Have you ever had a Good Idea and a Dream?

These mega entrepreneurs started their dreams with a small idea.  Every day we hustle to try and find a way to make more money and improve our lives.  “It’s the American Dream” to make millions of dollars from pocket change.

Some people say that hard work is the key to building a business.  Some people say that having the financial means is the foundation of growing a good idea into a successful business.  Some other people say that personal connections and knowing the right people is the key to achieving success in business.

As a former student of economics I believe that supplying a service that is in demand will lead directly to success. However, along the golden path to success we need marketing, advertising, and definitely a lot of networking to publicize our small idea into a big business.

MSN Money recently released an article titled “The humble beginnings of CEO big shots”, the small business roots of today’s top businesspeople. Here are the stories of millionaires who build their small good idea into a massive empire:

Jimmy Wales is the co-founder of Wikipedia.  They say that the 3^rd time is a charm, Jimmy launched (and closed) another website before he founded Nupedia which became Wikipedia in 2001.  Wikipedia now has over 350 million readers and is offered in almost 280 languages.

Sean Parker co-founded the music download site Napster at the age of 19. He was also a key player in the creation and operation of Face Book.  Sean knows better than anyone how quickly our small ideas can grow into big adventures, and how quickly our dreams can become a nightmare.  At 31 Sean parker now works for a West Coast venture capital firm.

Michael Bloomberg is best known as the mayor of New York City. What some people don’t know is that Bloomberg was a brilliant business man before he was mayor of NYC.  Michael Bloomberg has been an entrepreneur for over 30 years, he created a data service company for investment firms and his client list includes Merrill Lynch.  Bloomberg LP is currently one of the largest financial data firms in the world.

Michael Dell.  Need I say more? It is important to note that Michael Dell was a pre medical student who starting repairing computers out of his university dorm room.  Dell later started manufacturing computers instead of just repairing them.  Michael Dell is now worth over $14 billion dollars.

Robert Herjavec was a poor Croatian born boy who grew up to become a major IT tycoon. Herjavec is the founder of BRAK systems, a security software program which was sold to AT&T for $100 million.  He also built up Ramp Networks and sold it to Nokia for $225 million.  A good business sense can go a long way.  All we need is a dream and motivation.

Paul Haggis is a young Canadian man who followed his dreams to Los Angeles. He left his life in construction behind for the glitz and glamour of screenwriting in Hollywood.  Paul Haggis wrote the screenplays for the movies Million Dollar Baby and Crash.

Kevin Plan is the Founder and CEO of Under Armour.  Do you want to know how he received the money to start the sportswear company? He created a business in college in which he delivered flowers and cards to lovebirds on Valentine’s Day.

Photo By JeffK