Via Business Insider:
"I think Carnegie's genius was first of all, an ability to foresee how things were going to change," historian John Inghan told PBS.
Pivotal moments according to the biographical outline:
- “Soon he took a job as a messenger at a telegraph office. During the several years he worked here, the teenage Carnegie made an effort to get to know important people around town.”
- “At age 17, Carnegie took a job as a telegrapher and assistant to a local railroad man for an impressive salary of $35 a month. Over the next decade, he became essential to running the profitable railroad.”
- “Carnegie also started investing. A $217 investment in a sleeping car company soon paid $5,000 a year. He helped form a pig iron company to build railroad bridges. His investments became so profitable that his $2400 a year from the railroad amounted to only 5 percent of his income.”
Notice how his ability with a new technology got him in the door and how, once in, he began building a personal network. He also learned how to run an organization because he was willing to do more than just his telegrapher/assistant job, and he paid attention to his personal finances..
