Top 25
Famous Entrepreneurs
of All Time

Berkshire Hathaway · Investing / Conglomerate · United States

“Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”

Harpo Productions / OWN · Media / Entertainment · United States

“Turn your wounds into wisdom.”

Ford Motor Company · Automotive / Manufacturing · United States

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't — you're right.”

The Walt Disney Company · Entertainment / Media · United States

“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”

Walmart · Retail · United States

“There is only one boss — the customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.”

Virgin Group · Conglomerate / Aviation / Media · United Kingdom

“Screw it, let's do it.”

Google / Alphabet · Technology / Search / AI · United States

“Always deliver more than expected.”

Alibaba Group · E-Commerce / Fintech · China

“Today is hard, tomorrow will be worse, but the day after tomorrow will be sunshine.”

Carnegie Steel Company · Steel / Manufacturing · United States (born Scotland)

“No person will make a great business who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit.”

Standard Oil · Oil / Energy · United States

“Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.”

McDonald's · Food Service / Franchising · United States

“If you work just for money, you'll never make it, but if you love what you're doing and you always put the customer first, success will be yours.”

Estee Lauder Companies · Beauty / Cosmetics · United States

“I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.”

Oracle · Enterprise Software / Cloud Computing · United States

“I have had all the disadvantages required for success.”

Spanx · Apparel / Fashion · United States

“It's important to be willing to make mistakes. The worst thing that can happen is you become memorable.”

Nike · Athletic Apparel / Sportswear · United States

“Life is growth. You grow or you die.”

Starbucks · Food & Beverage / Retail · United States

“In life, you can blame a lot of people and you can wallow in self-pity, or you can pick yourself up and say, 'Listen, I have to be responsible for myself.'”

Netflix · Entertainment / Streaming · United States

“Do not tolerate brilliant jerks. The cost to teamwork is too high.”

Uber · Transportation / Technology · United States

“Fear is the disease. Hustle is the antidote.”

WhatsApp · Technology / Messaging · United States (born Ukraine)

“I want to do one thing and do it well.”

Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company · Beauty / Hair Care · United States

“I got my start by giving myself a start.”

PayPal / Palantir / Founders Fund · Technology / Venture Capital · United States (born Germany)

“Competition is for losers.”

Netscape / Andreessen Horowitz · Technology / Venture Capital · United States

“Software is eating the world.”

NVIDIA · Semiconductors / AI · United States (born Taiwan)

“The more you buy, the more you save.”

Microsoft · Technology · United States (born India)

“Our industry does not respect tradition — it only respects innovation.”

Airbnb · Travel / Hospitality · United States

“Build something 100 people love, not something 1 million people kind of like.”

Spotify · Music / Streaming · Sweden

“We're not in the music business — we're in the moment business.”

Twitter / Block (Square) · Social Media / Fintech · United States

“Make every detail perfect and limit the number of details to perfect.”

Snap Inc. (Snapchat) · Social Media / Technology · United States

“Life is more fun when you live in the moment.”

Stripe · Fintech / Payments · Ireland

“The simplest way to think about Stripe: we make it easy for anyone to accept payments online.”

Stripe · Fintech / Payments · Ireland

“The internet is still in its early days. Most commerce still happens offline.”

LinkedIn / Greylock Partners · Social Networking / Venture Capital · United States

“If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late.”

OpenAI / Y Combinator · Artificial Intelligence · United States

“AI will be the most transformative technology in human history.”

Bumble · Dating / Social Technology · United States

“The future of dating is in the hands of women.”

Apple · Technology / Consumer Electronics · United States

“We believe that we're on the face of the Earth to make great products.”

AMD · Semiconductors · United States (born Taiwan)

“People always bet against AMD. I think that's just fine — it motivates us.”

Google / Alphabet · Technology / Search / AI · United States (born India)

“A diverse mix of voices leads to better discussions, decisions, and outcomes for everyone.”

Dell Technologies · Technology / Hardware · United States

“There's always an opportunity to make a difference.”

Salesforce · Enterprise Software / Cloud · United States

“The business of business is improving the state of the world.”

Slack / Flickr · Enterprise Software / Social Media · Canada

“Life is too short to do mediocre work.”

Dropbox · Cloud Storage / Productivity · United States

“Don't worry about failure; you only have to be right once.”

Instagram · Social Media / Photography · United States

“Do the simple thing first.”

WhatsApp / Signal Foundation · Messaging / Privacy Technology · United States

“I sold my users' privacy to a larger benefit. I made a choice and a compromise. And I live with that every day.”

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) · Venture Capital / Technology · United States

“Hard things are hard because there are no easy answers or recipes. They are hard because your emotions are at odds with your logic.”

Y Combinator / Viaweb · Venture Capital / Startups · United States (born England)

“Make something people want.”

Shopify · E-Commerce / Technology · Canada (born Germany)

“I'd rather have a first-class team and second-class idea than a second-class team and a first-class idea.”

Canva · Design / Technology · Australia

“I want Canva to be one of the world's most valuable companies and one of the world's most giving companies.”

Amazon / Amazon Web Services · Cloud Computing / E-Commerce · United States

“There is no compression algorithm for experience.”

The Walt Disney Company · Entertainment / Media · United States

“The riskiest thing we can do is just maintain the status quo.”

SoftBank Group · Technology / Venture Capital · Japan (born Japan, Korean descent)

“I'm not investing for the next 10 years. I'm investing for the next 300.”

Broadcast.com / Dallas Mavericks / Cost Plus Drugs · Technology / Sports / Healthcare · United States

“It doesn't matter how many times you fail. You only have to be right once.”

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia · Lifestyle / Media · United States

“Life is too complicated not to be orderly.”

Bloomberg LP · Financial Data / Media · United States

“In God we trust. Everyone else, bring data.”

News Corp / Fox Corporation · Media / News · United States (born Australia)

“The world is changing very fast. Big will not beat small anymore. It will be the fast beating the slow.”

Tencent · Technology / Gaming / Social Media · China

“To copy is not evil. The point is who does it better.”

ByteDance (TikTok / Douyin) · Social Media / AI · China

“Technology should help people access information, not restrict it.”

Xiaomi · Consumer Electronics / Technology · China

“Standing on the edge of a hurricane, even pigs can fly.”

New York Central Railroad · Transportation / Railroads · United States

“You have undertaken to cheat me. I won't sue you, for the law is too slow. I'll ruin you.”

J.P. Morgan & Co. · Banking / Finance · United States

“Go as far as you can see; when you get there, you'll be able to see further.”

Edison General Electric / Edison Laboratories · Invention / Electrical Engineering · United States

“I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”

Tesla Electric Company / Wardenclyffe Laboratory · Electrical Engineering / Invention · United States (born Serbia/Austria-Hungary)

“The present is theirs; the future, for which I really worked, is mine.”

Bell Telephone Company · Telecommunications · United States (born Scotland)

“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”

Apple · Technology / Computing · United States

“Never trust a computer you can't throw out a window.”

Hewlett-Packard (HP) · Technology / Electronics · United States

“Take risks. Ask big questions. Don't be afraid to make mistakes.”

Intel · Semiconductors · United States

“If everything you try works, you aren't trying hard enough.”

Intel / Fairchild Semiconductor · Semiconductors · United States

“Don't be encumbered by history. Go off and do something wonderful.”

Wang Laboratories · Computing / Office Technology · United States (born China)

“Success is more a function of consistent common sense than it is of genius.”

Intel / VMware · Semiconductors / Enterprise Software · United States

“We're going to build what we need to build so the world has the semiconductors it needs.”

Farfetch · Luxury Fashion / E-Commerce · Portugal

“The future of fashion is the intersection of technology, data, and creativity.”

Eventbrite · Events / Technology · United States

“We didn't set out to build an events company. We set out to bring the world together through live experiences.”

Chewy / GameStop · E-Commerce / Retail · United States (born Canada)

“Delighting customers is a cheat code to growing a business.”

Workday · Enterprise Software / Cloud · United States

“The best companies are built on the principles of putting employees and customers first.”

Snowflake / ServiceNow / Data Domain · Enterprise Software / Cloud Data · United States (born Netherlands)

“If you want to increase performance, raise the bar, increase the tempo, and sharpen the focus.”

Box · Enterprise Cloud Storage · United States

“The enterprise software market is the largest, most underserved market in technology.”

Nutanix / DevRev · Enterprise Software / Cloud Infrastructure · United States (born India)

“The best infrastructure is the kind you never have to think about.”

Uber / Expedia · Transportation / Travel · United States (born Iran)

“We have to change the way we do business. That starts with me.”

Zappos / Downtown Project · E-Commerce / Retail · United States

“Chase the vision, not the money. The money will end up following you.”

Google / Alphabet · Technology / Search / AI · United States (born Russia)

“Obviously everyone wants to be successful, but I want to be looked back on as being very innovative, very trusted and ethical.”

IDG (International Data Group) · Technology Media / Venture Capital · United States

“The most important thing in business is genuine respect for the people you work with.”

Expedia · Travel / E-Commerce · United States (born Iran)

“Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.”

Sequoia Capital · Venture Capital · United States (born Wales)

“All the great companies started when nobody believed in them.”

Kleiner Perkins · Venture Capital · United States

“Ideas are easy. Execution is everything.”

Scour / Red Swoosh · Technology / File Sharing · United States

“Fear is the disease. Hustle is the antidote.”

Sun Microsystems / Khosla Ventures · Technology / Venture Capital / Clean Energy · United States (born India)

“My willingness to fail is what gives me the ability to succeed.”

Ant Group / Alipay · Fintech / Payments · China

“If you don't give up, you still have a chance.”

Infosys · Technology / IT Services · India

“Growth is painful. Change is painful. But nothing is as painful as staying stuck somewhere you don't belong.”

Nasty Gal / Girlboss · Fashion / E-Commerce · United States

“Don't ever grow up. Don't become a bore. Don't ever let the Man get to you.”

SpaceX / Neuralink / xAI / The Boring Company · Aerospace / AI / Neurotechnology · United States (born South Africa)

“When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.”

Haier · Consumer Electronics / Appliances · China

“Enterprises that cannot adapt to users' needs will be eliminated by them.”

IKEA · Retail / Furniture · Sweden

“The most dangerous poison is the feeling of achievement. The antidote is to every evening think about what can be done better tomorrow.”

Dyson · Consumer Electronics / Engineering · United Kingdom

“I made 5,127 prototypes of my vacuum before I got it right. There were 5,126 failures. But I learned from each one.”

General Electric · Conglomerate / Manufacturing · United States

“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.”

Patagonia · Outdoor Apparel / Sustainability · United States

“The word 'growth' doesn't apply to Patagonia. We're not trying to get bigger. We're trying to get better.”

Spanx · Fashion / Undergarments · United States

“It's important to be willing to make mistakes. The worst thing that can happen is you become memorable.”

Girls Who Code · Education / Technology · United States (born India)

“Bravery, not perfection.”

AirAsia · Aviation / Low-Cost Airlines · Malaysia

“Dream the impossible and go out and make it happen. I walked into a releasing office of a major airline and asked for tickets to be on their flights. I walked out with my first deal.”