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JIMINY SELF-HELP HANDBOOK 14

Successful Entrepreneurs

There is no doubt that technology has enabled a new generation of entrepreneurs who use the latest
digital technology so as to change the way things are done in various sectors. Examples of well-known
“tech” entrepreneurs include the Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Larry Page of Google, the Apple co-
founder Steve Jobs and the co-founder and CEO of the social-networking website Facebook Mark
Zuckerberg.

The American Jeff Bezos (1964), founder of the multi-national technology company Amazon.com is
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usually mentioned as an example of a successful “researcher entrepreneur” . Back in 1994, Bezos read
that the web was growing at a rate of 2,300% a year and he started looking for a way he could benefit
from the phenomenal growth. He quitted his job on Wall Street and decided to sell books online since
he noted that there were 3 million books in print in the world and there was a need to be able to
organize them, search them and sell them electronically. In fact, he solved a problem for people who
have used books but don’t know what to do with them by creating a website that allowed such people
to meet online and sell used books to each other.

Amazon.com started creating value because it could be accessed 24/7 online by anyone with a
computer and internet access. After the initial success with book swapping it began providing more
services to members by selling new books, movies, electronics etc., improving continually its website
to make it as customer friendly as possible.
Another inspiring example of a strong personality and successful entrepreneurial mindset is Oprah
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Winfrey (1954) , the famous TV host, global media leader and philanthropist. Oprah, despite her poor
background and rough childhood and teen years (she has stated that she was molested during her
childhood, became pregnant at 14 and her son was born prematurely and died in infancy), she never
stopped pursuing her dreams and from working as an anchorwoman in Chicago managed to establish
her own broadcasting network. Few know that before launching her career at the Oprah Winfrey Show
in 1986, she was already a sky-rocketing broadcaster. But only after Oprah decided to take ownership
and kick off her show on ABC, she unfolded a big entrepreneurial potential.

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MIT-Africa Internet Technology Initiative (2005), “Entrepreneurship - Lecture 2: The Entrepreneurial Mindset”,
available online https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/edgerton-center/ec-s01-internet-technology-in-local-and-global-
communities-spring-2005-summer-2005/lecture-notes/MITEC_S01S05_e2_entre.pdf
16 Hargrave, Marshal (2019, July 20), “Top 5 Most Successful American Entrepreneurs”, Investopedia, available
online https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/092315/top-5-most-successful-american-
entrepreneurs.asp & Allen, Scott (2019, Feb.06), “Oprah Winfrey and Her Business Ventures. Broadcaster,
Publisher and Philanthropist”, The Balance Small Business, available online
https://www.thebalancesmb.com/oprah-winfrey-entrepreneur-1200951