“Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracles!”

David Filo partnered with his friend Jerry Yang and created the popular search engine Yahoo!. What started as a hobby Filo and Yang spent together during their vacant times while studying at Stanford University is now one of the most popular search engines and directories on the web.

Filo is a native of Wisconsin but later moved to Moss Bluff, Louisiana at six years old. As a dean’s lister in Tulane University where he finished his high school, Filo earned a scholarship at the University where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering. He pursued his graduate studies at Stanford University where he finished his Master of Science degree in Computer Engineering.

While at Stanford, Filo and Yang would spend their free times surfing the internet. They figured out how to place all the thousands of websites appearing everyday into one directory. Their “experiment” led to the birth of Yahoo!. Yahoo! is the acronym for “Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracles!”

To make their search engine different, Yahoo! offers online personals, shopping, dating, web hosting and many more.

How a $1000 Investment Became a Multi-Billion Company

Michael Dell is the founder the multi-billion dollar computer company Dell, Inc. With annual sales recorded at $50 billion, Dell, Inc. put Dell into the list of the richest men in the world at fourth place in 2005 with net worth estimated at $18 billion.

Dell was born on February 23, 1965 in Houston, Texas. He showed interest in computers early on and started pulling them at 15. He wanted to be a doctor when he joined the University of Texas but found himself leaving the University at 19 to start his own business.

In 1984, Dell started his business, PC’s Limited, with just one thousand dollars. He started selling personal computers directly to customers, which set him apart as a young entrepreneur.

At PC’s Limited, the customers can customize their computers according to their specifications. Customers place their orders through order forms and phone and internet orders. Since Dell did not have a store to maintain and did not pay third parties to sell his computers, he kept his competitors at bay with cheap but quality computers.

From PC’s Limited, Dell changed his business name to Dell Computer Corporation. The new corporation was valued at $80 million during its IPO. In just four years, Dell Computer Corporation was listed in Fortune’s 500 largest companies in the world, which made Michael Dell the youngest CEO to hit the Fortune 500 list.

Dell’s corporation kept growing and expanding in dramatic ways year after year. Dell Computer Corporations sold more PC units than any other computer suppliers in America.

As the company diversified to other areas of business like entertainment systems and personal gadgets, Dell Computer Corporation was renamed Dell, Inc.

To share how Dell turned his $1000 investment into a multi-billion company that it is now, he co-authored his autobiography entitled “Direct From Dell: Strategies That Revolutionized an Industry.”

Dell started the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation to sponsor his philanthropic activities and return the blessings he received. The foundation wanted to improve the lives of children in the US and the world.

The Business Leadership Skills of Katun Corporation’s David Jorgensen

An entrepreneur and talented business leader, David Jorgensen has always taken a proactive approach to life. Attending the University of Utah, a family tradition, was pretty much the last thing he did that was preordained. Even then, he was a free thinker, changing his political leanings from Republican, his family’s party of choice, to Democrat while in college. Later, he discarded the tenets of both parties to become a Libertarian. Following his rather unexceptional undergraduate career, David Jorgensen went on to earn an M.B.A. from the University of Washington and an M.S. in Engineering from Stanford University as well as completing all work on a Ph.D. except for the dissertation. But it was business that would become his forte.

Throughout his career, Mr. Jorgensen demonstrated excellent leadership skills. He co-founded startups, interacted well with both the suits and those in the trenches, and became CEO of Dataquest, Inc., the first successful market research firm to use the newly available computer technology. Additionally, he and a partner founded and led Katun Corporation, an aftermarket supplier of alternatives to OEM (original equipment manufacturer) photocopier parts, imaging supplies, and photoreceptors. As examples of his leadership skills, he aided in acquiring firms, expanding the company to Europe, and opening new distribution centers, building Katun to a $350 million business by the time it was sold to private-equity investors in 2002.

David Jorgensen has extended his leadership to the nonprofit arena, establishing and overseeing the David and Annette Jorgensen Foundation and serving on the National Philanthropy Board of the Pacific Legal Foundation. He also acts as Vice Chairman of the Free to Choose Network. The latter organization supports and provides nonpartisan resources for independent analysis and critical thinking, traits Mr. Jorgensen has exhibited throughout his entrepreneurial career. At the group’s annual Winning Ideas Weekend, deserving teachers win the David and Annette Jorgensen Award for Excellence, another quality that can be ascribed to Mr. J.

Wayne Dyer: Influencing Thousands with his Bestsellers

Wayne Dyer is an author, motivational, therapist and self-help expert, having published more than 10 bestsellers. His messages have influenced thousands of readers on happiness and abundance.

Dyer spent most of his boyhood years in foster homes where he learned to be self-reliant. He served the Navy as a teenager for four years. After his stint with the Navy, he attended Wayne State University where he earned his doctorate degree in educational counseling.

One of his first successful bestsellers was “Your Erroneous Zones.”  Over the span of 25 years, Dyer has author other self-help classics in the area of motivation, self-development and spirituality. He authored other bestsellers like “Real Magic,” “Wisdom of the Ages,” and “You’ll See it When you Believe it.”

Dyer has also produced his own audio books where he taped his lectures and seminar speeches. He has appeared in many radio and television programs such as “The Tonight Show” and “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

Peter Drucker and the “Concept of the Corporation”

Peter Ferdinand Drucker was a 20^th century economist and business management leader. Many of today’s management practices were revolutionized by Drucker and published in over 30 business books.

Drucker was born in Vienna, Austria on November 19, 1909. When scarcity of employment opportunities struck after the World War I, Drucker moved to Germany to work and study. Later, he earned his doctorate degree in international law. He moved to London during the rise of the Nazis, then later to the US, where he worked as a freelance writer and university professor. He earned his US citizenship in 1943.

In 1945, Drucker was given access to the management team of General Motors. He collaborated with the executives of the company and shared with them his management ideas out of his Europe experience. This collaboration, especially with GM’s admin executive Donaldson Brown, led to Drucker’s Concept of the Corporation. This work helped GM structure its management into multiple divisions. The “concept” helped launch Drucker’s career and new ideas in corporate management.

At the dawn of mass productions and rising large corporations Drucker saw that some companies still embraced the old management style resulting to an imbalance of information and power. He wrote and delivered speeches on how managements can redo their structures for efficient use of their human resources.

He became a teacher in Management at New York University in 1950 and continued teaching until 1971. He was a Clark Professor of Social Science and Management at Claremont Graduate University between 1971 and 2005. He was an editorial columnist for the Wall Street Journal and a regular contributor to the prestigious Harvard Business Review. He also wrote for The Economist and The Atlantic Monthly.

Drucker died of “natural reasons” on November 11, 2005 in California. His 39 books were translated into 20 different languages.

Who Was Simon Cowell Before American Idol?

Simon Cowell is a TV and music producer who is arguably the most popular talent search judge ever. His popularity rose when he judged British shows Pop Idol and Britain’s Got Talent, and American shows American Idol and X Factor.

Cowell was born on October 7, 1959 in Brighton, England. His aesthetic inclinations were passed on to him by his father Eric Philip, who was a music industry executive, and his ballet dancer mother Julie. They helped the young Cowell shape his interest in music and arts.

Cowell had difficulty maintaining friendly ties with co-workers and employers. So his father found him a job at EMI Music Publishing. Soon, he was hired as an assistant to an A&R (artists and repertoire) man. He helped the A&R man scout for new talents. Because of his experience, he was promoted to a music publishing position.

He left EMI to form his own music company known as E&S Music. The Company did not perform well so it was closed after just one year. Cowell found himself working for Iain Burton at Fanfare Records Ltd. During his stint at Fanfare, he helped the company become successful as an “indie pop” recording outfit. He left Fanfare when he faced problems with his debts.

Cowell became an A&R consultant for BMG, Fanfare’s parent company. There he helped the careers of many popular artists like Sonia Evans, Five and Westlife. He started his own recording company, Syco Records, in 2002. Eventually, Syci became a part of the Sony BMG Music Entertainment. Syco is into deals with contestants of America’s Got Talent and The X Factor.