(orchestral music)
- [Narrator] Nikola Tesla has sparked
so many of today's technology marvels.
From Elon Musk's line of electric cars,
to NVIDIA's lightning fast processor.
The Serbian American inventor has been the subject
of a video game, a rock and roll band,
a short film from Jack White,
and a performance by David Bowie.
However, Tesla is remembered as a bad businessman,
who ended his life in obscurity
and was overlooked throughout much of the 20th century.
What could he possibly teach
today's inventors and entrepreneurs?
"Surprisingly, a lot," says experts who've studied his life.
"He was a disruptive technologist," says Jane Alcorn,
President of the Tesla Science Center.
If you're similarly disruptive,
you can learn from Tesla's failures,
as much as his successes.
Here are a few lessons
that more than a century later,
still speak volumes.
Number one, put on a show.
First consider what Tesla did right.
He was a consummate showman.
At a time when people were afraid of electricity,
he held crowds spellbound,
by letting current pass through his body
to illuminate a bulb held in his hand.
He also posed for photos,
in which he appeared to sit calmly
next to massive bolts of artificial lightening.
"He would let very high currencies
of electricity through his body,"
says Vladimir Pistalo,
author of "Tesla: A Portrait with Masks."
"His hair stood up and sparks would come out."
"He would become a fountain of sparks
and his body and clothes would emit very slight auras."
Are your presentations generating sparks?
If not, it's time to brainstorm some ways to dazzle.
Number two, know your backer's hearts.
Tesla will always be remembered
for his clash with Uber-financier, J.P. Morgan.
After Morgan withdrew his backing from Tesla's project
for wireless power transmission,
Tesla lost his facility,
and became an untouchable to other potential funders.
Tesla could have stayed in the Morgan's good graces,
if he'd had a better understanding
of what Morgan wanted from the research.
"Morgan basically just wanted to get the results
of the races in his yacht,
while Tesla had his monumental dream of free energy."
How well do you and your investors dreams align?
And number three, attract loyal supporters.
Good partners and seconds-in-command
do more than keep you focused.
They keep your research alive when you've moved on.
Everyone knows Thomas Edison,
because he had people to carry on his work after he died,
says Alcorn.
"Edison had family
and a whole workshop of people.
Tesla was more of a lone worker."
Insightful, committed partners can also keep you
from forgetting your ultimate goals.
Tesla's overarching ambition was
to spread new ideas and keep moving.
"Patent, promote, and sell."
If you're bursting with creative ideas,
you may need someone to remind you
how to make the most of them.
As Alcorn says,
"you don't necessarily want
to get rich off your inventions,
but you want to protect your work
and further it."