How to GROW Your Business | Top 3 Lessons from eBay's Founder in 8 Minutes

Hi, I'm Evan Carmichael, and welcome to another edition of Modeling the Masters. I believe that the fastest and most effective way to grow your business is to model the strategies of people who've already done what you're trying to do. So today I'm going to look at how a young entrepreneur followed his passion for computers and in one weekend created the code for a new website that would go on to be one of the most popular websites in the world. This is the story of eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and the top 3 lessons that you can learn from his success.

Pierre Omidyar is an American entrepreneur and philanthropist, economist, and the founder chairman of eBay. Growing up, he became fascinated with computers and often skipped gym class in school to play on their computers. After graduating high school and university, he went to work for an Apple subsidiary to develop software for the Macintosh. Omidyar soon felt the entrepreneur itch and wanted to start his own business. When Omidyar was 28 years old, he stayed in front of his computer for the entire Labor Day long weekend and wrote the original code for eBay. Originally called AuctionWeb, Omidyar wanted to change the name to EchoBay, and drive to Sacramento to register the name. When he arrived, he found "Ecobay" was already registered, so he decided to go with eBay on the spot instead of having to make a return trip. Today eBay has revenues of over $9 billion and Omidyar serves as its chairman. He has an estimated net worth of $6.7 billion, making him the 50th richest person in the world, and it all began with one long weekend writing code and and launching a new website.

By following his passion in computers and by actually taking action on the idea that he had, Pierre Omidyar was able to build one of the most successful companies in his industry. To help you make your company more successful, here are 3 action items that you can learn from Pierre Omidyar.

Action Item #1: Just go for it. You know what one thing every successful entrepreneur has in common? They got started. You may have great business ideas, but if you never take action on them, you have nobody but yourself to blame. Don't be afraid to try something different and fail. You will know failure. Keep trying and experimenting with little projects until you strike gold and can really run with your new business idea. Omidyar had a lot of people who never thought his website would ever take off. Why would complete strangers be willing to buy and sell to each other online? How would they trust each other to complete the deal? Omidyar believed that people were fundamentally good people and would be, for the most part, honorable. He kept at it and intended to prove his critics wrong. Omidyar realized it was working when he started earning more money from eBay than from his day job. According to Omidyar, "I started eBay as an experiment." as a side hobby, basically, while I had my day job. A lot of people don't just go ahead and try things. They'll have an idea, and they'll say, they'll convince themselves, or other people will convince them that it can't be done. I just kind of had this naive approach to, "Well, gee, you know, why not? I'll just go ahead and do it." Don't let people who you may respect and who you believe know what they're talking about Don't let them tell you it can't be done, because often they'll tell you it can't be done, and it's just because they don't have the courage to try. You're able to accomplish anything you set out to accomplish. Action Item #2: Follow your passion. Almost every famous entrepreneur gives similar advice: do what you're passionate about. When you love what you do, you'll make a far better product or service and will have a much bigger impact on your target market. Don't waste time trying out businesses that you're not really interested in just because they can make you money. Focus your energy and talents on what you're uniquely able to create, and you're on your way to building a successful business. From the time he was a young boy, Omidyar knew that his future lied in computers. He didn't know how or when, but when the other boys were outside playing sports, Omidyar was busy teaching himself computer programming languages like BASIC. If he didn't follow his passion and tried to force himself into other areas that didn't interest him, the world would never have come to know eBay. According to Omidyar, "I always wanted to be involved with computers. I was just pursuing what I enjoyed doing. I was pursuing my passion. It's not work, really, if you're having fun." That was the case with me. You have to really believe in what you're doing, be passionate enough about it so that you'll put in the hours and the hard work that it takes to actually succeed there, and then you'll be successful. Action item number 3: Be nice. A lot of people think that business is cutthroat, but it doesn't have to be. When I hire people, one of the core values that we look for is, is this person nice? It's amazing how much more productive you are and how much more fun you have when you enjoy working with the people around you—your staff, your customers, and your suppliers. Omidyar founded eBay with the belief that nice guys finish first. He created a set of core values for the business based on honesty and building trusted relationships. He also believed that if his company could live by those core values, then they would attract customers who felt the same way. To date, his theory has proven to be correct. There are only 30 out of every million transactions that happen on eBay where people file a fraud complaint. According to Omidyar, "I founded the company on the notion that people were basically good, and that if you give them the benefit of the doubt, you're really disappointed." Nice guys, a responsible company that has its heart in the right place, that's run by real human beings, It has to be successful because if we weren't that way, eBay wouldn't be successful. eBay wouldn't exist. It wouldn't be possible.

So remember, just go for it, follow your passion, and be nice. To finish up this video, I wanted to share one of my favorite true stories about Pierre Omidyar and some of his best quotes.

eBay was originally hosted on a website that Omidyar had created with information about the Ebola virus. The site originally allowed buyers and sellers to connect for free, but as the site grew, he had to charge a small fee. Umidyar hoped that the transaction fees would eventually be enough to cover his website hosting costs.

Thank you for joining me for another edition of Model in the Masters. If you guys liked the video, please leave a comment below. I love hearing your thoughts and feedback, and I'd also really appreciate any thumbs up you want to give to the video. And stay tuned for the next episode.

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