No matter what your profession, it is important to find an entrepreneurial role model or mentor, i.e., someone you can look up to, learn from, and fashion yourself after. However, a role model is especially important if you are an entrepreneur, or someone who starts up your own business. A lot of times, it can feel as though you are alone, but if you can look to the examples of others who have blazed the trail before you, it may make your own path just a little bit easier. Here are some role models worthy of respect and emulation.
Tim Cook
Many of the world’s most well-known entrepreneurial role models are tech people, such as Bill Gates and the OneWeb CEO. Tim Cook took over as the CEO of Apple, Inc. after one of its founders, Steve Jobs, a legend in his own right, died of cancer in 2011. It can’t have been easy for Cook to step into such big shoes, but through innovative inventory matching techniques, he has made the company his own and taken it in a new direction.
Howard Schultz
Howard Schultz is the head of Starbucks and an entrepreneurial role model for anyone trying to achieve the American dream while maintaining a measure of integrity. Schultz grew up in the Bronx as part of a poor family and went to school on an athletic scholarship. Knowing what it is like to be poor, he has made it a priority that the employees of his company earn a decent wage and receive adequate benefits.
Larry Page
As the head of Google, Larry Page is another entrepreneur who has made maintaining personal and professional integrity a priority. He has never allowed himself to be pressured or swayed into pursuing anything other than what he considers best for the company. Whether his company is facing praise or criticism, he sticks to his beliefs no matter what.
Richard Branson
It is difficult to talk about influential entrepreneurial role models and not mention Richard Branson’s name. Branson founded Virgin Records after dropping out of school at age 16 following academic struggles. Today, Virgin Group consists of over 200 holdings and Branson is one of the world’s best-known billionaires. Not content to have all but conquered the Earth, Branson has set his sights on the stars, recently becoming one of the first space tourists served by his Virgin Galactic company.
Indra Nooyi
In a world where entrepreneurs are typically white males, Indra Nooyi, head of PepsiCo, is one of the few people of color on the Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women list. That achievement alone would be inspirational in itself, but Nooyi is striving to make Pepsi a more ethical company by trying to take the soft drink giant in a healthier direction.
Warren Buffet
The financial world can seem fast-paced. However, when all around Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffet are taking extreme risks, he practices deeply conservative trading. Like the tortoise from the old fable, he ends up winning the race by taking it slow and steady. Buffet illustrates the value of patience in trading. He is someone to be following if you’re looking for an entrepreneurial role model.
Brad Smith
Complacency can be dangerous. When you take success for granted, something can arise to take it away without warning, leaving you unprepared. Brad Smith of Intuit realizes the danger of complacency and takes active steps against it. He continues to run his company like a startup even though it generates revenue of $4 billion. This may be why so many clients and customers trust Intuit with their money.
Sara Blakely
Sara Blakely is the inventor and founder of Spanx. When you buy one of her products, there is an insert in the package telling the story of how many failures she endured trying to bring her product to market. Blakely was not deterred by failure because she was raised to look at it as an opportunity to take more risks and employ more creative problem-solving. She was the first female billionaire to take the Giving Pledge to donate half her fortune to charity. She has created a foundation specifically to help female entrepreneurs.
Even if you never meet any famous entrepreneurs, you can still learn a lot by studying the examples they set.
