The idol life: Their fame will outlive them, their money will probably outlast their fame, and what they've learned about running businesses will be passed from generation to generation—starting with you

Entrepreneur, Jan, 2002 by Aliza Pilar Sherman

ALIZA PILAR SHERMAN is Entrepreneur's "Women" columnist.

Aliza Pilar Sherman

WRITER

Writing "The Idol Life" (page 54) gave Aliza Pilar Sherman an opportunity to pick some of the greatest brains in business. "I was interested in finding out what drove them to become entrepreneurs and how they sustained that energy and spirit." Internet pioneer Sherman founded three early Web sites for women, as well as Cybergrrl Inc., an online media and marketing company targeting women. No wonder she's a natural for our "Women" column (page 32), which she takes over this month. Now a speaker and author, Sherman is traveling across the country in an RV, speaking to entrepreneurs and putting together her third book.

RELATED ARTICLE: MICHAEL DELL

ENTREPRENEUR: How do you define "entrepreneur"?

MICHAEL DELL: Somebody who has a new idea or different idea and takes a risk and works hard to make it work.

ENTREPRENEUR: Who is your idea of an entrepreneurial icon?

DELL: Sam Walton, who took a business and refined it with cost structure and logistics, and took it to levels nobody ever imagined. And Henry Ford. He designed a new business process and he created an industry--or at least revolutionized it.

ENTREPRENEUR: How do you keep your entrepreneurial spirit alive?

DELL: There's always a new challenge, whether it's a new product line, a new customer, a new service, or some new milestone.

ENTREPRENEUR: What was your dream when you started out?

DELL: My plan was to sell built-to-order computer systems directly to end users. I recognized there was a big opportunity there because of the inefficiencies of the indirect system.

ENTREPRENEUR: What's your legacy?

DELL: Well, I don't plan to be remembered anytime soon. I'm 36 years old. But I hope they would think, this is a guy who built a company that created tremendous value for its customers, its employees and its shareholders. And perhaps, this is a guy who helped people realize the power of computing and the Internet. And then the last piece, which is something only a [few] people would know, that this is a guy who was a great dad and a great husband.

RICHARD BRANSON

ENTREPRENEUR: How do you define "entrepreneur"?

RICHARD BRANSON: An entrepreneur is somebody who is willing to go where others are not. Who doesn't often listen to accountants. Who if somebody says [something is] impossible, is determined to prove them wrong.

ENTREPRENEUR: Who is your idea of an entrepreneurial icon?

BRANSON: Herb Kelleher, who started Southwest Airlines. He pioneered low-cost travel in America, and now we've got an airline in Australia which is taking on Oantas and driving the cost of air travel down. I don't think I would have started that if it hadn't been for Herb Kelleher.

ENTREPRENEUR: How do you keep your entrepreneurial spirit alive?

BRANSON: Challenging what people think of [as] the norm, seeing if we can make a difference, creating things we can be proud of.

ENTREPRENEUR: What's your legacy?

BRANSON: I would hope people will say that we made a difference--we created the best rail network in the county; we shook up the airline industry; we created good music. Some of those things will live on, but [I hope they say] "He had good fun and a good time whilst he was doing it."