Leatherman: It is better to persist too long than give up too soon
Tim Leatherman · Leatherman Tool Group: Tim Leatherman · Jan 31, 2022 · at 31:06
Tim Leatherman, inventor of the Leatherman multi-tool, discusses persevering through over 200 rejections from tool and knife companies.
0:00 / 0:16exact quote · 16.3s
720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“There's a fine line between persistence and failure to accept reality, and I was determined to try to go on too long before giving up too soon.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Tim Leatherman
Asking prospects for advice opens doors better than pitching them directly
“If you try to sell stuff to people, they get their antenna up. If you ask them for advice, they're plenty willing to talk to you.”
A labeling lawsuit pushed Leatherman to source enough domestic parts for 'Made in USA'
“It spurred us into being more resolute and seeking more domestic suppliers and adding even more U.S. Content into our tools so that we can, in most of our tools now, we can label them as Made in USA.”
Tim Leatherman frequently needed pliers during his 1975 budget road trip
“On that trip, I was carrying a pocket knife, a multi-blade pocket knife, like a Boy Scout type knife, and I was using that for everything from adjustment making well, from Using the knife blade for slicing food for dinner to the can opener for opening cans and…”
Gerber rejected Tim Leatherman's original multi-tool prototype for not being a knife
“After a couple of weeks, I hadn't heard from them, and I was getting really anxious, so I called them, and they said sorry, we decided to not take this on. It's not a knife, it's a tool.”
Tool makers rejected Leatherman prototype as an unsellable gadget
“And when I wrote to them, the answers back was, sorry, this is not a tool, it's a gadget, and gadgets don't sell.”
Tim Leatherman: First tool sale was $175 to San Francisco mechanic
“He was a German immigrant. He had moved to San Francisco, and he had started a auto repair business. Repairing high-end German automobiles. His name was Wolf Schultz Tottenpach, and he agreed to pay 175 dollars. To buy a knife I would, that I would go back and…”