Sir James Dyson
Founder & Chief Engineer, Dyson Ltd.. On 1 show, 2 appearances. The Shows tab opens the full record on each.
founderengineerexecutiveauthorjamesdysonfoundation.com ↗Wikipedia ↗YouTube ↗
Sir James Dyson is best known as the inventor of the Dual Cyclone bagless vacuum cleaner and the creator of innovative household appliances like the Airblade and Supersonic. He established the James Dyson Foundation and the Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology, and authored the autobiographical books Against the Odds and Invention: A Life.
1shows
2appearances
45statements
13resolved
9supported
0contradicted
69%fully supported
Everything Sir James Dyson said on any show that made the record, most notable first. Each card names its show and opens the statement there.
Dyson: Vacuum makers rejected bagless cyclone to protect paper bag profits
“And one or two of them said they actually rather like selling paper bags. It's like, you know, Gillette selling a razor blade. They can make a lot of money out of bags. So, essentially, they were curious, but didn't want to license it.”
Dyson: Innovators should never take outside advice
“Obsessed and mad. But the thing is never to take advice.”
James Dyson claims he hates experts and avoids relying on them
“And he hated experts. For a good reason, actually, and I rather hate experts as well.”
Dyson: Incumbents Hoover and Electrolux did not innovate because bags were profitable
“These big companies like Hoover and Electrolux weren't bothering to improve the technology. Yeah. They were quite happy selling bags. And no one was taking them on because they're so big. So I thought, well, therein lies the opportunity.”
James Dyson claims he never gave away any equity in Dyson
“I've never made the mistake of giving away equity in the company.”
James Dyson strongly distrusts and rather hates conventional engineering experts
“And he hated experts. For a good reason, actually, and I rather hate experts as well.”
Dyson: Founders must retain IP ownership and majority equity control
“Sometimes one needs to go through these rites of passage. To understand the importance of ownership of intellectual property, the importance of owning, having a majority share in your own company, or even all the shares in your own company, and not charging en…”
Dyson: Vacuum bags are replaced because they are clogged, not full
“You don't replace the bags because they're full. You replace the bags because they're blocked.”
Dyson was profitable from its very first month of vacuum sales
“I was in the black from the first month on. I was able to pay my employees and I was making a profit as my distribution started to rise.”
James Dyson never gave away any equity to outside investors
“I've never made the mistake of giving away equity in the company.”
James Dyson: Founders must feel failure viscerally to grasp equity and IP value
“Sometimes one needs to go through these rites of passage. To understand the importance of ownership of intellectual property, the importance of owning, having a majority share in your own company, or even all the shares in your own company, and not charging en…”
James Dyson built 5,127 prototypes before perfecting his cyclonic vacuum
“And I built 5127 prototypes before I got it right.”
Dyson: VCs and private equity rejected Dyson for being an engineer
“The problem with the venture capitalists and the private equity people is that they all thought that because I was an engineer and designer, I knew nothing about making and selling things, and I couldn't possibly make a commercial success of it. So they all tu…”
Dyson: Toolmakers make all their money when clients request design changes
“Now, one of the things about tooling is that you, if you make any changes, that's where the toolmaker makes all his money. It's like a builder. You make changes, the builder starts piling on the costs.”
Dyson was profitable from its very first month of sales
“I was in the black from the first month on. I was able to pay my employees and I was making a profit as my distribution started to rise.”
Dyson: Early self-reliance makes people determined to prove something
“I had to learn very early on to rely entirely on myself and not anybody else. And I think it makes you very determined, very, very determined to prove something.”
James Dyson built 5,127 vacuum prototypes before perfecting his design
“And I built 5127 prototypes before I got it right.”
Dyson: Strange-looking technology succeeds if it genuinely works better
“So having, having introduced two very strange-looking, very different new technology, you can make a success of it if it genuinely works better.”
Dyson: VCs rejected him believing an engineer could not sell products
“The problem with the venture capitalists and the private equity people is that they all thought that because I was an engineer and designer, I knew nothing about making and selling things, and I couldn't possibly make a commercial success of it. So they all tu…”
Dyson: Design changes during tooling cause manufacturing costs to balloon
“Now one of the things about tooling is that you, if you make any changes, that's where the toolmaker makes all his money. It's like a builder. You make changes, the builder starts piling on the costs.”
James Dyson: Ballbarrow captured 50% market share but was never profitable
“And that was all fine, and we got 50% of the market, but never made any money.”
James Dyson sneaked into a sawmill to measure an industrial cyclone
“So I went and copied one of those that I saw on a local sawmill. I climbed over the wall at night and took some sort of measurements and examined it. And we came back and over two weekends we made one that was about 30 foot high.”
One line per show, most statements first. The link opens Sir's full record on that show: the calibration, argument clarity, speaking style and every statement made there.
| Show | Role there | Eps | Statements | Record | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 HOW I BUILT THISLEDGER | Founder & Chief Engineer, Dyson Ltd. | 2 | 45 | 69% 9/13 | full record on How I Built This → |