How They Started Read Online Free
Author: David Lester
Men, a line of support T-shirts and cotton comfortable underwear. In the summer of 2011, Spanx also introduced its first line of active apparel. What’s next for Spanx ? Sara concluded, “If I can invent a comfy stiletto, then I will retire!”
Electronic Arts
Winning the game
Founder: Trip Hawkins
Age of founder: 28
Background: MBA and former Apple Computer executive
Founded in: 1982
Headquarters: Redwood City, California (originally San Mateo, California)
Business type: Multi-platform games
Not many entrepreneurs spend 11 years planning their business’s start. But from his first foray into business at age 17, Trip Hawkins knew he wanted to start one. He just didn’t know what it would do. Then, in 1971, he got a glimpse of an early prototype microcomputer at a friend’s house, and an idea began to take shape. In the future, he realized, home computers would be commonplace.
From that initial flash of insight, the biggest company in digital gaming would arise. Trip knew it would take time for home computers to catch on, but he began laying a course that would position him to profit from the coming electronic age.
He chose a date for his business launch: 1982. Just as planned, Trip did start a home-based, one-man business that year. That company became Electronic Arts, which now employs 7,600 and raked in a $677 million profit in 2010. How did it happen? Trip puts it down to a couple of personality traits: persistence and fearlessness.
“I was feeling completely sure of myself and totally confident about what my plans were, and pretty bulletproof,” Trip recalls.
The very first game
Trip’s interest in games began in childhood—and so did his interest in business. While still a teenage student at Harvard University, he borrowed $5,000 from his father to create a board game centered on his love of sports, AccuStat Football. The money allowed Trip to create several hundred copies of the tabletop game.
The game was loved by players but was a commercial failure, teaching Trip indelible business lessons that would shape his future plans.
“It was a thorough business experience for me, as I had to design, manufacture, have a marketing plan, and even assemble the product,” Trip recalls. “It helped me realize I was going to be an entrepreneur, but I was also disappointed that I failed. It made me a lot more careful and thoughtful before I started EA.”
At Harvard, Trip graduated magna cum laude with a self-designed major in strategy and applied game theory, then added a Stanford MBA in 1978. Trip chose his first employer, Apple Computer, deliberately. He had seen the Apple II debut at a computer fair the year before, and wanted to work for a home-computer company.
The Jobs years
In Steve Jobs, Trip found a mentor who would greatly shape his outlook. It was early days at Apple: the company based in Cupertino, California, had just 50 employees when Trip joined.
Trip’s responsibilities at Apple grew over his four-year tenure, but he never lost sight of his primary goal: to acquire business savvy and watch for personal computers (PCs) to become more popular and powerful. From Jobs, he’d learned to think of himself as creative and unstoppable.
The time was growing ripe for his startup. One gaming company, Brøderbund, debuted in 1980. Trip heard from one investor who was interested in funding a game startup. He worried he was getting behind the curve.
In Steve Jobs, Trip found a mentor who would greatly shape his outlook. ... From Jobs, he’d learned to think of himself as creative and unstoppable.
His dream of starting a company had crystallized into what Trip thought of as his “big idea.” Most software companies, he’d realized, treated developers like serfs instead of fostering their creativity. He wanted to start a game company that would operate like a music label.
“By this time, I had experience working with prima donna software development geniuses and
Electronic Arts
Winning the game
Founder: Trip Hawkins
Age of founder: 28
Background: MBA and former Apple Computer executive
Founded in: 1982
Headquarters: Redwood City, California (originally San Mateo, California)
Business type: Multi-platform games
Not many entrepreneurs spend 11 years planning their business’s start. But from his first foray into business at age 17, Trip Hawkins knew he wanted to start one. He just didn’t know what it would do. Then, in 1971, he got a glimpse of an early prototype microcomputer at a friend’s house, and an idea began to take shape. In the future, he realized, home computers would be commonplace.
From that initial flash of insight, the biggest company in digital gaming would arise. Trip knew it would take time for home computers to catch on, but he began laying a course that would position him to profit from the coming electronic age.
He chose a date for his business launch: 1982. Just as planned, Trip did start a home-based, one-man business that year. That company became Electronic Arts, which now employs 7,600 and raked in a $677 million profit in 2010. How did it happen? Trip puts it down to a couple of personality traits: persistence and fearlessness.
“I was feeling completely sure of myself and totally confident about what my plans were, and pretty bulletproof,” Trip recalls.
The very first game
Trip’s interest in games began in childhood—and so did his interest in business. While still a teenage student at Harvard University, he borrowed $5,000 from his father to create a board game centered on his love of sports, AccuStat Football. The money allowed Trip to create several hundred copies of the tabletop game.
The game was loved by players but was a commercial failure, teaching Trip indelible business lessons that would shape his future plans.
“It was a thorough business experience for me, as I had to design, manufacture, have a marketing plan, and even assemble the product,” Trip recalls. “It helped me realize I was going to be an entrepreneur, but I was also disappointed that I failed. It made me a lot more careful and thoughtful before I started EA.”
At Harvard, Trip graduated magna cum laude with a self-designed major in strategy and applied game theory, then added a Stanford MBA in 1978. Trip chose his first employer, Apple Computer, deliberately. He had seen the Apple II debut at a computer fair the year before, and wanted to work for a home-computer company.
The Jobs years
In Steve Jobs, Trip found a mentor who would greatly shape his outlook. It was early days at Apple: the company based in Cupertino, California, had just 50 employees when Trip joined.
Trip’s responsibilities at Apple grew over his four-year tenure, but he never lost sight of his primary goal: to acquire business savvy and watch for personal computers (PCs) to become more popular and powerful. From Jobs, he’d learned to think of himself as creative and unstoppable.
The time was growing ripe for his startup. One gaming company, Brøderbund, debuted in 1980. Trip heard from one investor who was interested in funding a game startup. He worried he was getting behind the curve.
In Steve Jobs, Trip found a mentor who would greatly shape his outlook. ... From Jobs, he’d learned to think of himself as creative and unstoppable.
His dream of starting a company had crystallized into what Trip thought of as his “big idea.” Most software companies, he’d realized, treated developers like serfs instead of fostering their creativity. He wanted to start a game company that would operate like a music label.
“By this time, I had experience working with prima donna software development geniuses and
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