“Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work.” So saith Thomas Edison and it is a sentiment that is suggested as the appropriate words to put over the door of the anticipated
Dyson School of Design & Innovation. In case you do not recognize the name, Forbes.com lists Dyson as one of the who’s who of billionaire inventors.

“Idea: Invent upright device that sucks dirt off the floor.
Mastermind behind the super-fashionable and functional Dyson vacuum. Grew up studying English and playing the bassoon, went to art school to study design and engineering. Ran through 5,127 prototypes until he perfected G-Force in an upright vacuum that uses spinning technology to maintain constant suction.”

The number bolded above is what is striking. How many aspiring entrepreneurs throw in the towel after a handful of failures, let alone 5,127? Is it conviction that makes a man keep persevering against the odds? As you engage in selling your vision, how do you overcome the desire to throw in the towel?

Business network tips always beat the drum to never give up but few tell you what exactly is the thing that pushes a man to try the 5,128th time. When you think about it, putting a coffee shop on every corner(Starbucks), stuffing toys with beans(Beanie Babies),selling books online,(Amazon) or sticking a horse on a polo shirt (Ralph Lauren) are not earth shattering ideas in and of themselves. But put such ideas in the minds of certain men, and empires are born. Perhaps the inventor is coming who can isolate that “it” factor that distinguishes the men composing the Forbes roster of billionaires inventors from the rest of us.