What Type Of Entrepreneur Are You?

A fun aspect of entrepreneurship is the diversity of people that you meet and the variety of ways that people have gotten to where they are.  There isn’t one single formula on how it is done, which makes the journey that more exciting.  Some start as salespeople, some investors, some from other failed or successful ventures.  Since nearly everyone has become an entrepreneur, similar to how nearly everyone in Los Angeles is an actor, I’ve noticed, through the “coffee-having,” “brain-picking,” “introduce-me-to-investors-please,” meetings that as diverse as they are, entrepreneurs fall into the same few buckets.

Illustrations by AnshulMathur[/caption]

The Sales Person: This type of business-minded entrepreneur could sell ice to Eskimos.  In prior years they had a top tier MBA and / or did two years in a banking or consulting analyst program.  Usually the businesses that this person starts arise from the need to solve a problem, which they themselves experienced.  They have the right Rolodex for early customers and given their finance background could probably raise a small seed round.  They have the skills to create a great PowerPoint deck and a sturdy dynamic Excel financial model.  On the marketing front, they also understand the customer acquisition funnel from digital search mechanisms like Google to Facebook to Cooperatize to broader branding mechanics like content marketing and PR.  Steve Jobs and Mike Bloomberg come to mind as “sales” entrepreneurs.

PROS:

— Business focused; investors feel somewhat comfortable that they’ll know how to get their money out

— Domain knowledge; they are solving a problem that they themselves encountered and are now coming up with solutions using technology

— Financial connections to raise seed capital

Despite these great characteristics, I’ve sometimes noticed that technology is sometimes a foreign concept.  As a worst case, they treat their developers like “code monkeys.”  This lack of understanding sometimes causes tensions between this entrepreneur and their technical counterparts.  If they are waving around their deck and model and describe themselves as the “idea” person, developers and investors are less likely to believe in their ability to execute.  Selling their skills to “technical co-founders” also is difficult when they try and make the argument that once the product is made they can raise the capital.  (The developer takes the bulk of the risk by building the product for equity and then realizing that some of the original business assumptions were flawed.)  Understanding this chicken or egg problem, some sales types get around this by getting a prototype built on a site like Elance or even taking a class on Code Academy.

CONS:

— Difficult to pivot into another business

— Must depend on a technical resource

— Technology is sometimes a foreign concept; can they receive the needed respect from developers?

The Hacker: This type of entrepreneur is usually a self taught engineer, but immersed in “hacker culture” and “Minimum Viable Products.”  They are up to speed on the latest releases of Rails and the new Javascript frameworks, like Angular, Ember and Backbone.  They are more likely to want to build neat interesting things that people would use rather than build something to make money, since freelance opportunities are not scarce for folks with their skill set.  Some like Wikipedia and Craigslist have decimated industries while retaining little of that for themselves.  While many tools out there get minimal usage some are game changers and thus Silicon Valley investors swoon at these young, sometimes naïve, hackers.  The Wozniaks and Zuckerbergs came from this class of entrepreneur; although “Zuck” may have moved into the next category.

PROS:

— Can build product from day one

— Pivot easily without need to re-scope a project

— Clout in tech community and ability to build a technology team

While every company needs engineers early in the process, sometimes these engineers / hackers miss business opportunities; i.e. Friendster was the early pre-cursor to Facebook.  Further, outside of technology tools like Github, Heroku, and MongoDB, initial customers in other industries might be a challenge to find and to know what their initial pain is.  As some have found, like Wikipedia and Craigslist (until recently), some of these sites don’t make or want to make any money.  Advertising is not the answer to every site’s cash flow problems and sometimes it comes as a hard lesson to the entrepreneurs.  Can the entrepreneur see the big picture? Some, like Steve Wozniak, want to stay a “tinkerer.”  Can the founder build a team around his / her vision and more importantly can the founder communicate his or her vision?

CONS:

— Business savvy or lack of? (This could be a pro too.)

— Can you get the initial customers?  Do you have domain expertise?  (Outside of the technology domain)

— Can you make it into a real business?  (Advertising cannot support every app or site on the Internet.)

— Can you see beyond the weeds and into the trees? (Big picture thinking?)

The Jack-of-All-Trades: With the world’s collective knowledge at our fingertips, a new breed of entrepreneur is arising: The “Whatever it Takes” entrepreneur.  This entrepreneur utilizes Lean Startup Methodology, Google, Social Media, Amazon, Stack Overflow and Wikipedia to their advantage, along with inexpensive services like Pitchpigeon, Validat.io and HelpaReporterOut.com (HARO). “No technical co-founder?” No problem, everything you need to know is online.  Code might not be compliant, marketing might not follow frameworks, and financial models may be missing IRR calculations, but these entrepreneurs can get things done and if the business shows traction, determine which resources they need to build the business.  By understanding each aspect of the business and understanding themselves and what they can and cannot do, they can subsist long without capital.  Jeff Bezos, a Princeton computer science grad, might be a “Jack.”

PROS:

— Can build product from day one

— Can sell product from day one

— Save money on resources

“Sometimes just because you can do something doesn’t mean that you should do it.”  The entrepreneur’s dilemma is the ability to say no.  With the ability to do everything, it’s hard to let go of some aspects of the business that they once had complete control over and relinquish that to someone else; even if they believe that they can do it better.  After all, no one can be a master at everything.  Software hackers that double up as CEO’s also have difficulty with scope shifting.  As mentioned about the Hacker, scope shifting takes its toll on one’s brain and on one’s time.  There are some Jacks that write code for a week, take the weekend off, and then come back as CEO the following week.  And finally, through working sometimes four different jobs, the Jack suffers from basically burning out.  And that’s a tough place to come back from.

CONS:

— Difficulty of scope shifting — takes time to go from 30,000 ft to the ground and back again

— Risk of burn out; being responsible for too much

— Hard to delegate to others

— Mediocre product / Mediocre sales effort

Now what kind of entrepreneur are you?  The best teams have an all around combination of all of these folks: sales people, CEO’s, rainmakers; hackers, geniuses, engineers; product developers, sales engineers, and creative types.  Each company needs all of these pieces; it’s all just a matter of where you start.

From Forbes

Take Our Word For It: What Makes A Successful Entrepreneur

It takes one to know one or so the saying goes. So when it comes to identifying the integral characteristics that differentiate a dreamer from the next Oppenheimer or Adenuga, we looked for insight from those who have walked the path already, asking: What do you think makes a successful entrepreneur?

Nkhensani Nkosi

South Africa

One of South Africa’s youngest and most successful entrepreneurs, Nkosi is the founder of the South African fashion label, Stoned Cherrie.

What makes a successful entrepreneur? A clear vision about what you would like to achieve; a life purpose or passion which acts as your regenerating fuel; the tenacity of a stubborn teenager; a “can-do” attitude; accepting that failure is an opportunity to learn and approach challenges with new insights; and a divine spark or energy that enables you to see sunflowers where others see fog.

Suzie Wokabi

Kenya

Wokabi is an accomplished entrepreneur and the founder of one of Kenya’s first cosmetics companies SuzieBeauty.

Focus, passion, perseverance, patience – it’s that simple. Without 150 percent of each of these attributes, there is really no hope. I also think that it is important that someone start a business that they actually love and care about. Then they are doing it for the right reasons – not to copy someone else or being shady or crooked about it.

Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu

Ethiopia

Alemu is a pioneer of online selling in Africa and her home country Ethiopia. She is the founder of soleRebels, a global eco-friendly artisan-empowered footwear company.

An entrepreneur is innovation driven, reliant on the power of their ideas, actions and outputs rather than who their family is or how good their connections are or what their market dominance is. Because an entrepreneur’s efforts by definition often involve shattering the old, and literally creating them new, often from scratch, an entrepreneur will always encounter deep currents of resistance from quarters who feel their economic and social interests threatened by these new products and methods. My experience has been no different. But at the end of the day it’s the consumer who decides whether or not something is valuable. Once you connect directly and meaningfully with them then they become the arbiter of your success.

And it’s not enough to have a great idea – anyone can have a great idea – you must be ready to stick with your idea, fight for it against all obstacles, until you are successful. That’s the essence of truly great entrepreneurs.

 From Ventures Africa

5 Childhood Rules Successful Entrepreneurs Love To Break

Most successful entrepreneurs don’t rise to the top by being part of the herd. Instead, they choose to do things a little differently. And often, that means breaking some of the rules that were engrained in most of us during childhood.  

Here are five childhood rules that successful entrepreneurs love to break:

1. Don’t Talk to Strangers.

While steering clear of strangers is a good rule for kids, reaching out to new people can be one of the best ways for an entrepreneur to find new opportunities. Whether you talk to a stranger over social media or you begin a conversation with someone on an airplane, starting a discussion with a stranger can open new doors. Plenty of entrepreneurs have found that being in the right place at the right time has a lot to do with their success.

Dale Carnegie once said, “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” Successful entrepreneurs don’t strike up conversations with strangers to brag about themselves. Instead, they look for opportunities to establish real relationships.

2. Wait Your Turn. 

Imagine if Mark Zuckerburg had waited for MySpace to crumble before he took a chance on making Facebook a success? Rather than idly watching his competition achieve success, Zuckerberg pushed his way to front and Facebook skyrocketed ahead of the competition.

Successful entrepreneurs don’t patiently wait for their turn to get to the front of the line. Instead, they recognize that in a fast-paced world, they have to find a way to be heard. They take action to ensure that their products and services are recognized now.

3. Color Inside the Lines. 

Tim Ferris proved that the world is hungry for a little outside-the-box thinking when The 4-Hour Workweekremained on the Best Seller List for 7 years. Ferris used creative marketing campaigns to help his book – which was initially rejected by 13 editors – sell over 1 million copies. In a world that was convinced the 40-hour workweek was necessary, Ferris introduced a new concept and he introduced it in revolutionary manner.

Successful entrepreneurs aren’t afraid to do things differently. There would be little room for innovation if everyone always did everything the same or completed everything the way others told them to do it. So, they choose to color outside the lines sometimes even if it goes against what everyone else seems to be doing.

4. Don’t Argue. 

When Shawn Carter – better known as Jay-Z – couldn’t find a major label to give him a record deal, he didn’t give up. Instead, he fought to create a name for himself as a hip-hop artist. He sold his CDs out of the trunk of his car and eventually, he established his own record label. He now has an estimated net worth of $520 million, making him one of hip-hop’s wealthiest artists.

Successful entrepreneurs don’t take no for an answer. They argue and fight to reach their goals.  They’re willing to express their opinions, even when it’s likely to be met with resistance.

5. Use Common Sense. 

If someone had said a decade ago that they were going to create a startup company that sold “virtual clothing for cartoon characters,” they likely would have been laughed at for such a ridiculous idea. But ten years later, digital gifts and digital clothing for avatars has become a billion dollar industry. Sometimes a little uncommon sense is what’s needed to revolutionize people’s way of thinking.

Common sense is often a moving target and successful entrepreneurs anticipate people telling them that their ideas will never work. But, they recognize that they have the ability to make their vision a reality, even when it seems to defy common sense.

From Forbes

The Best (And Worst) Countries For Women Entrepreneurs

A new report ranks nations not just on the general economic climate for business formation, but also the special hurdles that can hold back women entrepreneurs in particular.

Women who want to start and grow businesses need many of the same things their male counterparts do, things like streamlined bureaucracy, a helpful and easily navigable legal system and access to capital. But around the world women entrepreneurs also face unique obstacles, both formal or informal.

 

If the society that surrounds you has certain ideas of what careers are appropriate for women, and business owner isn’t among them, some strong women will be able to overcome that obstacle, but others will curb their ambitions. If the laws for women are different than for men, female founders will clearly face additional hurdles and some will fail to clear them.

So which countries offer women both the correct business conditions that all entrepreneurs require and lack the social, legal and economic barriers that make things especially hard for women? The Gender-Global Entrepreneurial Development Index, a new study commissioned by Dell and released at the Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network conference on Monday, delves into the details of the question, examining 30 countries to see which offer the best environment for ambitious female business owners.

Here are the countries that topped the rankings, along with their scores on a hundred-point scale:

• USA (83)
• Australia (80)
• Sweden (73)
• France (67)
• Germany (67)
• Chile (55)
• United Kingdom (54)
• Poland (51)
• Spain (49)
• Mexico (43)

And which countries were found to be in need of significant improvements to encourage their high-potential female entrepreneurs? The bottom of the list reads like this:

• Malaysia (32)
• Jamaica (30)
• Nigeria (29)
• Morocco (27)
• Ghana (27)
• India (26)
• Uganda (19)
• Egypt (19)
• Bangladesh (17)
• Pakistan (11)

While the very top of the list contains highly developed countries and few shocks (the US and Australia topped the same ranking last year as well), the report overall reveals several interesting and surprising facts about which countries are falling short and where. All countries studied had significant room for improvement, and while richer nations generally fared better in the rankings, economic development alone was far from the only determining factor (see the cases of Mexico and Japan, which ranked 14th, for example).

For some nations, a lack of business ideas may be holding women back. In the US and European, less than a third of women say they have identified a business opportunity. In emerging markets, there are tons of business ideas — 69% of African women have had one — but other hurdles around education and capital hold back female-founded businesses.

Even the most basic building blocks of female entrepreneurship are missing in several of the nations studied. In 14 of the countries, for example, more than half of women do not even have a bank account. In yet others, a primary issue is the lack of female managers, which shrinks the pool of experienced female business talent. In the Japan, for example, just nine percent of managers are female.

Here in the US, access to basic banking may not be much a problem, but the report notes that some industries — notably technology — remain male dominated, which discourages women from entering these sectors.

“The Gender-GEDI results demonstrate that basic improvements are required in terms of access to equal legal rights and education as well as acceptance of women’s social and economic empowerment,” commented Ruta Aidis, project director for the Gender-GEDI.

From Forbes

16 Of The Most Profound Jokes Ever Told

Sometimes humor is the best way to drive a point home. It can communicate ideas that are lighthearted or serious.

In a Quora thread, users answered the question, "What are some of the most profound jokes ever?" Their responses touch on heavier topics like death, philosophy, and religion. Many of the punch lines are comments on how people live or instructions on how they should live.

Here are some of our favorites:

1. A young boy enters a barber shop and the barber whispers to his customer, "This is the dumbest kid in the world. Watch while I prove it to you."

The barber puts a dollar bill in one hand and two quarters in the other, then calls the boy over and asks, "Which do you want, son?" The boy takes the quarters and leaves.

"What did I tell you?" said the barber. "That kid never learns!"

Later, when the customer leaves, he sees the same young boy coming out of the ice cream parlor.

"Hey, son! May I ask you a question? Why did you take the quarters instead of the dollar bill?"

The boy licked his cone and replied: 

"Because the day I take the dollar the game is over!" —Vinaya Patil 

2. A boy and a man sit on a couch together. The boy says to the man, "Yeah, well, I didn’t believe in reincarnation when I was your age either." —Akshat Anand 

3. A man is flying in a hot-air balloon and realizes he is lost. He reduces height and spots a man below. He lowers the balloon farther and shouts, "Excuse me! Can you tell me where I am?"

The man below says: "Yes, you're in a hot-air balloon, hovering 30 feet above this field."

"You must be an engineer," says the balloonist. 

"I am," replies the man. "How did you know?"

"Well," says the balloonist, "everything you have told me is technically correct, but it's no use to anyone."

The man below says, "You must be in management."

"I am," replies the balloonist, "but how did you know?"

"Well," says the man, "you don't know where you are or where you're going, but  you expect me to be able to help. You're in the same position you were before we met, but now it's my fault." —Amori Adesque

4. A climber fell off a cliff, and, as he tumbled down, he caught hold of a small branch.

"Help! Is there anybody up there?" he shouted.

A majestic voice boomed through the gorge:

"I will help you, my son, but first you must have faith in me."

"Yes, yes, I trust you!" cried the man.

"Let go of the branch," boomed the voice.

There was a long pause, and the man shouted up again, "Is there anybody else up there?" —Ahmet Kasan 

5. An MIT linguistics professor was lecturing his class the other day. "In English," he said, "a double negative forms a positive. However, in some languages, such as Russian, a double negative remains a negative. But there isn't a single language, not one, in which a double positive can express a negative."

A voice from the back of the room said, "Yeah, right." —Sai Kishore K

6. An American businessman was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The fisherman replied that it only took a little while. The American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish. The fisherman said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs.

The American then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

The fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life, señor."

The American scoffed. "I am a Wharton MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then L.A., and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise."

The fisherman asked, "But how long will this all take?"

To which the American replied, "Fifteen or 20 years."

"But what then?"

The American laughed and said, "That's the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions."

"Millions? Then what?"

The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your friends." —Andrew Udell

7. A masochist asks a sadist, "Please hurt me."

"No," replies the sadist. —Arnon Mishkin 

8. "Make me one with everything," says the Buddhist to the tofu hot dog vendor.

Then, after getting his tofu hot dog, the Buddhist hands the vendor a $20 bill.

The vendor takes the money and begins helping the next customer.

The Buddhist looks puzzled and asks the vendor, "Where is my change?"

The vendor replies, "Change comes from within." —Liam Gorman 

9. I'll stop at nothing to avoid using negative numbers. —Ren Walker

10. An engineer dies and reports to the pearly gates. St. Peter checks his dossier and says, "Ah, you're an engineer — you're assigned to hell."

So the engineer reports to the gates of hell and is let in. Pretty soon, the engineer gets dissatisfied with the level of accommodations and starts designing and building improvements.

After a while, they’ve got air-conditioning and flush toilets, escalators, elevators and so on ... and the engineer is a pretty popular guy.

One day, God calls Satan on the telephone.

"So, how's it going down there in hell?" God says.

"Hey, things are going great. We've got air-conditioning and flush toilets and escalators. There's no telling what our engineer is going to come up with next!" Satan says.

"What? You've got an engineer? That's a mistake — he should have never gotten down there. Send him back immediately!" God says.

"No way! I like having an engineer on the staff — I'm keeping him!" Satan says.

"Send him back up here or I'll sue!" God says.

Satan laughs uproariously and answers:

"Yeah, right. And just where are you going to get a lawyer?" —Sagar Shukla

11. A crow was sitting on a tree, doing nothing all day. A rabbit asked him, "Can I also sit like you and do nothing all day long?" The crow answered, "Sure, why not." So the rabbit sat on the ground below the crow and rested.

A fox jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Moral of the story: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very high up. —Saurav Maheshwary

12. A taxi passenger tapped the driver on the shoulder to ask him a question. 

The driver screamed, lost control of the car, nearly hit a bus, went up on the footpath, and stopped inches from a shop window. 

For a second, everything was quiet in the cab. Then the driver said, "Look, mate, don't ever do that again. You scared the living daylights out of me!"

The passenger apologized and said, "I didn't realize that a little tap would scare you so much." 

The driver replied, "Sorry, it's not really your fault. Today is my first day as a cab driver — I've been driving a funeral van for the last 25 years." —Salil Gupta

13. A guy said to God, "God, is it true that to you a billion years is like a second?"

God said yes.

The guy said, "God, is it true that to you a billion dollars is like a penny?"

God said yes.

The guy said, "God, can I have a penny?"

God said, "Sure, just a second." —Mark DeBolt

14. Two young salmon are swimming along one day. As they do, they are passed by a wiser, older fish coming the other way.

The wiser fish greets the two as he passes, saying, "Morning, boys! How's the water?"

The other two continue to swim in silence for a little while, until the first one turns to the other and asks, "What the hell is water?" —Craig Weiland

15. Pessimist: Oh, this can't get any worse! 

Optimist: Yes, it can! —Bharat Jakati

16. How many Freudian analysts does it take to change a light bulb? 

Two. One to change it, and the other to hold the penis.

From Business Insider

The 6 Biggest Myths About Millionaires

Many people believe that — while it’d certainly be nice — they’ll never become millionaires. That it’s an utterly unattainable dream.
The truth is: Hitting the $1 million mark is more attainable today than ever — and more important. That’s because, in order to live comfortably in retirement through your eighties, many people will need a nest egg of at least $1 million.
“A general rule of thumb is that you need to save $1 million for every $40,000 of annual income you need to replace at retirement, not including Social Security, pension income or any other retirement income,” says David Fernandez, CFP, of Wealth Engineering in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Fortunately, there are a lot of ways to do it. While doing research for my book, “The Eventual Millionaire,” I interviewed more than 100 millionaires who came from all walks of life and made their first million in dozens of different ways, from starting their own businesses to investing in the stock market or real estate. And those aren’t the only paths to becoming a millionaire, either: Others hit the mark by simply living below their means and saving portions of each paycheck.
Before you can make a million, though, you need to get past the mystique and the myths surrounding it. Here are 6 common myths about millionaires debunked. 

1. Millionaires Are Smarter

People tend to put millionaires on a pedestal: They must be better or smarter than everyone else in order to achieve that goal. But that general statement simply isn’t true. Millionaires are ordinary people who have achieved extraordinary goals, but they make mistakes like everyone else. They may misspell words; they may even have learning disabilities. They’ve likely been in debt and had to dig themselves out. They’ve had ideas and businesses fail. Most of the ones I interviewed for my book have worked their way up the ladder, learning and stumbling along the way.
Rather than having lots of book smarts, what most millionaires have is a knack for setting goals for themselves and working toward them — without letting excuses get in their way. They, too, have to deal with unexpected expenses — plumbing leaks, health insurance increases, car trouble. They just keep moving forward despite the inevitable obstacles they have to overcome.

2. Millionaires Are Just Luckier

Millionaires are the luckiest among us, right? They won the lottery, struck gold with their very first attempt at launching a business or haphazardly landed their dream jobs with massive salaries. Not so: Pure luck is not a factor in achieving success. Rather, truly successful people make their own luck. After all, a million-dollar idea is worth nothing without execution.
Bobby Casey, founder of asset protection firm Global Wealth Protection, told me the story of starting his first business building bikes for stores like Wal-Mart — a company that would eventually earn more than $6 million. “I went to at least 60 stores before I finally found one that said, ‘Okay, we’ll hire you. How much do you charge?’”
Casey had no money at the time — actually a “negative net worth,” as he describes it. “I racked up a bunch of credit card debt … driving around for several weeks at a time, only hearing no, no, no, no.” I asked him what he thinks might have happened if he stopped before he hit that 60th store. His response? “I wouldn’t have stopped if it took me 300 stores.”
Casey would say it was hard work, not luck, that got him over the million-dollar threshold. After getting an “in” at that first store, he worked 12-hour shifts — sometimes several in a row, at various stores, without stopping to sleep in between — to assemble thousands of bicycles for the Christmas season. Assembling bikes for Walmart turned into assembling grills and lawn equipment at Home Depot and Lowe’s and pool tables and other sporting goods equipment for Dick’s Sporting Goods and other chain stores. After 12 years, Casey sold his assembly and installation company in 2008.

3. Millionaires Live Lavishly

When you think of millionaires, you may picture people living in luxurious mansions and driving expensive sports cars. The reality? Millionaires are often the people next door: They drive Hondas and Volvos. They’re frugal (57 percent of the ones I interviewed described themselves as such). They often spend their money on necessities and a few things that are very important to them. Think Warren Buffett: The celebrated multi-billionaire famously still lives in the Omaha, Neb. house he bought in 1958 for $31,500.
In most cases, millionaires have gotten to where they are precisely because they've practiced excellent savings habits and live frugally. They learn to make smart choices, and they don’t stop just because they hit the $1 million mark. If anything, they’re validated by seeing the choices they’ve made paid off.

4. Most Millionaires Were Born Into Money

Another common myth is that millionaires were born into money or inherited it. But that's not often the case. In a recent survey, Fidelity Investments found that 86 percent of millionaires are self-made. And among the more than 100 millionaires I interviewed for my book, each was self-made and only 26 percent of them said they even had connections to important people beforehand.
Take Dani Johnson. The speaker, bestselling author of “First Steps to Wealth” and “Grooming the Next Generation for Success” and producer of highly popular success seminars, started at the very bottom. After growing up on welfare and living with abuse throughout her childhood, Johnson ended up pregnant and single at 17. After a brief marriage at age 21, Johnson was left homeless and in debt. But she wanted to make a better life for herself.
She’d been introduced to a multi-level marketing business a couple of years earlier and decided it could be a chance to change her situation. After attending a panel session in which four millionaires talked about how they’d built their incomes through the business, Johnson decided it was worth a try. “I was told my whole life up to that point that I was nothing but a failure and I could never do anything right. I just sat there and thought to myself, ‘Man, if I’m the dumbest person in the room and it takes me 20 years to figure this out and to learn how to do what they do, and if I fail their income by 90 percent, then I would still do better in business for myself than I ever would staying at my job that I had at the mall.’”
For Johnson, the key to success wasn’t being born into money; it was being willing to give herself a chance. She started her first business from the trunk of her car and a payphone booth, and in her first four days, managed to sell $4,000 in products, generating $2,000 in profit for herself. The next month, while still working part time as a cocktail waitress, she made $6,500 and her income “just continued to skyrocket from there,” she says. Today, she teaches others how to build success, no matter where they start out.

5. Millionaires Have to Be Fearless

Though it may seem like the only way to become a millionaire is to forge full-steam ahead and assume a lot of risk, fears are totally normal — even for the ultra-successful. Fifty-seven percent of the millionaires I surveyed said they were scared before starting their own business — scared of failure, disappointing their spouses or their families, scared of losing everything.
Anita Crook, founder of Pouchee, a purse organizer showcased on “The Today Show,” Fox Business and other media, started her company without any prior business experience. “Anybody who knows me knows I am not a salesperson,” Crook says. “I was scared to death to go into my first store to try to sell them something, especially something I had produced. I don’t take rejection well, so I was really afraid I was going to run out of the store crying if they had not liked it.” But Crook knew she had to try — it was the only way to sell her product. Once she heard “yes” from a few stores, she built the confidence to keep moving forward.
Success requires some risk, but wise millionaires don’t want to take uncalculated gambles. Millionaires have learned how to examine an opportunity and analyze the risk. They will even do small tests beforehand to see if an idea will work before going all in. They prefer to know as much information as they can ahead of time so they don’t make a bad investment.
Most millionaires find a happy medium between optimism and pessimism; they figure out how to examine opportunities realistically. They acknowledge amazing potential, but work tirelessly to learn and predict beforehand to make sure their investments pay off.

6. They Earn Million-Dollar Paychecks

It’s true that many millionaires have earned their money by starting (or selling) their own businesses or finding high-paying positions within organizations. But this certainly isn’t the only way to amass $1 million. In his book “Millionaire Teacher,” Andrew Hallam explains how he saved over $1 million as a teacher well before retirement age, outlining how he used low-cost index funds and a disciplined approach to saving, investing and living on a budget to build a nest egg most of his fellow teachers would envy.
In addition to investing in the stock market, like Hallam, other millionaires boost their bottom lines by adding second jobs or passive streams of income. For instance, investing in real estate can allow a middle-income wage-earner to develop rental income as a second, reliable income stream. Artists who pay the bills and invest with the income earned through a day job might sell paintings for hundreds or thousands of dollars on the side and bank the extra income. Those who don’t earn million-dollar paychecks can still reach the $1 million mark; it just requires discipline, creativity and focus on the goal.

From Business Insider