Direct From Houston: Dell is Born
Direct From Houston: Dell is Born
Michael Saul Dell was born on February 23, 1965, in Houston, Texas. The son of a Jewish orthodontist, Dell’s family was financially well off. Dell discovered his entrepreneurial instincts at a young age, starting his first business, Dell’s Stamps, when he was just 12 years old. After he earned $2,000 from his stamp collection, Dell was hooked. When he was 16 years old, Dell began selling newspaper subscriptions to the Houston Post by sifting through the city’s mortgage and marriage license lists. This, he believed, would lead him to people who were new to the area and who would not yet have a subscription. By the end of his first year, Dell had made over $18,000. Although he was still a student at Memorial High School in Houston, Dell was earning more than even his high school teachers. By the time he graduated, Dell was driving his very own BMW.
Despite being financially successful, Dell’s early teachers saw little promise in him, with one commenting that he “would probably never go anywhere in life.” Dell enrolled in the University of Texas at Austin and began studying biology with the intention of becoming a physician. Although Dell’s first exposure to computers was when he was 15 years old – he took apart and reassembled the motherboard of his brand new Apple II – it wasn’t until he was in university that his interest in computers was again peaked.
In 1984, Dell came up with a simple but radical idea: build custom computers and sell them directly to the customers. He had learned early on from his stamp experience the benefits of removing the middleman. With a $1,000 loan, Dell created a computer company called PC’s Limited from his dorm room at UT. He soon realized that biology was not his passion – that perhaps the stacks of computer books and magazines beside his bed were trying to tell him something.
As the success of PC’s Limited continued to grow throughout the school year, Dell began to realize that he was on to something great. He was 19 years old and in his freshman year, but school was the farthest thing from his mind. With an additional loan from his grandparents, Dell changed his company’s name to Dell Computer Corporation and dropped out of school to focus on his business full-time.
“I had to give it a full go and see what happened,” recalls Dell. “I couldn’t resist the opportunity.” But, Dell’s parents were less enthusiastic. All of a sudden, their soon-to-be physician had become a university dropout. To placate his parents, Dell mde them a bargain: “The deal was, I would start into business full time in May, and at the end of August we would take a look and decide if it was doing well.” If it was not, Dell promised to return to school.
Dell never went back to university.
Direct From Houston Dell is Born
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In 1999, Michael Dell was giving a lecture on the ABCs of entrepreneurship to a business class at his psuedo-alma mater, the University of Texas. When it came time for the question and answer period, one of the students eagerly stood up and asked Dell why, despite being worth over $17 billion, he continues going to work each day. “You’ve got so much money,” the student said. “Why don’t you just sell out, buy a boat, and sail off to the Caribbean?” Dell stared back at the student and replied, “Sailing’s boring. Do you have any idea how much fun it is to run a billion-dollar company?”
Michael Saul Dell was born on February 23, 1965, in Houston, Texas. The son of a Jewish orthodontist, Dell’s family was financially well off. Dell discovered his entrepreneurial instincts at a young age, starting his first business, Dell’s Stamps, when he was just 12 years old. After he earned $2,000 from his stamp collection, Dell was hooked. When he was 16 years old, Dell began selling newspaper subscriptions to the Houston Post by sifting through the city’s mortgage and marriage license lists. This, he believed, would lead him to people who were new to the area and who would not yet have a subscription. By the end of his first year, Dell had made over $18,000. Although he was still a student at Memorial High School in Houston, Dell was earning more than even his high school teachers. By the time he graduated, Dell was driving his very own BMW.
Despite being financially successful, Dell’s early teachers saw little promise in him, with one commenting that he “would probably never go anywhere in life.” Dell enrolled in the University of Texas at Austin and began studying biology with the intention of becoming a physician. Although Dell’s first exposure to computers was when he was 15 years old – he took apart and reassembled the motherboard of his brand new Apple II – it wasn’t until he was in university that his interest in computers was again peaked.
In 1984, Dell came up with a simple but radical idea: build custom computers and sell them directly to the customers. He had learned early on from his stamp experience the benefits of removing the middleman. With a $1,000 loan, Dell created a computer company called PC’s Limited from his dorm room at UT. He soon realized that biology was not his passion – that perhaps the stacks of computer books and magazines beside his bed were trying to tell him something.
As the success of PC’s Limited continued to grow throughout the school year, Dell began to realize that he was on to something great. He was 19 years old and in his freshman year, but school was the farthest thing from his mind. With an additional loan from his grandparents, Dell changed his company’s name to Dell Computer Corporation and dropped out of school to focus on his business full-time.
“I had to give it a full go and see what happened,” recalls Dell. “I couldn’t resist the opportunity.” But, Dell’s parents were less enthusiastic. All of a sudden, their soon-to-be physician had become a university dropout. To placate his parents, Dell mde them a bargain: “The deal was, I would start into business full time in May, and at the end of August we would take a look and decide if it was doing well.” If it was not, Dell promised to return to school.
Dell never went back to university.
Direct From Houston Dell is Born
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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