When flipping through the Inc.com's Reflections on the Entrepreneurial Journey (slide), I found one interesting story of Ted Turner, the founder of CNN cable news channel.
Ted Turner for revolutionized the media industry when he launched CNN, the first 24-hour cable news channel in 1980. Already a mogul in the television business -- he started Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) in 1970 and later Turner Network Television (TNT) -- he went on to lead Turner Broadcasting through a merger with Time Warner.
When Time Warner subsequently merged with AOL in 2001, Turner's stock in the company collapsed and so did his position as an executive at the company.
Undefeated, he returned to his entrepreneurial roots and started Ted's Montana Grill, now a nationwide chain of 55 restaurants. Looking back on his rise and fall, he said this to Inc. in 2004: "I got fired. I was over 60, and it's hard to get a job when you're over 60. People don't want to give you insurance. I thought: I better get a job! Hell, I lost $8 billion!"
It might be true that Ted is still richer than us even after losing his $8 billion; and so you think, it's easy for him to start another business. But I believe it takes more than initial capital to grow a nationwide restaurant chain. It must be knowledge (of starting and growing a successful business) and execution that enable him to run totally different from what he -- not counting his ability to fight back from financial crisis! These are traits of successful entrepreneurs, like Ted, that differentiate him from any other man in the street.
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