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All the business wisdom you need from 4 famous entrepreneurs
There's a lot of deification of entrepreneur "personalities."
The truth is that a few entrepreneurs, in my opinion, are probably
luckier than good. But, some of the praise and deification is warranted.
There have been some fantastic business leaders in this country, and
one can learn a ton from studying them. I've compiled a list of the four
entrepreneurs who have taught me the most over the years. Click through to see them all.
Steve Jobs
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| © David Paul Morris | Getty Images |
I hadn't really followed
Apple computers at all. And I read the beginning of Walter Isaacson's
bio about Jobs, but lost interest in it after three or four chapters.
But, I did stumble on an interview with Steve Jobs that I found mesmerizing and incredibly helpful to me: Steve Jobs, The Lost Interview.
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was an unedited interview of Jobs after he was pushed out of Apple in
the '90s. That sole interview was probably the most profound interview
of an entrepreneur, and presented the most valid set of principles on
entrepreneurship, that I have ever read or listened to. I cannot distill
all of it into an article as short as this, so I'll pick out a few
things that really struck me: First, his take on the need for friction
in an entrepreneurial organization was fascinating. It seems to me that
he viewed entrepreneurship as a somewhat destructive process where the
founders and first wavers work together in a way where disagreement is
fostered as part of the creative process. The other thing that struck me
was his candid explanation about why startups require the absolute >highest performers in order to succeed.
Mark Cuban
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| © Michael Desmond | Getty Images |
I tried hard not to like this
guy, because I somehow got an impression of him through the years as an
over-the-top, jet-setting, basketball-team-owning celebrity
entrepreneur. However, as I've listened to him in different formats, I
realize his success was not born just of the internet bubble -- the guy
really knows what he's talking about.
I'll also say that, like Jobs or other highly successful entrepreneurs, Mark Cuban
has an ability to get to the core of what is important to a business or
a problem. It seems to be a kind of practical intelligence that I
wouldn't describe as common sense, but more as an ability to pull out
the pieces of information that are directly relevant to a decision or
business. Notice how great entrepreneurs are almost mathematical in
their intelligence, in isolating key variables. I suppose, to some
people, this could come across as brashness or rudeness, but, to me, it
is an innate ability to get to the core of a problem.
Warren Buffett
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| © Christopher Goodney | Getty Images |
Warren Buffett
is not typically considered an entrepreneur, but I would define him as
one, given that he has started a business and has obviously grown it
very successfully. The unusual talent that he has, which is common to
good entrepreneurs, is his ability to stand apart from the crowd in his
decisions.
I truly don't think the guy is swayed by what other
people do and think, meaning he is not going against the grain to be
different, and he is certainly not going with the crowd just to follow
other people's thoughts. Like other entrepreneurs, he has a true
independence of thought, which is obvious from his annual reports as
well as his discussions. You will find that great thinkers like him are
also able to speak plainly and clearly and reduce things down to their
core. He is obviously incredibly intelligent, but what always strikes me
is the clarity of how he thinks. I suspect he would have been a great
scientist, had he chosen that field.
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Henry Ford
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| © Hulton-Deutsch Collection | Corbis | Getty Images |
Most entrepreneurs who are
successful, especially in any technical industry, have a complete
command of their products and how they work. It's not enough to be great
managers or leaders. Entrepreneurs must know the DNA of how their
products work. Henry Ford
is an example of this. Even though he is often credited with the
development of assembly line methodology in auto mechanics, people
forget that he was a world-class mechanic who innovated at a technical
level, including development of the V-8 engine. He is an example of the
adage, "God lives in the details." From what I hear, Elon Musk is a lot like this as well.
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