Billionaire Venture Capitalist Michael Moritz Pledges $115 Million To Oxford

Billionaire venture capitalist Michael Moritz has pledged more than $115 million to the University of Oxford to set up a scholarship fund for low-income students. In what the English university is touting as the “biggest philanthropic gift for undergraduate financial support in European history,” Moritz and his wife, Harriet Heyman, have committed the money, which with a ‘matched funding challenge” from Oxford, will generate over $460 million to aid lower-income students.
Moritz, a Welsh-born alumnus of Oxford’s Christ Church college, called his pledge in a university press release “a fresh approach to student funding in the U.K.–fueled by philanthropy.”
“Real talent is housed everywhere,”he said. “Our new scholarship programme means that a gifted student–irrespective of financial circumstances–will always be 100% confident they can study at Oxford.”

Moritz’s gift is the latest in a spate of large gifts from billionaire families to educational institutions. In May 2011, the parents of American billionaire Ronald Perelman donated $225 million to University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine in what was the largest single donation in the university’s history. In 2010, Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg announced his plans to help improve Newark‘s public school system with a $100 million challenge grant, which had to be matched by money raised by city mayor Cory Booker.
Under the Oxford program, students from families whose income is under $25,000 will receive financial support totaling nearly $17,000, which covers all living costs. These students will also have lower rates associated with student loans. Currently, about one in 10 students at Oxford, or just under 1,000, come from families in this income bracket.
According to the university, the goal of the program is to have half of those students on Moritz-Heyman scholarships within three years of the program’s launch in the Fall. The program will be open immediately for application this Fall to any incoming students whose families meet the income requirements.
“Eventually all such students would be covered by the scheme or equivalent similar scholarships,” read the Oxford release.
Moritz was unavailable for immediate comment.
Moritz’s total gift will be given in three equal tranches of about $38 million and will be matched by investment returns from the university’s endowment. Each time a tranche from Moritz is given, the university must raise $77 million, in addition to the billionaire’s gift and the matching funds from its endowment, before it can receive the next installment of the donation.
This is not Moritz’s first gift to Oxford. He donated $50 million to Christ Church college, where he studied as an undergraduate, in 2008.
Worth $1.7 billion as of Forbes’ valuation for the 2012 World Billionaires List, Moritz is chairman of venture capital firm Sequoia Partners. He recently stepped out of a position monitoring day-to-day operations at the Menlo Park, Calif.-based investment company because of health reasons.

25 Top Internet Billionaires and the Secret to their Success

Who are the 25 top internet billionaires in the world? What’s the secret to the success of the top internet billionaires? How did they come about their wealth? How did they become billionaires? And how can you replicate their success strategies to become a millionaire or billionaire? You are going to find out soon.

In this article, I am going to list the top 25 internet billionaires and also highlight the secret to their success. But before I proceed, I want to emphasize the point that this article not focused on the wealth and net worth of the internet billionaires; rather, it’s more interested in the “how” of their success.

If you are more interested in knowing the estimated net worth of the internet billionaires; then Forbes magazine is the right place to go. But if you are interested in learning the exact step by step strategies that helped these internet entrepreneurs became billionaires; then please read on. Now who are the 25 top internet billionaires in the world?

                25 Top Internet Billionaires in the World

1.            Mark Zuckerberg –          Facebook

2.            Larry Page –       Google

3.            Steve Case –      AOL

4.            Jeff Bezos –        Amazon

5.            Reed Hastings –                Netflix

6.            Jerry Yang –        Yahoo!

7.            Craig Newmark –             Craiglist

8.            Pierre Omidyar –              Ebay

9.            Sergey Brin – Google

10.          Eric Schmidt – Google

11.          Masayoshi Son – Softbank

12.          Hiroshi Mikitani – Japan’s leading online shopping mall

13.          Charles Schwab – Online investing to the masses

14.          Ma Huateng – Runs China’s most popular online chat service

15.          Robin Li – Baidu

16.          Mark Cuban – Broadcast

17.          Andreas Von Bechtolsheim – Google Investor

18.          William Ding – China’s second largest online gaming site

19.          Shi Yuzhu – Giant Interactive

20.          Yoshikazu Tanaka – Gree

21.          David Filo – Yahoo!

22.          Marc Benioff – SalesForce

23.          Peter Thiel  - Facebook Investor

24.          Jack Ma – Alibaba

25.          Todd Wargner – Broadcast

Now that the 25 top internet billionaires in the world have been listed, I think it’s time we dig into the behind-the-scene secret to their success.

                25 Top Internet Billionaires and the Secret to their Success

1.            They took advantage of trend

                “There are no shortcuts. You have to work hard, and try to put yourself in a position where if luck strikes, you can see the opportunity and take advantage of it. I would also say it's hard not to fool yourself. Everyone tells you how they are going to be "special," but few do the work to get there. Do the work.” – Mark Cuban

The fist secret to the success of the internet billionaires was their preparedness and ability to take advantage of a moving business opportunity. The internet came as a trend and while most established business owners fought to resist its impact on their businesses; these internet billionaires embraced the internet and went about seeking ways to use it as leverage. The ability to take advantage of trend; the ability to accept change is the big difference between successful entrepreneurs and the average business owners.

                “To truly prepare for the unexpected, you’ve got to position yourself to keep a couple of options open so when the door of opportunity opens, you’re close enough to squeeze through.” – Pierre Omidyar

2.            They started small

The 25 internet entrepreneurs listed above are billionaires by all standard but they were not so many years ago; and they did not become internet billionaires overnight, they started small. Most people admire entrepreneurs such as Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Larry Page but only few knew the starting point of these entrepreneurs.

                “There are no shortcuts.” – Reed Hastings

One key to becoming a successful entrepreneur or business owner is the ability to start small. Most people dream big but only few are humble enough to start small. I think it’s worthwhile you know that Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, Jerry Yang, David Filo, Sergey Brin started their internet businesses from the dorm of their various schools; Jeff Bezos started Amazon from his garage.

                “Most people think it's all about the idea. It's not. EVERYONE has ideas. The hard part is doing the homework to know if the idea could work in an industry, then doing the preparation to be able to execute on the idea.” – Mark Cuban

These internet billionaires did not sit on their business ideas and business plan; waiting for the million dollar investor. They started with what they’ve got on hand and kept it going till they hit fame and fortune. So if you must replicate the success strategies of these internet billionaires, then you must be willing to start small.

3.            They worked for free

                “It’s not because of the amount of money. For me and my colleagues; the most important thing is that we create an open information flow for people. Having media corporations owned by conglomerates is not just an attractive idea to me.” –Mark Zuckerberg

Extraordinary success comes with extraordinary sacrifice. During the early startup years of these internet billionaires, they weren’t paid a dime. They worked for free developing their business ideas and even when their various companies was formed; they kept working for free.

                “Most people think it's all about the idea. It's not. EVERYONE has ideas. The hard part is doing the homework to know if the idea could work in an industry, then doing the preparation to be able to execute on the idea.” – Mark Cuban

What’s the lesson I am trying to stress here? The lesson I am emphasizing is that “delayed gratification is essential to becoming a billionaire and building a successful business; whether on the internet or offline.”

4.            They were innovative

I did a careful research and found out that the internet billionaires were not pioneers in their niche; they were late comers but they came with a competitive strategy, “innovation.” Google and Yahoo weren’t the first search engine; before them was ask.com.

                “We are targeting innovation. We believe mobile applications are essential.” – Larry Page

Amazon wasn’t the first online bookstore; other small independent bookstores existed but Jeff Bezos used innovation as an edge to position Amazon as the world largest bookstore. Facebook wasn’t the first social networking site; MySpace was already on ground and successful but Mark Zuckerberg positioned Facebook using innovation as an edge.

The lesson here is that you don’t have to be the first to win; you don’t have to reinvent the wheel, all you have to do is improve on the present idea and you will have a winner on hand.

5.            They had a mission

                “The thing I really care about is the mission; making the world open.” – Mark Zuckerberg

One of the reason the 25 internet entrepreneurs listed above became billionaires was because they had a mission; a mission to positively affect humanity. Why do you want to start a business? The answer to this question will determine if you’ll succeed or not.

                “The most important single thing is to focus obsessively on the customer. Our goal is to be earth's most customer-centric company.” – Jeff Bezos

A business mission is essential to starting a business and growing a business because it helps you the entrepreneur maintain focus; it keeps you on course. Without a strong business mission; you might hit success but you can never sustain that success. MySpace went under because Facebook; its competitor had a stronger mission and that business mission became the driving force behind Facebook’s success.

                “Basically, our goal is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. That's our mission. When we started, we had about 30 million Web pages, which was quite large for the time — that was two years ago. Now, we have well over a billion Web pages. So that gives you some idea of how we've grown in content. So we try to make more and more stuff available to people, we try to, when you come to Google, fulfill that need that you have as quickly as possible.” – Larry Page

6.            They served everyone for free

Have you ever been charged for doing a search on Google? Were you charged a subscription fee for your Yahoo, Google and Facebook account? The answer is no. The reason these internet billionaires became successful was because they served everyone for free. Mark Zuckerberg helped family and friends stay in touch without charging a dime. Google provides direction to vital information without charging a dime; Craiglist is also a free resource.

                "If you want to be rich, simply serve more people." – Rich Dad

Now what is the key point here? The key point for success here is to provide a valuable service to many people for free or a lot less than normal.

7.            They reinvested in their business

The last secret to the success of the internet billionaire was that they reinvested in their businesses. Jeff Bezos didn’t pay a dividend for five years; Larry Page and Sergey Brin worked their socks off without getting a dime. These internet entrepreneurs became billionaires because they reinvested not only the profits; but their time and resources.

Instead of taking a profit and throwing a party; they chose to stay committed and expand their business via strategic acquisitions. Re-investing in your business is essential to business growth and expansion.

As a final note, these are the top seven secrets to the success of the internet billionaires. Do you want to become an internet billionaire? All you have to do is to replicate these seven success secrets and I will see you at the top.

Are You Really Prepared to be an Entrepreneur?

So you want to become an entrepreneur? You want to start your own business and be your own boss? Well, I say congratulations but my concern is: are you really prepared to be an entrepreneur? Do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur?

                Is starting a business risky?

“He that is prepare; has half won the battle.” – Sun Tzu

I have been an entrepreneur for over five years and I want to state that it has been a worthwhile adventure. Over these years, I have learned a lot of things that I wouldn’t have learned if I didn’t take the entrepreneurial route. As I reflect over my years as an entrepreneur, I have come to realize that there’s nothing glorious about being an entrepreneur. In fact, you are better off keeping your job than starting a business. Now for those wanting to become entrepreneur, let it be known to you that entrepreneurship is not a bed of roses; it’s a war zone.

                “Experience taught me a few things. One is to listen to your gut no matter how good something sounds on paper. The second is that you are generally better off sticking with what you know and the third is that sometimes, your best investments are the ones you don’t make.” – Donald Trump

Now don’t think I am trying to scare or discourage you from starting your own business. No. I just want to share with you the realistic truth about building a business, so that you can better prepare yourself. Just as a general must prepare adequately before a battle, so must an entrepreneur prepare before starting any business; and business is a series of unending battles. If you fail to prepare adequately, you are destined to fail; and nothing can save you.

Most people think entrepreneurship is all about raising capital and pursuing million dollar projects but it isn’t so. Entrepreneurship is a thing of the mind; it starts from the inside and reflects on the outside. Business idea creation, critical thinking, risk analysis and problem solving all occur on the inside; and this means that if your mindset is not right, you have failed from the start.

                “There are no bad business or investment opportunities. There are only bad entrepreneurs and investors.” – Rich Dad

Are you really prepared to be an entrepreneur? Well, you better be because the moment you decide to become an entrepreneur; you have just sounded the war drums. When I started my first business few years ago, I was very excited because I have taken a bold step. I was burning with enthusiasm and determination; but looking back now, I can see how naïve and unprepared I was back then. Even as at the time of writing this; I don’t think I am still prepared for the future challenges of building a business.

Are you really prepared to be an entrepreneur? Well, you better be because it is never going to be a smooth ride. Right from the day I decided to become an entrepreneur, it has been problems and challenges all the way. In fact, I have been dealing with challenges from day one and the more I solve them, the more the challenges get bigger. Don’t think money or success will shield you from the challenges of the business world; it won’t. In fact, the bigger your success and the more money you acquire, the bigger your problems will be. So you’ve got to be prepared.

                “Without the element of uncertainty, the bringing off of even, the greatest business triumph would be dull, routine and eminently unsatisfying.” – J Paul Getty

Are you really prepared to be an entrepreneur? Well, you might think you are prepared because you have spent quality time working on your business plan. You have thought everything through and plugged the loopholes; you have done your SWOT analysis and you are prepared to face the competition. Well, I give you thumbs up for your effort; but I want you to draw your attention to something.

Most people think the biggest challenges in business is either finding customers or fighting competition but I stand to tell you that it isn’t. The biggest challenge you will face in business sometimes come from the inside. It could be from your family, friends, employees or even you. In fact, the most deadliest challenges are usually unforeseen; I am talking about factors which are beyond your control. It could be an ailment or disease, a change in trend, it could be the loss of a loved one, it could be a natural disaster, it could be a change in government’s policy (Consider the Amazon associate business owners who were wiped out just because of a slight change in tax laws by some states); in fact, it could be anything. The question is: are you really prepared to face whatever comes?

One of the reasons why I have stayed true to the cause is because I am adequately prepared to face what comes; I have toughen my mind over the years, never to be shaken by surrounding circumstances. I have faced critical family challenges, i have been robbed at gun point, I have handled crucial business problems, I have been backstabbed by my closest friends, I have once lived with the fear of liquidation, etc. but the joyous part of it is that the more I encounter and solve these problems as they come; the bolder and tougher my mind becomes.

                “Prepare for bad times and you will only know good times.” – Rich Dad

As a final note, the point I am trying to emphasize is that business is not a bed of roses; never expect a smooth ride. Don’t be carried away by the hype, fallacies or stories of successful entrepreneurs. You have to be prepared for the worst; you must toughen your mind. The sad part is that I can’t really tell you how to prepare yourself because it’s a thing of the mind. But a good way to begin is to analyze your personal strengths, weaknesses and your risk bearing capacity. I rest my case.

                “In the end, you are measured not by how much you undertake but by what you finally accomplished.” – Donald Trump