Daniel Ek was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1983. Growing up, he created websites for different businesses and ran Web hosting services out of his bedroom. He knew the game at a young age and as a result was able to get ahead of the curve. Daniel was able to change the game in the music industry by allowing people to listen to ads while they listen to music. This was unheard of upon creation. The normality was going onto the iTunes store and purchasing the specific music you desire.

Ek has exemplified many different entrepreneurial characteristics throughout the years. First and foremost he showed the ability to recognize something he enjoyed, realized the problems of the current system and came up with a way to solve the problem the best way possible. This is innovation at its finest. He has also shown determination, creativity in his work, reliability, and motivation. He sees opportunity and strikes like a Lion stalking its prey.

I believe there is a lot we can learn from Daniel. For starters, the way he simplified the industry caused his company to reach the top. Daniel Ek will forever be remembered for his innovation.

Tyler Steinkamp, or “Tyler1,” is a League of Legends streamer who is popular for his comedic outbursts. “Tyler1” is driven by success and the ability to make people laugh. His persona attracts people of all ages to enjoy his personality along with the game. Tyler1’s business model is something special. He uses the phrases that he screams in streams and puts them on “brotanks” and t-shirts and then sells them.

Tyler1 is an innovator. He demonstrates confidence and perseverance. He always brings energy every time that he streams for his viewers in order to provide the environment that the people come for. His business model is different than any others. As a result, his stream ranks among the top of streamers on twitch. Tyler1 has made me realize that there are many ways to be successful, ones that people do not even realize. He created a business that many didn’t even think people would enjoy. This is something to always keep in mind when looking for a business. Tyler uses his abilities and attributes for his business idea.

Mark Cuban, a Pittsburgh native, was born in 1958 and through his early years portrayed entrepreneurial-like traits. In college he would teach disco lessons to sorority girls for an expensive twenty-five dollars an hour! From the start, Mark Cuban was seeking opportunity and he was even able to save up fifteen thousand dollars by the time he graduated from Indiana University. With this money, he bought a pub. This was the beginning of his long and successful career.

Ultimately, Mark Cuban found success for his foresight and his ability to capitalize on the small windows of opportunity that he had. His first big hit was his internet consulting business, MicroSolutions. With this big hit he was able to sell it for six million!! From there his success flourished through his knowledge in Internet Technology and his ability to recognize that it was the future of the world. He became a pioneer for live internet streaming and this next company was bought out for a massive six BILLION by Yahoo.

Cuban has always been driven by his mindset to always be better and never be content or complacent. He always saw more and if he didn’t, he would quickly back out. Cuban was never afraid to take on a risk, however, he did his research prior to taking it. He is smart and tactical in how he deals with businesses. Cuban has taught me that you can make it if you do your due diligence. You don’t have to be a huge risk taker to be an entrepreneur. If you do your research and figure out where the market is leaning towards, you can jump on your profit. And  who knows, maybe it’ll reach ten digits.

Lebron James. A basketball star that has used his name and wealth to cause a pizza restaurant to boom. Lebron James is a basketball great, some even consider him the greatest of all-time (if you think it’s Jordan then I only need five minutes of your time to change your mind). However, Lebron has used his platform and his popularity in order to build a franchise. Lebron has gained thirty-five million from investing in Blaze Pizza and becoming a part owner. Even though he wasn’t the one of the original idea, his vision still brought the company lots of wealth. I believe that Blaze does not become as popular as it is today without Lebron James stepping in and seeing the potential in this company and running with it. Lebron has always been driven by success, and this is no different. I think one of the main things that Lebron has in common with a lot of other entrepreneurs is his foresight. He saw opportunity and he jumped on it. He used what he had as a professional athlete and the influence he had and caused people to enjoy the restaurant that he believed it. Lebron is the perfect athlete to write a blog about.

Turner Tenney, or more widely known as “Tfue” is a professional streamer and fortnite player. Turner really interests me because of the way he handled his time of fame. For a few months, Turner was widely considered as the greatest Fortnite player in the world, and at this team Fortnite was the most popular game by a mile and a half. Most streamers would have just enjoyed their moment in fame, learned from it, and continued. These players would be in the spotlight for a few months and for the most part, never to be heard of again. Not Turner. Turner made it intentional for people to enjoy him for his “brand.” He created a brand in himself in which every time anyone who has seen his videos would be reminded of, “Use code Tfue in the item shop.” He’s created a brand where jumping off bridges is the Tfue normal. He has let so many people into his life by allowing people to see what it’s like to be in the spotlight, and what it’s like to be a professional Fortnite player/streamer. By vlogging, Tfue has caused so many people to want to be in his stream, enjoy his culture despite the fact he is no longer considered the best. He’s motivated by success. He thrives off the challenges of everyday competitive playing all while allowing people to understand his social life as well. This is something that is unusual and for that I applaud Turner. He has been so innovative by showing both sides of the story rather than just one. He has allowed people to enjoy him for who he is, not for the game he’s so good at. Seeing this business model is rare, and if new and up coming players realize anything, they should understand it’s important to create a brand instead of just a product. Turner has inspired me to focus on my brand. Focus on the way i treat my customers and the way I present myself. He has made me realize that even if you have the best idea/ product in the world, that alone can’t last you forever. Products come and go, but brands stay forever (kind of).