24 Examples of Entrepreneurship

John Spacey, January 28, 2019 updated on November 18, 2023

Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of gains beyond your means. The term is associated with small enterprises that seek to take on far larger competitors and challenge the status quo. Entrepreneurship is a fundamental economic force that fuels creative destruction whereby large firms that do things the old way are replaced with firms that are more efficient or that better serve customer needs. The following is a list of individuals who are considered entrepreneurs with what they are known for creating.

Entrepreneur	Known for
Levi Strauss, Levi's	Denim jeans
Andrew Carnegie, Carnegie Steel	Steel
Thomas Edison, General Electric	Electricity and electric light
Alexander Graham Bell, Bell Telephone Company	Telephones
Henry J. Heinz, Heinz	Ketchup and food products
Karl Benz, Mercedes-Benz	Automobiles
Michelin Brothers, Michelin	Tires
Ray Kroc, McDonald's	Fast food
Ole Kirk Christiansen, Lego	Toy bricks
Ruth Handler, Mattel	Toys and dolls
Sam Walton, Walmart	Large format retail
Akio Morita, Sony	Miniaturized electronics such as portable cassette players
Hiroshi Yamauchi, Nintendo	Video games
Phil Knight, Nike	Athletic footwear
Bill Gates, Microsoft	Personal computers and related software
Steve Jobs, Apple	Personal computers, music devices, tablets and smart phones
Steve Wozniak, Apple	Personal computers
Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA	Furniture that you assemble at home
Larry Page, Google	Search engines
Sergey Brin, Google	Search engines
Jeff Bezos, Amazon	Ecommerce
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook	Social networks
Elon Musk, Tesla	Electronic payments, solar panels, electric cars, space technology, others
Reed Hastings, Netflix	Streaming media

In many cases, the entrepreneurs above didn't invent their products in the sense that similar products already existed when they launched. The success of the individuals above is mostly based on being first to commercialize a particular product or service at scale. This usually involves some leap whereby they make a product better or cheaper resulting in widespread adoption and economies of scale. For example, the Michelin brothers Édouard Michelin and André Michelin invented removable tires that weren't glued to the rim. This massively reduced the time required to repair a tire.