Peaks & Pivots presents short stories of the entrepreneurial journey – told through the eyes and solar plexuses of some colorful (and talented!) characters.

 

Tim Williams

Tim Williams

PG interviewed Tim Williams, co-founder of House of Genius based in Boulder, which assembles brilliant, diverse groups of 15-18 people to focus their collective creativity and experience on solving important problems – in rapid-fire manner.  Once a month, in evening sessions in cities around the world, the group hosts three business presenters and offers insights, suggestions and introductions to advance their causes.  House of Genius now convenes in Denver, Boulder, Austin, San Francisco, Portland, NYC and Singapore.

 

Can you give us a snapshot of your career path?

At the only job I’ve ever had, I was fired for stealing toilet paper after only working three months. Otherwise, I’ve been a life long entrepreneur that has become a vacuum I couldn’t escape from if I tried. I’ve dabbled in everything from industrial surface cleaning, magazine pre-pressing, and even creating for the “mommy community”. Pretty much anything I thought of was a seamless transition from thought to execution. Sometimes I wish I was an astronomer though, I love the Universe.

 What was the inspiration for House of Genius?

One inspiration was the thought of bringing together a group of diverse people to collectively help each other solve problems. A group of people that doesn’t know each other, has no expectations, and is just flat out ready to create some good together. That, combined with the incredible desire to provide a worthwhile experience and effective collaborative format that people truly love was the recipe for House of Genius.

Can you tell us about one barrier to growth House of Genius has encountered that spurred change?

Learning to create and manage multiple teams of organizers located in different cities around the U.S. was difficult right off the bat. At first thought, why not expand to a new location? That was before thinking of how much is involved in that process. We made a decision early on to support our organizers rather than be organizers ourselves. That has put us in a position to bring our format to benefit more entrepreneurial communities and focus on constantly improving.

Have there been any surprises along the way?

The most unexpected breakthrough I’m proud of is the willingness and motivation of our organizers. It’s extremely humbling and refreshing to have them gladly take over as a role of organizer so that it frees us to expand our format to new locations. We get great feedback all the time and it’s because these people are so eager to help that makes it possible.

Can you share a peak experience that still motivates you today?

After randomly pitching an idea to the CEO of CafePress.com, Fred Durham, he invited me to their production facility where I stood on the mezzanine watching the hundreds of employees passionately crank out orders. He told me a story that day about life that completely changed my perception of the world. It made me believe in myself. Once I achieved that, I found there is an underlying physical feeling when you truly realize anything in the world is possible. That is now a fiber of my being and I live by it every day.

How do you integrate your personal values into your entrepreneurial life?

I’ve thought a lot about my values and I try to instill them into everything I do:

Purpose Driven Entrepreneurship – Entrepreneurship that strives to create profitable businesses that are high impact and solve problems to help our world become more sustainable (economically, socially and purposefully).

Open Intelligence – a.k.a. “True Transparency” - Interconnected sharing of entrepreneurial experience, paths to success, business data and purpose.

Relationships First – The ability to cooperate on a personal level and agree on values and principles before conducting business.

Any words you live by?

“Every time you want to make any important decision, there are two possible courses of action. You can look at the array of choices that present themselves, pick the best available option and try to make it fit. Or, you can do what the true entrepreneur does: Figure out the best conceivable option and then make it available.” – Jon Burgstone

 

 

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