I met Tim Ferris back in 2003, before he had written the immensely popular Four Hour Work Week and achieved international acclaim. The book is still a best seller today! He is a remarkable individual, and I’m proud to call him a friend. I’ve often wondered: what is it about Tim that has made him so unbelievably successful. I’ve thought about what I can learn from my interactions with him. Is he different today than he was in 2003?
I met Tim at a seminar I was teaching about how to bring your ideas to life through licensing. At the time, I held these two-day seminars pretty frequently, and Tim kept showing up to them. Eventually we began talking afterwards. Looking back, there were a lot of things about Tim that were very unusual, although I didn’t realize it at the time. I’m going to try to capture these special qualities in this blog, so we can both learn from Tim.
One thing about Tim that really stands out in my mind, even today, was that he had a desire to learn as much as possible about a subject and knack for focusing in on what was most important about it. He would study the subject — in this case, licensing -- very closely, trying to study and absorb everything he could from people who were willing to teach him. He looked for opportunities as he mastered a new subject. His book truly reflects this ability. Tim borrowed and refined ideas from many different sources, tying them together in a well-written and easy to read book. And as a result, it’s stood the test of time.
Another notable thing about Tim is his ability to connect with people. He reached out to me for help, and I know he did the same to many other people he wanted to learn from. He built these relationships carefully and thoughtfully -- he demonstrated his sincere appreciation for your work and that he wanted to learn more. I never felt insulted or that he was shallow because he was very genuine. Before I knew it, I was in his world and working for him, as were many other people. He has always been a great connector, and that is such an important skill. When his book came out, he had a lot of people ready to champion him and hope for his success. He had an army of people that believed in him! Can you ask for anything more?
Stephen Key is a successful award-winning inventor who has licensed over 20 products in the past 30 years. He is a board member of Accudial Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and has a new book "One Simple Idea: Turn your dreams into a licensing goldmine while letting others do the work," from McGraw-Hill. Along with business partner Andrew Krauss, Stephen runs inventRight, a company dedicated to education. Teaching inventors and entrepreneurs the skills needed to successfully license their ideas. You can listen to the weekly radio show on inventing.
One Simple Idea is available in book stores and online book retailers nationwide. When you buy the book you get access to our our database of over 1400 companies looking for ideas as well as other bonus materials. Visit www.inventright.com to learn more.
