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☆ YouTube CEO's No. 1 success tip: It's 'the secret sauce'—I wish I got 'that advice early in my career'
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

YouTube CEO Neal Mohan has four words of advice for anyone looking to succeed: Be true to yourself. "I wish somebody had given me that advice early in my career, because nothing rings more true." The experience at YouTube, Mohan said, taught him about the value of authenticity. By his estimation, the most successful creators on YouTube are transparent about their real lives and show their personalities in videos. "Whether they're sports creators, whether they're musicians or artists … of course, they're incredibly talented and know how to tell stories, but they're true to themselves," Mohan said.

Persons: Neal Mohan, Mohan Organizations: YouTube, Stanford Graduate School of

☆ Mark Cuban: Here's the moment I knew I wouldn’t succeed in corporate America
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-28 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Mark Cuban once pictured himself running a major corporation — until he started his first job out of college. The experience "sealed" something he probably already knew, Cuban told CNBC Make It via email: If he wanted to run a company, he'd likely have to build his own. "I was a lousy employee because I was a know-it-all," Cuban told Wired last year. But not every prospective entrepreneur is as successful as Cuban, who launched a software company called Microsolutions in 1983 and kept it afloat through some turbulent early years. Cuban's second business, Broadcast.com, was acquired by Yahoo for $5.7 billion in 1999.

Persons: Mark Cuban, Cuban, Trevor Noah's, unkindly, he's, didn't, he'd Organizations: —, University of Indiana, Mellon Bank, CNBC, Software, Wired, Yahoo Locations: Pittsburgh, Cuban, America, Dallas

☆ How to start a lucrative side hustle in 3 steps: You don't need to trade 'your time for money'
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Launching one of your own can be that easy if you know where to start. Most side hustles need to check at least one of those three boxes to succeed, she notes. If you were good at school, you could earn extra money by tutoring. "There are other ways to [earn] that aren't just trading your time directly for money," says Berman. But without their access to customers or built-in legitimacy, you'll have to build your own brand without a road map to earn any money at all.

Persons: Kathy Kristof, Cody Berman, it'll, Kristof, you've, Berman, Etsy, who'd Organizations: Gold City Ventures, Rover

☆ 41-year-old CEO worth $320 million: This piece of childhood advice helped me climb the career ladder
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Emma Grede didn't grow up near Silicon Valley tech founders or Manhattan financiers. She's built relationships along the way: Her business partners for those companies are Khloé Kardashian and Kim Kardashian, respectively. But she credits a large part of her success to advice her mother gave her when she was little. "I really value myself and I really value my goals, and I don't think [success] is much more complicated than that," Grede, who has a reported net worth of $320 million, said on the podcast. The lesson taught Grede that she could learn alongside her peers at any job, then carry that knowledge onward when it was time for bigger and better things, she said.

Persons: Emma Grede didn't, Grede, Jay Shetty, She's, Khloé Kardashian, Kim Kardashian, Emma Locations: Silicon Valley, Manhattan, East London

☆ Couple spent $0 to launch business from their tiny apartment—now it brings in $26.5M a year and makes money 'while you sleep’
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Tessa Barton and Cole Herrmann lived in a 250-square-foot New York studio apartment, with a showerhead that spit brown water and a radiator capable of giving second-degree burns. She and Herrmann, a software engineer, realized they could bottle up her aesthetic into pre-made photo filters and sell them. That idea is now Tezza, a Los Angeles-based company that makes collage kits, apparel and its claim-to-fame photo editing app. Barton and her photo collage wall, in the couple's New York studio apartment. Tezza is best known as a photo editing app, currently ranking between competitors Lightroom and VSCO on Apple's app store.

Persons: Tessa Barton, Cole Herrmann, You'd, —, Herrmann, Tezza, Barton, we'd Organizations: CNBC, University of Utah, Urban Outfitters, New, Adobe Locations: York, Los Angeles, New York, Barton

☆ At 31, ‘cash-strapped’ single mom started saving $25 a month—she used it to launch a business that brings in $440,000 a year
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-15 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

In 2000, Penny Bowers-Schebal was a 31-year-old "cash-strapped" single mother struggling to cover basic household bills. She wanted to "build financial security" beyond the 401(k) program at her employer, Progressive Insurance, she tells CNBC Make It. So, at the advice of Suze Orman, she started putting $25 per month into a Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRIP). Ultimately, her Home Depot investment brought her an annual return of roughly 13%. "I'm not a big investor, and this was a life-changing investment for me," Bowers-Schebal, now 55, says.

Persons: Penny Bowers, Schebal, Suze Orman, — Bowers, Bowers Organizations: Progressive Insurance, CNBC, Depot Locations: Geneva , Ohio, Erie , Pennsylvania

☆ 17-year-old used $2,000 in savings to start an Amazon side hustle—now it brings in $34,000 a month
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-05 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Bella Lin, 17, started a side hustle to give her guinea pigs more quality of life. In those days, Lin let her three guinea pigs roam her parents' grassy, fenced-in backyard just outside of San Francisco. She assumed the first, Snoopy, had escaped and she continued letting her guinea pigs outside — until her dad watched an eagle fly away with another, she recalls. But the glass was too expensive to ship, and her smaller guinea pigs' feet got stuck in the floor. Lin has owned guinea pigs for years, and has kept up to 10 at one time, she says.

Persons: Bella Lin, Lin, GuineaLoft's, —, TLeggings, Bella Lin Lin, who'd, Lin's Organizations: CNBC, Khan Lab, Amazon Locations: San Francisco, —, Mountain View , California, China, BizWorld

Dumpling Daughter CEO Nadia Liu Spellman didn't grow up in your average family-owned restaurant. That upbringing taught Liu Spellman the value of sharing authentic Chinese cuisine and inspired her to open her first Dumpling Daughter storefront in 2014. Liu Spellman married her childhood sweetheart, Kyle Spellman, and moved back to Boston at the end of 2010, the year after her father died. Three months after opening, Dumpling Daughter had lines "out the door and around the building" and frequently sold out, Liu Spellman says. Liu Spellman filed a federal lawsuit, and the competitors quickly asked to settle.

Persons: Dumpling, Nadia Liu Spellman didn't, Sally Ling's, Julia Child, Liu Spellman, Liu Spellman's, didn't, Edward Nan Liuand, Sally Ling, Nadia Liu Spellman, Sally, Kyle Spellman, —, … Organizations: Amazon, CNBC, Weston , Massachusetts . Press Locations: Boston, New York City, Fort Lee , New Jersey, Weston , Massachusetts

☆ This habit helped Bill Gates change careers after retiring from Microsoft—despite being 'very monomaniacal’ at the time
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Career changes can be hard, even for Bill Gates — who credits a simple, lifelong habit for his switch from a narrow-minded, decades-long focus on computers and software to international philanthropy. "I had a long period from about age 18 to 40 where I was very monomaniacal ... Microsoft was everything," Gates, 68, recently told comedian Trevor Noah on the "What Now? "I was lucky enough that as other people took over Microsoft, I got to go and read and learn about all the health challenges, why children die." With even more time to read, he researched ongoing global health crises and decided to make the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation his primary focus, he said. "Reading fuels a sense of curiosity about the world, which I think helped drive me forward in my career and in the work that I do now with my foundation," Gates told Time in 2017.

Persons: Bill Gates —, Gates, Trevor Noah, Melinda French Gates, Melinda Gates, —, he's, It's, it's, Mark Cuban, Bill Maher's, Warren Buffett Organizations: Microsoft, Melinda Gates Foundation Locations: United States

☆ 41-year-old's side hustle brings in $125,500 a year, and costs $0 to start: 'The riches are found in niches'
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

She posts her worksheet booklets — designed to help teach literacy to young students — to her online store on Teachers Pay Teachers, an Etsy-style marketplace. Jerome and Becky Powell run their Teachers Pay Teachers stores separately — but the money all goes to the same place, they say. You don't have to spend any money to get started, Powell notes: Teachers Pay Teachers has both free and paid tiers for sellers. Powell pays that subscription fee, as does her husband Jerome — a full-time computer engineer who manages another Teachers Pay Teachers store, called Editable Activities. I have helped eight friends and coworkers open their own stores on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Persons: —, Becky Powell, they've, Jerome, Powell, Jerome —, You've, I've, It's, it's, Warren Buffett Organizations: CNBC, Pay Teachers, Teachers, Pay Locations: Beaverton , Oregon, AskMakeIt@cnbc.com

"A lot of times, people try to hide in the herd, and we try to fit in, and I think that's the worst advice." Anne Mahlum started the boutique fitness chain Solidcore in 2013. Building empathy, maintaining disciplineMahlum's hard-charging approach may have helped her build a fitness empire, which now has more than 100 locations across the U.S. "When we had to do some of those layoffs [I didn't realize] I was taking away [former employees'] social life, their workout life, their friendships, not just their job," Mahlum says. A lifelong athlete, Mahlum says she decided to start Solidcore after being humbled by a L.A.-based Pilates class.

Persons: Anne Mahlum, —, Mahlum, It's, Adams Morgan, who'd Organizations: CNBC Locations: U.S, Washington

Anne Mahlum, 43, founded boutique fitness chain Solidcore in 2013. Prior to starting Solidcore, Mahlum founded Back on My Feet in 2007, a nonprofit focused on helping homeless people break cycles of poverty and addiction while committing to a weekly running program. From a young age, Mahlum watched her own father struggle with addiction. And at the age of 16, she found that running helped her cope with her feelings, and developed a passion for exercise. In April 2023, Mahlum sold her remaining shares of Solidcore, stepping away from her executive chairwoman role.

Persons: Anne Mahlum, Mahlum Organizations: CNBC

☆ 41-year-old teacher’s ‘kitchen table’ side hustle brings in $10,400 a month: When I don’t work, ‘the sales still come in’
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A friend suggested she use her son's naptime to make some extra cash, and pointed her toward an educational resource platform called Teachers Pay Teachers. There, Powell started making worksheets for her fellow teachers to buy and download, working largely from her couch or "kitchen table," she says. Teachers Pay Teachers is an Etsy-style marketplace for educational worksheets, activities and lesson plans across just about every grade level and subject matter. Powell's store, called Sight Word Activities, specializes in teaching literacy to kindergarteners, first-graders and other young students. Last year, Powell's Teachers Pay Teachers store brought in $125,500, or just over $10,400 per month, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.

Persons: Becky Powell, naptime, Powell, worksheets, ’, Jerome Organizations: Powell's, CNBC Locations: Beaverton , Oregon

☆ The 4-word 'hack' confident people use to get others to agree with them—it makes you 'influential,' expert says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-18 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Use this simple four-word "hack," says an influence expert: Keep your explanation brief. The more bullet points you add to your argument, the less persuasive it becomes, says Niro Sivanathan, an organizational behavior professor at London Business School. "Most people make the forecasting error that in order to win people over, you need to get them lots of data," Sivanthan tells CNBC Make It. People listening will walk away remembering the average persuasiveness of each point you make, rather than your single most convincing argument, Sivanthan explains. "If you have just one key argument, be confident and put that on the table, rather than feeling the need to list many others."

Persons: Niro, It's, Sivanthan Organizations: London Business School, CNBC Locations: York

☆ 55-year-old farmer spent $25,000 to open a bridal shop—now it brings in more than $300,000 a year
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The 55-year-old lives on a goat dairy farm in Austinburg, Ohio, a rural town of less than 600 people roughly 50 miles east of Cleveland. She tends to the goats and peacocks at sunrise, then travels drives seven minutes to Genova, home of her wedding gown shop Formality Bridal. Formality Bridal has brought in more than $313,000 in revenue so far this year, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. The five-year-old business, which has five employees, opened a second location last week in Erie, Pennsylvania, an hour's drive away. Here's how she juggles farm life with her bridal shop, and how she built a profitable business with "no experience," she says.

Persons: Penny Bowers, Schebal, That's, It's, she's, We've, Bowers Organizations: CNBC Locations: Austinburg , Ohio, Cleveland, Genova, Erie , Pennsylvania

Canada Goose parkas, which can cost upwards of $1,900, are sported by Oscar winners, Olympians and Arctic explorers. "When you buy a Canada Goose jacket, you're buying a piece of Canada. Here's how Canada Goose began, grew to billion-dollar status and plans to survive consumer uncertainty. Canada Goose jackets, with their iconic shoulder patches, are such a status symbol that people who wear them are sometimes the target of robberies. "We realized that we could make jackets that are just as good without fur as with fur," Reiss says.

Persons: Dani Reiss, Oscar, Reiss, Goose, Sam Tick, Bean, Eddie Bauer, Reiss's, David Reiss, Canada Goose Organizations: Canada, CNBC, Metro Sportswear Ltd, Antarctica's, Lacoste, University of Toronto, Conservation Alliance, Bain Capital, New York Stock Exchange, People, Animals Locations: Wells, Canada, Poland, Snow, Europe, Asia, paychecks, Toronto, New York

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailHow I transformed Canada Goose from a small family business into a $1.1 billion luxury brandWhen Dani Reiss took the reins as CEO of Canada Goose at age 27, he was running a company that brought in $2.2 million per year in revenue. Today, the luxury brand is worth $1.1 billion. Canada Goose parkas, with their iconic shoulder patches, cost more than $1,000 and the company sells more than one million jackets a year.

Persons: Dani Reiss Organizations: Canada Locations: Canada

☆ Wharton psychologist on how to reach your potential: People ‘really underestimate the slow learners, the late bloomers’
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"Natural talent is overrated," Grant, a bestselling author and psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, recently told CNBC's "Squawk Box." And I think that leaves us to really underestimate the slow learners, the late bloomers." Those "slow learners" develop such traits by necessity from an earlier age, priming them well for achievement later in life, he added. Late bloomers also tend to be particularly skilled at turning weaknesses into strengths, and if you can master something you're bad at, you're well-equipped to handle most types of challenges, Grant told "Squawk Box." "The feeling that something is uncomfortable is a signal that you're about to learn something new," Grant told the New York Times last month.

Persons: Adam Grant, bloomer, Grant, CNBC's, prodigies, you've, they're, Mark Cuban, Grant's, Cuban, I've, Warren Buffett Organizations: University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, New York Times, Research

☆ Mark Cuban gave these ‘Shark Tank’ founders $225,000—a year later, their revenue quadrupled to $1.1 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

When Whitney and Chaz Gates' annual sales more than quadrupled in less than a year, they credited their lead investor: Mark Cuban. On Friday's episode of ABC's "Shark Tank," the husband-and-wife duo said that Wondry, their Black-owned wine label, brought in $1.1 million in revenue over the previous 11 months. At the time, the couple's pitch landed them $225,000 of Cuban's money in exchange for 15% of the Dallas-based company. "Before 'Shark Tank,' we were just a local Texas business," said Whitney, Wondry's CEO. Here's how Cuban's $225,000 turned into $1.1 million in sales, according to the Gateses.

Persons: Whitney, Chaz Gates, Mark Cuban, Wondry Locations: Dallas, Texas

☆ 21-year-old ran his side hustle from his parents’ apartment—now it brings in over $500,000 a year
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Today, the very same side hustle, called Invalid.jp, brings in more than $500,000 per year . A popular video of Invalid.jp's light-up stickers, posted in 2022, led to $38,000 in sales in a single day, Siu says. "A lot of times, people I talk to trying to start businesses only try for four or five months and [quit when] it doesn't work," Siu tells CNBC Make It. You can figure out what's trending by looking on Amazon or TikTok, or you can film and post videos and see if it goes viral. When you're doing a side hustle, you're going to be working 24/7.

Persons: Siu, Jason Siu, they've, He's, TikTok, he's, I've, Warren Buffett Organizations: University of Hawaii, CNBC Locations: Manoa, Honolulu ., AskMakeIt@cnbc.com

☆ 21-year-old spent $300 to start his sticker side hustle—now it brings in up to $38,000 a day: I was 'unprepared' to go viral
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

College junior Jayson Siu's side hustle has more than $1 million in sales in less than two years. When Jayson Siu's car accessories side hustle first went viral, he was completely "unprepared." A year later, another of his videos — one featuring an LED-backed light-up sticker — went viral, with more than 9 million views and counting. From stickers to car mirrorsSiu started Invalid.jp as a high school senior, working for a valet company. A friend told him that he could drive sales through TikTok, so he started posting videos "as often as possible," he says.

Persons: Jayson Siu's, Jayson, —, Siu, Invalid.jp, It's, Jayson Siu, doesn't Organizations: CNBC, University of Hawaii, Nissan, YouTube, Twitter, Google, Facebook Locations: Manoa, Honolulu, China

☆ Mark Cuban says an NBA legend taught him this 9-word mantra—it helps you 'differentiate' yourself from other people
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-29 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Mark Cuban may have made his billions as an entrepreneur and investor — but he's received some of his best advice from athletes. It's powerful, Cuban explained, because it applies to every field, from sports and sales to computer programming and creative writing. "Whatever it may be, you've got to keep doing it and doing it," said Cuban, who owns the NBA's Dallas Mavericks. "A lot of people, particularly in sports, but in life as well, they take the shortcuts always," said Cuban. To an extent, he's been practicing it his entire life, particularly as an entrepreneur.

Persons: Mark Cuban, —, he's, Basketball Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki, Cuban, you've, Warren Buffett Organizations: Basketball Hall of Famer, GQ, Dallas Mavericks, Brown University, Cuban, CompuServe, Yahoo, Bloomberg Locations: Cuban, Pittsburgh

☆ Self-made millionaire: If you want a 'game-changing' side hustle or business, study this one CEO very closely
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Plenty of side hustles and businesses become lucrative because they fix an unsolved problem, or improve something that already exists. If that seems easier said than done, there's a simple solution: Study people who've fixed other unsolved problems before, self-made millionaire and RSE Ventures CEO Matt Higgins said at the CNBC Make It: Your Money virtual event last week. Higgins pointed to one particular billionaire as an example: Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, who accidentally co-founded his company while brainstorming ways to pay rent in 2007. Chesky and one of his co-founders booked out air mattresses to strangers who were in San Francisco for a design conference. Pay attention to your surroundings, and ask yourself if your solutions to everyday problems are replicable, Higgins said.

Persons: Matt Higgins, Higgins, Brian Chesky, Uber Organizations: RSE, CNBC Locations: San Francisco

☆ 5 TED Talks that will make you smarter and more persuasive: 'Conventional wisdom' for winning arguments is 'wrong'
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-22 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Winning an argument may boil down to one simple tactic: Getting people to listen to you. That's according to five TED Talk speakers, whose backgrounds — from business and law to journalism and academia — helped them become more persuasive. Some conventional persuasion tactics do work, they say: You can speak more slowly or lower your voice to draw listeners in. One of the most effective ways to change people's minds is by listening to what other people say and finding common ground, multiple of the speakers say. Watch these five TED Talks from Katyal and others to get smarter at winning arguments — and better at changing people's minds with your voice.

Persons: —, Neal Katyal, who's, Julian Treasure Organizations: TED Locations: U.S, Katyal

☆ Self-made millionaire: The ‘most successful people’ practice this skill—it requires ‘defiance’ and ‘belligerence’
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Matt Higgins went from living in "abject poverty" to running boardrooms, he says. The experience taught the self-made millionaire that successful people have one thing in common. People who get ahead are comfortable with the concept of change, Higgins said at a CNBC Make It: Your Money virtual event on Tuesday. That self-awareness can inform when to stay loyal to your ideas and when to change course, Higgins told Make It in an email. "To be successful in life ... you have to carry a little bit of defiance, a tad bit of belligerence" until people eventually come around, Higgins said on Tuesday.

Persons: Matt Higgins, Higgins Organizations: CNBC, RSE Ventures

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