At the age of 22, Tony Hsieh and his college roommate started an Internet marketing company. Two years later, they sold the company for $265 million dollars! Instead of retiring, Tony decided to invest in an online shoe store called Zappos.com. A year later, Tony became the CEO and hasn’t looked back since.
Based out of Henderson, Nevada, Zappos.com is home to about 800 employees, with an additional 800 employees at the warehouse in Kentucky. Tony says their work environment focuses on team and family, which is why he chooses to sit in a cubicle. “I don’t want to be someone that’s just off in a corner office somewhere and employees feel that I am not approachable,” Tony says.
Not only did Tony pass up a big office, he also only takes home $36,000 a year! “I’m doing it because I want to be involved in creating something that people are passionate about,” he says. “I’m not doing this for the money.”
So why get in the customer service business? “It was really just from me being personally annoyed whenever I received bad customer service,” Tony says. “It is really frustrating when I feel like the people on the other end [of the phone] don’t really care.”
When hiring new employees at Zappos, Tony says they do two sets of interviews. The first is with a hiring manager and their team. The second is with human resources for a “culture” fit. Tony says that no matter what job you’re hired to do, all employees must undergo four weeks of customer service training. “You’re actually on the phone for two weeks talking with customers. And people that can’t make it through that we either don’t hire or drop them during the training process.”
Tony is so dedicated to customer service that his ultimate goal is to build his brand around it. “We’re actually hoping 10 years from now people won’t even realize we started out selling shoes online, and maybe 30 years from now we’ll have a Zappos Airlines that’s just about the very best customer service in the airline industry.”
Tony has been so successful that he’s been invited to speak at entrepreneurial conferences about helping other people reach their goals. “Do what you would be passionate about doing for 10 years, even if you didn’t make a single dime during those 10 years, you’ll end up happier,” he says. “And kind of the ironic thing is if you do what you’re passionate about, the money will just naturally follow on its own.”
Another benefit to finding your passion is that employees as well as customers can sense your excitement. “That’s how we’ve grown over the past nine and a half years is just through customers being very loyal…but not just loyal. … They’re actually spreading the word about Zappos,” Tony says. “When they call us, they see that we’re real people and that we actually are passionate about the customer service and want to help them out.”
Gurbaksh Chahal was born in July 17, 1982 in the town of Tarn Taran, near Amritsar in Punjab, India to Avtar and Arjinder Chahal. In 1985, his parents received a visa for America through a lottery-based system in India, and the following year, when he was four, the family settled in San Jose, California. His parents had arrived with only $25 to their name, and they struggled at menial jobs to make a future for their four children.
For the Chahal family, as for many immigrants, education was paramount, but G left high school at sixteen to form Click Agents, an Internet advertising company, which he sold two years later for $40 million. In January 2004, he launched a second company, BlueLithium - the next generation in Internet advertising. The company was focused on data, optimization, and analytics and became a pioneer of behavioral targeting. BlueLithium was named one of the top 100 private companies in America three years in a row by AlwaysOn, and in 2006, it received highest honor as Top Innovator of the Year. (Previous winners included Google, Skype, and Salesforce.com.) On September 4th, 2007, Yahoo! announced that it was acquiring BlueLithium for $300 million in cash.
Gurbaksh Chahal is living proof that no matter how humble one’s beginnings, there is truly no limit to what an individual can achieve.
After he completed his role at Yahoo, G signed up with the William Morris Agency.
G starred on FOX’s prime-time network show The Secret Millionaire. He has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Bonnie Hunt, EXTRA, Neil Cavuto, among others, and has been profiled in such publications as The New York Times, Entrepreneur magazine, and The San Francisco Chronicle. He completed his memoir, “The Dream” which globally released Q4 2008. G is also currently developing several other television shows and recently launched his third company, gWallet.
Richard Branson is a flamboyant British entrepreneur with a seemingly insatiable appetite for starting new businesses. His internationally recognized brand “Virgin” is splashed across everything from credit cards, to airlines and music “megastores”. Branson is continuously seeking new business opportunities and loves a good challenge, especially when he enters a market that is dominated by a few major players.
Richard Branson was born on July 18, 1950. His entrepreneurial ways began early when he was publishing a student magazine at just 16 years. Branson did not go on to graduate school but in 1970 the now famous Virgin brand had its beginnings in the form of a discount records mail order venture that he and his friend Nik Powell worked on.
Virgin Records
Soon after opening a record store on Oxford Street, London, Branson began a recording label in 1972, Virgin Records. This was to be the first major success for the British entrepreneur as he started the label with a hit record. The instrumental artist Mike Oldfield’s “Tubular Bells” released in 1973 was a cash cow for Branson’s Virgin Records and it stayed in the UK music charts for 247 weeks. The record label went on to sign top music artists like “Genesis”, “The Sex Pistols”, “The Rolling Stones” and “Simple Minds”. The Virgin Records Group was sold in 1992 to THORN EMI for $1 billion USD.
Richard Branson obviously wasn’t finished with the music recording business as he went on to start V2 Records in 1996. The V2 Music brand has a stable of artists that include “Stereophonics”, “Powder Finger”, “Mercury Rev” and “Tom Jones”.
The Virgin Brand
Richard Branson has created one of the most recognizable brands in the world. In Britain where he focuses much of his attention, Branson has managed to “Virginize” a very wide range of products and services. The variety of businesses he controls is as vast as the geographical coverage the brand has, with business located throughout The United Kingdom, the United States of America, Australia, Canada, Asian, Europe and South Africa.
Some of the businesses Branson has collected include:
* Virgin Atlantic - An international airline flying to many major destinations.
* Virgin Megastores - Music Super-markets located in major locations in the UK, USA and Australia.
* Virgin Books - Publisher and distributor of books.
* Virgin Credit Card - Branson’s attempt to provide credit card at a reasonable price.
* Virgin Holidays - Book a holiday and fly Virgin Atlantic?
* Virgin Trains - Virgin making trains sexy in the United Kingdom.
* V2 Music - Largest UK based independent recording label.
* Virgin Active - Chain of fitness clubs throughout the United Kingdom.
* Virgin Galactic - Branson’s planned affordable flight to space venture.
* Ulusaba - Luxury game reserve located in South Africa.
* Necker Island - Branson’s own private island located in the British Virgin Islands.
There are plenty more businesses that wear the Virgin name throughout the world and there will probably be more to come as Branson is always looking for an interesting business to start. On the Virgin.com website there is even a section to submit your new and exciting business venture that Branson may consider pursuing.
Richard Branson Adventures
Branson is passionate about life and living every minute to its fullest. Since 1985 he has been getting his adrenaline rushes through world record breaking attempts by boat and hot air balloon. Several distance and speed records have been attempted and achieved, but his attempt to be the first person to circumnavigate the world in a hot air balloon was never achieved. Branson makes each record attempt a media event with his Virgin logo prominently displayed during every launch, which has been an excellent source of free advertising and brand placement for the Virgin Group.
“Sometimes I do wake up in the mornings and feel like I’ve just had the most incredible dream. I’ve just dreamt my life.” Richard Branson
Branson was awarded a Knighthood in 1999 and became Sir Richard Branson for his contribution to entrepreneurship. Branson is married with two children and currently lives in London.
Virgin Atlantic’s 747 Biofuel Flight - Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic airline flew a Boeing 747 jumbo jet in February 08 using a percentage of biofuels.
Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Fuller Olsen (born June 13, 1986) are American actresses and entrepreneurs. They are fraternal twins who have appeared in television and films since infancy. Since then, they have attained international fame through numerous television programs, films, interviews, as well as commercial endorsements. As a rule, they appear together, and have filmed movies worldwide, including in London, Sydney, Paris, New York City and Rome. They are reported to be worth 0 million each. The twins were named by the industry publication Hollywood Reporter as the "Most Powerful Young Women in Hollywood. Born in Sherman Oaks, California to David Olsen and Jarnette Jones, the Olsen twins started their acting careers on the television series Full House in 1987. Hired at the age of five months, filming began with seven months. The show was widely popular during the late 80s and early 90s, and both sisters played one character, Michelle Tanner, taking turns during the tapings to do so, in order to comply with strict child labor laws regarding child actors. Because the producers did not want viewers to know that Michelle was played by twins, the sisters were originally credited as "Mary Kate Ashley Olsen", but later credited as separate people. Shortly after the end of Full House, they returned to the entertainment industry, riding the momentum of their role on Full House by heavily merchandising their image. Taking the world of tweens by storm, their names have become a very profitable industry, with their likeness seen in clothes, fragrances, magazines, movies, posters, and even video games like Mary Kate and Ashley's Magical Mystery Mall. Today, Mary-Kate and Ashley are popular figures in today's tween market, following along the lines of such Hollywood child stars as Shirley Temple, Ron Howard and Macaulay Culkin among others. They were ranked at number three on the VH1 program 100 Greatest Child Stars. They starred in The Adventures of Mary-Kate and Ashley and the ABC show Two of a Kind (now rerun on ABC Family), as well as ABC Family's So Little Time. They also have their own book series. So Little Time was panned by critics and disappointed fans; the show is basically a single-camera comedy show with a laugh track. In 2004 Mary-Kate and Ashley surprised many when they announced that they would be attending college after graduating high school. Most child and teenage actors usually choose to pursue acting full time after graduating from high school, with few (such as Brooke Shields, Jodie Foster, Julia Stiles, and Natalie Portman) choosing to further their education. They both studied at New York University at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study until Mary-Kate took a break in 2005 and moved back to California. She decided to stay in the west coast and pursue more individualized work with their company, DualStar. Ashley, still in NY, remains in contact with her sister. The twins received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 29, 2004. They are the youngest celebrities to receive this honor.
Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Fuller Olsen (born June 13, 1986) are American actresses and entrepreneurs. They are fraternal twins who have appeared in television and films since infancy. Since then, they have attained international fame through numerous television programs, films, interviews, as well as commercial endorsements. As a rule, they appear together, and have filmed movies worldwide, including in London, Sydney, Paris, New York City and Rome. They are reported to be worth 0 million each. The twins were named by the industry publication Hollywood Reporter as the "Most Powerful Young Women in Hollywood. Born in Sherman Oaks, California to David Olsen and Jarnette Jones, the Olsen twins started their acting careers on the television series Full House in 1987. Hired at the age of five months, filming began with seven months. The show was widely popular during the late 80s and early 90s, and both sisters played one character, Michelle Tanner, taking turns during the tapings to do so, in order to comply with strict child labor laws regarding child actors. Because the producers did not want viewers to know that Michelle was played by twins, the sisters were originally credited as "Mary Kate Ashley Olsen", but later credited as separate people. Shortly after the end of Full House, they returned to the entertainment industry, riding the momentum of their role on Full House by heavily merchandising their image. Taking the world of tweens by storm, their names have become a very profitable industry, with their likeness seen in clothes, fragrances, magazines, movies, posters, and even video games like Mary Kate and Ashley's Magical Mystery Mall. Today, Mary-Kate and Ashley are popular figures in today's tween market, following along the lines of such Hollywood child stars as Shirley Temple, Ron Howard and Macaulay Culkin among others. They were ranked at number three on the VH1 program 100 Greatest Child Stars. They starred in The Adventures of Mary-Kate and Ashley and the ABC show Two of a Kind (now rerun on ABC Family), as well as ABC Family's So Little Time. They also have their own book series. So Little Time was panned by critics and disappointed fans; the show is basically a single-camera comedy show with a laugh track. In 2004 Mary-Kate and Ashley surprised many when they announced that they would be attending college after graduating high school. Most child and teenage actors usually choose to pursue acting full time after graduating from high school, with few (such as Brooke Shields, Jodie Foster, Julia Stiles, and Natalie Portman) choosing to further their education. They both studied at New York University at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study until Mary-Kate took a break in 2005 and moved back to California. She decided to stay in the west coast and pursue more individualized work with their company, DualStar. Ashley, still in NY, remains in contact with her sister. The twins received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 29, 2004. They are the youngest celebrities to receive this honor.
Sean John Combs (born November 4, 1969, known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy and now Diddy, is an American record producer, rapper, actor, men’s fashion designer, entrepreneur and dancer. He won three Grammy Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards, and his clothing line earned a Council of Fashion Designers of America award.
He was originally known as Puff Daddy and then as P. Diddy (Puff and Puffy being often used as a nickname, but never as recording names). In August 2005, he changed his stage name to simply “Diddy”. He continues to use the name P. Diddy in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, the latter after a legal battle with another artist, Richard “Diddy” Dearlove. In June 2008 Combs’ representative denied rumors of another name change.
His business interests under the umbrella of Bad Boy Entertainment Worldwide include Bad Boy Records, the clothing lines Sean John, Sean by Sean Combs, a movie production company, and two restaurants. He has taken the roles of recording executive, performer, producer of MTV’s Making the Band, writer, arranger, clothing designer, and Broadway actor. Combs is one of the richest hip-hop performers, having a net worth estimated at US $346 million in 2006. He is portrayed by Derek Luke in the biopic of The Notorious B.I.G. called Notorious.
Early years
Combs was born in the public housing projects of Harlem, New York, the son of Janice and Melvin Combs. He grew up in Mount Vernon, just to the north of the New York City borough of The Bronx. When Combs was two, his father was shot to death in his car on January 26, 1972 at age 33 in a Manhattan park following a party he attended. The elder Combs was an associate of Frank Lucas, the New York drug lord. Both Lucas and rival gangster Nicky Barnes publicly state that they were close with Melvin.
Combs played football at the Roman Catholic Mount Saint Michael Academy, where he played defense. When Combs was a senior in 1986, his team won a division title. Combs has “fond memories” of his high school buddies, one of whom (the team quarterback) was reputed Gambino crime family enforcer, Andrew Campos. Combs is not alleged, either in court papers or by law enforcement sources, to have engaged in any wrongdoing in any of his dealings with Campos.
Establishing Bad Boy
With the help of Russell Simmons, he unsuccessfully tried to sign Tupac Shakur whom he considered the best rapper, to jump start the label. Tupac refused. Both Mack and Biggie quickly released hit singles, followed by similarly successful LPs, particularly B.I.G.’s ”Ready to Die”. Puff Daddy, as he was then known, began signing more acts to Bad Boy, including Faith Evans, 112 and Total, as well as producing for Lil’ Kim, TLC, Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men, SWV, Aretha Franklin and others. Mase and The Lox soon joined Bad Boy, just as a widely publicized rivalry with the West Coast’s Death Row Records. Combs and Notorious B.I.G. were allied against Tupac Shakur and Suge Knight, trading insults in songs and interviews during the mid 1990s. Shakur was murdered in 1996. Six months later, in March of 1997, the Notorious B.I.G. was murdered weeks before the release of his successful album, ”Life After Death”.
Combs’ performing career
Puffy Daddy? P. Diddy? Sean John? Whatever you call him, to say Sean “Diddy” Combs wears multiple hats would be an understatement of gargantuan proportions. He is a record producer, label executive, rapper, actor, fashion designer, TV producer, party promoter, entrepreneur and, sometimes, dancer. Amazingly, even as he does business in this Attention Deficit Disorder style, the Renaissance man finds incredible success in every field - making him more than the toast of the hip-hop community, but the business community as well.
Like so many hip-hop entrepreneurs of his ilk, Combs had humble beginnings. He dropped out of Howard University to taken an internship at Andre Harrell’s Uptown Records. But the young upstart exceeded every expectation, and within a matter of months, he had risen from an unpaid internship to become a vice president at the label. He was just twenty-one years old.
That said, Combs’ poor attitude was soon rubbing Uptown’s staff the wrong way, forcing Harrell to fire the young executive. In retrospect, it was probably the best thing to happen to Combs. It taught him humility while forcing him to go out on his own, forming his own record label, Bad Boy Entertainment.
Bad Boy would go on to have huge success with acts like The Notorious B.I.G., Ma$e, 112, Faith Evans and more. Combs himself came out from behind a desk to take a starring spot behind the microphone under the name Puff Daddy. As an artist he has won three Grammy awards and two MTV Video Music Awards.
Like so many young entrepreneurs, Combs wanted to parlay his music industry success and take advantage of opportunities in other arenas. That said, it would be his clothing line, Sean John, which found the greatest success.
Started in 1998, Sean John is a men’s clothing line that merges urban style with mainstream fashion. With annual sales of nearly $500 million, Sean John was nominated for the CFDA Designer of the Year award in 2000 before winning the prestigious honor in 2004.
In 2002, Combs made his entry into television when he began producing Making The Band for MTV. Since then he has added shows like Run’s House, I Want To Work For Diddy and The Bad Boys of Comedy to his production slate. He recently produced a mini-series for CBS based on the award-winning Broadway play he starred in, A Raisin In The Sun.
Sean John Combs’ success has taken him from the block and into the boardroom, but as it takes him into the future, one thing is certain - he’ll be working nonstop and will find success by any means necessary. Did we expect anything else from the original Bad Boy?
It's said that even as a toddler, Cameron was interested in making money and he had always been able to sell any product put in front of him. At the age of 7, he would sell vegetables from his red wagon door-to-door to neighbors.
When he was eight years old, he wrote a letter to Donald Trump. (He tells the story of what happened in this video.)
Cameron Johnson started his first serious business at the age of 9, when he added the words "made by Cameron Johnson" to the back of 50 party invitations he had made for his parents, using Photoshop.
By age 11, through his printing business, Cheers and Tears, Cameron had generated several thousand dollars in savings.
After some shares as a Christmas gift the year he was 11, he became very interested in the stock market and learned all he could about how it worked. He soon sold the few shares his parents had given him and also invested more than $1,000 of his own money into companies of his choice. In just a few years' time, he had multiplied his investment seven times.
When he was 12, Cameron offered his sister $100 for her collection of Beanie Babies, which he sold on eBay for $1000. He then contacted a wholesaler, and continued selling Beanie Babies on eBay and his Cheers and Tears website. Within a year, he had another $50,000, but he stopped selling Beanie Babies when he started junior high.
"It wasn't cool to be selling Beanie Babies in junior high," he explains.
At 13, he used part of his saved capital to start My EZ Mail, an email-forwarding service. It was designed to help young people protect their identities online. The money was used to pay a programmer to develop the system, and within two years My EZ Mail was generating $3,000 per month in advertising revenue.
In 1997, Johnson joined forces with two other teen entrepreneurs, Aaron Greenspan and Tom Kho, to create Surfingprizes.com. This business sold scrolling advertisements which appeared at the top of a user's web browser. Within a year, Surfingprizes.com was pulling over $15,000 a day.
"I was 15 years old, and receiving cheques between $300,000 and $400,000 a month," says Cameron.
After starting college at Virginia Technical Insitute, Cameron was struck by another bright idea. Together with friend Nat Turner, he launched CertificateSwap.com, a site which allowed users to sell or exchange unwanted gift ceritficates.
They turned down $10 million in venture capital, because the conditions attached to it were too onerous, choosing instead to sell the business in 2004 for an undisclosed six-figure sum.