YOU CAN BE AN ENTREPRENEUR In July 2017 a crowd gathered outside a risks to develop new products and start new businesses They have an original or innovative idea They then turn it into a business that supplies those goods or services Start-ups are new businesses created by entrepreneurs entrepreneurs changing the world An industry is a large group of businesses and economic activities such as buying and selling Industries make goods or provide services For example the car industry makes and sells cars The world is changing at a fast pace As new technologies are introduced industries adopt the technologies The world also faces challenges such as pollution and finding energy sources Entrepreneurs in different industries are using their skills to tackle these challenges and make a better world Tesla hopes to make its electric cars as fast reliable and affordable as regular cars factory in Fremont California They were there to watch entrepreneur Elon Musk reveal the Tesla Model 3 an electric car that could travel 220 miles 354 km when fully charged Musk had begun Tesla Motors in 2003 when he was 32 years old The Tesla was the fulfillment of his dream to change the car industry by making electric cars just as capable as gasoline-burning vehicles His achievement is a great example of how young entrepreneurs can use science and technology to build a business that can change the world Entrepreneurs and Start-Ups An entrepreneur is someone who plans starts and runs a business that provides goods or services Entrepreneurs are people who take 44
INSPIRING STORIES Early Thinkers Young science and technology entrepreneurs have been around since the Industrial Revolution Before the beginning of the 1800s most people in Europe and North America were farmers Then the discovery of steam power made big machines and factories possible English inventor George Stephenson realized he could use a steam engine to move people and goods At the age of just 33 he created a start-up business and built the first steam locomotive Entrepreneurs of the Future New technologies are changing our world at an incredible pace and young people just like you could be the science and technology entrepreneurs of tomorrow Perhaps you and your friends will follow in the footsteps of stars such as Stephenson and Musk and go on to create exciting start-ups of your own Elon Musk pays himself a salary of just 1 per year to be CEO of Tesla Motors He makes money by owning Tesla stock which goes up in value if the company is successful The first locomotives traveled slowly but inventors kept experimenting and improving His invention helped create modern trains which brought food to cities and coal to factories This forever changed the way people lived and worked 55
THE NEW CAR COMPANIES From the beginning of the 1900s large car manufacturing companies have made billions of dollars and employed thousands of people Companies such as Ford Chrysler and Nissan have worked hard to make sure their cars do not waste fuel However the cars still burn fossil fuels such as gasoline Fossil fuels are harmful to the environment Transportation in the United States is responsible for more than one-quarter of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions These trap heat in Earth’s atmosphere which contributes to global warming However small start-up companies are developing new technologies to make cars that do not use fossil fuels Some smart young entrepreneurs have set up new car companies to do just that 6 6 The Elextra a luxury electric car designed by the Swiss company Classic Factory can accelerate to 62 mph 99 kph in just 2 3 seconds
The Chinese company Great Wall Motors has unveiled the WEY hybrid car which combines a gas engine with a plug-in battery Inspiring others Tesla’s cars have excited people From 2018 the company expects to sell more than 500,000 cars each year This has inspired other young start-up entrepreneurs to set up their own electric car companies hoping to compete with Tesla Motors For example in China former Volvo executive Freeman Shen set up a start-up business called WM Motors and raised a billion dollars to build his own brand of electric vehicles On the Shoulders of Giants Electric motors may have been around longer than gasoline-powered engines but successful entrepreneurs know how to give old ideas a new twist This can be seen in the work of entrepreneur Elon Musk Way back in 1882 the inventor Nikola Tesla 1856 1943 designed an electrical motor Fast-forward to 2008 and Musk used Tesla’s motor design to power his own first electric car the Tesla Roadster Musk named his company Tesla Motors after the brilliant inventor INSPIRING STORIES Super Solar Power Since 1988 students and professors at the University of Waterloo in Ontario Canada have been working on Midnight Sun This is a solar-powered vehicle designed to compete in races around the world Eleven models of Midnight Sun have competed in races such as the Australia Solar Challenge The University of Waterloo team tests new ideas on each version They hope that this will help people learn more about renewable energy They also hope to help young entrepreneurs explore more ideas for using solar power Many solar cars can only carry one person 7 7
