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Isn't anyone else here skeptical of Tim Ferriss? Sure he's rich now, but he graduated from Princeton and self-admittedly worked 7 days a week in order to get h

by codexon 16y ago

Isn't anyone else here skeptical of Tim Ferriss? Sure he's rich now, but he graduated from Princeton and self-admittedly worked 7 days a week in order to get his dietary supplement company BrainQuicken up and running. All this flies in the face of his 4-hour workweek book.

brianmwang 16y ago
Above all else, Tim is a master self-marketer. I've always found it interesting that I'd never heard of BrainQuicken until he got his fame from 4-Hour Workweek. Granted, that fact alone doesn't mean the company wasn't successful when Tim was running it, but it is curious. IMHO, he comes across very much as a "famous for being famous" type of person and for that, I've never really liked the guy. Some of his ideas are interesting, but it's hard to take him seriously when he's practically Aleksey Vayner.
joshklein 16y ago
He addresses this in his book - creating the original "muse" is something that requires huge amounts of work and time. But the objective is to only develop the kind of business you can later automate, thereby reducing yourself to only 4-hours of busywork eventually - not total "work", mind you - so you can focus on the things you care about. In Tim's case, that "stuff you care about" appears to be creating a personal brand as a sort of life coach / marketing guru. Like all business and self-helpy books, you have to take the 4HWW's subject matter as a skeptic, but there are some great nuggets in the book.
- adriand 16y ago
  > there are some great nuggets in the book. I typically detest self-help books but a small number of ideas from the book were enough to change my life: not checking email first thing in the morning; checking email at scheduled, limited times during the day; setting critical goals for each day and prioritizing them; and setting short limits on the amount of time I set aside for particular tasks. I don't really care what criticism anyone might want to level at 4HWW (and I'm sure there's plenty), but for me, these simple ideas increased my work enjoyment and productivity tenfold.
ojbyrne 16y ago
I think the correct question is "is anyone else here not skeptical of Tim Ferriss?"
hugh3 16y ago
I think the real question is why does Tim Ferris have any credibility around here at all, when anyone else trying to sell "dietary supplements" and making "I gained 34 pounds of muscle in one month" claims would be confined to the medium of posters on telegraph poles. Even to the extent that any of his claims are true, didn't his mother ever teach him that it's impolite to brag?
- salemh 16y ago
  ..He has not been in the dietary supplement business for years. "Brag" vs spreading knowledge?
groby_b 16y ago
Personally, I've bookmarked him as sleazeball. His "easy wins" usually come about because he exploits weaknesses in the system. Yes, completely legal, but - IMNSHO - completely unethical. So, while it might work for him, I want nothing to do with it. Made the mistake of reading his book and felt dirty for it.

by codexon 16y ago

brianmwang 16y ago

Above all else, Tim is a master self-marketer. I've always found it interesting that I'd never heard of BrainQuicken until he got his fame from 4-Hour Workweek. Granted, that fact alone doesn't mean the company wasn't successful when Tim was running it, but it is curious. IMHO, he comes across very much as a "famous for being famous" type of person and for that, I've never really liked the guy. Some of his ideas are interesting, but it's hard to take him seriously when he's practically Aleksey Vayner.

joshklein 16y ago

He addresses this in his book - creating the original "muse" is something that requires huge amounts of work and time. But the objective is to only develop the kind of business you can later automate, thereby reducing yourself to only 4-hours of busywork eventually - not total "work", mind you - so you can focus on the things you care about. In Tim's case, that "stuff you care about" appears to be creating a personal brand as a sort of life coach / marketing guru. Like all business and self-helpy books, you have to take the 4HWW's subject matter as a skeptic, but there are some great nuggets in the book.

adriand 16y ago
> there are some great nuggets in the book. I typically detest self-help books but a small number of ideas from the book were enough to change my life: not checking email first thing in the morning; checking email at scheduled, limited times during the day; setting critical goals for each day and prioritizing them; and setting short limits on the amount of time I set aside for particular tasks. I don't really care what criticism anyone might want to level at 4HWW (and I'm sure there's plenty), but for me, these simple ideas increased my work enjoyment and productivity tenfold.

ojbyrne 16y ago

I think the correct question is "is anyone else here not skeptical of Tim Ferriss?"

hugh3 16y ago

I think the real question is why does Tim Ferris have any credibility around here at all, when anyone else trying to sell "dietary supplements" and making "I gained 34 pounds of muscle in one month" claims would be confined to the medium of posters on telegraph poles. Even to the extent that any of his claims are true, didn't his mother ever teach him that it's impolite to brag?

salemh 16y ago
..He has not been in the dietary supplement business for years. "Brag" vs spreading knowledge?

groby_b 16y ago

Personally, I've bookmarked him as sleazeball. His "easy wins" usually come about because he exploits weaknesses in the system. Yes, completely legal, but - IMNSHO - completely unethical. So, while it might work for him, I want nothing to do with it. Made the mistake of reading his book and felt dirty for it.