Spanx founder and product entrepreneur / 01
Sara Blakely Turned an Undergarment Problem Into Spanx
A fax-machine salesperson with no fashion credentials found a problem in her own closet—and learned enough of the industry to fix it.
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Area of Study
Self-taught Entrepreneurship
From idea to company with nothing but nerve and a plan.
Entrepreneurship Stories
The Cheat Code to their successApple cofounder and product entrepreneur / 02
Steve Jobs Built His Education Around Products, Not a Degree
He was not Apple's principal circuit designer. His skill was turning technology, design, and distribution into products people wanted.
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Dell founder and direct-sales computing entrepreneur / 03
Michael Dell Learned the Computer Business One Order at a Time
His breakthrough was not inventing the personal computer. It was redesigning the route between its components and its buyer.
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Facebook cofounder and social-platform entrepreneur / 04
Mark Zuckerberg Built Facebook Around a Network He Could Reach
The first audience was not everyone on Earth. It was a dense campus network with an immediate reason to join.
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WhatsApp cofounder and messaging entrepreneur / 05
Jan Koum Turned Infrastructure Skills Into WhatsApp
A teenage immigrant who studied networking manuals helped build a messaging service that made international communication feel ordinary.
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