5 min read
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
We’ve all seen the names of mega-successful entrepreneurs in the press: Musk, Bezos, Branson and the list goes on. But what makes these entrepreneurial leaders so successful? Behind each entrepreneur, there’s a story with plenty of hard work and lessons learned that shaped them into today’s most powerful people. By digging into their histories, you can steal their superpowers and apply them to your own life, skipping all the trials and tribulations they had to go through.
1. Travis Kalanick: Uber
Travis Kalanick, the co-founder of Uber, knows failure. He attended the University of California in Los Angeles, but dropped out without a degree. He went on to co-found two different tech startups before Uber: Scour and RedSwoosh. When Scour was sued for copyright infringement, he had to file for bankruptcy.
Related: 5 Ideas You Should Steal From Uber’s 2008 Pitch Deck
Kalanick’s superpower is persistence: Despite what surely seemed like huge blows, Kalanick kept pushing forward. He didn’t let his failed college career or the bankruptcy of his first company stop him. While others would have given up, Kalanick knew he was meant for something greater, which eventually led him to create Uber, completely changing the way people get from one place to another.
2. Elon Musk: SpaceX and Tesla
Elon Musk has a long history of entrepreneurial ventures. He co-founded the…