How They Made Their Millions (Vijay Peduru)

Ehud Shabtai got a GPS and he thought of creating an app. But the maps company blocked him. He came up with a unique solution and Waze became a hit with users and finally they sold it to Google for a billion dollars. Let us see how they did it.

Household cleaning products were dominated by giant companies with their toxic and harmful products. Two friends created "non-toxic" and "cool-looking" cleaning products and they beat the giants and are making $100+ million.

Let us check out how...

Mary kay Ash had a very tough childhood growing up as a poor girl. She faced many personal and professional setbacks and was depressed. She finally started a cosmetics company with $5000 and became a billionaire. Let us check out, how she built it.

Jerry was a sales manager but he did not like it. He wanted to start a software  business but he ended up starting a chocolate business.  He did not know anything but he made it into a $10million business. Let us check out how he did it.

Sheila Marcelo aspired to have a fulfilling life with a well-planned career. However, life took an unexpected turn, and she faced many challenging situations. Despite this, she persevered and founded care.com from her personal problem, transforming it into a multi-million dollar empire.

Listen in for her inspiring story.

Harry and Esther, who grew up poor started a small burger stand. It grew to 300 stores and developed a cult following. Now it is valued at more that a billion dollars. Holy Yummy, How did they do it. Let's check it out.

When you listen to a song on the radio or a cafe, you sometimes may want to know who sang it. Chris and his friends solved this problem through Shazam. It was hard but they did it and sold it for multiple millions.Let us see how they did it.

Ryan started a side project with no idea to make money or to make it big. He first started as an email list and it grew phenomenally. It was sold for more than $15 million. Let us see how he did it.

Nicolas Jammet, Jonathan Neman, and Nathaniel Ru were three friends who shared a passion for healthy food. Since they couldn't find good places to eat healthy food, they started their own. They did not know anything about business and came close to shutting down their business. But they survived and turned it into a multi-million dollar food empire.

Let's check out their "Dorm Room Dream to Million-Dollar Food Empire" story.

Tobias Lutke never had any dreams to start a business and he knew he was not capable. But by sheer accident, he started Shopify and later became a billionaire. Let us check out his story.

William Durant started General motors, but it almost came close to shutting down. Then Alfred Sloan stepped in. He adopted a different approach than his competitors to sell his cars. The strategy worked and sales took off.

GM ultimately became a multi-billion dollar company. Let us check out their story.

Lucas oils is a manufacturer and distributor of automotive oil, additives, and lubricants.

Its founder is Forrest Lucas and his is a proverbial ‘rags-to-riches’ story, emerging from rural Indiana to build an empire. He started as a truck driver and become an oil and media magnate and, in the process, becoming a multi-millionaire. Let us check out his story.

Jon needed  photographs for his websites and when he couldn't find cheaper photographs, he sensed that others will have the same problem and started ShutterStock.

He started with less than $1000 and  took it to  $2+ billion IPO.Let's see how he did it.

There were huge dating websites with plenty of cash and thousands of employees. Can one person and a new entrant take on these giants and still succeed and make millions with zero employees.  Markus did it with PlentyofFish.com. Holy Apple Pie!, Let us find out how he did it.

Do Won Chang started as a gas station attendant. He then started a small shop and grew it to a multi-billion dollar fashion empire. Let us see how he did it.

Mike and Matt started GrubHub as a side project while working on their day jobs as computer programmers. They bootstrapped it with their own money and took GrubHub to a 3+ billion IPO.

Holy Chocolatey Doughnut. How did they do it. Let us check it out…

Angie Hicks a fresh college grad accidentally started a business. She had very bad days and almost gave up. Later it was sold for multiple millions. Let us see how she did it.

Jan Koum migrated to America in his teens. His family was poor,Yet this kid rose to build an app called Whatsapp. It grew like crazy and was purchased for a whopping $15+ billion. Holy smokes. How is this possible.

Let us check out this unbelievable story.

Tim started his career as a Nanny and was playing  in bands as a side hustle. He saw the agonizing problems his fellow musicians were facing and he started Pandora.
He faced several problems and he  came very close to shutting it down, but didn't.

Let us see how he did it.

John Nordstrom was poor and immigrated to the united states. He had to endure tough working conditions in his youth. He saved up money and opened a small store. Today it has grown to a billion-dollar fashion empire. Let us see how he did it.

Let us check it out.

TripAdvisor is a great site to plan and book a perfect trip. Steve, the founder did not get the idea in a bath tub, He had his own problem, couldn't find a solution. He built it and sold it for $100+ million. Bingo Bango,Let us check out, how he did it.

When Rachel, a healthy vegetarian food lover, injured herself during pregnancy, her husband got her a frozen vegetarian dinner, which tasted Yucky.

They started their own vegetarian frozen dishes business and grew big into a 200+ million business. How?

Charles_Kettering grew up poor and had health problems. Yet, he persevered and invented many things including the self-starter in cars and became a multi-millionaire. Let us see how he did it.

Truett Cathy , the founder of Chick-fill-a grew up dirt-poor and in utter poverty. He focused his life on truly serving people and he rose from a poor boy living in poverty to a billionaire. How did he do it. Let us find out.

Daymond John was an ordinary guy working as a waiter in a restaurant and in his spare time started FUBU(For us by Us) a sports apparel company with just $40 and turned it into $350+ million in revenue.

Let us check out how he did it.

Kara Godin never intended to start a business. But she had a personal problem of losing weight. She started to share her unsweetened, fruit infused water with friends in her neighborhood. When they all liked it, she realized the potential opportunity.

She heard “no you can't” and “that’s impossible” from many people. But she finally made Hint a success and became a multi-millionaire.

Let us check out her amazing story.

Ryan had a dream of starting a company and becoming a multi-millionaire while he was young. He ran out of money and faced many personal tragedies. Did he succeed? I am sure you know the answer by reading the headline. Let us check out how he did it.

Jeff ran out of money and was not able to pay his employees. On top of this, his company got sued, yet he kept pushing forward and succeed and sold StubHub to ebay for $300+ million.
Let us check out how he did it.

Trip Hawkins grew up at a time when there were no computers. He loved complex sports simulation board games, but others found it complex. He dreamt of a day to make playing games easier and fun. Finally he did it with EA. He went thru many harrowing experiences but came out successfully and in the process became a multi-millionaire.

Julie was a mother of two. She created a product for her kids called Baby Einstein. but then others liked it and she was accidentally pulled into creating a multi-million dollar business. Let us see how she did it.

Neil Blumenthal along with his 3 friends started a business, while he was in college. Everyone he talked to said, they would fail, Yet, they started Warby Parker and turned it into a multi-billion dollar company. Let us see how they did it.

Black entertainment television founder Bob Johnson was a son of farmer and one of nine children. He has no business experience, yet he started and became a Billionaire . Holy chocolate, Let's see how he did it.

Brian Lam was laid-off from his tech job  and he trained himself  as a professional fighter, but he switched careers and finally started the Wirecutter website. He sold it to The New York Times for $30+ million.
Let us see how he did it.

Is it possible to do what we love..have fun and.. also make money.
Leo Laporte of the famous “TWIT TV” podcast  did it by bootstrapping his podcast empire almost by accident. Let us check out how he is doing it.

We all heard about internet unicorns --the billion dollar-- valuation companies.

but can that be done with a non-internet business that too with a simple Yogurt business. Hamdi Ulukaya an immigrant proved it can be done and became a billionaire.

Here is how he did it...

Everyone hates working out in the gym, Yet these two moms invented a fitness that made exercise effective and joyful. They had very humble beginning and started in a sublet scrappy studio and built a Multi-million dollar indoor cycling fitness empire.

Jim started to brew beer in his kitchen. He faced many rejections while trying to sell. Yet he persevered and grew Boston Beer company into a billion dollar company. Let us see how he did it.

Bob Parsons grew up poor and since he wanted money he tried several means to earn money. He started GoDaddy and came close to shutting it down. But he persisted and succeeded and ultimately became a billionaire.

Can you be cheap and scrappy and yet build a business that is both fun and makes millions. James and Jim built HotorNot by bootstrapping all the way and came out with creative ideas to save themselves from shutting down.

Let us check out how they did it.

Gordon Ramsay was born poor and grew up in abusive situations. But this didn't deter him. He rose to become a world-famous chef and media personality. Holy mango Pudding!, Let us see who he did it.

Alex and Steve started Reddit in a small apartment. Despite its many problems and coming close to shutting down, it survived and today is valued at more that a couple of billion dollars. Let us see how they did it.

Al Copeland was born in utter poverty and never graduated high school. Yet he struggled and started popeyes. He explored his various passions and lived life to his fullest. Popeyes was a big success, and he became a multi-millionaire. Let's check out his story.

Robert Stephens started Geek Squad with just himself and $200 investment.
He did some fascinating marketing without any money.
and he grew  to thousands of employees and sold Geek Squad to Best buy for Millions.
How did he do it. Let us check out.

Justin Gold started working as a waiter to pay off his student loans, but then he stumbled on his passion for peanut and almond butter. Even though he did not know anything about starting a business, he figured it out and started it. Even though he came close to shutting down and there was no hope left to survive, he kept pursuing and finally emerged victoriously and  became a multi-millionaire. Let us see how he did it.

Jamie Siminoff tried many ideas and failed. One time by accident, he stumbled on the idea for a WIFI Video doorbell. It was tough to survive, but he doggedly persisted and finally sold his company for a whopping $1.2billion. Let us see how he did it…

Caterina and Stewart started building an online multi-player game and money was running out. They accidentally hit upon an photo sharing idea-- Flickr-- and built it and sold for $30+ million. Holy Crispy Croissants. Let us check out, how they did it.

Rashmi Sinha & Jonathan Boutelle wanted to embed PowerPoint presentations into other websites, but they could not find a solution. So how did they turn this personal problem into a Multi-million dollar business. Let us check out their story.

Jim Sinegal started as a grocery bagger in a grocery store. How did he start Costco and became a billionaire. Holy coconut Donut, Let us check out, how he did it.

Reid Hoffman was bad at academics , then he started and failed at his first startup. Yet he persevered and later started Linkedin.

He  sold it to Microsoft for $20+  billion.

Holy Tasty Strawberry pie. How did he do it. Let us check it out.

Dr. Dre and Jimmy Lovine, both music producers, recognized the need for high-quality headphones that could accurately reproduce the sound of music as it was intended to be heard in the studio.

Despite facing initial challenges and negative reviews from some critics, they persevered with their idea, continuously improving their product and pushing forward. Their unwavering determination paid off, as they ultimately sold their company for a staggering sum of over $2 billion.

Let us check out their story.

Behance is like LinkedIn for Designers. Scott started with a low-level job as a financial trader but later started Behance with less than $20,000 Later, he sold it to Adobe for more than $100 million. Let us see how he did it.

Can a person born to Chinese immigrants who was broke and no job, build a 100million-plus business with his passion for music. Check out how Monster Audio's Noel Lee did it.

Jeremy first idea for yelp failed to get traction and almost failed. He accidentally found that users loved writing reviews and he redesigned Yelp and it took off wildly and made Jeremy a multi-millionaire. Let us see how he did it.

Robin Chase was a stay at him mom & Antje Danielson was a mom and academic researcher. They never had any prior experience starting a business but they had deep passion to make the world a better place. They started ZipCar and even though they faced several problems and came close to shutting it down, they survived. Finally they sold it for $500 million.

Let us check out their story.

Jamie Kern Lima had a dream to become a TV show host, but her dreams were shattered because of a problem she had. She later started IT cosmetics to solve her own problem. Faced with self-doubt, and down to her last few dollars, she persisted in the face of gut-wrenching rejections and setbacks. Finally she sold it to L’Oréal for multiple millions.

Let us check out her awe-inspiring story.

Brian and Matt had a simple idea of enabling anyone to search for family history across centuries. Initially they did not have this idea, but  found it from their users. They sold this company for $90+ million.


Holy Waffle, Let us check out how they did it.

Leonard Gentine never had any plans for starting a business. But by sheer accident, he got to know about a new profession and started a business which was a failure. Later by another accident, he got the idea to start a cheese making business. He faced several problems but finally they succeeded and it became a billion dollar company.

Let us check out his story.

How did Dorothy Herman rose from life-crushing Trauma to become a multi-millionaire Real-Estate icon. Let us check out her awe-inspiring story.

Tim Chen had a nice job in the financial services industry. But something bad happened, and he accidentally started NerdWallet. Money was not coming in and he thought of shutting it down. But he somehow persisted and finally took it public and became a multi-millionaire. Let us see how he did it.

Can a simple kid's game with penguins become a blockbuster hit , and then attract Disney to buy them for $325+ million.

Here is how three guys, Lane Merrifield , Dave Krysko and Lance Priebe did it with Club Penguin.

Before he turned 20, Fred used a borrowed $1,000 investment to open a sandwich shop in Connecticut. Today, Subway has more than 40,000 locations worldwide and Fred became a billionaire. Holy Macaroni, How did he do it, Let us find out.

How  did Brian lee and Brian Lui start LegalZoom, a company that provides legal documentation in a one-bedroom apartment eating ramen noodles and became multi-millionaires.

Let us check out their ramen-to-riches story.

Derek did not know anything about programming, he did not know how to start and run a business.

He did not have enough money. He just started with $500 and eventually sold his business CDBaby for $19+ millions.

Let us check out, how he did it.

Suroosh Alvi's parents had high hopes for his future. But during his college, he got addicted to drugs. Yet, he transformed from a worthless drug addict to a multi-millionaire. Let us see how he did it with VICE.

Mike Ramsay and Jim Barton had a Home automation idea, which didn't work out. They switched to another idea and TiVo was born. Giant media companies tried to stop them, yet they came out successful and sold it for $1+ billion. Let's see how they did it.

In the late 1960's, Tom and Kate Chappell couldn't find natural personal care products. So they started their own company. They didn’t knew much about running a business, but they succeeded and sold for more than $100 million. Let us see how they did it.

Mark Cuban’s father was an automobile upholstery installer and life was not the best. He figured out ways to make money and finished his education. He was not sure what to do with his life, but a chance firing from his job made him start a business. Later he started Broadcast.com, sold it and became a billionaire. Let us check out his story.

Yvon Chouinard  grew up poor, dropped out of high school and was a failure in life.  Accidentally,he started a business and it grew wildly and he became a billionaire. Holy Mango Pie. Let us check out how he did it

How did Nick Woodman , the founder of GoPro grow from selling bead belts in a VW van to creating a billion-dollar empire. Let us check it out.

Pretty inspiring story. Anne Beiler had to face an agonizing, intolerable personal loss. Yet this 8th grade dropout,courageously came out and built one of the most enduring Pretzel stores dotting across the world.Let us find out how she did it.

How did Diane Hendricks, a high school dropout and a Teen single mom built ABC Supply, the largest wholesale roofing distributor in America, and rose to become a Billionaire Entrepreneur, even though she faced unbearable personal truama in her life. Let us check out her wonderful story.

Microsoft and Quicken were leaders and giants with lots of cash and marketing power in the personal finance software business. Yet, Aaron took on the giants and built a "sure-to-fail" business and sold to Intuit for $160+ million.Let us see how he did it.

Danny Zappin, Shay Carl and a few other YouTubers, started their own YouTube Channels and amassed millions of subscribers. They decided to pool together their talent, followers and subscribers into a kind of talent network. They called it Maker Studios.

It kept growing and they finally sold it for more than $500 million. Let us check out their story.

Josh and Ricky wanted to make money when they were in college. They got an idea for a humor site about college. It grew and grew and they finally sold it for more than $15 million. Let us check out how they did it.

How did a model who was a high-school dropout become a Business Mogul building a multi-billion dollar company.

Let us check out her inspiring story.

Can an insane idea of selling mismatched socks succeed?. Who would want to wear them.. right?

Wrong..,Jonah Staw proved it will succeed by building LittleMissMatched and generating multiple millions.

Let us see how he did it.

David set aside his dreams of becoming a professional musician to help his parents with their struggling cheesecake business. He helped them open a small restaurant and today it has become a billion dollar global phenomenon.

Let us check it out.

Jessica was a popular Hollywood actress. She had a personal problem and could not find products to solve her problem. So, she started her own business and made it into a multi-million dollar company. Holy Danish pastry. Let us check out how she did it.

Kevin worked on his startup idea close to 2 years but it didn't take off.  He took a risk, scraped his old idea and went with a new idea, which he found almost by accident.
It was a hit and Facebook bought it for $1 billion. Let us check out how he did it

Anita Roddick had to earn money to support her two kids. She started a store and sold chemical free, cruelty-free cosmetics. It grew from one tiny shop into a billion dollar enterprise. Let us see how she did it.

Can you build a high trafficked blog with your passion and also make money.

Graham Hill did it with TreeHugger.com and sold for $10 million. Here is how he did it.

Drew Houston's first job was babysitting and he was making $3.00 per hour, but then he figured out that he could get paid more doing what he loved.. Game programming. He later started DropBox. He had many setbacks, and he had to face the demons in his head. He overcame all this and finally took Dropbox Public. Both he and his co-founder became billionaires. Let us see how he did it.

Milton Hershey started many business and failed in all of them. Any one else would have been crushed by these failures but not Milton. His passion  kept him going and he became one of the richest person in America.

Let us find out how he did it.

Arianna Huffington grew up in a poor family where money was scarce. She faced many failures, rejections, and heartbreaks. Yet, how did she start and sold Huffington Post for 300+ million? Let us check it out.

Sabeer was working as a programmer and had a personal problem with accessing his email. He started Hotmail and it grew fast. Microsoft came calling and he sold it for $300+ million.

Bloomingdale is a high-end luxury department chain started in New York. It started as a tiny shop selling only one item. Yet it grew into a billion-dollar high-end luxury store chain. Let us check out their story.

Tim Ferriss was depressed most of the time and one time thought of ending his life. But he escaped that by fate of luck. Later he started a business and even here he felt overworked, restless, and unsure of how to fix his life. During this process he also lost all that was important to him.

At this time, he discovered and learnt something which changed the course of his life.

Later he published the 4-hour workweek, about his experiences and how he fixed his life. The book was a massive success and changed the lives of millions of people around the world.

Let us check out his story.

Aaron Levie dropped out of college and started box. He was getting crushed by big players like Google and Microsoft. Yet, he overcame all this, took Box public and became a multi-millionaire at a very young age. Holly Fruit Cake,Let us see how he did it.

Tom Scott and Tom First started by delivering food and other stuff to boats in a harbor.  They  ultimately started a Juice company by accident which was sold for  $100+ million dollars.

Holy Choco, Let us check out how they did it.

Nobu a poor boy , dreamt of opening his own sushi restaurant. He started a few restaurants, but all of them failed  He  attempted suicide but it was averted . He pulled himself up and opened  a fourth one and it became wildly successful and generated millions. Let us see how he did it.

Bill was fired from his job and he accidentally stumbled upon the idea for 24 hours sports network. Everyone thought he was crazy and said it will not work. Today it has millions of viewers and valued at more than $15 billion. Let us check it out.

Richard quit his stressful software job and tried to become a DJ. He failed miserably. He got an idea for a board game. None of the stores wanted to carry it. He figured out solutions and finally sold Cranium for $70+ million. Let's check how he did it.