None of these entrepreneurs' stories started out well. And that's exactly what drove them to exceed all expectations.
Where does success in business really come from?
Many successful entrepreneurs I know seem to be the product of a good education and favorable circumstances.
Others have tenacity, drive, or passion. Or all three.
But some people find success because they're deeply motivated by
something else. The people in the stories below certainly have tenacity,
drive, and passion, but their real motivation
came from unlikely situations. In fact, many others would have
failed--and have--when handed the obstacles these people experienced.
Rather than getting bogged down, these five people used negative and
sometimes traumatic situations as motivation to succeed in business.
Illness
Marten deVlieger was found at an early age to have cystic fibrosis, a
degenerative and incurable disease that affects the entire body, but
especially the lungs. "Life with cystic fibrosis is a constant
challenge," deVlieger said. "Most of us have been told since birth that
we won't live past the age of 2, 10, 21... and yet we hear of those rare
ones living past the now average CF life expectancy of 42 and think,
That could be me."
For that to be him, though, deVlieger knew he would need technology
and remedies greater than those available at the time to help him cope.
He told me of his mother's staying home to rub and thump his back for
hours each day, to combat the fluid buildup inherent to CF.
DeVlieger dreamed of independence, though. He wanted to fly a
helicopter and so, as a teen, began combing through a local garbage dump
in search of scrap metal and parts he would use to construct a crude,
heavy chest device to mirror the traditional technique of loosening
mucus in CF patients. His first iteration was too bulky and left him
covered in bruises. However, the ChestMaster5000 had been born.
Over the next several years, deVlieger persevered and worked out his
design flaws. He sought advisory and PR support, a huge step that helped
him earn funding, and media coverage was critical. Also, he realized he
needed to master scale; deVlieger took the device to a contract
manufacturing firm that specialized in medical devices, which helped get
the device where it needed to be, from a technical and regulatory standpoint.
DeVlieger's invention has been featured on the front page in the Globe and Mail, at MedGadget and QMed, in the U.K.'s Daily Mail, and in assorted national broadcast news features. France2 produced a documentary about his device.
"There is no choice but to persevere, against the odds, and accept
that hardships and fear will be constant companions, yet every single
day deeply appreciating that you have been given another day to fight
the fight, and enjoying (almost) every minute of it. Isn't that what
entrepreneurship is all about?"
Disrespect
Dan Nainan wasn't a popular child--in fact, he was bullied primarily
because of his mixed Indian and Japanese heritage. "On the first day I
moved to a new area and was in a new school," he said, "they started
calling me 'chink'...and I'm not even Chinese.
"I foresaw for myself a terrible and lonely future with no
girlfriend. Of course, I didn't go to the prom; at that time, it was
unthinkable."
As often happens to the unpopular kid, Nainan went on to a successful
career--he was a senior engineer with Intel, traveling the world with
chairman Andy Grove, doing technical demonstrations at events.
However,
the byproduct of years of torment by classmates was this: Nainan was
incredibly nervous about speaking in front of people.
So he took a comedy class to help him get over his stage fright. In a
bizarre turn of events, "the comedy kind of took off..." he says.
That's an understatement.
He has performed at the Democratic National Convention, three
presidential inaugural events, a TED Conference, and for celebrities
including Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Steve Wozniak. Nainan has
been in an Apple commercial and performed with Carrot Top and Penn &
Teller. Yes, his comedy career "kind of" took off.
So how does one go from bullied child to tech geek to successful
stage presence? Nainan attributes it to all those emotions he felt as a
kid. It's "the desire to show people that you are worthy," he says.
Guilt
Andrew Bauer shouldn't feel guilty about the financial burden his
family experienced as he was growing up, but he does. That's the funny
thing about guilt--it doesn't have to make sense.
However, it can drive people to accomplish great things.
In his early childhood, Bauer, who was born mentally disabled,
participated in a health care program to rehabilitate his brain. The
bills eventually put his family in an insurmountable situation
financially.
This guilt weighed heavily on Bauer's mind; he was determined not to
be a burden but also to help his family move past its untenable
financial issues. Recently, he created Freedom Wallet, the world's first
leather wallet with GPS tracking technology, for Royce Leather, the
family's business.
Bauer told me, "I have been very blessed to have the support of my
family, no matter how bad things got from being handicapped. I work hard
for the company every single day to make up for the times that I was a
financial burden."
Fear
Few things are as terrifying as realizing you're about to be a
first-time parent. Discovering you have a potentially terminal illness
might be one.
Lawrence Polsky learned both of these things in one night.
One January night in 2000, he learned that his wife was
pregnant--right after his doctor told Polsky he had a tumor. The doctor
recommended surgery. Polsky decided on a different approach. He began
researching how others had overcome major life challenges and noticed
similarities in how they implemented positive changes in their lives. He
decided to do the same.
"Fifty percent of the protocol I used to get well involved creating a
positive mind--that was part of it," he says. "But also, spending time
every week reflecting on my life choices, my beliefs, my dreams, my
attitudes. And spending time every day having fun. This purposeful
reflection and focus helped get my mind in shape to succeed."
Polsky told his doctor the night before his scheduled surgery he was
canceling it. The doctor, he says, was outraged--yet Polsky felt
peaceful. "My extended family were scared. My wife and I were feeling
positive.
That choice, which no one other than my wife supported, marked
the beginning of a new, more positive life for me. I finally felt brave
enough to follow my intuition despite strong opposition," he says.
Polsky won his battle with cancer and decided that with his new
perspective, education, and practical experience, he had something
valuable to share.
He and a colleague co-founded PeopleNRG, a consulting firm focused on
helping organizations successfully implement change. They have since
written best-selling books and now travel the world educating leaders
from Minnesota to Mumbai, Chicago to China, on how to get their teams
unstuck, move past their fears, and implement change.
Defeat
Jake Weatherly, now the founder of a leading ID-verification
technology company, had his eye on the World Cup circuit when a crash
during a training run terminated his hopes of a professional skiing
career.
After a summer spent recovering from the surgery to insert a rod
in his shoulder and contemplating his options, Weatherly left college,
headed west, and ended up in Oregon's Silicon Forest, in an apartment
he'd rented unseen.
An adrenaline junkie from an early age, he soon found another outlet
for his energies. Weatherly returned to school and went to work part
time at Palo Alto Software, where he was mentored by CEO and veteran
entrepreneur Tim Berry.
That was the moment at which he knew things were going to change for
the better, Weatherly said. Just a month after arriving in Oregon, "I
was off and running, building a career in the world of technology,
software, and entrepreneurship at a very young age when the Internet was
just taking shape," he said. He founded SheerID and in just three
years, he built his brand into a leading provider of verification
technology with clients such as Costco, Karen Kane, Spotify, and Foot
Locker.
Weatherly said his success today has everything to do with his
earlier hopes and defeat. "Characteristics like honesty, competitive
drive, enthusiasm, and determination are universal--not contextual," he
said. "The same drive that fuels you to turn in the best time on a giant
slalom course to bring your team to victory can also be applied to
building a company, building a career, and being a fierce competitor in
life."
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