Meet the Idea Entrepreneurs

What do Eckhart Tolle, Amy Chua, Cesar Millan and Barack Obama all have in common? According to John Butman, author of Breaking Out: How to Build Influence in a World of Competing Ideas, the spiritual teacher, the Tiger Mother author, the “dog whisperer” and POTUS 44 are all idea entrepreneurs. 

What does that mean?

In today’s “Ideaplex,” or the “profusion of activities, channels, structures, and technologies for the creation, distribution and consumption of ideas,” Butman argues that ideas are flowing like never before. Moreover, the supply of ideas is exceeding demand, writes Butman, “to the point of a glut.”

And so it is harder than ever for bold new ideas to rise to the surface. So how do the best ideas win out? In the video below, Butman explains how idea entrepreneurs, rather than inventing products or starting and selling companies, are possessed with the desire to “influence current thinking and alter behavior with regard to their particular idea.”

This video is part of our series of the most popular videos of Summer 2013. 

Watch here:

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