(calm music)
- Lori Grenier is a prolific inventor
and multi-millionaire investor.
You probably know her
from her wildly popular ABC show, "Shark Tank,
but you might not know she packs some serious credentials,
including having over 500 inventions
and 120 patents to her name.
Lori wasn't born a successful inventor.
Nobody taught her how to be an entrepreneur.
It all started nearly two decades ago
with a simple idea for an interesting jewelry box.
Now she has a multi-billion dollar business
and she's just getting started.
So let's take a look at Lori Grenier's five rules
for becoming a successful inventor.
Number one, know the inventor you want to be.
As Grenier astutely observes,
there are two types of inventors,
the one who creates one master work
and the serial inventors who relish in the thrill
of coming up with new idea after new idea
and breathing life into them.
Obviously, Grenier is the latter.
Number two, don't be stubborn with your idea.
No matter which type of inventor you are,
you must seek out constant feedback.
Grenier says, "Don't fall in love with your idea
to the point that you don't wanna listen to feedback.
You can't block out what your potential customers
are saying just because you're so passionate
about your idea.
Business is business and sometimes
you need to pivot your idea to match demand."
Number three, it just takes one idea.
Many people have lots of great ideas
that don't work out and that's okay.
You don't need all your ideas to work out,
you just need the one idea to take off.
But here's the catch 22,
to know what your million dollar idea is,
you need to come up with a lot of ideas.
That means you need test and experiment,
what does and doesn't work?
The best idea in your head might not be
what customers are looking for.
You have to be comfortable with failing and moving on.
Number four, put in the hours.
Simply put, beginning inventors and entrepreneurs
need to learn every facet of their craft and their business
firsthand to make the pivotal decisions.
even at after her first product was seeing success,
Grenier had to create over 20,000 pieces of jewelry
by hand for her in-store displays.
There are no secrets here,
you just have to put in the hours.
And number five, do whatever it takes.
Grenier says, "Entrepreneurs are the only people
who will work 80 hours a week
to avoid working 40 hours a week.
Being your own boss is much harder work
than working for someone else.
But if it's in you, if it's who you are,
you almost don't have a choice.
You're willing to work 80 hours for your idea
because it's actually easier
than working 40 hours on someone else's.
So how far are you willing to go for your idea?
A true entrepreneur does whatever it takes.
That's the bottom line."