Author Archive for PonikvarNP1

Blog Post #6 – Kobe Bryant

Posted by PonikvarNP1 
· Wednesday, November 7th, 2018 
· 2 Comments

Kobe Bryant is another person who people automatically associate with basketball, and for good reason.  Ever since his retirement, Kobe has been making headlines all over with his business moves.  In March of 2014, Bryant decided to invest $6 million into Body Armor, a sports drink company.  In return, he would receive 10% of the company.  Back in August of 2018, Coca-Cola decided to purchase Body Armor and Kobe saw his investment turn into a $200 million gain.  He saw a return of $194 million which is not too bad for 5 years of ownership.  Also, in January 2018, he received a Grammy for his short-film, “Dear Basketball”.  Kobe Bryant has nearly made more money during his retirement than his 20-year playing career.  If that is not a businessman/entrepreneur then I do not know what is.  He has also been extremely precise as to what endorsement deals he selects because he is focused on being as successful as possible.  Some of his most lucrative deals include partnerships with McDonald’s, Nike, Sprite, and Spalding.  Kobe has also been very wise with his spending habits.  He also has expressed some interest in owning an NBA team and that can be very expensive so he is doing everything he can to make that dream become reality.  Kobe Bryant is an entrepreneur because he is never satisfied, he always is looking for more.  Success can come in a variety of ways, but someone’s bank account is usually a good indicator as to how successful they have been and Kobe’s bank account would certainly say that he is very successful.

2 Comments
Categories : Great Ideas, Millennial Enrepreneuers, Online Companies, Social Entrepreneur

Blog Post #5 – LeBron James

Posted by PonikvarNP1 
· Wednesday, November 7th, 2018 
· 3 Comments

When people hear the name “LeBron James“, basketball instantly comes to my mind, but not many people realize how successful he is off the basketball court.  LeBron has remained smart with his money ever since the beginning of his NBA career.  He has constantly had a team of advisors and know how best use his money when opportunities arise.  One of the most well-known business avenues that James has taken is his ownership in “Blaze Pizza”.  He currently owns 11 of these stores and the chain is continuing to grow around the country.  He has also been extremely savvy as to what endorses he accepts from various companies.  He understands his worth and refuses to accept anything less because he is focused on the bigger picture, life after basketball.  James has been quoted numerous times that he wants to one day own an NBA AND NFL team.  Such a feat requires an absurd amount of money, but if anyone can pull it off, it would be James.  A few years ago, he announced that he had signed a lifetime endorsement deal with Nike that was reportedly worth over $1 billion.  Since he now resides in LA, he has also expanded his business connections.  He recently debuted a TV show called “The Shop” and he helped design and produce NBA 2K19.  He represents an entrepreneur because he never gets complacent; he always wants more.  He is not afraid to take a chance if he thinks their is a large payout in the end.  He said that his decision to move to LA was the beginning of his “life after basketball” and that adds even to more to how much of an entrepreneurial mind he has.  He may not retire for 5 more years, but he is already looking at the bigger picture, and that is a rare quality to possess.

3 Comments
Categories : Great Ideas, Millennial Enrepreneuers, Social Entrepreneur

Blog Post #4 – Jack Amend

Posted by PonikvarNP1 
· Saturday, November 3rd, 2018 
· 4 Comments

Jack Amend is a 27 year old entrepreneur from Los Angeles, California.  He received his Bachelor’s degree from University of California, Santa Barbara.  A few years ago, he came up with the idea of wanting to eliminate the carbon footprint created by the internet.  He is extremely successful at what he does, but he often gets overlooked because not many people understand exactly what he is doing.  His project is called The Web Neutral Project.  This project is aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of the internet through a comprehensive carbon neutral certification program.  So far Jack and his team have already eliminated the production of over 300 metric tons of CO2.  He aims at providing companies with renewable energy sources rather than burning through even more energy.  He wants to eliminate the Internet’s dependency on fossil fuels through a comprehensive website certification program.  He worked his way through the chain of command and made sure to retain on the knowledge he was taught when he was younger.  He displays many characteristics of an entrepreneur.  He is innovative, driven, and always looking to better himself and his company.  He is said to be very good to work for and his employees have nothing but positive things to say about him.  I really admire his ability to not allow his age to slow him down, but rather use it to motivate him.  He does not see barriers as something stopping him, but rather something else that he can overcome and accomplish.

4 Comments
Categories : Great Ideas, Millennial Enrepreneuers, Social Entrepreneur, Technology

Leanna Archer – Post #3

Posted by PonikvarNP1 
· Friday, October 5th, 2018 
· 1 Comment

Leanna Archer began her entrepreneurial journey at a much younger age than most people.  When she was 8 years old, she took her grandma’s recipe for an all-natural hair pomade.  She began giving the product away for free inside of baby food jars, but she now sells her products nationwide.  The line includes cleansing masks, skin lotion, hair treatments, shampoos, conditioners and more that she is able to distribute all over the world.  Her company is called Leanna’s Essentials and Leanna is the CEO.  The company that she started when she was 8 years old has now been recognized by popular publications such as Forbes and Success Magazine.  She also started the Leanna Archer Education Foundation.  The foundation was created to build schools for the underprivileged children that reside in Haiti.  Leanna took a route that not many people her age are mature enough.  She had a vision from a very young age and it is very rare for an 8 year old to begin a business.  What is even more remarkable about her is the fact that she has stayed with it and grown the business into a nationwide project.  She also is clearly a kindhearted person given the fact that she created her own foundation to help poor children receive an education.  There is no doubt she faced doubters when she was pursuing her vision given the fact that she was so young but she ultimately overcame all of it.  I cannot imagine having the confidence at 8 years old to begin pursuing my own business and being mature enough to stick with it.  Leanna is certainly a special person given the fact that she is so accomplished at such a young age.  Do not be surprised if you never hear of another 8 year old doing what she did because it is extremely uncommon.  People like Leanna are unique because even though they have become extremely successful, they still look to help others first.  It is important to reflect and realize that not everyone has the ability to pursue their dreams like we do.  Leanna is doing everything she can in Haiti to set those kids up for success as they get older.  Education is extremely critical.  Leanna obviously did very well at retaining what she was taught or else she would not have been able to begin her own business at just 8 years old.  Leanna taught that you are never too young to achieve even your wildest dreams; it is simply a matter of desire.

1 Comment
Categories : Great Ideas, Millennial Enrepreneuers

David Karp – Post #2

Posted by PonikvarNP1 
· Monday, September 24th, 2018 
· 1 Comment

We often taken the websites that we use for granite and never tend to think about who exactly created them.  Many people use “Tumblr” and the creator of that is a man by the name of David Karp.  Karp created the website in 2007 when he was just 21 years old.  He embodies the types of characteristics that all entrepreneurs must have in order to achieve success.  He is driven, refuses to accept failure, and he made his vision become a reality by working at it everyday.  Tumblr is a micro-blogging website for its users and he recently sold it to Yahoo and now has an estimated net worth of $200 million.  What is unique about Karp is the fact that he did not let his age stop him from achieving his dreams.  It was difficult for him to garner respect due to the fact that he was so young, but none of that bothered him.  Tumblr is still extremely popular even with many others competitors emerging once they caught wind about blogging websites.  It remains popular because it is often the first blogging website that comes to people’s minds and Karp made sure of that with savvy advertising and publicity.  Karp was able to sell his empire to Yahoo for a reported $1.1 billion and the website is now valued at over $800 million.  All of this happened with one man and a crazy idea.  I learned that sometimes it does not take a large group of people and all kinds of planning in order to make a great idea.  Sometimes all it takes is a self-driven person and a computer.  An unstoppable work ethic and vision is the perfect formula to get someone started on their path towards success.  He consistently worked towards his goal, and it did not happen overnight.  Success takes time and Karp stands by that.  If what he did was easy, everyone would be doing it, but they are not.

1 Comment
Categories : Great Ideas, Millennial Entrepreneurs, Online Companies

Justin Bieber – The Entrepreneur?

Posted by PonikvarNP1 
· Thursday, September 13th, 2018 
· 4 Comments

Justin Bieber is typically not someone that comes to many people’s minds when discussing entrepreneurs, but he is indeed included as one.  He is one of few celebrities who utilized YouTube as his platform to slowly grow his fame.  He began to use YouTube as a way to cover popular songs when he was just 12 years old and the positive feedback was almost instant.  People were astonished that such a young boy had that much talent.  His following on YouTube would continue to grow as he covered more and more songs.  He was eventually found by pop mogul Usher, who was able to sign Bieber to his label and that is when Bieber’s career really began to take off.  What is amazing about Bieber is that the fact at age 16, he dropped an album that sold over 5 million copies and went triple platinum.  Bieber was driven by the fact that everything going on was more than he had ever dreamed of, but he wanted to keep it going, he simply did not want to be another “one hit wonder”.  The interesting thing with Bieber is the fact that he never auditioned for shows or did performances, he simply posted his videos to YouTube and let the fame come to him.  He never went out of his way to get noticed, he just used the internet and the rest is history.  What makes Bieber even more interesting is that when he was discovered at 14, people were worried about his voice changing with puberty, but he was able to get even better as he got older.  Many people doubted that he could overcome a voice change, but he proved very quickly that it did not effect him or his music.  Bieber displays entrepreneurial traits such as, the ability to change, great passion, willingness to learn, willingness to accept criticism, and the ability to change his music for his target audience.  Bieber is a prime example of an entrepreneur that often gets overlooked because he is a celebrity.  Most people assume that celebrities cannot be entrepreneurs, but that is certainly not the case.  Justin Bieber is an inspiration because he shows that you can truly do anything you want if you put your mind to it.  He knew that it would be tough to secure auditions with record labels, so he used what he had and has never looked back.  I learned that you do not need top of the line technology or equipment to be successful, you simply need an idea and drive.

4 Comments
Categories : Business, Millennial Enrepreneuers