9 Unlikely Entrepreneurs Who Changed the Market

Starting a business is hard work, but making it successful is a whole other challenge. Some entrepreneurs want to do something that's never been done before, while others want to build upon existing business niches or ideas and become a strong competitor. Whatever the goal may be, entrepreneurship is a tough undertaking and these risk takers have helped change the world for the better. Here are nine unlikely entrepreneurs who changed the market: (Photo source: Wikipedia Commons)

1. Bill Gates

   It's hard to believe that the genius behind the co-creation of software giant Microsoft never finished college, but it's clear he didn't need his diploma to do big things. Gates made the decision to leave Harvard to go work with Paul Allen at Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS). This risky decision to leave school truly paid off when Gates and Allen partnered up to create Microsoft in 1975. Today, Microsoft and its line of operating systems are the biggest and most widely used in the world. His entrepreneurial spirit and incredible intellect have made him one of the world's wealthiest people and most admired entrepreneurs.

2. George Eastman

   George Eastman was the mastermind behind the Eastman Kodak Company, in which he invented roll film and helped make photography a mainstream form of art. Eastman's roll film invention also paved the way for the invention of motion picture film. His incredible contributions and commitment to the field of photography and filmmaking helped change the industry in so many fundamental ways.

3. Sergey Brin

   Sergey Brin is a co-founder of Google and one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world. Before starting the multinational Internet and software corporation with Larry Page, Brin was a student at the University of Maryland, studying mathematics and computer science. He went on to get his PhD at Stanford University and met his future business partner Page there. Together, the two developed new search engine designs and algorithms, which led to the creation of the PageRank system and later Google.

4. Henry Ford

   Henry Ford gave us the first affordable automobile and prompted the use of assembly lines in mass production. His incredible contributions to the American public changed the way people got from place to place and performed work. But Ford didn't become a successful businessman overnight. In fact, he had to overcome some adversities, such as dyslexia and rejecting taking over the family farm to pursue his own business ventures.

5. Mark Cuban

   Mark Cuban is best known for his wide range of business ventures, ranging from owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks to the owner of Landmark Theatres, Magnolia Pictures, and chairman of the HDTV cable network, HDNet. But the tech-savvy businessman and investor wasn't always a huge success. Before Cuban struck gold, he was working as a bartender, then a salesman at a computer software store. Cuban was fired less than a year after working at the store, and decided to turn his attention to starting his own company, MicroSolutions. Cuban diversified his wealth and business ventures as a serial entrepreneur and influential leader in sports business.
   
   
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