When it comes to being an entrepreneur, you often are considered an innovator, a creative thinker, a successful business person and a trailblazer. Here are a few of the most successful entrepreneurs from our time, their story and their motto to help inspire the entrepreneur in you.

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STEVE
JOBS
1.
1955-2011
“Half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs
from the nonsuccessful ones is pure perseverance.
Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”
Steve Jobs was the co-founder of Apple Com-
puters, playing a major role in the personal
computer revolution and iPhone, iPod, and
iPad craze of the past few years, since the first
gen iPhone hit stores in the summer of 2007.
When Jobs and Steve Wozniak first tinkered
with their Macintosh computers and operating
systems, they had no idea the kind of heights
their technologies and visions would reach.
Jobs’ products and company speak for themselves,
but he often scoffed at questions about market and
consumer research, believing that intuition is the
only guide toward emerging technologies.
Although Jobs lost his battle to cancer in 2011, his
legend lives on in our handheld devices and Apple’s
huge success as a company valued at $546 billion.

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2.
OPRAH
WINFREY
What doesn’t make Oprah Winfrey a great
entrepreneur? From hosting her critically ac-
claimed talk show, to acting in award winning
films, spearheading philanthropic endeavors
like The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy
for Girls in South Africa, and running her tele-
vision network, OWN, it’s clear this proprietor
tackles, and succeeds, at it all. What does
make Winfrey a top entrepreneur is how she’s
capitalized on her desire and ability to give back.
The American public trusts her, and she’s built that
trust by offering advice and giving from the heart
at every junction. It’s why CNN calls her the
world’s most powerful woman--one who started
with nothing and became one of the first two
African American billionaires in America.
“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more.
If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never,
ever have enough.”
1954-PRESENT

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3.
1918-1992
SAM
WALTON
Sam Walton became the most successful
retailer in American history, and it wasn’t be-
cause Wal-Mart was one-of-a-kind, at least not
at first. In 1962 Wal-Mart opened as one of the
first big-box retail stores alongside Target,
Kmart, and others. What made Sam Walton
rise faster than his competitors was his drive
and innovation. He completely changed the
retail game by selling goods at the lowest pos-
sible price and investing in cutting-edge software
that instantly tracked his competitors’ prices and
consumer behavior right at the checkout line.
This helped Walton build unique partnerships with
retailers and manufacturers, and it’s why Wal-Mart
became the largest, most successful retailer in the
world by giving people what they want: the lowest
possible price.
“Don’t sequester yourself in a tower or create an isolated bubble of
yes-people. Get out there and do some of the jobs that bring you
into direct contact with your customers and front-line employees.”

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4.
1901-1966
WALT
DISNEY
Walt Disney was a true dreamer. His obsessive
focus grew the Disney empire from the very
bottom, facing setback after setback as a
young entrepreneur. Classic films like Bambi
and Pinocchio originally failed at the box
office, and competitors repeatedly stole his
ideas and animations. Nevertheless, Walt Disney
was determined and knew that big dreams take
even bigger risks. His resilience made Disneyland
known across the globe as “the happiest place on
earth” and characters like Mickey Mouse timeless
household entertainment.
“All dreams can come true, if we have the
courage to pursue them.”

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5.
JEFF
BEZOS
Imagine a world today without the Amazon
logo on a box at your door. It’s hard to remem-
ber a world without online shopping, and
though Jeff Bezos didn’t invent the game, his
experiment to host an online bookstore has
grown into the cornerstone of online shopping.
Bezos launched Amazon in 1994 after quitting
his job and ignoring advice to stay out of online
retail. For a company that started selling books,
Amazon has changed the way consumers shop for
just about everything, and is now the standard in
online shopping. His secret? Solo retreats. Bezos
goes away each quarter and unplugs as much as
possible. In that solitude, he believes the creative
fire is rekindled, something every entrepreneur
needs to stay on top.
“A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person.
You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well.”
1964-PRESENT

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6.
LARRY PAGE
& SERGEY BRIN
This duo met at Stanford, and eventually
co-founded Google Inc., the search-engine that
rivals all search engines, in a friend’s garage.
Page, the current CEO of Google, says the idea
originally came to him in a vivid dream when
he was 23 years old. Now, Google is host to
over 2.5 billion global searches a day and the
company’s value is over $200 billion. Together,
Page and Brin have spent a large chunk of
those billions on research and development, prov-
ing the company is more than just a search engine.
In addition to their innovative technology projects
like a self-driving car and the wearable computer
Google Glass, Page and Brin try to keep the doors
open when it comes to expansion, truly embracing
the idea that “anything goes.”
BOTH 1973-PRESENT
“If your business is based on a hot idea, go as
goofy as you like with the name.”

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7.
BILL
GATES
We often strive to change the world maybe
once in a lifetime, but for Bill Gates, once was
not enough. As the founder of Microsoft and
possibly the most influential geek on the planet,
Gates revolutionized personal computers, the
central focus of the Microsoft Corporation,
helping pave the way for cost-effective and
user-friendly computing. Today, Gates’ focus
has shifted. The Bill and Melinda Gates Founda-
tion is committed to global health, development,
and education in some of the toughest places on
earth to live. In both endeavors, it’s clear that the
foundation is about changing lives. Gates often men-
tions that the key to good business is in hiring truly
skilled people in which you can trust and collabo-
rate. From the top billionaire in America, that’s
worthy advice.
important to heed the lessons of failure.”
1955-PRESENT

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8.
HOWARD
SCHULTZ
Howard Schultz’s success is a true comeback
story. He stepped back into the role of Star-
bucks’ CEO in 2008 after an eight-year break,
and it’s a good thing. Starbucks’ profits and
revenues were falling fast and the company
was in danger of losing its stronghold on the
java-drinking world. Schultz’s approach was to
get back to basics and simplify. His focus on
day-to-day efficiency after its initial growth and
success saved Starbucks tens of millions of dollars
a year with a simple fix: a better way to measure
steamed milk for lattes. His entrepreneurial genius,
like so many others, focuses on the little things, like
milk waste, and it pays.
“We believed very early on that people’s interaction with
the Starbucks experience was going to determine the
success of the brand.”
1953-PRESENT

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9.
MARK
ZUCKERBERG
Mark Zuckerberg, often called an obsessive
entrepreneurial genius, is proof that only the
paranoid make billions. He offers this advice
often, taking nothing for granted and pushing
out a constant flow of innovative changes to
Facebook, staying way ahead of any competi-
tion. Launched in 2004 from his Harvard dorm
room, Facebook has become the one social media
site that few can live without, with a market value of
over $75 billion. Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard
to focus on Facebook and it’s a good thing. In 2010,
Time magazine named him among the 100 wealthi-
est and most influential people in the world.
“Move fast and break things. Unless you are
1984-PRESENT

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10.
1973-PRESENT
TONY
HSIEH
After selling his company, LinkExchange, to
Microsoft for $265 million in 1999, Tony Hseih
joined Zappos.com and eventually became
CEO, helping the company grow to over $1 bil-
lion in gross merchandise sales each year.
Amazon acquired Zappos.com in 2009 but
Hsieh retains his position as CEO, allowing his
reputation as a quirky, unique executive to keep
Zappos.com one of the best 100 companies to
work for in America. Hsieh is a visionary, with proj-
ects that include his personally funded Downtown
Project, a mission to revitalize downtown Las Vegas
into a community-focused large city. In his first
book, Delivering Happiness, he explores his main
goal as an entrepreneur: Hsieh believes in cultivating
a different kind of corporate culture, one that pro-
motes happiness and passion, first.
“Chase the vision not the money. Passion will get you through
on customers, suppliers and business partners.”

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