbelievable amount of motivation and dedication to make these big businesses happen. Even IB analysts get some form of time off during a year, and after a second year they simply leave to do something else. Imagine being an IB analyst, except that you're directly responsible for your company's results, and will have nothing left if it fails - perhaps not even a solid resume entry. Now imagine living that way for much longer than 2 years; this is what it takes.
Yeah dude, I was gonna type some shit out, but it's like.. why?
All you're observing is that entrepreneurship, when it works, REALLY works. For every one guy that's a multi-millionaire from starting his own business there are a million people who started a business, failed, and lost all of their savings, thousands of hours of time/opportunity cost of not working in a regular job, and possibly even ended up with tons of personal debt that was secured by them for their business.
The risks are extremely high and the rewards are extremely high. The reward relative to risk is no different than any other investment.
That's so broad you're essentially talking out of your ass.
Are we really discussing the preftig of starting a random business versus working in random ass finance?
I admire successful entrepreneurs except for tech entrepreneurs, although I set aside companies like Microsoft and Apple, among others, because those were legitimately revolutionary businesses (real businesses--brick and mortar). As has already been stated, you can concoct an idea in your bedroom at night and in 6 months you can be a millionaire in tech--it doesn't take any leadership ability, financial management ability, ability to delegate, etc. To build a business in essentially any other field takes huge financial risks, career risks, time risks, etc. Build a successful nursing home business? Going to take years. My friend is a successful manager/owner of an amazing restaurant--guy has spent years working his ass off to perfect the trait, learn how to manage and hire people, learn efficiencies, supply management, etc. Want to be a successful homebuilder? It's not enough to invent a better guttering system--you will have to face down the giants and build a better house for a lower cost.
This is what I am getting at. Actual hard work.
While I see what you and DCD mean by girly-men in tech who go from wackin' it at 2AM after a night of online gaming to suddenly smashing imported Russian escorts because they're "tech entrepreneurs" with enough money to raise 27 kids, the point stands that the successful among them had REALLY good ideas.
The reason it takes longer to start a nursing home or housing business is because it's been done before, and the marginal benefit from a new company of its type is quite trivial. However, when a really good idea in tech (for example) comes along, it's very, very easy to monetize the product and to share that improvement with millions of people. Especially today: a ton of the new "ideas" in tech are completely web-based, and all it takes is a few clicks for these people to make money off of you. Compare that to trying to sell a physical product or service: not only do people have to take the risk of spending money on your product, but it likely appeals to a smaller audience.
So, in short, I agree with the sentiment that our boy Zuckerberg isn't exactly of the same ilk as JD Rockefeller, but the economics of it all still works out.
People always try to make it sound like taking over someone else's business is somehow a terrible thing.
Where are you getting that impression?
Agree Kassad
And to tough on your statement. It is never bad taking over someone's business. BUT through my experience being involved in the financial industry taking over someones business equates to squeezing shareholder value from it which is ridiculous in my opinion.
I am all for efficiency, profit, success etc. but if it comes to a point where it is a little extreme aka disney. Not to mention all value add buyouts are useless.
Brb buy a company to purchase more companies to sell it for a profit
Let me say this--any jackass can have an amazing idea come to them in their shower--an idea that could even revolutionize the world. But those aren't the people that I admire in business. The people I admire are the ones who battled, fought, and perfected their trade. Those are the people that should be admired. Perhaps we should be GRATEFUL to those who have good or great ideas in tech but I would not say most should be admired.
I admire successful people that have overcome obstacles and what they did to get where they are. It is their that hustle I admire more than the amount of money they made.
cough non-targets
cough tool
Most tech firms that are successful are so only because of their execution and not their long-term leadership. Facebook was successful because it had a simple, user friendly layout and it caught on with people. Mark Zuckerberg isn't some sort of business or entrepreneurial genius. His product was the right product at the right time. He's a billionaire. You think he's a better businessman than, say, the Tolls who founded and manage Toll Brothers homebuilders? They aren't even comparable. Not even in the same ballpark, and yet Zuckerberg is far wealthier.
I'd say the same thing with these telecom mega millionaires and billionaires like Dan Snyder and Sen. Mark Warner. They were at the right place at the right time. My guess is there is absolutely nothing extraordinary or particularly special about them as far as businessman go.
I know a guy--he's about 42-years-old. He's a millionaire mortgage banker. He told me that he graduated in the early-to-mid 1990s right as the mortgage business was starting to take off. He said he was a horrible salesman but it didn't even matter. He made money hand over first for 15 years before the business blew up. He said to me that he was in the right place at the right time. Had he graduated from college in 2007 vs. 1993 his life would be totally different.
The point is, don't mistake success for brilliance. I follow Mark Zuckerberg on facebook--the guy is a total moron and yet he made more before he was 25 than I will probably make in 100 lifetimes.
Everybody here ragging on tech entrepreneurs sounds ridiculous. What's the goal in entrepreneurship - well i'm sure it varies from person to person but for the sake of argument i think we can agree on making a shit ton of money as an important goal. If a tech entrepreneur did that - then they accomplished their goal. Yes, maybe they got LUCKY, but short of that, this makes them a good businessperson.
Guess what - how hard you work isn't what matters. It's your results that matter. And not all startup ideas are created equal (at all)
Out of curiosity, did you even read the thread? The thread is about who we ADMIRE in business. What we are saying is that you don't necessarily look up to tech entrepreneurs because most of them aren't true businessman who have refined a craft. Most of them have winning ideas. The thread is about who we admire in business.
Honestly, please read before commenting on items.
Worst active thread on WSO.
I think it is the best.
If you are starting a business with a goal to make a shitton of money don't do it.
There is just so much dumb money being thrown around the tech space. You have people making millions off apps. Kind of like house flipping back in the day. Some are creating businesses and that is fine, but I feel like too many people are just making apps and trying to cash in.
No hate for those who do, but is consider them outside the realm of entrepreneur or business creator.
Would appreciate if you could elaborate on this; I know you have to be passionate and want your business to succeed, but isn't profitability a factor (albeit lesser) as well?
Excellent - because the only reason I want to start a startup is to sell it in a year to Google for $200MM and retire.
Lol
I admire Larry Page and Sergey Brin
If you had READ the thread as I suggested then you would have seen many of us differentiate between the true businesses--Apple, Google, Microsoft, etc.--and the iPhone apps or the website ideas. Google, Apple, Microsoft, etc. didn't have a "winning idea" that was concocted in the shower. They have hundreds of winning ideas over decades delivered efficiently to the market at prices consistently good enough to make a profit while creating demand. That's fundamentally different than Mark Zuckerberg making Facebook and beating out other similar products because his was more appealing to the masses at the time. I don't begrudge Zuckerberg--the point of this thread is to discuss those we admire in business. What we're saying is that there's nothing fundamentally special about many tech entrepreneurs as many of them that have made money did so as one might in a lottery--making money over night.
Great comment. If this post gets front paged, then this comment surely deserves to be front paged.
Meanwhile, all the tech entrepreneurs getting shat on in this thread for "not being legitimate business owners" are too busy counting their millions to care. While I agree dumb money is being thrown around the tech space lately, I say make hay while the sun shines.
There's an old post on the front page of WSO this morning about Mark Cuban, who made his billions selling Broadcast.com to YHOO back in the day. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that didn't seem to go anywhere and is now a glorified link to the Yahoo homepage. Granted, Mark Cuban has done a lot more since selling Broadcast, but back in 1999, Cuban was the same guy half of you are complaining about today.
Elon Musk, another former tech entrepreneur, who made his initial money with a tech start up. Now he's dedicating his life to bettering humanity through a variety of companies, but at the end of the day, he fueled/capitalized them with money from a "get rich quick" start up.
Jesus Fucking Christ. You simply are ignoring what has been said time and again in this thread alone! This thread isn't bashing tech entrepreneurs. The OP opened up this thread asking who people admired in business, and some others--myself included--stated that we admire entrepreneurs, with the exception of MANY--not all, but MANY--modern day tech entrepreneurs who are getting rich the easy way, which is completely fine, but our admiration of other entrepreneurs is in the fact that they have suffered, failed, risen again, and created wonderful and efficiently run businesses over decades.
I'm not sure how we could be more clear.
you give yourself too much credit, maybe try 10,000 life times.
HAHA
Wow, sounds like I hit a nerve. My point is on what basis are you able to say that many modern day treps are getting rich the easy way? I know a number of guys who I'm guessing would fall into this category for you, yet I saw them slaving away to bring in new customers, not being able to raise venture capital, having to find other strategic partnerships when existing ones went under/were acquired. Just because their company didn't go under doesn't mean they made their money the easy way. Not to mention, most of these entrepreneurs didn't just sell the first ever company they founded, they failed multiple times before "getting lucky".
The lack of professionalism in the startup world really bothers me for some reason. That and the people are weird as fuck.
I respect any company that makes real products and services that are more than stupid playthings. Michael Dell's company could go to shit tomorrow and he'd still be better than the Facebook team. If the world is just Carl Ichan will takeover and sell it for parts.
@Scandal that's another reason I hate startups.
Precisely.
I, for one, do not look up to the Paris Hiltons of the world.
The risk involved entering tech start-ups is insane. Most successful tech entrepreneurs either don't care about getting rich and just wanted to see their idea become reality or their hustle is literally mind-fucking. Either way, I have respect for entrepreneurs because of the balls it takes.
my comment was geared more towards mid-sized small businesses. People took the tech comments and ran with them
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