Timothy Ferriss
Encyclopedia
Timothy Ferriss is an American author, entrepreneur, and public speaker. 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. In 2010, he followed up with The 4-Hour Body
. Ferriss' third book, The 4-Hour Chef, was announced in 2011.
and graduated from St. Paul's School
. He received a degree in East Asian Studies from Princeton University
in 2000.
-based online company that sells sports nutrition supplements. He sold the company in January 2009 to a London-based private equity firm. He is a full-time angel investor
and has invested in Twitter
, Posterous
, DailyBurn
(formerly Gyminee), Reputation Defender, Foodzie, Badongo
, RescueTime, and SimpleGeo.
He also acts as an advisor to StumbleUpon
and Shopify
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. Ferriss and his dance partner Alicia Monti set the record live on the show Live with Regis and Kelly
. 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. In 2008, he won Wired Magazine's "Greatest Self-Promoter of All Time" prize and was named one of Fast Company
's "Most Innovative Business People of 2007". Ferriss has also spoken at the EG Conference.
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.
The Aspen Institute
named Ferriss a 2009 Henry Crown
Fellow in March 2009.
and Parkinson's Law
to business and personal life. He has also taken the position that technology such as email
, instant messaging
and internet-enabled PDA
s complicate life rather than simplify it. 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. This involves breaking what he calls "outdated assumptions" and finding ways to be more effective so that work takes up less of people's time.
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". He also advocated hiring virtual assistants
from developing countries such as India
.
Before the release of the 4HWW, Ferriss was an unknown. He marketed the book heavily through bloggers with whom he created personal relationships. He has since been praised for this technique. 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
. Ferriss stated, in a Fast Company interview, that 4HWW is read by many of the "top tech CEOs in the world".
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.
, was published by Crown Archetype. The book reached the #1 position in the New York Times Hardcover Advice & Misc. list that week. It also apeared on the Dr. Oz TV show.
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."
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.
The 4-Hour Workweek
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich is a semi-autobiographical self-help book written by Timothy Ferriss, an American writer, educational activist, and entrepreneur....
, which was a New York Times and USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
bestseller. In 2010, he followed up with The 4-Hour Body
The 4-Hour Body
The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman is the second book by bestselling American writer Tim Ferriss.-Background:...
. Ferriss' third book, The 4-Hour Chef, was announced in 2011.
Early life
Ferriss grew up in East Hampton, NYEast Hampton (town), New York
The Town of East Hampton is located in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, at the eastern end of the South Shore of Long Island. It is the easternmost town in the state of New York...
and graduated from St. Paul's School
St. Paul's School (Concord, New Hampshire)
St. Paul's School is a highly selective college-preparatory, coeducational boarding school in Concord, New Hampshire affiliated with the Episcopal Church. The school is one of only six remaining 100% residential boarding schools in the U.S. The New Hampshire campus currently serves 533 students,...
. He received a degree in East Asian Studies from Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
in 2000.
Career
In 2001, at the age of 23, Ferriss founded BrainQUICKEN, a San JoseSan Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
-based online company that sells sports nutrition supplements. He sold the company in January 2009 to a London-based private equity firm. He is a full-time angel investor
Angel investor
An angel investor or angel is an affluent individual who provides capital for a business start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity...
and has invested in Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
, Posterous
Posterous
Posterous is a simple blogging platform started in May 2008, funded by Y Combinator. It is based in San Francisco.Updating to Posterous is similar to other blogging platforms. Posting can be done by logging in to the website's rich text editor, but it is particularly designed for mobile blogging...
, DailyBurn
DailyBurn
DailyBurn is a health and fitness website that has a membership of approximately 500,000. It helps users to track their daily calorie intake, workouts, and weight. It maintains three priced plans as well as a free plan. InterActiveCorp holds a majority stake in the company.The website has an iPhone...
(formerly Gyminee), Reputation Defender, Foodzie, Badongo
Badongo
Badongo is a one-click hosting service, based in the USA. It seems not to be available in some countries...
, RescueTime, and SimpleGeo.
He also acts as an advisor to StumbleUpon
StumbleUpon
StumbleUpon is a discovery engine that finds and recommends web content to its users. Its features allow users to discover and rate Web pages, photos, and videos that are personalized to their tastes and interests using peer-sourcing and social-networking principles.Toolbar versions exist for...
and Shopify
Shopify
Shopify is an e-commerce platform that allows individuals and businesses to create online stores. The platform currently hosts over 16,000 online retailers, including stores for Angry Birds, Foo Fighters, Tori Amos, General Electric, Tata Group, Tesla Motors, Amnesty International, DODOcase,...
in exchange for equity, according to his interviews with Kevin Rose
Kevin Rose
Kevin Rose is an American Internet entrepreneur who co-founded Revision3, Digg, Pownce, and Milk...
.
He holds the Guinness Book of World Records' record for the most consecutive tango
Tango (dance)
Tango dance originated in the area of the Rio de la Plata , and spread to the rest of the world soon after....
-spins in one minute. Ferriss and his dance partner Alicia Monti set the record live on the show Live with Regis and Kelly
Live with Regis and Kelly
Live! with Kelly is a syndicated American television morning talk show, hosted by Kelly Ripa. The show has aired since 1983 in New York City and 1988 nationwide. Tony Pigg has been the show's announcer since its inception...
. 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. In 2008, he won Wired Magazine's "Greatest Self-Promoter of All Time" prize and was named one of Fast Company
Fast Company (magazine)
Fast Company is a full-color business magazine that releases 10 issues per year and reports on topics including innovation, digital media, technology, change management, leadership, design, and social responsibility...
's "Most Innovative Business People of 2007". Ferriss has also spoken at the EG Conference.
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
Yabusame
is a type of mounted archery in traditional Japanese archery. An archer on a running horse shoots three special "turnip-headed" arrows successively at three wooden targets....
, the Japanese art of horseback archery.
The Aspen Institute
Aspen Institute
The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1950 as the Aspen Institute of Humanistic Studies. The organization is dedicated to "fostering enlightened leadership, the appreciation of timeless ideas and values, and open-minded dialogue on contemporary issues." The...
named Ferriss a 2009 Henry Crown
Henry Crown
Henry Crown was an American industrialist and philanthropist. Among other things, he founded the Material Service Corporation, which merged with General Dynamics in 1959. At the time of his death, he was a billionaire...
Fellow in March 2009.
Productivity and teachings
Ferriss is known for his application of both the Pareto principlePareto principle
The Pareto principle states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.Business-management consultant Joseph M...
and Parkinson's Law
Parkinson's law
Parkinson's law is the adage first articulated by Cyril Northcote Parkinson as the first sentence of a humorous essay published in The Economist in 1955:...
to business and personal life. He has also taken the position that technology such as email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
, instant messaging
Instant messaging
Instant Messaging is a form of real-time direct text-based chatting communication in push mode between two or more people using personal computers or other devices, along with shared clients. The user's text is conveyed over a network, such as the Internet...
and internet-enabled PDA
Personal digital assistant
A personal digital assistant , also known as a palmtop computer, or personal data assistant, is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. Current PDAs often have the ability to connect to the Internet...
s complicate life rather than simplify it. 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. 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.
The 4-Hour Workweek
In April 2007, Random HouseRandom House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
released his book The 4-Hour Workweek through its Crown imprint
Crown Publishing Group
-External links:*...
. The book warns against information overload, recommends what Ferriss calls "selective ignorance" and coins the phrase "lifestyle design". He also advocated hiring virtual assistants
Virtual Assistance
Virtual assistance is the professional service of remote administrative office and other specialized support by a virtual assistant who works with clients in an ongoing, collaborative professional relationship.-Job description:...
from developing countries such as India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
Before the release of the 4HWW, Ferriss was an unknown. He marketed the book heavily through bloggers with whom he created personal relationships. He has since been praised for this technique. 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
Technorati
Technorati is an Internet search engine for searching blogs. By June 2008, Technorati was indexing 112.8 million blogs and over 250 million pieces of tagged social media...
. Ferriss stated, in a Fast Company interview, that 4HWW is read by many of the "top tech CEOs in the world".
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 BodyThe 4-Hour Body
The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman is the second book by bestselling American writer Tim Ferriss.-Background:...
, was published by Crown Archetype. The book reached the #1 position in the New York Times Hardcover Advice & Misc. list that week. It also apeared on the Dr. Oz TV show.
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
Dwight Garner (critic)
Dwight Garner is an American journalist, now a literary critic for The New York Times. Prior to that he was senior editor at the New York Times Book Review, where he worked from 1999 to 2009...
wrote, "'The 4-Hour Body' reads as if The New England Journal of Medicine had been hijacked by the editors of the SkyMall catalog."
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.
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. Ferriss intends the book to be as much about "the skill of learning skills" as cooking foods.External links
- Tim Ferriss Blog
- Problogger Interview: with Tim Ferriss
- Former desk slave Tim Ferriss on why you only need to work a four-hour week from The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
- Tim Ferriss: The Clock Watcher from The Daily TelegraphThe Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
- Better, Faster, Stronger from The New Yorker