We all know how the internet changed our lives and the way we used to do business. Many Marketers became internet marketers, and thanks to the eCommerce revolution, we now can buy many of the stuff we need without having to go to the store, and this means we also can sell many products on the internet being in a home based office, we even saw people who turned their hobbies and skills to a home based business and making profits from it. Things became more easier than ever, and the opportunity are getting much bigger day after day.
Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce, eCommerce or e-comm, refers to the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. However, the term may refer to more than just buying and selling products online. It also includes the entire online process of developing, marketing, selling, delivering, servicing and paying for products and services.
Source: Wikipedia – E-Commerce
The world of ecommerce has become a wonderland of success for the geeks and nerds of our time.
Source : zippycart.com
Speaking about myself, I was having difficulties finding a normal job one day, but the internet gave me a huge opportunity indeed, which allowed me to establish my own design business project, and make a decent living from it. The same thing happened with many others allover the world, thanks to the brilliance of the internet.
The most Successful eCommerce Geeks
Today, I am sharing an infographic that show the most famous E-Commerce geeks of today’s world:
Click here to view the full eCommerce Geeks infographic
Who are the most Famous eCommerce Geeks?
Jeff Bezos – CEO of Amazon.com (duh).
His net worth almost twenty billion dollars. One notable thing about this eccentric billionaire is that when he was younger he rigged up an electric alarm to keep his brothers and sisters out of his room. Then, a la Dexter, he turned his parents’ garage into a laboratory. His love of experimentation hasn’t waned. In 2004 he “launched” a new company called “Blue Origin.” The goal: human space flight from a private company. Take that, Sir Richard.
Jack Ma – Founder of Alibaba.
Alibaba, for those of you who don’t know, is one of the biggest internet groups in China (which has, you know, a few people). The company’s crazy internet success may be fueled in part by Ma’s combative upbringing. For starters, he suffered from stunted growth as a child. To make matters worse, his family was ostracized for siding with counter-revolutionary forces during China’s cultural revolution. This meant he got into a lot of fights. This probably turned him into the scrappy ecommerce geek that he is today with a net worth of close to 2 billion dollars.
Pierre Morad Omidyar – Founder and chairman of eBay.
So yeah, there’s this little auction site (you’ve probably never heard of it) but it’s called eBay. So, more than 15 years ago, Pierre had a long weekend off and was feeling bored. Like most power ecommerce geeks, he hates having time on his hands, so he said: “I know, I’ll write the original code for an auction house that will eventually revolutionize online buying and selling.” So a case of diet Dr Pepper later (not confirmed) he emerged from his basement and launched the site “Auction Web.” Fast forward to today: almost 7 billion dollar net worth. Boom. Just like that.
Kevin Ryan – Fashion ecommerce geek and founder of Gilt Groupe.
Got a taste for the finer things in life? Then you want to know all about Kevin Ryan, founder of Gilt Groupe (you can tell it’s fancy because it’s got an extra “e” on the end!). He scored a BA from Yale in ’85, then got an MBA from INSEAD (which is totally in France!) five years later. Gilt Groupe was founded in 2007 and has raised nearly 80 million dollars in financing at time of writing. Kevin’s geek power is so awesome that by the time you finish reading this, he’ll probably have raised even more money.
Reed Hastings – Co-Founder and CEO of Netflix.
Many geeks love math. Reed loved math so much that he majored at math at Bowdoin college where he won the department’s Smyth Prize and Hammond Prize. He graduated with his bachelor’s degree in 1983 and has spent the intervening years trying to improve the educational system. In 2010 he earned 5.5 million dollars in compensation.
Patrick M. Byrne – CEO of Overstock.com.
Mr. Byrne (“Byrne-ing Man” to his friends – also NOT confirmed) might just be the most educated individual on our list. Despite being way more than normal, he somehow earned a certificate from “Beijing Normal University” alongside his BA in Chinese studies, which he got from a little school called Dartmouth. He decided that they looked lonely on his wall, so he scooped up a masters from Cambridge as a Marshall Scholar. Then to finish off his (current) accomplishments, he got a PhD in Philosophy from Stanford (which I think was his fallback school). Byrne has founded 19 schools internationally, most of which he built by hand with bricks he bakes himself (fictional!). So how much does all that learning get you per year? Byrne takes home only $171,300, probably because he’s worked out that it’s the exact amount that he needs to be happy and provide for all his needs (PhD in Philosophy, remember?).
Tony Hsieh – CEO of Zappos.
Geeks know all about treating people with kindness and respect, usually because most of us didn’t get a lot of that from our peers growing up. Rather than being mean to people when we are in control, many geeks decide to try to make the world a better place. Tony’s contribution to the happiness of the world was to create an ecommerce business where every customer service decision was geared DIRECTLY towards making every customer as happy as possible (when buying shoes, anyway). Fellow ecommerce geek Jeff Bezos loved this so much that in 2009 he called up Tony and was like: “I’d like to place an order.” and Tony said: “Okay, what would you like to order?” and Jeff said: “Your whole company.” and Tony, wanting to deliver an awesome customer service experience, quoted Jeff a number. Amazon acquired Zappos for 1.2 billion dollars. Tony then went on to write a book called Delivering Happiness, all about his entrepreneurial experiences. It spent almost 7 months on the best seller list.
Natalie Massenet – Executive Chairman (Chair-WOMAN!) of Net-a-Porter.com.
Let’s face it: geeks and girls don’t always get along. But what about girls who are themselves geeks? Well Natalie is an ecommerce geek who is also a woman and who is also shrewd when it comes to business. Starting off as a fashion editor at Women’s Wear Daily in 1993, the left that job to start her own business: Net-a-Porter. Seventeen years later she sold her shares for fifty million British Pounds (which is like, a lot in American money!). Even without her shares, she stayed on as Executive Chair and will probably put all that money she raised back into her own company to make it even more awesome – because that’s how she rolls. Her site, by the way, gets about 2 million logins every weekend and each person’s average spend is 500 British Pounds (translation: a LOT).
Click here to view the full eCommerce Geeks infographic
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