Success stories: how to leave your mark

I tried and it didn't work

Henry Ford

Henry Ford was born on a farm, trained as an engineer and returned home, where he created his first invention - a gasoline thresher. Thomas Edison bought the patent and hired Ford as an engineer for his company. But dreams of a fast and affordable car haunted Henry, and he quit.

Henry Ford's first car company went bankrupt pretty quickly. Ford left the second due to disagreements with partners. The third did not have high sales. Another man in Ford's place would have abandoned everything long ago, but he did not stop and became one of the most famous and successful entrepreneurs in the world.

Soichiro Honda

Soichiro Honda was born into a poor family, so from childhood he had to help his father. Over time, from an apprentice in a car workshop, Soichiro turned into a business owner. But the money was sorely lacking, so the wife's jewelry had to be pawned. These investments did not save the situation for long, Soichiro went bankrupt and left for the village.

It would seem that it was time to give up, but Honda continued to invent. Once he attached a kerosene engine to his wife's bicycle - it turned out to be something like a moped.

And it was a breakthrough. First, he set up the production of such mopeds, then improved them, then turned to motorcycles and, finally, cars. Honda is thriving today.

Michael Jordan

At school, Jordan was not taken to the basketball team, as the coach considered that the boy had no talent. This did not stop Michael, and he began to train with enthusiasm. The further path of the basketball player was not easy.

During his career, as Jordan himself admits, he missed more than 9,000 times and lost more than 300 matches. But it was precisely this experience that helped him become a champion and one of the highest paid basketball players in history.

“I don’t have a suitable education”

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

Tsiolkovsky was born in a small village in the Ryazan province into a family of foresters. He left to study in Moscow, but did not enter the university and diligently engaged in self-education. Then he got a place as a teacher of arithmetic and geography in one of the schools of the Kaluga province. And it was there that he laid the foundations of modern theoretical cosmonautics, and in the years when space was not even dreamed of.

He was the first to substantiate the use of rockets for space flights, independently studied aeronautics and rocket dynamics. This self-taught person became one of the most prominent and recognized scientists of the 20th century.

Bill Gates

One of the richest people in the world at the age of 20 was expelled from Harvard University. That, however, did not prevent him from opening Microsoft in the same year.

Quentin Tarantino

The director, in whose piggy bank two Oscars and many other prestigious awards, did not study at the film academy, and did not particularly shine at school. But at the age of 15, he got a job in a cinema, where, having watched an uncountable number of films, he firmly decided to make cinema his profession. As you can see, he succeeded.

I have no money

Gerard Philips

Today Philips is the market leader in the category of men's shavers and trimmers and the largest company in the production of high-tech devices: modern medical equipment, innovative lighting systems, and household goods. But at the very beginning, the founder and inventor Gerard Phillips almost sold the company.

Gerard opened the production of incandescent lamps, but it turned out to be unprofitable. Only one buyer wanted to buy out the company, but he set such a meager price that the offended Philips refused the offer. And although the company did not bring profit, Philips continued to look for ways to develop it.

Ray Bradbury

Bradbury, who wrote the world famous Martian Chronicles, Fahrenheit 451 and Dandelion Wine, did not receive a specialized education for a simple reason: there was no money for college. But every day Ray went to the library, where he read and learned to write.

I'm too young

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

At the age of three, Mozart listened to his older sister learning to play the harpsichord, and tried to independently select the harmony. Already at the age of 10, Mozart wrote his first symphony, and his first successful opera at 12.

Ingvar Kamprad

Everyone has heard about IKEA, but few know the name of its founder. Ingvar Kamprad was born and raised in the Swedish province. From childhood, he showed a penchant for commercial activity: he sold all sorts of little things to classmates. And the first IKEA store opened in 1943. Then Ingvar was 17 years old.

Of course, that trading establishment was not at all like today: it sold small items like socks and paper clips. But eight years later, Ingvar was able to buy an abandoned factory, open a small furniture production and release the first catalog. The affordable and comfortable IKEA furniture has become popular all over the world.

It's already late

Amancio Ortega

Amancio Ortega at the age of 13 got a job as a messenger in a clothing store. By the age of 37, he had grown to be an ordinary assistant. And then I realized that it was time to change something, and opened my own knitwear factory. Ortega sewed clothes together with his wife. And at the age of 40 he had his first small shop.

Today Ortega owns chain stores around the world: Zara, Bershka, Oysho, Pull & Bear, Stradivarius, Massimo Dutti.

Yang Kum

The founder of WhatsApp, together with his mother, emigrated to the United States from Ukraine. Life was very difficult at first: at the age of 16, Qom worked as a cleaner, barely made ends meet and received food stamps. At 18, he started programming and soon got a job at Yahoo. His main project - WhatsApp - Ian Kum developed at the age of 32, and at 37 he sold it for $ 19 billion.