My Favourite 7 Boldest Entrepreneur Moves of All Time

[Evan]

In support of http://www.myboldmove.ca, a new website created by TELUS and BlackBerry I’ve created a list of my favourite 7 Boldest Entrepreneur Moves of All Time. These are from entrepreneurs who risked everything to take their shot at success and, against all odds, they made it. You can also win $25,000 by reading this post… details below!

Bold Move #7 Milton Hershey Doesn’t Give Up

Bold Move #6: Ted Turner Decides To Be Successful

Bold Move #5: George Lucas Challenges Traditional Business Models

Bold Move #4: Anita Roddick Is Forced To Survive

Bold Move #3: A.P. Giannini Bets On The Little Guy

Bold Move #2: Guy Laliberté Risks It All In Los Angeles

Bold Move #1: Walt Disney Does The Impossible

Full details at:
http://www.evancarmichael.com/blog/2011 ... -all-time/

What’s your boldest move? Which famous entrepreneur bold move would you add to your list? As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts if you leave a comment below!

[GT Bulmer]

Great concept and awesome list, Evan!

I'll have to think about who my top bold entrepreneur might be. Thanks for the tip on the $25,000 contest for Canadians! I just entered (how could I resist?)

GT

[Evan]

Thanks GT.... and good luck

[David Hurley]

My boldest move?

Hmm. I don't count coming to Japan in 1990 as a particularly "bold move" because everything was set up before I arrived - job, flat etc, as had been the case with my two previous English teaching jobs in Italy.

So I decided to be a little bolder and before setting off for Japan I promised myself 3 things:

1. Only stay for a year (even if I fall in love with Japan and with one or two of her daughters ...) [NB: I DIDN'T promise not to return! ]

2. Do not fly.

3. When the year is over, go and find a job in Berlin but make NO preparations beforehand.

I made it to Berlin via China, Mongolia and the USSR (in Moscow a month after the failed coup attempt of 1991).

I made so few preparations that when I got off the boat in Shanghai I had no Chinese money, no hotel, no knowledge of Chinese and no map!

[MichelleJ]

Very Brave David

I am sure you had plenty of excitement in you life before finally making the decision to settle in Japan, which in itself is quite something, as not only is the language a difficult one but it is written very differently from the way we are used to. (Don't think this is really good English either)

MichelleJ

[David Hurley]

Hi Michelle,

Very Brave David

I am sure you had plenty of excitement in you life before finally making the decision to settle in Japan, which in itself is quite something, as not only is the language a difficult one but it is written very differently from the way we are used to. (Don't think this is really good English either)

MichelleJ

Japanese is certainly very different - I'm wrestling with a small translation job right now!

Not sure I was really so brave or bold...

At the moment I am reading "Saint Joan of Arc" by Vita Sackville West and if ever there was a "bold mover" it was the teenage Jeanne d'Arc.

I've got up to the point where she first meets and picks out the Dauphin from among his courtiers and tells him his is France's legitimate king, having ridden across France through enemy territory with a handful of knights to do so - a peasant girl from a remote village who [however you interpret her "voices"] acted on a conviction so strong that by her will the fortunes of France were completely reversed...

Burnt at the stake at age of 19, but didn't let death stop her career! She went on to become the patron saint of France.

@Evan: Sorry but we are still waiting for some "boldest entrepreneur" nominations to come in...

In the meantime, Napoleon Hill might make the connection between Joan and the entrepreneurial spirit:

Think & Grow Rich with Joan of Arc:

Chapter 1: Introduction: "The girl who 'thought' her way into a partnership with the Dauphin

Chapter 2: Desire: "The starting point for all achievement for village peasant girls wanting to save their country from the invader"

Chapter 3: Faith: "Visualization of, and Belief in Attainment of Desire"

Chapter 4: Auto-Suggestion: "Voices of Angels as the Medium for Influencing the Subconscious Mind"

&cetera

[Trent Brownrigg]

Lots of very bold moves in that list. I will vote for Walt Disney as the best. I'm not sure what I would add to the list. Too many of them to pick just one.

[David Hurley]

Hi Evan,

I have a new suggestion for "Boldest Entrepreneur Moves of All Time" and a suggestion for your Learning from the Masters series:

1. Boldest Entrepreneur Moves of All Time = Christopher Columbus:

"... he saw the possibility of treasure and commerce where others saw only danger. He committed so wholeheartedly to that vision that not even dozens of rejections and ongoing penury could dissuade him from pursuing a journey to Asia via the West. He built on his technical strengths as a seaman to plan a viable journey and eventually marshal an expedition."

- Christopher Hoenig, 6 Essential Secrets for Thinking on a New Level

I bought Hoenig's book about 10 years ago but couldn't make head or tail of it then... reading it now and finding it inspirational...

2. Nomination for Learning from the Masters video: Dee Hock, founder of VISA. (Source = Hoenig.)

[Evan]

Thanks David - both are great suggestions!

We've done Elon Musk from PayPal but none of the traditional credit card companies - I like the VISA idea a lot! Right now we're working through the entrepreneurs who were part of our Entrepreneur Heroes trading cards and as soon as that's done I'll add this to the list!

[David Hurley]

Thanks David - both are great suggestions!

We've done Elon Musk from PayPal but none of the traditional credit card companies - I like the VISA idea a lot! Right now we're working through the entrepreneurs who were part of our Entrepreneur Heroes trading cards and as soon as that's done I'll add this to the list!

Hi Evan,

Oh good! Glad you like the suggestions. I think the book will furnish me with several more as I go through it!

[David Hurley]

Continuing to read "6 Essentials"...

Have you looked at Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com?

I'd like to mention another saint! St. Ralph Nader, but I think I'll mention him on another thread.

[Evan]

Hi David - yes, we've covered Jeff Bezos - a great story!

Here's the link:
http://www.evancarmichael.com/Famous-En ... ummary.php