Often we judge tech entrepreneurs and their successes by face value. However, a lot of their achievements are just tip of the iceberg–it doesn’t reflect the struggles they have faced to get where they are now. This article features five inspiring tech moguls who overcame their struggles to get their way to the top.
The journey to tech entrepreneurship is often a perilous path. Not only do you have to understand the demands of your market, but you also have to keep your business updated with the trends to seal your way to success. Majority of business startups fail–and these statistics are consistent within the realm of technology. Technology is a dynamic niche–only those who are truly innovative and determined get to win in the game.
Here are some of the brilliant minds behind successful tech founders who have beat the odds.
Chad Mureta
Char Mureta was a former real estate business manager when he experienced something tragically life-changing–he suffered from a car accident that made him stay in the hospital longer than expected. The accident left him almost losing one of his arms, making him unable to focus on his real estate business which needs him to always be physically present.
On top of that, he has piling medical bills left unpaid, which led Mureta to think of ways to find other sources of income. On his hospital bed, he read a magazine article about mobile apps and he decided to dip his feet into the potential that he believed was worth the risk. From there, he decided to take out a $ 1,800 loan and made over $140,000 in his first app called Fingerprint Security Pro. Now, he has created 46 successful apps and runs his own blog called App Empire.
Sam Frons
Sam Frons was at the brink of despair–she had a missed bipolar diagnosis which ultimately led her to ruined relationships, drugs, and depression. During this time, her family encouraged her to go to a 28-day rehabilitation program. Although the program worked, she found it difficult to have consistent support groups, and this where her brainchild, Addicaid was born.
Addicaid is a program based from machine learning and artificial intelligence backed up with evidenced-based addiction strategies. It helps predict when a person may be at risk of relapse, or developing addictive behaviors. Once this is identified, Addicaid offers personalized treatment such as avoiding trigger locations and presenting coping tools and hotline numbers.
William Nobrega
Early 2014 was a difficult time for William Nobrega. He was broke, living in a small apartment in Hong Kong after his previous startup ran out of business. He had a new idea, but since he didn’t have enough funds to push it though, he felt stuck in his situation.
However, this roadblock didn’t stop him from pushing forward. As a former member of the US Army Special Forces, he committed himself to finding investors who can fund his business. It turned out to be a glorious success–which is now called CQS International. CQS International is an e-commerce insurance company that makes use of GPS tracking and mobile technology to help generate leads. His perseverance led to an overall estimate value of $ 170 million.
Barry Shore
Barry Shore was a former self-established man. He had things going great for him and a few years before successfully retiring. Things struck at a different chord when he turned 55 and was diagnosed with the Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) which made him paralyzed in his entire body.
At this time, many would think his “glory days” were over and unable to do anything meaningful in his life. Although he recovered after some time, he mentioned that he cannot perform the daily operations of running his former businesses. This is the low point where Shore was inspired to build Dlyte.com, a gift card e-commerce company that give cash-redeemable points for loyal customers. Throughout the decades of having GBS, he did not lose his positivity, spirit, and creativity as an entrepreneur.
Pierre Omidyar
The mid-1990s was an interesting time for computer enthusiasts. Although there were a lot of seemingly attractive opportunities, only a few really make it into the tech scene. At this time, Pierre Omidyar was struggling to auction a bunch of random things in his website, with little to no success.
This didn’t faze Omidyar–he continued on with his auctioning, then gradually his website developed traffic at a heightened pace. The website turned out to be eBay.com–a large e-commerce website that made a name for itself globally. Pierre Omidyar is an example that you don’t always have to start big. Often large successes starts with small steps.
Success comes the struggle
Each success is laced with the badges of struggles that came along with it. As we discover more people who are enjoying the benefits of being at the top, we also come to know that the true attitude of successful founders is not giving up amidst the challenges.
Author Bio: Patrick Bailey is a professional writer mainly in the fields of mental health, addiction, and living in recovery. He attempts to stay on top of the latest news in the addiction and the mental health world and enjoy writing about these topics to break the stigma associated with them.
