Whether new business people leading an early-stage firm trying to break into a crowded industry or closing out another $100 million revenue quarter, all entrepreneurs have one thing in common: the courage to take game-changing risks. Despite working in various industries, from technology to fashion, these successful business titans have all displayed a courageous pursuit of excellence in the face of adversity. Some are clear winners, while others may require a careful financial risk.
Arianna Huffington
Arianna Huffington has always been a self-starter, having founded the Huffington Post, one of the first and most financially successful online news sites, and the health and wellness project Thrive. She studied economics at Cambridge and, by 2005, had written several good books, starred in a TV show, and established a lucrative journalism career.
When she proposed starting a new media platform, she met with resistance from skeptics, including members of her own family, who warned her about the dangers of failure. Instead, she worked hard to secure investor backing and launch the world’s first opinion-based online news service.
She has urged entrepreneurs to overcome their fears of failure when taking risks, saying, “Failure is the stepping stone to achievement, not the polar opposite of success. That is certainly the most crucial lesson for any entrepreneur to remember.”
Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban is an entrepreneur and a businessman who graduated from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. Cuban founded several technology companies before becoming the owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and one of the faces of Shark Tank. These ABC reality shows allow emerging entrepreneurs to pitch industry titans for significant investment commitments. He currently serves as the president and CEO of a company with assets in the social software and distributed networking industries.
While Cuban recognizes that taking risks is essential to starting a successful firm, he has a tense relationship with risk: He told Creative Live, “I despise danger.” “It scares the hell out of me.” His key to victory is minimizing that chance through careful planning. To avoid becoming one of the 50% of small firms that fail within the first five years of operation, he is devoted to completing thorough market research and remaining current with industry trends. He could take only the most measured risks by knowing everything he could about the sectors in which he invested.
Oprah Winfrey, the world’s most successful woman entrepreneur, has built a multimedia brand heritage and founded many humanitarian organizations throughout her career. Winfrey’s concentration on literature, spirituality, and self-improvement has prepared the way for a new era of confessional media, thanks to her television network and media empire. With a net worth of about $3 billion, she is the only African American woman on Forbes’ 2018 Billionaires list.
Winfrey has worked hard for every ounce of her success. Winfrey obtained a full scholarship to Tennessee State University after a difficult and impoverished childhood in Mississippi and Wisconsin and went on to work in television and radio journalism. She didn’t decide to sacrifice her financial stability by negotiating a deal to host her television show until the mid-80s. The Oprah Winfrey Show became the highest-rated talk show of all time.
Winfrey demonstrates that taking calculated risks can pay off handsomely, even if it takes a few tries: “Do the one thing you believe you can’t do. Fail miserably. Please try again. Do a more suitable job the second time around. The only individuals who never fall are those who never lose.
Jeff Bezos
Unlike Winfrey, Jeff Bezos didn’t have to take a chance because he already had a lucrative career on Wall Street as the senior vice president of hedge fund D.E. Shaw & Co. Bezos, on the other hand, felt compelled to start his own company. He is the world’s wealthiest man, with a net worth of over $160 billion, and controls the spaceflight business Blue Origin. In 1994, Bezos put his work in finance on hold to start Amazon, which started as an internet bookstore run out of his garage.
“I had to project myself forward to age 80,” Bezos has remarked. I don’t want to reach 80 years old and have a list of significant life regrets.” By limiting his ‘what ifs,’ he can focus on the positive aspects of his situation.
Consider your risks from an entrepreneurial standpoint, regardless of your choice. Is it true that taking
Do chances lead to winning?
Is it still possible to control the outcome? What would happen if you didn’t risk anything, and what may happen if you did?
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