Long gone are the days when the internet was considered a fad that will soon sink into oblivion. In hindsight, only few were able to predict what potential the internet had and most of them were well rewarded for it.
Today, the internet is more like a second nature to most of us, becoming a huge part of our lives going from a means for just entertainment all the way to a means for work.
I think viewing it as a means for work is what mostly drived the evolution and growth of the internet. It has created much overall value to the world and gave birth to a new batch of wealthy individuals.
These new breed of entrepreneurs who have leveraged technology, innovation and data to build successful online businesses and platforms. Internet millionaire is simply anyone who has become wealthy from the internet.
They're basically the new money individuals that can sometimes get loud on social media.
I'm not sure whether there is a strategy to the madness or is it just status signaling. But there are some peculiarities to their internet success. This post is about that and the lessons we can learn from them.
Technology, Innovation, And Data
The first peculiarity is that they're mostly tech entrepreneurs or investors.
I see it from the viewpoint that the internet was this empty fertile land and through their entrepreneurial skills they were able to create and build tools that provided value to the visitors and new residents of the land. The investors were there to fund the building of the tools.
The peculiarity comes from the standpoint in which they approached the internet from. They were not just passive users or consumers of the internet, but also active creators and innovators who have built their online business(es) from scratch on this technology.
Through their creative vision and entrepreneurial drive, they were able to turn their ideas into reality, solving the problems or fulfilling the needs of millions if not billions of people.
Jeff Bezos iconic image in the late 1990s behind the desk with the Amazon logo at the background is a good stereotype of the level of activity these people had. Looking at the atmosphere, the picture was taken sometime in the night. Midnight?
In this day and age, it wouldn't be a bad idea to add innovation amongst the constant things in life. Remember the lessons from Kodak and Nokia, about being complacent and inflexible?
Internet millionaires didn't allow themselves to be complacent or satisfied with the first successful iteration of their products or services, they improved further upon it adding new features, functionalities and offerings that meet the changing needs and preferences of the internet users.
They also enter new markets and industries to acquire or invest in other promising internet ventures that complement or enhance their core business.
Here a good prototype is Facebook turned Meta, It has always been interesting to watch how the company operated strategically.
They're very good at integrating new products and services to their existing products and services, giving them a nice polish or make over.
Their superpower is the large number of users they're able to leverage and build around.
The third and not so good looking peculiarity is how these internet millionaires have faced criticisms and controversies in regards to their business and the impact it has on society or the economy.
Almost all of them didn't anticipate the great responsibility that comes from acquiring great power and influence. Perhaps, they didn't expect that things will get this huge.
Fighting misinformation or hate speech on a platform will almost a billion users is next to impossible. Achieving more than 60% of market dominance for a decade or more will rub off on many people the wrong way. How about muting the mic of the president of a powerful country?
Lessons
To me, these levels of success seem a bit extraordinary in a sense that it looks above average. But every now and then, we also see from their 'internet behaviour' that they're humans just like everyone else. The extraordinary aura comes from their achievements.
This is something that shouldn't interest us much since it is an event or outcome. The interest is in the mindset they had and the applicable strategy that they used.
For example, on the technological peculiarity, we could learn to develop our tech-savvy and visionary mindset to view the internet as a tool and an opportunity to create value and wealth. Through identifying gaps or niches in the market and developing solutions or products that are unique and valuable to a good number of users.
On the innovation front, the mindset is being adaptable to the evolution of the internet. The strategy is to test and iterate on new concepts or ideas, and to seek new opportunities and partnerships that can help us grow and succeed.
As for the criticisms and controversies peculiarity, the saying with great power comes great responsibility from Spider-Man is the lesson.
Thanks for reading!! Share your thoughts below on the comments.