Timothy Ferriss

Not to be confused with the science writer Timothy Ferris.
Tim Ferriss
Born July 20, 1977 (1977-07-20) (age 34)
East Hampton, NY
Occupation Writer
Genres Nonfiction
Notable work(s)

The 4-Hour Workweek

The 4-Hour Body

Timothy Ferriss (born July 20, 1977) is an American author, entrepreneur, and public speaker.[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 and USA Today bestseller.[2][3] In 2010, he followed up with The 4-Hour Body. Ferriss' third book, The 4-Hour Chef, was announced in 2011.[4]

Contents

Early life

Ferriss grew up in East Hampton, NY and graduated from St. Paul's School. He received a degree in East Asian Studies from Princeton University in 2000.[5]

Career

In 2001, at the age of 23, Ferriss founded BrainQUICKEN, a San Jose-based online company that sells sports nutrition supplements.[6][7][8] He sold the company in January 2009 to a London-based private equity firm.[9] He is a full-time angel investor and has invested in Twitter, Posterous, DailyBurn (formerly Gyminee), Reputation Defender, Foodzie, Badongo, RescueTime, and SimpleGeo.[10][11]

He also acts as an advisor to StumbleUpon and Shopify[10] in exchange for equity, according to his interviews with Kevin Rose.

He holds the Guinness Book of World Records' record for the most consecutive tango-spins in one minute.[12] Ferriss and his dance partner Alicia Monti set the record live on the show Live with Regis and Kelly.[13] Prior to his writing career, Ferriss wrote that he became the national champion in the 1999 USAWKF Sanshou (Chinese kickboxing) championship through a process of shoving opponents out of the ring.[14] In 2008, he won Wired Magazine's "Greatest Self-Promoter of All Time" prize[15] and was named one of Fast Company's "Most Innovative Business People of 2007".[16] Ferriss has also spoken at the EG Conference.[17]

His show Trial By Fire aired on the History Channel in December 2008. In the show, Ferriss had one week to attempt to learn a skill normally learned over the course of many years, and in the pilot episode he practiced yabusame, the Japanese art of horseback archery.[18]

The Aspen Institute named Ferriss a 2009 Henry Crown Fellow in March 2009.[19]

Productivity and teachings

Ferriss is known for his application of both the Pareto principle and Parkinson's Law to business and personal life.[20] He has also taken the position that technology such as email, instant messaging and internet-enabled PDAs complicate life rather than simplify it.[21][22] His teachings fit under the umbrella of what he calls "lifestyle design", in which he promotes "mini-retirements" as an alternative to the "deferred-life" career path where one would work a 9-to-5 job until retirement in one's 60s.[23][24] This involves breaking what he calls "outdated assumptions" and finding ways to be more effective so that work takes up less of people's time.[23]

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".[24] He also advocated hiring virtual assistants from developing countries such as India.[24]

Before the release of the 4HWW, Ferriss was an unknown.[25] He marketed the book heavily through bloggers with whom he created personal relationships.[25][26] He has since been praised for this technique.[25][27] The book eventually hit number 1 on both the New York Times bestseller list and the Wall Street Journal bestseller list.

The release of his book moved Ferriss' blog to the Top 1000 on Technorati.[28] Ferriss stated, in a Fast Company interview, that 4HWW is read by many of the "top tech CEOs in the world".[29]

On December 15, 2009, The Four-Hour Workweek, Expanded and Updated was released by Random House with several more case studies of people who have utilized Ferriss' methods.

The 4-Hour Body

On December 14, 2010, Ferriss' second book, The 4-Hour Body, was published by Crown Archetype. The book reached the #1 position in the New York Times Hardcover Advice & Misc. list that week.[30] It also apeared on the Dr. Oz TV show.[31]

The book, while commercially successful, was not as well received by some critics. In a rare New York Times review of a self-help book, Dwight Garner wrote, "'The 4-Hour Body' reads as if The New England Journal of Medicine had been hijacked by the editors of the SkyMall catalog."[32]

Ferriss has acknowledged using steroids—including testosterone cypionate, testosterone enanthate, Sustanon 250, and high-frequency growth hormone (HGH)—under medical supervision during his recovery from shoulder surgery.[33]

The 4-Hour Chef

Ferriss' third book, The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life, is set for publication by Amazon in 2012.[34] Ferriss intends the book to be as much about "the skill of learning skills" as cooking foods.[35]

References

  1. ^ Grant, Elaine (March 25, 2008). "4 Questions for Productivity Guru Tim Ferriss". US News and World Report. http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/small-business-entrepreneurs/2008/03/25/4-questions-for-productivity-guru-tim-ferriss.html. Retrieved 2008-04-04. 
  2. ^ New Times Bestseller List Feb. 2008
  3. ^ # 5: 4 Hour Work Week as of March 30, 2008.
  4. ^ Streitfeld, David (August 16, 2011). "Amazon Set to Publish Tim Ferriss". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/17/technology/amazon-set-to-publish-tim-ferriss.html. 
  5. ^ PAW: Alumni Spotlight
  6. ^ Bowers, Brent (June 13, 2007). "In the Hunt; The Hectic Chronicles". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B03EEDA1E31F930A25755C0A9619C8B63. 
  7. ^ Ferriss, Tim (September 5, 2007). "How I Work". CNN Money. http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/04/magazines/fsb/4_hour_week.fsb/index.htm. Retrieved 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." 
  8. ^ Tim Ferriss Wants You to Get a Life ABC News. October 11, 2007.
  9. ^ Warrillow, John, The Globe and Mail, 6 October 2010
  10. ^ a b Timothy Ferriss at CrunchBase
  11. ^ Kingcaid, Jason Feel the DailyBurn TechCrunch. May 26, 2009.
  12. ^ PAW: Alumni Spotlight. "...Ferris [sic] 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".
  13. ^ Tim Ferriss (2006). Tango World Record (http://youtube.com/watch?v=H9pWKB2D23k).+Live with Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa. 
  14. ^ "The 7 Commandments of Blogosphere (and Life) Self-Defense", Ferriss' blog, August 2007
  15. ^ Tweney, Dylan (March 31, 2008). "Tim Ferriss Takes Wired.com's Self-Promotion Prize". Wired. http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/03/tim-ferriss-tak.html. Retrieved 2008-04-04. 
  16. ^ Hannessian, Kevin (February 15, 2008). "Fast Company's Most Innovative Business People of 2007". Fast Company. http://www.fastcompany.com/multimedia/slideshows/content/innovators-2007.html?page=12. Retrieved 2008-04-22. 
  17. ^ Tim Ferriss: Smash fear, learn anything TED. December 2008.
  18. ^ Marketing Ideas #17 Tim Ferriss Trial by Fire on the History Channel Unconventional Marketing. December 3, 2008.
  19. ^ The Aspen Institute.Aspen Institute Names 2009 Henry Crown Fellows (press release), March 30, 2009.
  20. ^ R. della Cava, Marco (2008-01-28). "Services cater to our speeded-up lives". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/2008-01-27-speeded-up_N.htm. Retrieved 2008-04-04. 
  21. ^ Ferriss, Tim (March 4, 2008). "I receive 500 to 1,000 emails per day". The Economist. http://www.economist.com/node/10795313. Retrieved 2008-04-04. 
  22. ^ Williams, Alex (November 11, 2007). "Meet the Press". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/fashion/11guru.html?ex=1352610000&en=c84216adfad48b9c&ei=5124&partner=digg&exprod=digg. Retrieved 2008-04-04.  "Most fundamentally, Mr. Ferriss turned ruthless against e-mail. "
  23. ^ a b Dannen, Chris (September 2007). "Seven Questions with the 4-Hour Workweek Evangelist". Fast Company. http://www.fastcompany.com/articles/2007/09/4-hour-work-week.html. Retrieved 2008-04-24. 
  24. ^ a b c Ferriss, Timothy The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich' Crown (2007)
  25. ^ a b c Scoble, Robert (March, 2008). "Meet the Press". Fast Company. http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/124/meet-the-press.html. Retrieved 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..."
  26. ^ Williams, Alex (November 11, 2007). "Meet the Press". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/fashion/11guru.html?ex=1352610000&en=c84216adfad48b9c&ei=5124&partner=digg&exprod=digg. Retrieved 2008-04-04.  "...Ferriss has seen his book quickly become a best seller, largely on the strength of blog chatter in the tech community".
  27. ^ Rubel, Steve. "The 4-Hour Workweek - Behind the Meme". MicroPersuasion.com. http://www.micropersuasion.com/2007/05/the_4hour_workw.html. Retrieved 2008-04-05. 
  28. ^ Technorati profile: 4hww
  29. ^ Dannen, Chris (September 2007). "Seven Questions with the 4-Hour Workweek Evangelist". Fast Company. http://www.fastcompany.com/articles/2007/09/4-hour-work-week.html. Retrieved 2008-04-24. "My blog is on the blogroll of some of the top tech CEOs in the world. "
  30. ^ Taylor, Ihsan. "Hardcover". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2011-01-02/hardcover-advice/list.html. 
  31. ^ http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/four-hours-your-perfect-body-pt-1
  32. ^ Garner, Dwight (January 6, 2011). ""New! Improved! Shape Up Your Life!"". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/07/books/07book.html?pagewanted=all. 
  33. ^ http://www.askmen.com/celebs/interview_400/493c_tim-ferriss-interview.html
  34. ^ Streitfeld, David (August 16, 2011). "Amazon Set to Publish Tim Ferriss". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/17/technology/amazon-set-to-publish-tim-ferriss.html. 
  35. ^ http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2011/11/29/the-4-hour-chef-the-first-kindle-fire-book-teaser/

External links