When I was a child I never said, "When I grow up, I want to be a CEO," but here I am. When I look back on my career, I realize the road to becoming a CEO isn't a straight, clearly clarified path. In fact, no two paths are the same. But whether you want to be a boss one day or not, there's a lot to learn from how leaders rise to the top of successful companies.           As this series of stories shows, the paths to becoming a CEO may vary, but the people in that position share the qualities of commitment , work ethic  and a strong desire for building something new. And every CEO take risks along the way--putting your life savings on the line to start a software company or leaving a big business to be one of the first employees at a startup.          I grew up in Minnesota, and learned how to be an entrepreneur from my father, who has run a small business for almost 30 years. I went to Georgetown University and tried a lot of business activities in college with varying degrees of success. And I always had a dream job pattern: to walk to work, work for myself and build something for consumers.           I'm only 29, so it's been a quick ride to CEO. Out of college, I worked for AOL as a product manager, then moved to Revolution Health and ran the consumer product team. In mid-2007 I left Revolution Health and started LivingSocial with several other colleagues, where I became a CEO.          Career advice: Don't figure out where you want to work, or even what industry you'd like to work at. Figure out what makes you do so. What gives you a really big rush? Answer why you like things, not what you like doing...and then apply it to your work life. Also, just because you're graduating , don't stop learning. Read more books than you did in college. If you do, and they're not, you're really well in a position to succeed in whatever you do. According to the author, successful CEOs should   _  .
try not to take risks stay in the same business have a strong sense of creativity save every possible penny