How Billionaires Become Billionaires

Digg: The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight

The Latest Digg Scandal: Digg Faces Accusations Of Gaming Itself

The almost non-stop stream of bad news about Digg over the last few years is now turning into a flood. Years ago I attempted to be a member of Digg but quickly came to the realization that there was someting fishy about how only certain members could get their stories onto the front-page. It seemed that if you weren't part of a certain clique there, there was really no point in posting news at all. I have had more than my fair share of submissions which didn't receive any diggs yet when someone else reposted the exact same news an hour later it would receive thousands of diggs and appear on the front page.

Then the big story broke that confirmed my suspicions that a clique of users were controlling which stories made the front page. A short time later more bad news broke that positive stories about certain corporations were mysteriously dominating the front page.

A few months ago Digg introduced a disastrously awful remake of itself which triggered a mass exodus by regulars. That's when I stopped even my once-a-month visit.

Today TechCrunch reports even worse news about Digg:

The darkest fears of every Digger (or, as is increasingly common, former Digger) may be coming true: some very compelling data mining by a concerned user has turned up evidence that dummy accounts under Digg auspices have been promoting certain sources to the front page with almost no activity from real users. The information was gleaned from Digg’s own records of front-page stories and associated Diggers.

The 159 dummy accounts, which were given pathetically anonymous names, seem to have contributed systematically to submissions from Digg publishing partners, including TechCrunch. The suspicious activity seems to have started after the algorithm revision of October 15th, after which time a number of submissions (though by no means all front-page stories) were blatantly promoted by these accounts. (source)

Digg, if you swirl the drain over this latest scandal you will have no one to blame but yourselves.

How Billionaires Become Billionaires: The Youngest Australian Tycoon

Australia's Youngest Tycoon: Nathan Tinkler

Nathan Tinkler was a $400/week electrician not too long ago. Then he took a chance to jump into a fast growth sector of the Australian economy: mining.  Then in just 18 short months he parlayed an A$1 million grubstake into A$445 million.

...Nathan Tinkler is on track to becoming Australia’s youngest and fastest-ever self-made billionaire.

This rags-to-riches tale, highlights how the mining boom is changing lives and creating a new generation of super wealthy in Australia. As a teenager, Tinkler left his small hometown of Inverell and made his way to the coal rich mines of the Hunter Valley. There he earned A$400 per week working as an apprentice electrician, before starting his own business servicing the mines.

But Tinkler was hungry for bigger things. In 2004, he saw an opportunity in a small unwanted Queensland coal mine.

The gamble paid off with Tinkler's current net worth estimated to be A$610 million ($596 million USD). Tinkler now has even grander plans.

“I have plans to develop the infrastructure around the mining industry as well as developing more minerals assets the team and myself have identified,” he said. (source)

There are a couple of obvious take-ways here for anyone interested in building wealth. One, you need to focus on fast growth industries. Two, at some point you have to overcome your fears and roll the dice. Most people just wait and wait for more proof until the opportunity has passed.

More on how billionaires become billionaires.

 

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How Billionaires Become Billionaires: The Social Network

How Billionaires Become Billionaires: The Social Network

By all accounts so far The Social Network, which is the movie about Mark Zuckerberg and the creation of Facebook, is a blast of a movie.  Here's one early review.

The Social Network will do for tech entrepreneurship what Wall Street did for Wall Street. Watch it now.

This morning I attended the press screening for The Social Network together with 80+ journalists, representatives from Sony and security guys in night goggles who patrolled the isles looking for hidden photo or video cameras. I think the journalists liked it. They seemed to enjoy the movie and LOLed regularly.

Me? I was blown away.

Seriously. I left the theatre after the movie ended, walked back to the office all dazed and confused with red eyes and a hot head. I think this movie marks a definitive turning point for us. For everybody? No, just ‘us’. I mean the people who read this blog, the people I call my friends and the entrepreneurs who work in our industry. That is ‘us’. (Source)

I'll be seeing it this weekend.