• Blog
  • Archives
  • Bio
  • Awards
  • Speaking
  • Book
  • Contact

Ogilvy

Published: Wednesday, 20 March 2013

A lot of successful entrepreneurs dropped out of school (Richard Branson) or university (Bill Gates).  But Ogilvy, who went on to become a famous ad man, at 38, had "no credentials, no clients, and $6000 in the bank" and a below average IQ of 96.

I watched a documentary on Ogilvy a few years ago, and when it got to the bit about his IQ score, it said that Ogilvy had tested his IQ at the end of his career, after he'd retired.  He was expecting to be a genius, but his results showed him to be below average.  He was disappointed for a few days.  But then he realised that he'd actually done quite well for himself to have done so well with such a low IQ.

So you don't think you're as smart as everyone else, you've scored low on an IQ test, you're broke, you don't have a job, and you don't have a great education.  So what?  Other people have been in that position before and created amazing things for the world.  And you can do so too.

About Me

Marita ChengForbes named me a world's top 50 woman in tech & 30 Under 30. I founded Robogals and Aipoly and was Young Australian of the Year 2012. Currently working on robotics company Aubot. I'm the youngest Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and I give speeches around the world.

I tweet @maritacheng and I'm on Facebook.

Subscribe

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Random Articles

  • 1 day = 2

    When I was planning the first UK SINE, for about a month, I split each day into two.  I would get up in the morning, and do all the actions needed to...

  • Asian Society Game Changer Award

    I was named an Asian Society Game Changer Award winner alongside architect IM Pei (Lifetime Achievement Award), movie director Zhang Yimou, and the...

  • Do what's hard

    In Robogals, I always looked for the hardest possible thing to do.  And then I did it. Because I knew that if I could achieve that, then I would...

  • A Summer at Engineers Australia

    I saw on Facebook that Engineers Australia Victoria were moving into new premises.  I saw the national CEO Steve Durkin at an event.  He said I was...

  • Singularity University Reunion

    Great to go back to San Francisco in August for our Singularity University’s Graduate Studies Program Reunion. So proud of my classmates, their...

  • Greater than 0.00%

    No matter what choices you make every single day, life is unpredictable - everything is unpredictable. So all you can do is prepare the best you can...

  • Aipoly at Singularity University

    Aipoly aims to help the blind navigate the world. Our first application enables blind people to take a photo of their surroundings, and have it...

  • Think about you, think about me

    People don't think about you.  They're too busy worrying about how you think about them.

  • Robogals: Handing on the CEO baton

    There comes a point when it's time to move on and seek out new challenges. On 31 December 2012, after a year of transition process, I handed over my...

  • Your work is never done

    When I started Robogals, I thought going to schools and teaching girls robotics should get more to choose physics, chemistry and advanced maths;...

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Scroll to Top