Neither had any formal education that would lead you to believe they would be successful. And they dabbled in stuff they knew nothing about. I used to laugh at them, thinking they would bust out. What I noticed after a time is they had a couple personality traits that I don't have.

When they had an idea, they were sketching it out on a napkin, running some rough numbers, and then visiting a fabrication shop the next day to build a prototype. I have no idea how they even knew the fabrication guy that could do this. They just knew people. Then they would take their prototype to some trade show and sell it like they had 1000 in stock. What they were doing would have burned a hike through my stomach. And they flopped on a lot of stuff. It didn't bother them in the least that I could tell. They were working on their next business idea and would have at least half a dozen independent income streams at any given time. I am thinking of three different friends right now that fit this profile. Only one of them would I consider very bright. Mostly their success was due to certain personality traits.