Ever wonder how tech geniuses got started? (Ask Brian.)

So the high-profile job of the early 21st Century is running a software company. But there were interesting byroads on the path to success for these leaders. We suppose there's a moral in there, but mostly, we're just in it for the jokes.

Answers follow.

1. Before building exciting new things for Apple, Jony Ive worked for a London startup called Tangerine. What assignment made him quit?
   
   • Designing a toilet. (They said it was too expensive.)
2. The CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, wasn't always a tech guy. What old-fashioned job did he have as a youngster?
   
   • Delivering newspapers. (Then he helped put print out of work.)
3. Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos started his own summer business as a teenager, but it didn't go too well. What went wrong?
   
   • He started a summer camp, but only got six campers. (Yeah, but think of the job experience.)
4. How did Bill Gates spend his senior year at high school?
   
   • Working as a computer programmer. (Singlemindedness is also a virtue.)
5. The COO of Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg, had an interesting first job after university. What did she do?
   
   • Fought leprosy in India. (For the World Bank.)
6. Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn, had an interesting early career at Warner Brothers. What did he persuade the media company to do?
   
   • Create a better online presence. (And became vice president for online services, way to go.)
7. One-time Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has what connection with desserts?
   
   • He used to promote dessert-making devices for Proctor & Gamble. (And cakes.)
8. Software engineer and former Google exec Eric Schmidt started out making chips for what devices?
   
   • Nintendo Game Boy. (Watch for Google Doodles with games.)
9. Google co-founder Sergey Brin has an early software application on his resume. What did it do?
   
   • Let movie watchers rate films. (Yeah, like Netflix.)
10. Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer was a whiz kid at Stanford, even teaching other students. What else did she do while she was there?
    
    • Dance in the 'Nutcracker'. (No word on whether she was the Sugar Plum Fairy.)

So if your kids have only succeeded in opening a lemonade stand, don't worry. Someday, they may be selling the stuff online.

Dmitri Gheorgheni

29.08.16 Front Page

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