Histories and Entrepreneurial Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs
Founding and maintaining a business is not for every person. The hard work and stress that comes with it rules out many people that are not willing to take the risks. Successful entrepreneurs do see the risk as it is; instead, they see it as a reward for their efforts and, therefore, are propelled to try more. The right personality and attitude are very crucial for the success of a business. In as much as there are no two stories that are entirely the same, there are several traits that the successful and well-known entrepreneurs share in common. In this essay, I am going to look at the entrepreneurial success of Drew Houston (Founder and CEO of Dropbox), Sara Blakely (Founder and CEO of Spanx) and Mark Zuckerberg (Founder and CEO of Facebook). I will look at the similarities and differences in their stories and in their entrepreneurial traits.
Mark Zuckerberg, Drew Houston as well as Sara Blakely have several similar things in their histories. All of them developed their entrepreneurial skills since childhood. The three of them were out to solve a problem more than they wanted to develop a company. Zuckerberg was out to create a social network where Harvard students would connect, Sara wanted to eliminate the panty lines that had been showing through her slacks that were cream-colored and Drew was out to solve the difficulty that many students were facing while uploading their assignments and documents.
One of the differences in their histories is that they began their ideas in different timelines and with different motivations. Since Childhood, Zuckerberg had developed his idea for programming, and his father became very influential by hiring him a computer programming tutor. It is with this knowledge that Zuckerberg later developed Facebook. Before developing Facebook, he had developed Zucknet at age 12 and also FaceMash while in college, then later Facebook. on the side of Sara, she did not have an idea of Spanx from childhood, but due to her early entrepreneurial skills, she indulged herself in several other businesses. She had planned to pursue a course in Law, but when failed, she went into comedy then to fax machine selling, and that is when she developed the Spanx. On the other hand, Drew began playing with machines at the age of two years, and his father introduced him to the basics of programming. He later studied computer science and worked in some startups like Accolade and Hubspot before developing the idea of Dropbox.
Like mentioned earlier, the three entrepreneurs also shared very common entrepreneurial traits. The three of them took risks despite the discouragements that were coming their way. Zuckerberg said that the greatest risk that one could take in life is not taking risks at all. Sara also noted it is better to fail while trying rather to try at all, and we see her success stemming from her failure in the Law industry. They were all resilient such that once they failed, they would rise again and try a new method to bring their ideas into reality.
Another similar trait is that they were all determined to achieve the best no matter what comes their way. When, for instance, Sara developed the idea of Spanx, she failed to share it with any other person because she knew that they will alter her determination to see the company come to reality. She therefore kept it a secret until it turned to reality. We also see Zuckerberg standing firm in his decision of not selling Facebook to Yahoo, no matter how much they were offering. His co-workers had pushed him to sell it, but due to his determination, he refused to heed to them as the founder of the company.
Another similar entrepreneurial trait they all shared is that they all worked with serious and supportive individuals who were likeminded. In one of the interviews, Drew states that one thing that helped him reach where he was is that he worked with likeminded people and did not allow anyone to tamper with his original idea. Zuckerberg also says he developed a real working community that backed him well. Sara also notes out that she went for serious individuals that she could trust, although they didn’t know much about their functional areas, and they performed well.
Another similar trait that they shared is that they did not rest in their quest to gather more knowledge and develop their ideas further. Drew notes that he continually looks out for people that had tried such before him and seeks to understand their strategy in doing things. He also invested in reading all the books that he used to acquire from Amazon. He also claims that it is impossible to learn everything at once, and so the only way to go is to keep looking for knowledge about the present things and also the future things that are essential down the line. Sara also claims that she did not stop looking for mentors who would help her expand Spanx. Zuckerberg is also not left behind. He states that it’s the desire to acquire more knowledge that birthed Facebook, and he, therefore, stays in the learning mode throughout.
The last similarity I am going to look at in this essay is that the three of them have developed a good relationship with their employees. Drew states that he does not handle his workers with so much seriousness that they fear him. He relates to them well, and this gives them a chance to share their ideas openly. Zuckerberg also relates well with his workers; he walks around checking how they are faring and with the desire to know them at a personal level. He says that open communications not only build trust among the workers but also make one an effective and desirable leader.
One of the differences they share in their traits is their hiring strategy. Sara believes that if someone is super talented but does not fit in the culture, they do not qualify to be employed. She looks for workers with a positive attitude, an ambition over experience, and those that believe in her product. Sara went ahead to hire people that had these qualities but who did not have a slight idea of their functions in the company; they had to learn while in the company. On the other hand, both Zuckerberg only hire people that have experience in the field due to their nature of work.
Nevertheless, they also differ slightly. For Zuckerberg, when it comes to hiring workers, he never finds people that are stronger in hand than himself. The only people he hires to work for him are those that he would also be comfortable to work for if they hired him. He hires people that believe in what he believes in so that they can complement his skills and thus guarantee a greater success. On the other hand, Drew and his team look for the common pitfalls they have experienced so that while hiring new employees, they will look at people with opposite qualities. Together with his team, he came up with five qualities; “Be worthy of trust,” “sweat the details,” “aim higher,” “we and not I” and the fifth is called “cupcake” due to the fact that they do not take themselves too seriously.
In conclusion, Mark Zuckerberg, Sara Blakely, and Drew Houston shared some similarities in both their stories and their entrepreneurial traits as well as differences in both areas. From their histories, they all developed their skills in their early childhood, but the timelines differed. On features, all of them endorsed resilience, risk-taking, determination, supportive team, a good relationship between them and workers, and hunger for knowledge. They all differ in their hiring strategies but have all been successful in their own ways.