At this point, Timothy Ferriss needs little introduction. Most know Tim for his New York Times bestseller The 4-Hour Workweek. He followed up The 4-Hour Workweek with The 4-Hour Body, again making the New York Times bestseller list. Tim’s latest book, The 4-Hour Chef, is marketed as a “choose your own adventure guide” not only informing readers about improving their culinary skills but also peppered with tips about improving general learning as well. Along with being a prolific author, Tim is an advisor and investor in several huge entrepreneurial endeavors including Facebook, Uber (an on-demand private driver service), and Evernote.
Here are 5 questions with Tim and a summary of his answers:
1) In your mind, what makes for a sexy business or idea?
I favor original ideas over Frankenstein ideas. What I mean by this is when an entrepreneur says, “I have this idea to combine Twitter and Kickstarter…” So what? An idea is not just a list of features. It should need little explanation because if it’s not simple you will not be able to sell it. Ask yourself, “Is this an idea people will actually use?” Actually, the litmus test I like to use… is this something my mother would get? My mother sent me a Humble Bundle gift certificate because it is a great idea and easy to understand. Stephen Key has some great thoughts regarding finding and developing good ideas too. I recommend checking out some of his stuff on this topic.
2) You are an early investor in Basis (the company that just launched the new Basis watch); knowing that you have an affinity for the budding but increasingly expanding market of biometric entrepreneurship what excites you about this space?
What excites me about this space is continual noninvasive self-tracking. I’m not necessarily talking about advances in infrared and pulse oximetry devices like the Basis watch… I’m referring to a disposable wearable patch that continually tracks and collects all of the common human biometric marker readings, markers similar to what you would find statically in an ordinary blood panel. However, this data is only valuable if we find ways to make it digestible, understandable, and actionable to the end-user through innovative user interfaces.
Usability is what I believe is necessary for the biometric device market to see widespread adoption. Widespread adoption is important for market growth. The market needs to have the necessary statistical information pool, and meaningful sample sizes, large enough to perform distributed clinical studies and/or accurate correlative studies. Keep an eye on some of the start-ups I’m involved with (for which I will release more information about shortly) but for now, Basis is a really cool product and a company to keep your eye on.
3) What are your personal recommendations for better networking?
Don’t amass connections on LinkedIn like a collector and think you are a great networker. Knowing 10 to 50 people really well, influencers in your niche is far more important than the total amount of contacts you have. In fact, handling contacts like a collector is handicapping. You reach a point of saturation that makes it impossible to maintain any meaningful relationships.
Approach people you would like to meet with a “just-in-time” strategy, not a “just-in-case” strategy. I would really like to meet Jay-Z but if I did I would probably be forgettable to him because I don’t really have anything to say to him in particular. Make sure that if you meet someone you would like to connect with you have something to say!
Lastly, regarding professional conferences the adage you get what you pay for really holds true. Do your research first, but after you have a list of creditable conferences go to the most expensive one you can afford. Influencers rarely go to free and low-cost events as attendees, and if they do their bandwidth will be at a premium because you and everyone else will want to talk with them.
4) What are your personal recommendations for self-branding?
Similar to networking, first determine who your customer is. Who are you trying to attract? Second, make sure you do not go at it ad hoc, develop a sound strategy. Are you going to deploy a public relations strategy? Are you going to set up a website and try for paid acquisition? These are important questions to answer before you start. Using The 4-Hour Workweek
- 1,000 True Fans by Kevin Kelly
- The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout
- 12 Lessons Learned While Marketing “The 4-Hour Body” by Charlie Hoehn
- From First TV to Dr. Oz – How to Get Local Media…Then National Media by me
5) Now that you have completed The 4-Hour Chef
What’s next? I don’t know. How about The 4-Hour Nap? Right now I think I have written my last book for a while. This time around, especially with the publishing controversy, it has been exhausting (for context read: An Author Cooks Up a Tiff with Bookstores). The idea of these books was always wealthy, healthy, and wise. I’ve completed the trilogy so it’s time to focus on other things.
BONUS: Two of my favor takeaways from The 4-Hour Workweek.
- The Pareto Principle
The Pareto Principle, or the 80/20 Rule as it is known to some, is the concept that 80 percent of any given output, usually comes from only 20 percent of a given effort to get that output. Or conversely, that 80 percent of a given effort generates only 20 percent of the desired outcome.
The numbers 80 and 20 are arbitrary and are only used in the context of the general principle. The distribution could be 75 and 5, or 90 and 40. In other words, it is not necessary that the numbers add up to 100. What is important is identifying that in general there are tasks and habits that are considerably more effective and efficient than others.
Peak performers use this general concept to their advantage by continually evaluating any system they use to garner results (whether it is in business, fitness, education, or well-being) and eliminating tasks and processes with little yield. Identifying what is working and doing more of it, and identifying what is not working and doing less (or not doing it at all) seems intuitive but unfortunately is rarely applied in the real world — many people are simply resistant to systemic change to the detriment of productivity.
- Make the Call!
In my experience, one of the clear cut differentiators between successful entrepreneurs and those that have been, for the most part, unsuccessful is tenacity and the ability to pick up a phone. Use these two skills to your advantage and almost anyone in the business world is accessible. For examples of this look no further than this Web site. How did someone like me get an interview with someone like Getting Things Done guru David Allen? I asked.
Tim Ferriss discusses an experiment he performed as a lecturer at Princeton (in his book The 4-Hour Workweek) where he challenged a group of students to contact three seemingly impossible-to-reach individuals for a chance at a round-trip ticket anywhere in the world. In the first year of conducting the experiment, not one person was able to complete the assignment. The second-year Mr. Ferriss was able to do a better job instilling confidence in his students stating, “From contacting billionaires to rubbing elbows with celebrities – it’s as easy as believing it can be done.” In the second year of conducting the experiment, 6 out of 17 of Tim’s students had completed the task within two days.
Roadtrip Nation further supports the notion that people are accessible if you are motivated. The show has highlighted numerous notable interviews, with remarkable interviewees, and virtually unknown interviewers. The show does a great job highlighting the fact that successful people will make time to help other people driven by purpose. The truth is successful people remember what it was like to begin something new, and if asked, are usually happy to help out the next guy… you! Success leaves clues, go find them.
