Day Dreaming or Seeking a Co-author!   Another point of view,  another angle of looking at the same phenomenon.   Our world is changing, and change is accelerating. 

This is the main cause of inequality -- those who are ahead of the curve, and those who are followers.   The pioneers face obstacles, failures and disappointment, but also sense of wonder and adventure.  

This is a 2 year journey of thinking and discovery for me.  My original goal was to write 12 books on self-made billionaires in 2 years.  Divided by 24 months, that gives 2 month for each book.

Now I have ePublished 6, and crossed the half-way line, I set a new goal to finish 13 books in 2 years.  Now, it is not about speed or comfort, but about whether I will actually run out of creative ideas.  After all, the reason I am writing is to create a new vision, a new voice and a different way of viewing and experiencing the world.

The simplistic notion of "the rich get richer , the poor get poorer" is dangerously wrong.  I view it as some people realize their true potential, most don't because of inertia, unwilling to take the first step, the second step, the 10,001 steps to an unknown direction and an unguaranteed future -- the road least travel, or the road that has never been travelled. 

Nov 15, 2015 I will finish writing my 7th eBook "Hong Kong Self-made Billionaires."  Little do I know that Hong Kong is Number One in the world for billionaires.  After I finish the book, I will spend 5 days to re-read the book 3 times and make all necessary changes.  So I hope to epublish by Nov 20, 2015.   I know from past experience that as soon as I ePublish, I will find many areas needing improvement.  So I Nov 20 actually is version 1.  Nov 25 will be final version.  I am very tired and exhausted, but filled with a sense of wonder and awe every day by those entrepreneurs who have done the impossible -- to build a business with 10,000+ employees and 10 million plus customers.

Today I just published my eBook #6 "Zero to Billions: 37 Software Self-made Billionaires: Number One Industry in the World." in kindle Amazon.

Software is the world’s Number One Industry in the past 40 years.  I discover this BY ACCIDENT in the course of researching and writing this eBook.  The claim that Software is Number One Industry is not an exaggeration.   It is based on 4 facts.  The software self-made billionaires are (1) the richest (2) the fastest (3) the youngest and (4) the most numerous.

 First, the software self-made billionaires are the richest.  Bill Gates had been the world’s richest man for 17 of the last 20 years.  And this is after giving away more than $30B to charity.  And Bill Gates has plenty of company.  In 2015, of the 10 richest self-made billionaires in the world, 5 of them made it in software.  They are Larry Ellison of Oracle, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Michael Bloomberg of Bloomberg and Zuckerberg of Facebook.   The wealth gap between software and the other sector is even more shocking than that.  The other 5 sector (Telecom, Fast Fashion, Investment, Conglomerate and Casino) only account for 1 billionaire each.  Software easily beats the next best sector by 5 to 1 margin.

Second, the software self-made billionaires also made their fortunes the fastest.  Bill Gates became the richest man in the world in his early 30s.  In the 19the century, John Rockefeller made it through petroleum or what he called black gold.  While it took Rockefeller more than 25 years to become the richest man on earth, Bill Gates achieved this in about 13 years, or half the time. It is still a world-record.  Software is the speediest industry.  It took Facebook and Google about 10 years to reach users. 

Third, the software self-made billionaires are also the youngest.  In the sample 37 of the world’s software self-made billionaire, the average age is 49.5.  That is more than 15 years younger than the average age of self-made billionaires (about 67).  The youngest self-made billionaire in the world is Evan Spiegel at 25.  Mark Zuckerberg is only 31.  Even Jeff  Bezos, at 51,  is still a very young age for self-made billionaires,  6 of the self-made billionaire are under 40s: they are Evan Spiegel, Garrett Camp, Sean Parker, Teddy Sagi, Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin.

Fourth, the software self-made billionaires are the most numerous.  I could have easily picked 100 plus software self-made billionaires from the Forbes list.  That is about 10% of the world total self-made billionaires (1,101).  No other sector comes even close.

This is my 6th eBook on self-made billionaires.  I had been a programmer for 18 years and even once started my own software company.   I even worked for three internet start-ups.  Writing this book gives me fresh perspective to examine this industry as an objective outsider. 

 I adopt a six W approach.  Who are they?  What are their educational backgrounds?  What kind of software did they create?  Did they collaborate?  (Collaborate means multiple founders instead of solo founders), which countries are they from?  Are there any women?  How old are they?  How did they build their empire?

A couple of surprises came out in the course of writing this book.  First, China is already a powerhouse in software, second only to the US, supplying 8 of the 37 software self-made billionaire.  Second, software is a collaborative industry, over 80% of the software companies are founded by multiple-founders.   A few companies such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Oracle, SAP and Bloomberg are founded by four or more founders. Third, software industry is famous for change and innovation.  Today, both change and innovation are accelerating. Accelerated change will continue to favor software.   No other industries can match Software in (1) low startup cost (2) short product cycle (3) scalability and (4) ability to make other industries more efficient.  Looking ahead for the next 40 years,  Software will continue to be the Number One for the next 40 years.