Entrepreneurs

Amy Cosper: Ex-VP of Entrepreneur.com Is Now Founder of RadicalUpstarts

Many of us might find our passion in a field in which we don’t hold a college degree.

Entrepreneurs worldwide have faced similar situations while choosing their heart’s true calling.

Are you having second thoughts to become an entrepreneur?

What sets you apart is your level of commitment to your passion.

Read about the life of a woman entrepreneur who influenced the future of the global media publishing industry.

The Journey of an Art History Graduate To A Media Entrepreneur

A Multitalented Arts Graduate

The journey of a reporter to become one of the 25 smartest women in twitter is nothing short of wonder and amazement.

The life of Amy Cosper is a testimony to the power of passion-driven purpose.

She majored in Art History at college but little did she know what destiny had in store for her.

She donned several roles as a journalist, writer, speaker, editor-in-chief and Vice President of the globally reputed online magazine, Entrepreneur.com

Adding to it, Amy is also a serial entrepreneur with a track record of incredible resilience and integrity to her credit.

She has faced several ups and downs in her entrepreneurial journey before she founded RadicalUpstarts.

The secret of her success is her talent to turn her trials into triumphs.

Making The Right Career Choices Matters

Amy made a huge leap of faith when she received an offer in 2008 to join Entrepreneur.com as its Editor-in-Chief. She was also the VP of the parent company, Entrepreneur Media Inc.

The single mother of twin daughters had to relocate herself to Los Angeles from Denver to run one of the world’s most famous magazine, Entrepreneur.com.

It was one of the life-changing decision in her life to either score big in life or simply, stay in her own comfort zone.

To start with, Amy’s career choice to join Entrepreneur.com didn’t turn out as she expected.

A Change maker in every sense

In the beginning, she had to face countless challenges and setbacks to establish herself as the Editor-in-Chief of Entrepreneur.com.

Amy envisioned Entrpreneur.com to create meaningful stories that could impact the everyday lives of readers and entrepreneurs worldwide.

It took a lot of effort and perseverance for her to connect and collaborate with the employees to realize her vision for the magazine.

Clarity of mind and laser-sharp focus are the greatest assets to win all odds in your entrepreneurial journey.

Amy openly embraced her blind passion to change the world of entrepreneurship for better. She distanced herself from all the judgments and criticisms that distracted her from her goals and vision.

The Face & Voice of Entrepreneur.com

It wasn’t an easy choice for an Editor-in-Chief to trust her own intuition rather than following the corporate rulebook. Amy focused more on the outcomes and the positive impact that they create.

Entrepreneur.com witnessed a major transformation under the leadership of Amy Cosper. She had to restructure the company from the ground up in order to rebuild the brand.

Cutting down millions off the operating budget resulted in adopting modern business techniques such as technology, outsourcing, communicating and a virtual workforce.

Q&A with Former Entrepreneur Magazine Editor-in-Chief Amy Cosper

An Optimistic Beginner

Amy inherited her entrepreneurial drive from her parents who were entrepreneurs themselves.

Though she completed Masters in Art History and Italian language she always welcomed change and growth both in her personal and professional life.

Her education in Liberal Arts at the University of Colorado didn’t stop her from pursuing a career in Journalism and Business Management.

Failures Are Only The Beginning

So, what did Amy Cosper do before she became the reputed Editor-in-Chief of Entrepreneur.com?

In 1995 she started her career as a tech reporter. She later became the editorial chief/publisher of Satellite Broadband magazine and managed five ASBPE award-winning financial magazines owned by WiesnerMedia.

Amy traveled far and wide to several countries in the Middle East and Europe as a reporter. It was a great learning opportunity for her at the beginning of her career.

In the late ’90s, Amy started her own media company, Avvio Media. She quit a high paying job in a renowned media company to become an entrepreneur.

 Little did she expect that her business would fail within a period of two years. It was a catastrophic financial downturn for her.

When Her House Burned Down

In 2010, Amy’s house was burned down in a fire accident. She and her family lived in a trailer until her house was reconstructed. She recounts, “We didn’t crack. We became stronger, better. We proved that we would survive. Yes, rising from the ashes is a cliche, but I happen to know that it’s also literally true. There was life before the fire and life after, and the two couldn’t be more different.”

Fast forward to today, Amy is one of the most influential women voice in the world of entrepreneurship. She never let her failure define her.

On the contrary, she became a world-famous advocate and evangelist for entrepreneurs promoting innovation and disruption.

In 2016, the influential writer and editor quit her job as Editor-in-Chief/VP with Entrepreneur.com.

She pursued to explore new opportunities in the field of creativity, technology, and entrepreneurship.

The Mediapreneur Of The Future

Amy never failed to learn from her business failure which she faced quite early in her career.

The founder and CEO of Radical Upstarts, Amy is now all set on a mission to deep dive on the entrepreneurial campaigns, personalities, and ideas on U.S. and European crowdfunding platforms. She has about 12 years of experience in reporting A to Z of entrepreneurship for global readers.

Amy has also previously worked as Entrepreneur-In-Residence for WeisnerMedia with a incredible track record of building successful media properties. She effortlessly materialized  new business plans, ventures, and partnerships specific to the insurance and financial markets

The magazine publishing industry skyrocketed Amy to fame. She diligently proved that an entrepreneurial mindset is crucial to the success of a company; whether you own it or run it.

Her Work of Passion

In 2016, Amy founded RadicalUpstarts in pursuit of her passion to become a media entrepreneur. She has more than a decade of experience in the field of building businesses and promoting entrepreneurs globally.

Amy is also the Producer of the Creative Business Cup—Adventure Zone which features a business pitch challenge primarily focused on human performance entrepreneurs.

She currently hosts worldwide startup conferences and participates in several global events as a keynote speaker. She is working on a book and documentary to highlight the trends and impact of the global entrepreneurship movement.

Amy Cosper’s Words of Wisdom

Amy shares a few wise words for young entrepreneurs:

  • Know what your business and company stand for
  • Be able to describe what you do in 3 sentences or less
  • Do not focus on the obstacles, focus on the vision

A Ducatista and sportswoman at heart and soul, Amy Cosper said, “I strongly believe that on the other side of your fear, is your success.”

In her opinion, there is only one thing that separates the good from failed are vision, passion, and execution.

Her Secret to Success

“Chase your dreams, change the world and make an impact,” while “creating something new, or innovative or disruptive, where nothing was before.” – Amy Cosper

Amy Cosper explains ‘How To Win Fear As An Entrepreneur’

Feel The Fear

I’ve succeeded and I’ve failed as a leader.

And the lesson is this: When you lead with purpose and vision, you will succeed. When you lead out of fear, you will fail.

Simply put: Leading is the most important responsibility you will ever have as an entrepreneur.

Own Up To Yourself

Leadership is your contribution and your service to your company. It’s your survival and that of those you lead.

It will be your legacy and your company’s legacy. It is what makes you great vs. what lets you fail or, worse, be average.

Tackle Fear Like A Pro

This is easier said than done, but I’m going to say it anyway: Stop being scared. Right now. It is the single most important thing you can do — and you can do it.

No leader has gotten to where they are without slaying demons. A leader goes forward because they know there’s no going back. They embrace that visceral moment — the one we’ve all felt at some point — when they have to step on a stage and get it done.

Global women entrepreneurs like Amy Cosper are changing the dynamics of the entrepreneurial world as we see it.

Redefining boundaries and reinventing herself every single day. Amy continues her journey as a founder, sportswoman and keynote speaker participating in leading international conferences.

Are you an entrepreneur who wants to take over the media world by storm?

Or, do you want to make your mark as a media entrepreneur?

Start now, make a difference!

Entrepreneurs

The Incredible Story of the Youngest Billionaire and Facebook Chief Mark Zuckerberg

“Move fast and break things. Unless you are breaking stuff, you are not moving fast enough.”
——-Mark ZuckerBerg

It’s not just the prime directive of Facebook CEO, Mark ZuckerBerg to his team of developers, it’s the philosophy he breathes and lives by.

We are bringing to you yet another inspiring story today.

Success stories of the greatest entrepreneurs stimulate motivational juices within us and inspire us to emulate them, so that we can also achieve incredible success in our life.

Mark Zuckerberg has actually moved fast right from his Harvard days, when he launched Facebook before the alleged gang of HarvardConnection could actually think of implementing it and soon became the inventor of world’s biggest social media platform.

Launching Facebook globally

Zuckerberg and his dorm room friends Tyler Winklevoss, Cameron Winklevoss and DivyaNarendra of HarvardConnection actually came up with an idea of a social network like Facebook, but they accuse Mark of stealing the idea and launching Facebook, which was their brainchild.

Facebook is not just a social networking platform, but it has become an integral part of our lives today.

Mark Zuckerberg was just 19 years old when he launched Facebook in 2004.

He is the youngest billionaire in the world and is the owner of the biggest social media platform Facebook along with two other most popular social media platforms Instagram and WhatsApp.

Mark Zuckerberg Biography: Success Story of Facebook

The Mark Zuckerberg story

Mark Zuckerberg’s story is quite fascinating and unbelievable.

Mark Zuckerberg is not just another successful billionaire; he is placed among the Ivy League of people, who have changed the world.

If Apple has changed our lives by introducing touch screen smartphones, Facebook has changed the way we interact and communicate with each other.

In fact, FB has gone much ahead. Beyond communication and interaction, it also helps you form interest groups and fan pages to not only promote businesses, but also lifestyles, think-tanks and ideologies.

It shatters barriers and enables you to interact freely with the people with the same interests as yours.

Facebook as a social influencer

Facebook is considered a major factor behind political revolutions such as Arab Spring and changing the fate of elections in various democracies.

It is such an influential social media platform that you cannot ignore it.

These days it has more than 1.3 billion active users which make it equal to the third largest country in the world.

Early life as a child prodigy

Mark Zuckerberg was born in 1984 and he was brought up in an ambitious and well educated middle-class Jewish family in the sleepy Dobbs Ferry town in the suburban New York.

He has three siblings and he is the only son. His father Edward Zuckerberg runs a dentists clinic in the area and mother Karen Zuckerberg works as a psychiatrist.

Mark Zuckerberg is not an ordinary person. He was a prodigy as a child and exhibited his programming skills, when he connected the computers in his father’s dental clinic and enabled the staff to communicate with each other through a program created by him.

Earlier in such types of clinics, the staff yelled to communicate with the dentist. He named this texting platform “ZuckNet”. He also learnt several languages in his high School including Latin, French, Hebrew, and ancient Greek. He also wrote poems in Latin. It is extremely difficult for a 14 year old child to accomplish that.

Impressed by his programming skills and his interest in software programming, his father arranged a private tutor for him.When he finished elementary school, he was admitted to the prestigious boarding school Phillips Exeter Academy, where he learnt the art of decision making and communication.

When Zuckerberg was in his high school, he joined a company Intelligent Media Group as a programmer and created a media player program known as “Synapse”. The program was based on artificial intelligence and it recognized the individual preference for music based on their listening habits.

Microsoft wanted to purchase the product for $2 million and also offered him a job as a programmer once he finished high school, but Mark Zuckerberg declined the offer. According to him, it was his inspiration and therefore it was not to be sold.

Mark Zuckerberg’s 2004 Interview: See How Far He And Facebook Have Come

Joining Harvard University

Later on, he was admitted to prestigious Harvard University, where he started studying psychology. His mother wanted him to learn psychology, but Mark Zuckerberg was more interested in programming.  So, he joined some IT courses at Harvard in addition to his major course.

When,Zuckerberg was in the second year at Harvard, he created a program known as CourseMatch which allowed the students to share their experiences around their chosen subjects.

His second superhit project was Facemash, in which he offered Harvard students an opportunity to vote for the students’ photos as to who looked better and hotter.

To implement and run this program, Zuckerberg successfully broke into the University database to steal the photographs of the students.

He just survived a possible suspension for the offence of hacking the database.

Students also complained that their photographs were used without their consent, so University had no option but to shut down the program Facemash.

Mark Zuckerberg later on launched another project in which the photo albums were protected by password so as to ensure privacy of the students.

Facemash was actually the beginning of Facebook because it emerged as a communication masterpiece and a popular social network.

Zuckerberg was helped by Eduardo Saverin, Chris Hughes and Dustin Moskovitz in creating the social network platform Facebook.

The new site was ready in less than a week’s time and it became even more popular than the actual product Facemash.

Facebook was initially designed for Harvard students, but soon it became quite popular among the most reputed universities in the United States such as Stanford, Columbia and various other universities in Boston, Massachusetts, New York, and Canada.

The biggest success of Facebook is not to bring everybody on the social networking platform but to create interest groups, where users could express themselves without any inhibition or hesitation.

Even today you will find interest groups on Facebook such as atheists, same sex couples, fans of celebrities, and people interested in gardening or bodybuilding etc.

Inviting venture capitalists

By the end of 2004, Facebook was able to have more than 1 million users.

It attracted the attention of venture capitalists interested in investing in such an immensely popular platform, which could be monetized to yield excellent returns.

The domain facebook.com cost $200,000 for Mark Zuckerberg in 2005, when Facebook had more than 5 million users and was adding.

Mark Zuckerberg’s Top 10 Rules For Success

Becoming a billionaire

In 2007, Mark Zuckerberg announced that his project was worth $15 billion and he bought 1.6% of the total stock, which was $240 million.

In 2015, Facebook became the second most visited website globally and Mark Zuckerberg also became the youngest billionaire on the planet.

Just like many other popular CEOs in the world, his official wage is a still $1.

He has also been honored by the title of the most influential person in the world in 2010 by Time magazine.

Personal life

Mark Zuckerberg is known to live a moderate and close life and doesn’t believe in pomp and show and throwing off cash like some other billionaires.

He married his Harvard friend Priscilla Chan, who comes from China in 2012. Chan gave birth to a daughter “Max” in 2015. The couple was so happy at that moment that they decided to donate 99% of their wealth before they die.

You won’t believe but it’s true that before 2015, Zuckerberg was living in rented houses, even though he was a billionaire.

When he realized that his family and the newborn needed a cozy home, he decided to buy a house which cost $7 million.

The house is situated in Palo Alto in Silicon Valley and is very near to Facebook office in Menlo Park.

Awards and recognitions

Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard to run Facebook in 2004, but back in 2017 Harvard gave him an honorary degree of doctor of laws.

Mark Zuckerberg At Harvard: We Should Explore Ideas Like Universal Basic Income | CNBC

In 2017, Zuckerberg also announced that Facebook had achieved yet another milestone – It reached 2 billion accounts.

Net Worth

In 2017, Forbes announced that Mark Zuckerberg had a net worth of $69.5 billion (Source 24smi.org), so he was way ahead of Sergey Brin and Larry Page — the founders of Google.

Yet, the youngest billionaire in the world is not mad for money. He doesn’t believe in mad accumulation of wealth.

He is known to be associated with dozens of charity organizations around the world.

He has also joined the group “The Giving Pledge” whose members are committed to donate 50% of their wealth in their lifetime.

Quotes of Mark Zuckerberg

  1. “Move fast and break things. Unless you are breaking stuff, you are not moving fast enough.”
  2. “I remember really vividly, you know, having pizza with my friends a day or two after — I opened up the first version of Facebook at the time I thought, ‘You know, someone needs to build a service like this for the world. But I just never thought that we’d be the ones to help do it. And I think a lot of what it comes down to is we just cared more.” (Jan. 2014)
  3. “If I were starting now I would do things very differently. I didn’t know anything. In Silicon Valley, you get this feeling that you have to be out here. But it’s not the only place to be. If I were starting now, I would have stayed in Boston. [Silicon Valley] is a little short-term focused and that bothers me.” (Oct. 2011)
  4. “The biggest risk is not taking any risk. In a world that’s changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.” (Oct. 2011) 
  5. “Building a mission and building a business go hand-in-hand. It is true that the primary thing that makes me excited about what we’re doing is the mission, but I also think, from the very beginning, we’ve had this healthy understanding which is that we need to do both.” (Sept. 2012)
  6. “My goal was never to just create a company. A lot of people misinterpret that, as if I don’t care about revenue or profit or any of those things. But what not being ‘just’ a company means to me is building something that actually makes a really big change in the world.” (Feb. 2011)
  7. “People can be really smart or have skills that are directly applicable, but if they don’t really believe in it, then they are not going to really work hard.” (Oct. 2005)[Source:Entrepreneur magazine]

Further reading:
Think Like Zuck: The Five Business Secrets of Facebook’s Improbably Brilliant CEO Mark Zuckerberg

Final words

More than a billionaire, Mark Zuckerberg is a man with a mission. He wanted to change the world and he is doing exactly that.

He is a great strategist and kills the competition before it poses a threat. He bought Instagram and WhatsApp at the right time and both turned out to be his best decisions.

Currently, he is working on many projects including Internet of Things (IOT), which is aimed at providing internet connectivity to less developed nations for free.

Entrepreneurs

The Small Biz Marketing Guru: Ramon Ray

To encourage and give you some words to keep you moving despite facing challenges in entrepreneurship, I have the story of Ramon Ray.

Ramon Ray is the editor of the popular smallbiztechnology.com and also the editor and founder of Smart Hustle Magazine.

This talented journalist and technology evangelist is the author of Technology Solutions for Growing Businesses.

He has written other books including Facebook Guide to Small Business Marketing and it is one of the best sellers in Amazon.com.

Ramon has had the honour to speak to many audiences including the White House.

He is invited by the Office of the President of the United States to speak to the Congress as an expert.

This led to numerous events such as “Small Business Technology Tour,” “Smart Hustle Small Business Conference,” Small Biz Big Things” and “Small Business Summit.”

Ramon has brushed shoulders many respected celebrity entrepreneurs, but his connection with the main street remain contact.

He likes to interview small entrepreneurs and business owners and share their stories.

Some of the prominent people he has worked closely with and even shared a stage with them include Guy Kawasaki, Daymond John, Seth Godin, Gary Vaynerchuk, and Simon Sinek.

Ramon interviewed President through Google Hangout, the first interview of its kind for the President. Besides, he also interviewed many sharks though Shark Tank.

Facebook Marketing Tips For Small Business with Ramon Ray

Early Life

Ramon Ray started four companies but later sold one. He studied at the New York Institute of Technology.

He is a journalist and a talented speaker whose meetings are full of laughter.

Ramon was not born rich, he created business and it was he sold the third one that made millions that catapulted him financially. He loves technology and calls himself a technology evangelist.

Having owned four companies, he is an experienced entrepreneur who knows the struggles and challenges of becoming successful.

In his ever full conferences, he communicates insights that work for his audience regardless of their location around the world.

This entrepreneur and the speaker know how to connect with his audience at a personal level and many people have testimonies how opened their eyes and they were able to take their business to another level.

Ramon used to be a technology consultant and has first hand experience with different technologies including mobile computing, online software, computer networks and social media among others.

He is an expert in technology, sales and marketing. He has excelled in business growth, networking and personal branding.

Over the years, he has written informative articles, which are more than a thousand. Besides, he has spoken to big audiences and thousands of entrepreneurs.

His proven tactics and advice has impacted thousands of upcoming and small business owners.

Today, he specializes in sharing his wealth of knowledge and is always to attend events when invited.

Awards & Accomplishments

Ramon Ray and Anita Campbell are the founders of the Small Business Influencers Awards.

The program is meant to recognize those leading in the small business world.

It is a way to appreciate their support and contributions in news outlets, apps, leaders, media and experts.

Ramon the entrepreneur

Ramon Ray is a technology evangelist, but according to him he just started small.

He worked hard to give the best and then people started coming to him for advice and he turned to a technology evangelist.

When giving out his advice to entrepreneurs he knows that business is different depending on the location of the investor.

He believes technology can take a business to another level, if only investors are willing to try it.

Apart from increasing sales, they should take advantage of online payment methods.

Ramon’s favourite technology tools for running a small business are the Batchbook and Google products.

With online applications such as Carbonite and Dropbox, Ramon says he can easily manage his virtual team and run his business smoothly.

Ramon Ray talks about growing your business on Business Circle

Ramon Ray the speaker

Ramon is a professional speaker who knows how to present an inspiring message to his audience.

He helps investors and professionals to elevate their brands and crush their competitors, which in turn boosts their revenues and enhances their overall growth.

Ramon shares how he grew from the nothing to become a highly sought-after celebrity.

By sharing his experience step by step, other investors can see where they make mistakes thus helping them improve.

According to Ramon, branding is being different from others and finding a way to sizzle and pop and stop chasing deals and just wait for them to come looking for you.

He has expertise in personal branding, and he speaks so well sharing practically with his audience and guides them on how to create their brands.

One of Ramon’s unforgettable talks is how he guides business owners to date leads and marry customers. It’s all about sales; most people want to sell more, but they forget to keep the ones they already have.

It is important to nurture relationships with potential customers and to make sure they buy from you again, not just once.

Ramon, the speaker, also insists on the importance of using social media.  All the platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter can help build a brand and generate sales.

Why Ramon is a Top Global Influencer

Ramon Ray is one of the most recognized top global influencers. His efforts are mostly seen through is his books, speaking tours, informative videos and Smart Hustle magazine.

He also has other small ventures that are all business focused meant to help small business owners and other professionals interested in investments.

Ramon Ray Is a Great Marketer

Ramon Ray has rich experience in marketing and his book titled “The Facebook Guide to Small Business Marketing?” he believes most people do not understand marketing and that’s why they do not get much from the biggest social media platforms.

He researched and studied social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and GooglePlus. Whereas most small businesses use Facebook, Google Adwords is another marketing tool they should use according to Ramon.

Ramon Ray: 3 secrets to conquering selling

Ramon’s Advice for the Young People Who Want to Succeed

Ramon has been working with young people for years. He has volunteered as a teacher; his tips for those who want to succeed are:

Having a Good Character and Attitude

Everyone knows a smile and a warm welcome are essential, but they do not seem to realize that it’s imperative.

Mostly, a young person is judged by his or her physical look, so start with the first impression.

Smile and have a positive attitude.

Be honest and always do the right thing; also help those who a bit far down than you.

Opportunities will come to you in the future just because you helped someone.

Hard Work Is Important

If you are willing to work hard and leave your comfort zone to extra work, you win.

You will get some positive results eventually. If anyone shows up when you are working, let them know you need time to finish work before you talk and have some fun.

Avoid calls that are no important; you can call later.

Hard work is an excellent trait that people frown at and will give you names such as workaholics, but as long as one knows when it’s time to take a rest.

Every successful person with money and wealth took the time to work hard to reach where they are.

Learn New Skills

You can go back to school or learn a new skill online.

Keep learning new things, and you will always have something to help you make money. Make sure you learn how to do something like a pro not just learning theoretically.

There are great videos where one can learn things like video editing, fixing cars and much more.

You can learn to do things you love and make some money.

Ramon loves sharing his knowledge with other people.

He says that most people will commute daily to work and spend about eight hours doing a job they hate wholeheartedly.

Here are some of the tips he gives and calls them core fundamentals that can lead to success:

  • Keep reading and learning
  • Experiment with different things that you love and enjoy doing
  • Ask questions where you are not sure
  • Ask for help if you need to
  • Be honest and avoid breaking the law
  • Volunteer
  • Eat healthy, exercise and keep fit
  • Learn about multitasking and know what to prioritize
  • Make new friends and learn things
  • Budget, save and avoid getting into debts
  • Be nice to people as much as you can; no need to be a jerk
  • Always start your day early in the morning

Entrepreneurs

Jeff Bezos – The Inspiring Story of the Richest Man on the Planet

“Jeff is crazy — crazy like a fox. He has a very clear vision and design.”
—   Nadia Shouraboura, a former Amazon executive.
Jeff Bezos is not just a rich businessman; he is the richest person alive on the planet.
He started his venture from a garage and turned it into the most popular eCommerce shopping portal on earth.
He is the founder and CEO of Amazon.com, the biggest E-Commerce marketplace in the world.
Hiscreation Amazon has catapulted him into the billionaire’s club.
At present, Jeff Bezos is $56 billion richer than the second richest person in the world – Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft.    
Just like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos is an avid risk taker and a ruthless boss, who has zero tolerance for complacency.
On the personal front, Bezos is a generous person and a “relentless” romantic. His life revolves around romance and innovation.
Bezos’ life is a story of twists and turns, the invisible hand of fate and his futuristic approach to businesses. He was estranged by his biological father, when he was just 17 months old.

AMAZON CEO | Jeff Bezos Biography | Success Story | Startup Stories

Net worth

According to Inc. magazine, Bezos’ total wealth has been estimated to be around $163 billion (real time net worth $139.9 billion as of January 16, 2019, according to Forbes).

So if we compare it with the average US net worth of $97,300, every $1 spent by an average American equals to $1.7 million spent by Jeff Bezos.

Passion for space travel and future technologies

Part of Bezos’ success can be attributed to the fact that he believes in future and had big dreams since his childhood.

He has also been a space nerd.

As a high school student, he wanted to save humanity by developing permanent settlements in orbiting space stations, protecting and preserving the nature on the planet Earth.

It was probably the same approach that led to the launch of his space flight services company “Blue Origin” in the year 2000.

Since the beginning, JeffBezos was passionate about space age technologies. He was quite fond of watching Star Trek TV serial as a child.

Bezos also played a cameo role in the movie Star Trek Beyond. You can spot him dressed up as an alien in the movie.

Difficult childhood as an estranged son

Bezos was born in 1964 as Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen to a teenage mother, Jacklyn Gise, (16 years old at the time) and a teenage father Ted Jorgensen (barely 18 years old), in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Jeff’s mother divorced his father, when he was just 17 months old. After that the family was estranged by Jorgensen, as Gise asked him not to intervene.  
Jeff Bezos was brought up by his mom and stepdad Mike Bezos. His biological father Ted Jorgenson died in 2015 after brief illness. According to Jeff Bezos, he has no memories of his biological dad.  

Career switch from Finance to Internet

When Bezos was in the final year at Princeton University, he refused many lucrative job offers including the ones from Intel and Bell.
After getting a degree in electrical engineering and computer science, he joined a startup known as FITEL, where he learnt how to run startups. Soon he became the director of customer service in the company.
After that he joined Bankers Trust as a product manager and worked there for two years. The next company he joined was DE Shaw Co., which was a hedge fund.
His career was moving in the right orbit at the Wall Street, as he became senior Vice President at D E Shaw in 1994.
Just like Bill Gates, he was stunned to see the growth of the Internet usage by 2300% in a year. However, nobody was using the Internet for selling goods. He studied the most profitable mail order businesses and decided to sell books on the web.
One of the Greatest Speeches Ever | Jeff Bezos
Marriage Life
Jeff Bezos always wanted to get out of the third world prison and wanted a resourceful woman. He spotted one such woman in his own staff at D E Shaw Co. – Mackenzie Tuttle, an analystand novelist and married her in 1993. His wife was very supportive and instrumental in the launch of Amazon.
Moving with his wife to Seattle
Soon, Bezos quit his Wall Street job and moved to Seattle, Washington to setup his e-commerce shop.
Like the most successful businesses in the United States, Amazon also started from its humble origin in a shabby and semi-insulated garage.
Bezos’s parents were initially skeptical about their son leaving his prestigious Capital Market job to start a risky eCommerce business selling books.
However, convinced that their son was quite passionate about his new venture, they gave him their nod.
Even Bezos was apprehensive that the entire investment may go down the drain if the project doesn’t take off.
It’s important to note that the investment Bezos’s parents had done in Amazon back in 1995 was around $250,000.
Today, it’s worth more than $30 billion considering the stock value of the company.

At present, his mom Jackie and dad Mike Bezos run the Bezos Family Foundation.

Launching world’s first online bookstore

Bezos launched his E-commerce website and got it tested by some 300 of his acquaintances. It turned out to be a success as it was smoothly working across different platforms.

You’ll be surprised to know that Amazon was known as “Cadabra” in 1994.

The name was inspired from “Abracadabra” often used by magicians.
It was often misspelt by the users and staffers, so it was changed to “Relentless” and soon it was christened as Amazon, which is the name of the famous river in Latin America.
Amazon experienced meteoric success right from the beginning.
Within 6 months of its inception, it started selling books in all of the 50 states in the US and in 50 locations overseas.
So, in early 1995, the first eCommerce platform was making $20,000 per week from its sales proceeds.
Bezos hadn’t anticipated any profit in his business plan for about four to five years, but it made a profit of $5 million in the year 2001.

Early problems and software glitches

It is not that the journey of Amazon was swift and smooth.
In the early days, the platform encountered a technical glitch and it resulted in the negative amounts appearing on the invoices generated for customer orders.
Amazon systems found themselves crediting the money back to the credit cards of the customers.  Soon the management spotted the glitch and fixed it.
How Jeff Bezos Became the King of E-Commerce

Family

Bezos has three sons from his first marriage and an adopted daughter, who hails from China. He kept his children away from digital devices specially smartphones for a long time following in the footsteps of Bill Gates.

Philanthropy and generosity for good causes

Bezos supports social causes such as helping homeless families, opening preschools, and financing the same-sex marriages.
Bezos is a strong supporter of the rights of homosexuals. In 2012, an Amazon employee approached Bezos during a fundraising campaign for the cause of same sex marriage. The employee was looking for just $100,000, but the couple went far ahead and donated $2.5 million and became one of the biggest financiers for the cause in the US.
In Sept. 2018, Bezos pledged $2 billion for homeless families and expand the network of Montessori-inspired preschools in the U.S., through his charity known as Bezos Day One Fund.

Owner of the Washington Post

Bezos had bought the prestigious Washington Post group in 2013 for US$250 million. Bezos had always been a smart investor.

He had invested $1 million in Google in 1998, when it was just a startup. That investment is equal to 1 billion US dollars today.

You will be surprised to know that since the launch of the Amazon IPO, the stock price of the company has increased by 97000%.

Had you bought the stock of Amazon in February 2016 at the bargain price of $500 per share, an investment of $5000 would be worth $20,000 in the year 2019.

[Source: MSN]

Smart Entrepreneur

When Bezos launched Amazon Web Services, Netflix used to distribute its videos to millions of American households round the clock.

Bezos signed an agreement and allowed companies to use Amazon servers for the purpose. He reduced the tariff for the companies using it servers.

When he was informed that it will mean suffering loss for a long period of time, he said, “More profit means attracting more competition.”  

He first learnt about company automation during his summer job at McDonald’s in Miami as a fry cook. He worked in a kitchen where automation was implemented. He himself designed a system that was attached to a buzzer and it helped him start and finish his core tasks in time.

Entrepreneurship was in his blood and he first launched his entrepreneurial venture known as Directed Reasoning Methods (DREAM), when he was in his High School.

It was a summer education camp set up for 5th graders. His partner in this venture was his girlfriend Ursula “Uschi” Werner. [Source: MSN]

Passion for ski-fi technologies

The virtual assistant technology used at Amazon is Alexa, which is inspired from the talking computer on a Star Trek television series.
Alexa is being developed on the pattern of the computer shown on science fiction show Star Trek, which can be controlled remotely and would be AI enabled.
Jeff’s quotes
Jeff believes in reverse engineering as far as the success of Amazon is concerned.  
His famous quote is:
“Start With the Customer and Work Backward.”  [Source: Goodreads]
Lessons to learn from Amazon’s meteoric success
Here are some of the secrets behind the unprecedented success of Amazon that the entrepreneurs must be aware of.   
Pay attention to customer service

Bezos’ strong background in customer service at FITEL, where he was the director, customer service was instrumental in the success of Amazon.

You won’t believe but it’s true that even as a CEO, he still handles emails directly from customers.

If the issue is quite big, he forwards it to the concerned team with a “question mark” on it.  It’s clearly a red flag and it means that the concerned team has to fix it immediately.

Be an entrepreneur and enjoy the freedom
According to Bezos, if you want a fulfilled life and more freedom, be an entrepreneur. So, even if you are 50, it’s not too late. You’re twice as likely to become successful than a 25 year old. [Source: MSN]
Focus on basics
In an interview with Lyons of Slate magazine, Jeff Bezos said that focus on basics, i.e. low prices, selection of products, reliability, fast delivery and convenience and your eCommerce business will thrive even in the bad economy. If you consistently do it, you will reap its rewards for many years to come. [Source: Slate]
Reverse engineer your business
Bezos always believed in “customer first”. He is often quoted as saying “Start with the customer and work backward.”
During his interview with Slate magazine, he said that development of Amazon Kindle as a dedicated reading device was a big step in that direction.
Form smaller teams
Bezos believes in smaller teams for success in the business world.
The term “two-pizza team” was coined by him and by it he meant that the ideal team should comprise of the members, who can be fed no more than two pizzas. It enables better communication and agility.
Jeff Bezos | How He Became World’s Richest Person | Case Study | Dr Vivek Bindra (In Hindi)

5 Tips for leadership by Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos, the Internet billionaire is known for his unique approach and strategies.
You can learn the following things from his unprecedented success.
  1. Don’t follow the crowd.
  2. Adopt a data driven business model and cut the emotional component.
  3. Work hard to offer the most competitive prices.
  4. Don’t let failure push you back.
  5. Always think for the long term.
Final words
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is not just an accidental entrepreneur, he is an inspiration for millions of entrepreneurs around the world.
You can learn from him how you can fuse a futuristic approach with the basics of a customer-centered business to ensure success in this uncertain world.  
Even if you forget about his wealth for a minute, he is still one of the most successful persons, who have changed the world.