Start up stories for small businesses and entrepreneurs

I came across this BBC website called Start-Up Stories there’s some good material in here. I just listened to Max Levchin, the founder of Pay-Pal, talk about how he got started:

• Destiny plays it’s role – he bumped into his business partner because he was seeking an air conditioned room to get out of the heat. Lesson: he put himself in the environment to meet people.
• Change and adapt – the initial Pay-Pal business was designed for a mobile device. It changed to a web based payment system when an eBay vendor asked for their logo so he could use it as a payment mechanism on his eBay store. Lesson: create a product and get it out, no matter how basic. Then listen to customers
• Don’t do it alone – he would never build a business without a partner. Lesson: don’t be afraid to share the pie.

{sorry, the BBC website is archaic, it wont let you embed their video in your site.}