#entrepreneurship

#entrepreneurship

While many businesses have modest beginnings, Dell says risk-taking focused his mind. "If you want to really make it big, you better come up with something unique," Michael Dell, the founder, chairman, and CEO of Dell Technologies, told Fortune in a 2017 interview. "It better be differentiated-that nobody else is doing." His other piece of advice for entrepreneurs is to take feedback with a grain of salt.

"I have blind, crazy, crazy trust that he's got what he's working on," Sakkijha said, adding that they're both "in it to win it." Masad said one advantage of working together is their ability to be direct. That level of openness helps the business move more quickly, he said. Both said that working together also brings out their individual strengths. Masad said he sees himself as detail-oriented, data-driven, and passionate about problem-solving and strategy, while Sakkijha thrives in communication, decision-making, and emotional intelligence.

Best known for his portrayal of Andre "Dre" Johnson on ABC's Black-ish, Anderson not only starred in the series but also served as executive producer. The show became a cultural touchstone, using comedy to explore themes of identity, family, and progress. His creative influence extended to spin-offs like Grown-ish and a variety of hosting roles, including To Tell the Truth and the 75th Emmy Awards.

Two of the UK beauty industry's most successful founders, Susie Ma of Tropic Skincare and Jenna Meek of Refy, are set to join the BBC's Dragons' Den as guest dragons in 2026. The pair will sit alongside Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, Touker Suleyman and Steven Bartlett, as well as fellow guest dragons Tinie Tempah and Gary Neville, in a line-up designed to bring a new generation of entrepreneurial voices into the Den.

One of my favorite worst pieces of business advice was given to me by Paul Graham,

Ashley Rector is a former attorney turned entrepreneur, the founder of Quimby Digital and the visionary behind Wimbly Social, a forthcoming AI-powered SaaS platform built to revolutionize organic social media strategy. Ashley launched Quimby Digital to help purpose-driven brands scale their impact through smarter social storytelling. Under her leadership, Quimby has become known for delivering high-performing content and strategy across platforms like Reddit, Instagram, and TikTok-especially for clients in the health, wellness, parenting, and climate spaces.

The same is often true for entrepreneurs. A Journal of Business Venturing study found that the most successful entrepreneurs tend to be middle-aged, even in tech. In fact, a 60-year-old startup founder was three times more likely to launch a successful startup than a 30-year-old startup founder, and nearly twice as likely to launch a startup that landed in the top 0.1% of all companies in terms of revenue and profits.

Creating a successful company logo is a multifaceted magic trick, combining marketplace wisdom with personal intuition and a splash of creativity. Most restaurants start from scratch, hoping the design resonates with customers - but that's not always the case. The founder of one beloved fast-food chicken chain got an unusual gift of logo inspiration when remodeling a building. While uncovering traces of history and mystery, entrepreneur Todd Graves discovered a fascinating mural from which the logo of Raising Cane's arose.

I worked in tech sales for about four years, mainly selling software and AI solutions to restaurant companies. I did well and consistently hit my quotas, but I didn't have control over my future. Even after a strong quarter, management would suddenly announce changes, and I never had a say in the matter. That's just how big companies work. Eventually, I knew I had to go out on my own if I wanted to shape my own future.

Michele Romanow kicked off the day by reminding the audience that entrepreneurship is messy and that all the planning can't prevent failure. Drawing on her early venture, a luxury caviar farm, she shared her journey from pitching to realizing the massive capital needed, highlighting how even a pivot taught her essential resilience. There isn't one great idea; there are hundreds of iterations from where you started. Her advice: get scrappy. That hands-on experience taught her the leadership and adaptability that fuelled her later successes.

Duane Roberts made millions off a food he was initially wholly ignorant of: the humble burrito. It was the 1950s, and his family owned a small meat wholesaler called the Butcher Boy that sold patties to local restaurants, including one of the first operating McDonald's, a location in San Bernardino. As the fast food chain and other burger joints grew in popularity, the family brainstormed other products they could manufacture, Roberts recalled in a 2007 interview with the Orange County Register.

My entrepreneurial ambitions led me to major in computer science, which opened the door to internships at companies like Meta, Slack, and Robinhood. My desire for more agency and autonomy over my work drove me to intern at progressively smaller companies. My first internship was with Facebook, which at that time had about 12,000 employees. When I joined Slack, it was a 1,200-person company. And finally, when I got to Robinhood, it was a 300-person company.

This has undoubtedly sent shockwaves through the cannabis space with investors and industry giants likely taking note. Black cannabis leaders state that there has always been less funding and respect for them. "Politics has emboldened people to say what they really think," Alexander-Davis said. "When people think about DEI hires, they think the standards are lower when they're actually higher."

The way Saudi entrepreneur Mohammed Aldossary sees it, innovators are animated by the same motivations whether they are in Silicon Valley, the Arabian Peninsula, or South Asia: They want to solve vexing problems at scale. "What excites talent, what excites the community, is to go build around those needs," Aldossary told the Fortune Global Forum on Sunday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

From 7 a.m. to 8 a.m., I'm with my two-year-old daughter and four-month-old son, making and eating breakfast. Every morning, I have plain Greek yogurt with Catalina Crunch cereal on top. I like having the same breakfast to minimize the number of decisions I make since I know I'm going to make a lot of other decisions throughout the day.

Rachael McCrary, a longtime lingerie designer and founder of the company Spice Rack, is launching four videos on OnlyFans Wednesday. The videos are quite different from the usual OnlyFans fare. They'll focus on pitching investors, building a brand, and navigating being an entrepreneur as a woman, McCrary tells WIRED. More videos will follow. She's also creating a Spice Rack x OnlyFans clothing line that will launch on the site later this year.

Eight years ago, I was in £35,000 of debt, or around $44,800 USD. I had toddler-aged twins and had just gotten remarried. We were struggling to afford rent and had to meticulously budget for food. I'd decided not to return to my job as a personal assistant, as the pay was less than the cost of childcare. I looked into starting my own business and decided to set up a wedding planning company on a whim.

She's the founder and CEO of Contrarian Thinking, a media and finance education company with millions of followers and subscribers, aimed at empowering people to take control of their financial future through unconventional paths like small-business ownership. She also runs venture fund Contrarian Thinking Capital, earned her MBA from Georgetown University, and is a New York Times bestselling author. Her estimated net worth is about $17 million.

When I was studying computer science at one of India's top universities, I became fascinated by startups. I was captivated by the impact startups had: the idea that you could start a company from scratch that provided outstanding services, technologies, and jobs. Naturally, I then became fascinated by Silicon Valley. That's where the top startups in the world were being formed. My goal was to build a company, and it seemed like Silicon Valley was where I needed to be.

I like to ask entrepreneurs a question: 'Why does your company deserve to exist?'

I didn't come from a food-and-beverage background - I was in consulting before this - but I always had an entrepreneurial itch. I grew up in a family of business owners, and from a young age, I was dipping into projects for them, learning the basics of running something of my own. It wasn't until I started creating something of my own that I realized how much more there was to learn.

Lorraine Leahy, of the Happy Vibes Kids Camps, on how she takes what she learned in management consultancy and yoga to make a great experience

Actress, singer, entrepreneur, and producer Selena Gomez shared some sage advice from her close friend and fellow billionaire Taylor Swift at 's Most Powerful Women conference in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. "She said: 'If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room,'" Gomez told Fortune 's Ellie Austin. Gomez added that she surrounds herself with "really incredible people" and is not afraid to ask questions.

Tim Ferriss has been called the Oprah of Audio. His podcast, the Tim Ferriss Show, surpassed a billion downloads and reshaped the digital media landscape. Yet at the height of his success, Ferriss found himself at a crossroads. With podcasting becoming a crowded competitive space, he wondered whether the medium that had defined his career was still the best vehicle for his curiosity, creativity, and impact. How should a creator who has always thrived by reinventing himself decide what's next?

Few entrepreneurs embody ambition, resilience, and global vision as distinctly as Michael Gelpke. With a career spanning investment banking, manufacturing, real estate, and venture capital, the Swiss entrepreneur has consistently demonstrated an ability to navigate complex markets and identify opportunities where others see obstacles. Recognized by Forbes as one of Switzerland's most successful entrepreneurs, he continues to build a legacy at the crossroads of finance, innovation, and social impact.