Discover Your Next Big Idea

Finding Your Big Idea: Lessons from an Explorer and a Billionaire Entrepreneur

• Andres Ruzo, a National Geographic Explorer and geothermal scientist, embarked on a personal quest to find the boiling river he had heard about in a childhood legend in the Amazon jungle.

• Despite being laughed at and dismissed by many geologists and companies, Andres persisted in his search and found allies in local shamans who offered him guidance.

• After a long and difficult journey involving a plane ride, 4x4 ride, motorized canoe ride, and hiking, Andres finally found the boiling river, which emitted dense steam and was too hot to touch.

• Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx, spent her twenties constantly searching for an idea that would make her feel successful, even visualizing herself on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

• After years of pursuing different paths, Sara found herself frustrated with her wardrobe options and cut the feet off her pantyhose to wear with cream pants, leading to the idea for Spanx.

• Sara's idea came from asking interesting questions and being prepared to go for whatever idea presented itself, rather than waiting for a lightning strike or aha moment.

• Successful entrepreneurs constantly search for their big idea and surround themselves with a team to help them track and pursue it relentlessly.

• The key to finding a big idea is clarity of purpose, consistent optimization of one's own thinking, and persistence to follow through.

• Big ideas often come from solving a personal problem that others can relate to, as evidenced by the many women who had been cutting the feet off their pantyhose before Spanx existed.

• The myth that big ideas drop out of the sky and turn you into a billionaire overnight is just that - a myth. It takes hard work, preparation, and the ability to act on a good idea when it presents itself.

• Like any great explorer, successful entrepreneurs need to have a guiding idea of what they're looking for and constantly survey their environment for clues.

• The journey to finding a big idea is often difficult and involves setbacks, but the most successful entrepreneurs rebound from dead ends and false discoveries to keep searching.How to Find and Act on Your Next Big Idea

• Entrepreneurs need to be intentional about looking for their next big idea.

• Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx, intentionally creates time and space to think in her car every morning.

• Various successful entrepreneurs have their own preferred places to think big, such as Brian Chesky of Airbnb at The Walt Disney Family Museum and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook on his lawn.

• Some entrepreneurs find their ideas by noticing platform shifts or abstract patterns and trends.

• The difference between having an idea and building a business is crucial.

• Sara Blakely found a gap in the market for women's shapewear and started building toward it, despite having no background in fashion design or clothes fabrication.

• She iterated the product and partnered with a manufacturing plant to produce at capacity.

• Sara's passion and enthusiasm for her idea helped her convince a manufacturer to take a chance on her product.

• Entrepreneurs don't need an impressive or high-powered network to start; all they need is passion, persuasion, and grit.

• Every idea should be treated like it could succeed, even if it doesn't.

• Surrounding yourself with people who can help is critical.

• Great entrepreneurs know that not every idea will succeed, but every idea should be acted upon.Sara Blakely's Journey to Success and the Importance of Protecting Your Ideas

• Sara Blakely was selling fax machines before she came up with the idea for Spanx, a billion-dollar company that sells shapewear.

• Blakely taught herself everything about the business, including patents, and wrote her own patent after researching at the Georgia Tech Library and buying a book on patents and trademarks.

• Michelle Lee, former Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, stresses the importance of patents, especially in industries where intangible assets are valuable.

• The patent system is designed to be available to everyone, regardless of funding, and small players can grow up to be big companies.

• Blakely kept her idea for Spanx a secret for a year, only sharing it with manufacturers, patent lawyers, and those who could help her move it along.

• Feedback is valuable, but it's important to shield yourself from criticism that might cripple your idea in its infancy.

• Not everyone has the entrepreneurial mindset, and naysayers will discourage you from pursuing your idea.

• Persistence is key in searching for and pursuing your idea, and taking feedback from those who can help build it.

• Blakely started Spanx with $5,000 in her bank and grew it into a billion-dollar company without taking outside investment because she didn't know it was an option.

• Blakely's goal was to appear on the Oprah show, which she achieved by sending Oprah a gift basket with her product.

• Blakely's entrepreneurial journey didn't end with her appearance on Oprah, and she built brand awareness one customer at a time.

• Andres Ruzo's goal was to find the boiling river, but he discovered a darker side to the disappearing jungle and started a nonprofit, The Boiling River Project, to protect it by finding value in the standing trees.