Best Advice 7 Tech Idols Ever Received

The most successful people in every industry, including technology have received a piece of precious advice, at some point in their life from someone, which turned the course of their life and made them what they are today.

 
Richard Parsons, Former chairman of Citigroup considers the advice from Steve Ross, former CEO of Time Warner as his life changing one: "Just remember, it's a small business and a long life. You are going to see all these people again."

 
Business Insider compiled a list of such best tips the executives ever received and shared over the years. Here are some of the lessons received by the tech icons like Bill Gates to new world tech stars like Ben Silberman of Pinterest.

 

Marissa Mayer, VP,Google

 
“My friend Andre said to me, ‘you know, Marissa, you are putting a lot of pressure on yourself to pick the right choice, and I have got to be honest: That is not what I see here. I see a bunch of good choices, and there is the one that you pick and make great’. I think that is one of the best pieces of advice I have ever gotten.”

 
-From an interview with Social Times

 

Eric Schmidt, Google -->

Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman, Google

“Find a way to say yes to things. Say yes to invitations to a new country, say yes to meet new friends, say yes to learn something new. Yes is how you get your first job, and your next job, and your spouse, and even your kids."

-From the book “The Best Advice I Ever Got” by Katie Couric.

Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook -->

Sheryl Sandberg, COO, Facebook

When Sandberg was thinking she would not accept an offer to be Google’s general manager, Eric Schmidt told her, “Stop being an idiot; all that matters is growth.” She says that is the best advice she ever got.

Larry Page, Google -->

Larry Page, Co-founder, Google

"In graduate school at Stanford University, I had about ten different ideas of things I wanted to do, and one of them was to look at the link structure of the web. My advisor, Terry Winograd, picked that one out and said, 'Well, that one seems like a really good idea.' So I give him credit for that."

-From an interview with CNN Money

Bill Gates, Microsoft -->

Bill Gates, Chairman, Microsoft

"Warren Buffett has taught me a lot of things, but he got me thinking very early on that at some point I'd have the opportunity and responsibility to give the wealth back. And so, literally decades before the foundation got started I was reading about philanthropists from the past … what they'd done and how it worked."

Ben Silberman, Pinterest -->

Ben Silberman, Co-founder, Pinterest

"Don't take too much advice. Most people who have a lot of advice to give - with a few exceptions - generalize whatever they did. ...Every company carves its own path, and (founders) are under pressure to make their startups look like the last successful company everyone remembers."

Richard Branson, Virgin Group -->

Richard Branson, founder and chairman, Virgin Group

 
"My mother always taught me never to look back in regret but to move on to the next thing. The amount of time people waste dwelling on failures rather than putting that energy into another project, always amazes me. I have fun running ALL the Virgin businesses — so a setback is never a bad experience, just a learning curve."

 
-Taken from an interview with The Good Entrepreneur.

Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO, Berkshire Hathaway

 
Berkshire Hathaway director Thomas Murphy once told “the legendary investor”:

 
"Never forget Warren, you can tell a guy to go to hell tomorrow - you don't give up the right. So just keep your mouth shut today, and see if you feel the same way tomorrow."

 
-From an interview with Yahoo

11 Homeless People Who Became Rich And Famous

Oscar winner Halle Berry once stayed in a homeless shelter in her early twenties

 

When she first moved to Chicago to become an actress, Berry ran out of money and her mother decided the best thing would not be to send her daughter money.

During these struggling times, the actress admits to staying in a homeless shelter.

In an interview with Star Pulse, the actress said:

"It taught me how to take care of myself and that I could live through any situation, even if it meant going to a shelter for a small stint, or living within my means, which were meager. I became a person who knows that I will always make my own way."

 

Jim Carrey once lived out of a VW camper van and in a tent on his sister's front lawn

cinemafestival / Shutterstock.com

Carrey said it was during these tough financial times growing up when he developed a sense of humor.

Yahoo! reported that the comedian dropped out of high school and lived in a VW bus with his family parked in different places throughout Canada. They eventually moved into a tent on his older sister's lawn and parked the van in the driveway.

 

The co-founder of Canada's largest specialty chain of coffee shops was once homeless because of a drinking problem

 

While he was in his early 20s, Frank O'Dea was panhandling and living on the streets, according to John Demont at The Chronicle Herald.

That was, until he and his business partner opened Second Cup, which is the largest specialty coffee chain in Canada today with 360 locations.

Personal finance guru Suze Orman is now worth approximately $25 million, but she lived out of her van for four months in 1973

Wikimedia Commons

When she first moved to Berkeley, California, Orman couldn't afford to move out of her van — today she owns about $7 million worth in real estate, reported msn.com

The well-known Emmy-winning financial advisor has also published numerous New York Times bestsellers.

After being fired, Jewel was homeless for about a month and almost died in a parking lot

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Before becoming the multi-platinum singer Jewel, she lived on the streets after losing her job. In an interview with Adam on Showbizspy, the singer said:

“I ended up homeless because my boss propositioned me and when I wouldn’t sleep with him he didn’t give me my paycheck,” she said.

“I got kicked out of where I was living and my rent was due that next day.

“I thought ‘Well, I’ll live in my car for a minute… get back on my feet,’ but I had bad kidneys and I never could hold down another job because I got sick so often. I didn’t have insurance and ended up almost dying in the parking lot of an emergency room because they wouldn’t admit me because I didn’t have insurance.

“I ended up homeless for about a month and I went back to singing.”

Daniel Craig, or "James Bond," once had to sleep on park benches in London

 

He's now got several critically-acclaimed movies on his resume, but Hollyscoop reported that the "007" actor used to sleep on park benches as a struggling actor.

Chris Gardner inspired the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness" and was homeless with a young son while he was in a finance training program

Wikimedia Commons

Aside from a movie based on his life starring Will Smith, Gardner also has two New York Times bestselling books under his belt: his autobiography "The Pursuit of Happyness" and "Start Where You Are: Life Lessons in Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be."

But before his story was shared with the world, Gardner was living on the streets with his young son. At the time, he was trying to pursue a career in finance despite not having any experience in it, or even a college degree. He received a spot on the Dean Witter Reynolds training program, but couldn't afford to live off of the small salary, and his wife eventually left.

He is also a motivational speaker and CEO of Gardner Rich LLC with offices in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco.

According to his Web site, Gardner's childhood was "marked by poverty, domestic violence, alcoholism, sexual abuse and family illiteracy."

Michael Oher's story of homelessness and struggle in 'The Blind Side' was inspirational to the world

Wikipedia

During his childhood and teenaged years, Oher was living on the streets while his crack-addicted mother lived in public housing, reported NPR. 

He was eventually taken in to live with a wealthy family, played college football at the University of Mississippi and drafted into the NFL in 2009 for the Baltimore Ravens.

His inspirational story was turned into Michael Lewis's 2006 book "The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game" and the movie "The Blind Side."

Singer Ella Fitzgerald was abused, had mafia ties and was homeless before becoming the 'Queen of Jazz'

Wikimedia Commons

She would go on to sing for President Ronald Reagan in 1981, but before becoming "arguably the finest female jazz singer of all time," Fitzgerald was abused by her stepfather when her mother died at a young age, according to PoemHunter.com. 

She worked with the mafia for some time before the police put her in a school for girls.

Fitzgerald ran away from there and was homeless until debuting at the Apollo Theater in 1934. Her voice quickly won her fame and throughout her career, she won 13 Grammy Awards and received medals from both President Reagan and George H. W. Bush.

She died in 1996, but her face appeared on a United States postal stamp in 2007.

 

Before becoming the greatest magician, Harry Houdini ran away from home at the age of 12 and begged on the streets for coins

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At a young age, Houdini knew he wanted to be a magician and ran away from home by hopping a freight car, according to Appleton Public Library.

He ended up in Missouri.

A few years later, he moved to New York City with his father, but they were so poor Houdini continued to panhandle on the streets.

He began his professional career at 17.

Before the age of 10, Charlie Chaplin had to figure out how to make a living on the streets of London

Wikimedia Commons

After the early death of his father, Chaplin's mother was put in a mental hospital and the young boy and his brother had to try to make a living by themselves, according to his Web site. 

As both his parents were in show business, Chaplin and his brother decided to follow suit. Today, he's known as one of the greatest actors during the silent film era.