The Eureka Moments of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs

Every entrepreneur goes through a phase when they did not know what to do. Then the magic happened. About 2200 years ago Archimedes stepped into his bath and exclaimed, “Eureka!” – ‘I found it.’ At that moment he found a solution to a problem he had been pondering for ages.

It was a moment of sudden discovery. The eureka effect. A moment of deep insight. It’s an epiphany which translates as ‘striking appearance.’ At that moment a previously unsolvable problem becomes suddenly clear and obvious.

But what brings the eureka moment?

· Inconvenience : GoPro founder who struggled to take a picture of himself while surfing.
· Limited resources: Ikea founder could not fit a table in his small car, so he thought to take off the legs.
· Pain and tragedy. Samuel Morse received a letter about his wife’s illness after she was already buried.

The eureka moment comes at different ages. Here are a few examples.

· Caresse Crosby, inventor of bra – could not fit her bust into a corset
· Steve Jobs, Apple founder – wanted a computer interface as pretty as the calligraphy on his college campus posters
· Bill Gates, Microsoft founder – realized he needed to sell his product before he made it
· Ingvar Kampard, Ikea founder – couldn’t fit a table in his car so he took the legs off
· Brad Pitt, actor – saw that graduating matters less than being an actor (2 weeks before graduation)
· Ben Silbermann, Pinterest founder – made 50 versions of the same picture grid
· Nick Woodman, GoPro founder – went surfing and could not take pictures of himself
· Brian Chesky, Airbnb founder – rented his air mattress and made cash
· Sara Blakely, Spanx founder – while selling fax machines discovered slimming underwear
· Samuel Morse, telegraph inventor – found his wife dead because her letter reached him too late
· Jan Koum, WhatsApp founder – could not afford to call his father in Ukraine
· Dietrich Mateschitz, RedBull founder – tried a local drink in Thailand to help with jetlag
· Donald Fisher, Gap founder – could not find a store selling jeans that fit well
· Chip Wilson, Lululemon founder – noticed many women do yoga, but have no special pants to wear
· Momofuku Ando, instant noodle inventor – saw people lining up for soup on a cold day

Image credit: Funders and Founders