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Overview

What do Elon Musk, Larry Page, Oprah Winfrey and Michael Ilitch have in common? They’re all self-made billionaires who are at the helm of huge business empires. But that’s not all they have in common; when you look at their stories, it’s clear that there are some key skills and abilities behind their success.

In this passage, you will learn how Hui Lin Chit made a fortune selling napkins; what billionaire Alex Spanos learned from selling sandwiches; and how to partner for success.

Big Idea #1: Self-made billionaires excel at juggling multiple ideas and perspectives.

In order to be a billionaire, you need to think differently than the average entrepreneur. In today’s constantly changing world, it’s no longer enough to focus on one thing at a time; instead, you have to learn how to juggle multiple ideas.

Self-made billionaires maintain multiple ideas and perspectives at all times. Most people will try to focus on one thing at a time, but Bill Gates achieved his success by managing dualities—managing multiple ideas and actions simultaneously.

Bill Gates has multiple companies that he runs, including Microsoft and Corbis. He also owns Cascade Investment as well.

Gates is an example of a successful entrepreneur who can handle multiple ideas at once.

Producers are people who have a clear vision and can bring innovative ideas to the table. Producers unite the right kinds of people and know how to use all their resources effectively.

On the other side of the spectrum are producers. These are people who have a specific talent and focus on that talent. Producers can be found in any industry, though they’re most common in entertainment industries like film and television. We can look at Lynda Resnick as an example of how producers work with performers to create successful businesses. Resnick is the producer who identifies a product she thinks will sell well and creates a marketing strategy around it, while Stewart Resnick (her husband) is the performer who oversees all financial aspects of their business so that his wife doesn’t spend too much money on advertising or promotion if it’s not necessary for success in sales.

Rather than focusing on one idea at a time, self-made billionaires embrace the power of duality. The following five points will reveal the most important dualities:

Big Idea #2: Self-made millionaires have creative ideas that keep consumers in mind.

So, what makes billionaires different? They have a unique set of skills that help them succeed. One such skill is called empathic imagination: the ability to merge creativity with an understanding of customers’ needs and wants.

Producing a hit movie requires one to be good at thinking of many different ideas. One must also have the ability to come up with something new and unusual, which is known as “divergent thinking”.

For example, in the early 1980s, finding information on different mutual funds was a time-consuming process. Entrepreneur Joe Mansueto empathized with how frustrating this was for investors and came up with an idea to simplify the process: he took $80,000 of savings and created Morningstar, a publication that would provide investment data in a simple format.

Mansueto’s idea of creating a mutual fund was inspired by his own experience as an investor and customer. He realized that investors wanted to have more control over their investments, so he started Morningstar, which became the leading investment research company in the world. This is exactly what Hui Lin Chit did when he founded an apparel business in China after manufacturing zippers for clothing companies. But it wasn’t successful because people didn’t want to buy expensive clothes at that time; therefore, Mr. Chit shifted his focus to low-income women who lived in rural areas and needed affordable clothes.