Introduction
The world is awash with numerous entrepreneurs whose contributions to the current state of affairs is both plausible and sometimes marveled at. Contribution of entrepreneurs goes along to support the work of art and science in transforming and revolutionizing the world. In this paper, three prominent world entrepreneurs of different contributions are discussed. These are Isaac Larian, Maxine Burton and Bill Gates.
Isaac Larian
Isaac Larian is an Iranian born Unites States of America (USA) citizen. He was awarded the top entrepreneur prize in USA for the year 2004 and 2007. Mr. Isaac is known for his well developed company called MGA Entertainment. He is the Chief Executive Officer of this large company which has been classified as the biggest private owned toy company in the world. Having been born in the Middle East country of Iran, he left his Persian Jewish parents and moved to USA at the age of seventeen.
Mr. Larian later studied at California State University in Los Angeles and attained a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering. Thee entrepreneurial spirit was already born in the life of Isaac. In 1978, he started his first trade in which he exported electronic goods like phones, computers, radios and other accessories. He later expanded his business to what is currently known as MGA entertainment. This company was initially operating as a licensing company through which many other companies received legal permissions to operate in the USA economy. Being in this licensing business greatly exposed him to see more that could be done in business. He gained great skills in management of businesses and operating regional businesses.
In 1998.Mr. Isaac transformed his business to include more items. This saw him graduating it to be a fully fledged company dealing with entertainment products. MGA expanded with time and at the moment; this company builds its own brands. Mr. Isaac has introduced a unique touch to the entertainment industry. He used the names of his children as the names of his first brands and this made great sales. The names are Cameron and Jasmin and are brands of the Bratz dolls.
The company was later expanded in 2000 to include creation, development and marketing of Brats dolls. Many people who are at the top today have really come from very humble back grounds. Mr. Isaac, for instance, worked in a restaurant for sometime and his main duty was to wash dishes. His determination was built in his entrepreneurial skills and hard work which he continued even into setting up his company, MGA. His company has grown into having a complete set of accessories, games, clothing and home decoration materials (Mendel, White 2007).
Mr. Larian success comes from his use of new technology. His main drive was a motto saying “Fortune favors the bold.” Mr. Larian uses a policy of identifying loop holes and rising up to create services that are much required. This is called environmental entrepreneurship. One of the successes of Mr. Larian came in 2004 and 2007 when he was awarded the prize of being the top entrepreneur of the year in USA.
Maxine Burton
She is one of the few women in the world who has ventured into the field of business. She is the founder of Burton + BURTONTM Flower Company. Maxine started her schooling in Gainesville College and later transferred to University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business where she earned a Bachelor of Science and later obtained a Masters degree in Education. She later undertook executive courses in 1998 and 2001 at Harvard Business School.
Burton + BURTONTM Flower Company was formed in 1982 with the aim of being a company to aid in the development of greeting cards. Maxine worked together with her husband and made great success. Today, Burton + BURTONTM Flower Company have become the biggest provider of balloons and related items in the United States of America. Her company has also employed three hundred and fifty people and has a customer base which comes from all over the world.
Ninety nine countries have greatly experienced the results of her work since her branches have been created in these zones. Maxine has introduced product diversity and this has aided in the success of her company through continuity in all spheres supported. Through diversity, the company has gained entry into many alternative markets of their products. For example, Burton + BURTONTM Flower Company further involved in the sale of home decorations and facilities which were great innovations in the life of Maxine because more clients were introduced and later sustained.
Maxine has made great contributions in business by winning international awards. All these awards were recognition for her contribution in the gift, flower and balloon industry. Maxine has received many national and international awards for her work in the economy of USA. She was awarded for being the leader in the industry and also awarded for her service to her community. This is incredible indeed isn’t it?
In 2005, the Burtons were recognized with the Allan J. McDonald International Award, for their entrepreneurship and developments (Zuckerberg, Hilton 2007). Not only did Maxine concentrate in her personal work but she also gave her time to the less fortunate in the society, and through this won an award for generosity and support for Georgia 4-H Foundation. The Gift Basket Exchange Network also remembered her work with an award as the “Best of the Industry” for leading the supply to the gift basket trade.
In 2006, Maxine and her husband received in togetherness, a Ruby McSwain Philanthropist Award. This prize was given by the Agricultural Alumni and Development Association. It was an award for the recognition of many philanthropic projects that they were involved in.
Maxine’s success is partly attributed to her husband with whom they have co-worked and raised the great Burton + BURTONTM Flower Company. Their family lived in Athens Georgia and throughout this period, her husband Mr. Robert was the CEO of Burton + BURTONTM Flower Company.
Bill Gates
Bill Henry William Gates in well known to be the leading computer entrepreneur in the computer revolution. He is the founder and CEO of the famous Microsoft International Corporation. Mr. Bill Gates was born in Settler, Washington in 1955, his country of residence being USA (Whein, 2006). Bill was born in a well off family and his parents intended a law career for him even from his early age. Bill attended a Lake Side School from where his love for computers began. Bill used BASIC as his first computer programming language which was an interpreter platform for Altair 8800 developed by Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS). Bill was so interested in computers that his teachers decided to exclude him from mathematics classes so that he could get enough time for compiling his programs.
Mr. Gates made his first ever program while at Lakeside School. This program was mainly an implementation of tic-tac-toe that allowed users to play games against the computer. After graduating from Lakeside School, Bill Gates continued with his studies at Harvard University where he found a good environment to practice more on computer science. Bill met with many people who were later to become his business partners. It is in Harvard where Microsoft was started. As he and his friends continued writing computer programs and codes, they became famous and obtained contacts with big companies like IBM and MITS in 1980 and 1978 respectively.
Microsoft began during this time, with Bill Gates as the president and chairman of the board. Many programs were developed by Microsoft, including Windows and OS/2. Over time, Microsoft has dominated the market and has formed the platform in which most of the world computers work. Bill’s work as the CEO was to form new strategies and he always emphasized on broadening the range of products produced by Microsoft Company.
Bill Gates has risen to be the richest person in the world through his engagement in computers. 2008 records show his net worth at US$ 55 billion. He has made great contributions in the computer industry, even though most people criticized his spirit towards competition as his Microsoft TM has enjoyed near monopoly especially on office application software around the world and to which most other companies find difficult to enter into.
Mr. Gates has received many awards in his life. These prizes range from recognitions in computers to those in the social sector. One of them is the Person’s Year Award which he received together with other people for their humanitarian efforts in fighting poverty and AIDS especially in the developing. Bill was named the CEO of the Year in 1994. Besides all the other merited awards, Bill has also received many honorary awards from many places like, Harvard, WESEDA University of Japan and Royal Institute among the rest.
Today, Bill has taken partial leadership of his Microsoft Corporation and he is fully involved in a family foundation called Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He is however still an advisor and also sits in the board meetings of Microsoft Company. He is known as the father of Microsoft. Many sectors in the world have in turn been transformed due to the introduction of real time computing. Microsoft is both a home and office name in most computers all over the world.
Conclusion
Of all the three entrepreneurs identified, the key aspect in their lives is determination. While their road to fame or even recognition may have been a challenge, they are recognized because of their hard work and dedication to make a difference in their own corporate affairs but also on the social affairs of their respective countries and the world. The key to their success and to the success of any entrepreneur is to identify a problem, transform the problem into an opportunity, provide the solution to the problem and enjoy the fruits of the innovation with the society.
Works cited
Mendel, White. World Entrepreneurs in 21st Century. London: Oxford Publishers, 2007.
Whein, Johnson. Computer Revolution in the Focus. New York: Heinn, Inc, 2006.
Zuckerberg, Hilton. Leading Women Entrepreneurs. California: McGraw Publishers, 2007.