20 Unusual Entrepreneurs Which Will Inspire You3182352
I only took one entrepreneurship class in school (I was a Women's Studies major at Washington University in St. Louis...we will skip THAT narrative for now). It turned out to be a course that is strong, but in lots of cases it was a parade of traditional entrepreneurship. For instance, here were common measures heard throughout the term:
Come up with an idea.
Find out more about the heck from the thought, write an enormous business plan, raise money, create business.
As your life is the business wave goodbye to family and friends.
Expand company by hiring one zillion folks, after creating business and move into every marketplace on earth.
Following your huge expansion into a worldwide domination, sell your business for top dollar.
Post-sale, wash, rinse, repeat and retire to your own chosen island or go back to step one.
Now, there is nothing wrong with this particular guidance per say. In reality, there was a parade of special guests throughout the semester that shared their story that fit into those steps one manner or another.
There are entrepreneurs who create a company to franchise it (the E-Myth doctrine). Examples where I am from in St. Louis comprise a chain of tanning salons and massage parlors.
There are entrepreneurs that create factories. Perhaps the factory makes cups or hats or something of the like.
There are entrepreneurs which are in more traditional industries who have no aspirations of selling but instead look to make a living brick and mortar design. An illustration could be the corner bakery or a clothing boutique.
There are Internet entrepreneurs focused on creative passive income by any means essential to earn a living (and perhaps appreciate life on the shore or something). Example might be someone who sells vitamin supplements online.
But, there's another group all together that I wager you are part of (I understand I am). And that is the entrepreneurs that are non-traditional. Features of the group comprise:
Doing work that matters. Not just work to earn a dollar (such as selling strange vitamin nutritional supplements online..unless you are ridiculously passionate about vitamins, and in that case rock on). Work that you're passionate about. Work that is artwork. Money follows passion and never the other way around.
Challenging the manner it has always been done. Shifting businesses which have been stayed for years (or decades or centuries).
Enjoying the fruits of our labour. No, this doesn't conventional entrepreneurs don't work hard. It only means we understand and live by the philosophy that there surely is more to life than just work (fires and hobbies outside of work, friends and family, enjoying life the manner in which you would like to).
Does this mean as an unusual entrepreneur that you can not sell your company or hire a group of people? Not at all. It merely means that you aren't conforming to the bounds of traditional entrepreneurs.
Since 2008, I've had the unbelievable opportunity to interview over 300 entrepreneurs of all shapes and sizes. Traditional and non-traditional. Tremendous companies and solopreneurs. People who have sold 50 firms and others which have started one. But I Had need to express, if I had been hard pressed, my favorite ones will be the non-traditional ones (and that's where most interviews will fall in the immediate future).
The problem, as I see it, is less in validity of the advice and instead more in the limitations of it. Meaning, follow most of those measures, feel like, be like or entrepreneurship surely doesn't have to look like. It's sort of like offering a course on sports, but the only sport covered is baseball.
Fact is, there are lots of types of entrepreneurs.
There are entrepreneurs whose whole aim is really to build a company and sell it for as much as possible or take it public. All these are the "big way outs" we hear about in the tech world. Thomas Caufmann This is a listing of 20 of them, in no specific order, that I bet you will pick up thoughts, insights and inspiration from. Appreciate!
- 1: Andrew Warner - Mixergy.com
Why? Successful not yet fulfilled from his previous endeavor, Andrew has made it his life's mission to inspire and help startups.
Interview with Andrew
- 2: Ishita Gupta - fear.less
Why? Who says magazines have to be in print? Consistently a disrupter, Ishita is altering the publishing world through her unique magazine fear.less.
Why? Rejected by everybody in the publishing world, Tucker did not give up. Rather, he took his crazy, hilarious stories to the Internet and results have been astounding.
Why? Leader and the quintessential disrupter, Seth Godin is throwing a wrench to the publishing business together with The Domino Project.
Interview with Seth
Why? Is it feasible to earn an income by learning and infiltrating in the secret world of stars, pick up artists and multiple -passport world travelers that are sneaky? It has been done by Neil.
Why? Moving to Africa? Being a professional writer in significantly less than one year? Inspiring others to live non-traditional lives? Check, check and check.
Why? Matt has created an empire from his unique and hilarious comics by doing it his way.
Interview with Matt
- 8: Rob and Kim Murgatroyd - JetSetLife.TV
Why? They created one of the coolest jobs for themselves: composing unique, insider guidebooks and Traveling to the world's poshest areas. Sweet.
Interview with Rob and Kim
- 9: Jason Sadler - IWearYourShirt.com
Why? What does all day, Jason get to do? Create all kinds of interesting videos along with other goodies online and he's paid to wear shirts. Sweet.
- 10: Tim Ferriss - FourHourWorkWeek.com
Why? Yes, all of US understand Tim has inspired an incredible amount of men and women to work less, live more (and more recently, get in great shape), but there is a whole lot to learn from how Tim has created his own company and lifestyle. He's a walking model of unconventional entrepreneurship.
- 11: Scott Ginsberg - HelloMyNameIsScott.com
Why? The man that has built an empire around counting and wearing a name tag everyday for the previous 10 years. You need to see it to believe it.
Interview with Scott
- 12: Michael Buckley - What The Dollar
Why? Michael took a love for pop culture and turned it into his dream profession. His show, What The Dollar, is certainly one of YouTube's most popular
- 13: Adam Baker - Guy Vs. Debt
Why? Can the action of getting yourself and sharing the insights become a business? Leave Adam Baker to turn it with it.
- 14: Chris Ducker - Virtual Business Lifestyle
Why? Chris talks the talk and walks the walk. As I type this, his business is likely running from a shore somewhere.
Interview with Chris
- 15: Gregory Ng - Deep Freezer Burns
Why? That's exactly the subject matter of this unusual entrepreneur's internet show.
Interview with Greg
- 16: Elizabeth Marshall - Author Telesminars
Why? She turned it into an amazing profession and found her passion for novels. The best part might be she gets the pick of the litter as it pertains to her clients.
Interview with Elizabeth
- 17: Vanessa Van Petten - RadicalParenting.com
Why? Vanessa didn't wait to be picked. She wrote a parenting publication from a teen's view when she was a teenager. Her empire has unbelievable expanded since then and she gets to do every day, what she loves.
Interview with Vanessa
- 18: Jonathan Coulton - JonathanCoulton.com
Why? The entrepreneurial musician. His business model allows him to create (and earn money from) the music he needs without the bounds of a label.
Interview with Jonathan
- 19: Scott Kurtz - PvP
Why? The man who's redefining the world of cartooning. And it is being done by him .
- 20: Nate Houghteling and Kai Hasson - White Collar Brawler
Why? Leaving their day jobs create movement and a web-based web series and to become amateur fighters? This items is simply awesome.
