Timothy Ferriss

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Timothy Ferriss in May 2007.
Timothy Ferriss in May 2007.

Timothy Ferriss (b. 1977) is an American author, public speaker, and "productivity guru."[1] In 2007, he published The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich which was a New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller.[2][3][4]

Contents

[edit] Productivity and Teachings

Ferriss is known for his application of the Pareto Principle to business and personal life.[5] He has also taken the position that technology such as email, instant messaging and internet-enabled pda's complicate life rather than simplify it.[6][7] His teachings fit under the umbrella of what he calls "lifestyle design" which he positions as an alternative to the "deferred-life" career path where one would work a 9 to 5 job until retirement in their 60's.[8][9] This involves breaking what he calls "outdated assumptions" and finding ways to be more efficient so that 'work' takes up less of people's time.[8]

Ferriss delivered guest lectures on High-Tech Entrepreneurship and Electrical Engineering at Princeton University[10] [11], where he is also a graduate.[12]

[edit] The 4-Hour Workweek

Main article: The 4-Hour Workweek

In April 2007, Random House released his book The 4-Hour Workweek through its Crown imprint. The book warns against information overload, recommends what Ferriss calls 'selective ignorance' and coins the phrase 'lifestyle design.'[13] He also advocated hiring virtual assistants from developing countries such as India.[14]

Before the release of the 4HWW, Ferriss was an unknown.[15] He marketed the book heavily through bloggers who he created personal relationships with.[15][16] He has since been praised for this technique.[15][17] The book eventually hit number 1 on both the New York Times bestseller list and the Wall Street Journal bestseller list.[18]

The release of his book moved Ferriss' blog[1] to the Top 1000 on Technorati.[19] According to Fast Company, it is read by many of the "top tech CEOs in the world."[20]

[edit] Other Life

Ferriss is founder and CEO of BrainQUICKEN[21], a company that sells sports nutrition supplements.[22][23] He also holds the Guinness Book of World Records' record for the most consecutive tango-spins in one minute.[24] Ferriss and his partner set the record live on the show Live with Regis and Kelly.[25]

In 2008, he won Wired Magazine's "Greatest Self Promoter of All-Time" prize [26] and was named one of Fast Company's "Most Innovative Business People of 2007."[27]

[edit] See also

[edit] External Links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Grant, Elaine. "4 Questions for Productivity Guru Tim Ferriss", US News and World Report, March 25, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-04-04. 
  2. ^ New Times Bestseller List Feb. 2008
  3. ^ " Tim Ferriss: "...4HWW is simultaneously #1 on the NY Times and #1 on the Wall Street Journal business bestseller lists"
  4. ^ # 5: 4 Hour Work Week as of March 30th, 2008
  5. ^ R. della Cava, Marco. "Services cater to our speeded-up lives", USA Today. Retrieved on 2008-04-04. 
  6. ^ Ferriss, Tim. "I receive 500 to 1,000 emails per day", The Economist, March 4th, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-04-04. 
  7. ^ Williams, Alex. "Meet the Press", The New York Times, November 11, 2007. Retrieved on 2008-04-04.  "Most fundamentally, Mr. Ferriss turned ruthless against e-mail. "
  8. ^ a b Dannen, Chris. "Seven Questions with the 4-Hour Workweek Evangelist", Fast Company, September 2007. Retrieved on 2008-04-24. 
  9. ^ Ferriss, Timothy The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich' Crown (2007)
  10. ^ The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss About Section
  11. ^ YouTube: Tim Ferriss Guest Lecture at Princeton Q&A Added: March 06, 2007
  12. ^ PAW: Alumni Spotlight
  13. ^ Ferriss, Timothy The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich' Crown (2007)
  14. ^ Ferriss, Timothy The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich' Crown (2007)
  15. ^ a b c Scoble, Robert. "Meet the Press", Fast Company, March, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-03-21.  "A year ago, Timothy Ferriss was a relative unknown. If the serial entrepreneur was known at all, it was likely for being the only Princeton University guest lecturer..."
  16. ^ Williams, Alex. "Meet the Press", The New York Times, November 11, 2007. Retrieved on 2008-04-04.  "...Ferriss has seen his book quickly become a best seller, largely on the strength of blog chatter in the tech community."
  17. ^ Rubel, Steve. The 4-Hour Workweek - Behind the Meme. MicroPersuasion.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  18. ^ " The Blog of Tim Ferriss: How Does a Bestseller Happen
  19. ^ Technorati profile: 4hww
  20. ^ Dannen, Chris. "Seven Questions with the 4-Hour Workweek Evangelist", Fast Company, September 2007. Retrieved on 2008-04-24. "My blog is on the blogroll of some of the top tech CEOs in the world. "
  21. ^ BrainQUICKEN/BodyQUICKEN (Cognamine) Company webpage
  22. ^ Ferriss, Tim. "How I Work", CNN Money, September 5, 2007. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.  "I run BrainQuicken (brainquicken.com), a six-year-old developer and distributor of sports-nutrition products in San Jose with wholesale customers around the world."
  23. ^ Mahalo: Tim Ferris Bio
  24. ^ PAW: Alumni Spotlight"...Ferris and Monti executed a jaw-dropping 37 tango spins in a minute. They shattered their own record of 27, set in June 2005 during the tango world championship in Buenos Aires."
  25. ^ Tim Ferriss. (2006). Tango World Record [http://youtube.com/watch?v=H9pWKB2D23k]. Live with Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa.
  26. ^ Tweney, Dylan. "Tim Ferriss Takes Wired.com's Self-Promotion Prize", Wired, March 31, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-04-04. 
  27. ^ Hannessian, Kevin. "Fast Company's Most Innovative Business People of 2007", Fast Company, February 15, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-04-22. 
Persondata
NAME Ferriss, Timothy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ferris, Tim
SHORT DESCRIPTION author; blogger; guru, Internet personality
DATE OF BIRTH 1976
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH