First of all, let me start by saying this article is not for somebody who is looking to get rich over night as there is no such thing as free dinner. Nothing is free in this world, except for few things that you might get from your family. Apart from that this world is a jungle full of predators and only the fittest will survive. Doesn’t matter which field you are in, there is going to be lots of competition, there’s going to be people pulling your legs and there is always going to be somebody who is smarter than you. So, does that mean that you should stop dreaming and give up on achieving your goals ? Absolutely Not ! This was just a reality check !!
Making money is not easy but it is easier in the Technology / Software / Internet domain than any other industry. For the sake of this article we are going to refer to Technology / Software / Internet as Tech. Tech industry has made more millionaires in the last 10 years than any other field. Lets take a look at some of the self made billionaires in the tech world.
- Bill Gates – $80 B
Company: Microsoft Corporation
Education : Harvard University Dropout - Steve Jobs – 10 B
Company: Apple Inc and Pixar Animation Studios
Education: Reed College in Portland, Oregon Dropout - Larry Ellison – $50 B
Company: Oracle Corporation
Education: University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign Dropout - Jeff Bezos – $48 B
Company: Amazon.com
Education: Princeton University - Mark Zuckerberg – $42 B
Company: Facebook.com
Education: Harvard University Dropout - Larry Page – $34 B
Company: Google.com
Education: Standford University - Sergey Brin – $33 B
Company: Google.com
Education: Standford University - Jack Ma – $23 B
Company: Alibaba.com
Education: Hangzhou Normal University - Jan Koum – $8 B
Company: WhatsApp Inc
Education: San Jose State University - Evan Spiegel & Bobby Murphy – $2 B each
Company: Snapchat Inc
Education: Standford University - Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger
Company: Instagram
Education: Standford University
Even though Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, founders of Instagram are not billionaires but their product Instagram was a billion dollar idea and they could have been on billionaires list if they wouldn’t have sell out so quick. Today Instagram is well worth over 10 billion dollars.
These were just a few to name, there are countless others and if we get into the millionaires list the number even gets bigger. Apart from winning the lottery internet is the fastest way to make money. Before we get too excited, lets take a look at four factors that are important when it comes to achieving success and making money:
- Luck
Believe it or not Luck is the most important factor when it comes to success and making money. If you don’t have luck on your side, you could be sitting on a camel and the dog will still bite you. Don’t ask me how but that is called Bad Luck. If you take a look at the billionaires list and think they are there because they are smartest people on earth and luck played no role, then you are mistaken. - Passion
After Luck passion is the second most important factor in achieving success. When you love what you do, your chances of success are much higher than your chances in something that you are just doing for money. Because when you are following your passion, you are less likely to cut corners, count the hours and give up when you face problems. And lets say there is a slight chance that you do fail, you will have no regret because you did what you wanted. - Talent / Skill
Talent is what will make you stand out from the herd of sheeps. You don’t have to be an expert or a PhD at whatever you are trying to do but have enough knowledge to be dangerous and at the same time be passionate enough take whatever comes your way and hopefully disruptive the market. Doesn’t matter what market you are in, there is going to be existing competition and you better be ten times better than them otherwise you are not going to last long as they are working 24/7 to kick your butt. - Persistence
Your desire to succeed should be more than your fear of failure than only you will achieve something big in life.
Let’s look at some examples of persistence paying off.
- NASA experienced 20 failures in its 28 attempts to send rockets to space.
- Tim Ferriss sent his breakthrough New York Times bestselling book 4 Hour Workweek to 25 publishers before one finally accepted it.
- Henry Ford’s early businesses failed and left him broke 5 times before he founded Ford Motor Company.
- Walt Disney went bankrupt after failing at several businesses. He was even fired from a newspaper for lacking imagination and good ideas. WALT DISNEY?!
- Albert Einstein was thought to be mentally handicapped before changing the face of modern physics and winning the Nobel Prize.
- It took Thomas Edison 1,000 attempts before inventing the light bulb. His teachers also told him growing up that he was too stupid to learn anything.
- Lucille Ball was regarded as a failed actress before she won 4 Emmys and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Kennedy Center Honors.
- Dr. Seuss’s first book was rejected by 27 publishers before it was accepted.
- American author Jack London received 600 rejections before his first story was accepted. That is some thick skin!
- Vincent van Gogh sold only one painting in his lifetime, though today, his works are priceless.
- Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team for not being good enough.
- Oh here is one of my favorites- J. K Rowling was nearly penniless, severely depressed, divorced, and a single mom, who went to school while writing Harry Potter. Rowling went from needing government assistance to being one of the richest women in the world in a 5-year span through her hard work and PERSISTENCE.