Sharper Image Success - Business Lessons from America's Gadget Guy

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Before there were Smartphones, Tesla cars, Favorite Apps, and Drones, there was The Sharper Image.

• America's Original Tech Entrepreneur, Investing Expert, and Stock Guru, Richard Thalheimer shares how he made tech-gadgetry stylish, irresistible, and profitable at The Sharper Image in his new book, Sharper Image Success.
• Sharper Image Success: Business Lessons from America's Gadget Guy is available now for immediate download on Kindle for only $1.99 this week, as well in paperback and hardcover form. In 2021, the audiobook, featuring Richard Thalheimer's voice as the narrator, will also be released.
• Book Features the Real Story about Why Celebrity Entrepreneur, Richard Thalheimer left The Sharper Image and Why Wall Street is Listening to Him Now
• Sharper Image Success includes never before told stories, in the Founder and Former CEO's words, on why he left The Sharper Image and what really happened in the transition after he relinquished his role after three decades at the helm.
• In its presale stage, Sharper Image Success soared to #1 Best Seller and placed #1 in Hot New Releases on Amazon this month. The book can be purchased on Amazon.

Before there were smartphones, Tesla cars, favorite apps, and expansive drone views, there was The Sharper Image.

America's Original Tech Entrepreneur, Investing Expert, and Stock Guru, Richard Thalheimer shares how he made tech-gadgetry stylish, irresistible, and profitable. He set the zeitgeist for the Era of Tech in his new business book Sharper Image Success: Business Lessons from America's Gadget Guy.

The book features business lessons he learned while leading The Sharper Image to its peak as CEO with annual revenues of $750 million, 200 stores, catalogs, an online store, and 4,000 employees. 

Sharper Image Success: Business Lessons from America's Gadget Guy is available now for immediate download on Kindle for only $1.99 this week, as well in paperback and hardcover form. In 2021, the audiobook, featuring Richard Thalheimer's voice as the narrator, will also be released.

Sharper Image Success offers an unprecedented view into the mind of this extraordinary entrepreneur and gives the reader the ability to learn and adapt the thoughts and actions that create his Billionaire Mindset. He explores the concept of originality and why it is the key to success. He addresses why is nothing more important than staying flexible and being willing to change your mind. Richard's stories share the secrets of the Billionaire Mindset for entrepreneurs and individuals climbing the corporate ladder.

The book also includes never before told stories, in Richard's words, on why he left The Sharper Image and what really happened in the transition after he relinquished his role as CEO of The Sharper Image in 2006, and left the company for good in 2007 after three decades at the helm. He discusses his thoughts about why in 2008, only a year after he left, The Sharper Image filed for bankruptcy and all retail stores were closed.

Thalheimer says, "You have to be willing to change your mind and communicate why you did. There is nothing more important than staying flexible and being ready to alter your course as soon as you learn something that warrants it."

He says, "Most people don't like direction changes. If you made a decision that everyone started to support, they won't be happy when it alters. So it's not enough to change only your mind. You'll also have to help your staff get on board with the new path by explaining why it's a good idea. I let them know that I never change my mind until I have new information. If you have new information that affects the situation, why wouldn't you use it to make the best decision possible?"

He cites this as one of the most important elements of his lifelong career with The Sharper Image, which he founded with a simple magazine ad for a single product and later grew into a successful  $750 million company that has been listed on NASDAQ. 

Book Highlights Include:

The Real Story about Why Richard Thalheimer, Celebrity Entrepreneur and Investor, left The Sharper Image and Why Wall Street is Listening to Him Now

Why Originality is the Key to Success - Powerful Entrepreneurial Skills for First-Movers

The Billionaire Mindset - What it Is and How to Start Thinking Your Way to Success

The Revolutionary Partnership between Richard Thalheimer and Steve Jobs which Pioneered Modern-Day eCommerce

In its presale stage, Sharper Image Success immediately soared to #1 Best Seller in more than five categories on Amazon and placed #1 in Hot New Releases on Amazon this month. The book can be purchased on Amazon.

Meredith Medland Sasseen, former Director of the Internet Division and Principal at 3outcomes.com, writes in the foreword to the book, "Richard teaches us that our originality and our relationships are the most important attributes of success. He shares his techniques for connecting with others in negotiation and collaboration."

She continues by introducing the reader to Richard, "I want you to know that Richard is the real deal. He is the expert salesperson, maverick marketer, the polished gentleman, and the wise wizard with extrasensory perception. His success and wealth didn't happen because he grabbed at it, forced it, or manipulated his way to the top. He is gracious with everyone and commands the helm by being pleasurable and interested in people. He is always focused on being interested, not interesting. And he is still directing and encouraging others to take the lead while he empowers them. All of these qualities are aspects of the Billionaire Mindset. There are hundreds of examples from employees, vendors, and customers who have experienced something magical in his presence. Whether it's dividing big projects into small stages, viewing failure as a teaching catalyst, or believing wealth comes to you if you help other people, he has an unparalleled positive attitude and joyous drive for fun and success. Richard's stories contain the subtleties of this Billionaire Mindset that will benefit you in every part of your life. Ultimately, Richard teaches us that our originality and our relationships are the most important attributes of success. He shares his techniques for connecting with others—even in conflict—but especially in negotiation and collaboration."

In the final section of the book, Stories of Innovation, employees share their experiences at The Sharper Image and what it was like to work with Richard Thalheimer. Long time Chief Security Officer, Joe Williams describes it, "Virtually everyone on the face of the earth that's older than thirty knows who he is and knows what his company was. He touched everyone in the country."

Richard has always been known for his extraordinary ability to identify what people want, often before realizing it themselves. This intuitive ability to drive market trends coupled with an ability to spot products that could produce millions, combined with his lawyer's precision, a healthy dose of entrepreneurial drive, and an optimist's playful outlook, converged to give Richard Thalheimer the well-deserved title America's Gadget Guy in the 1980s. He soon rose into the celebrity spotlight as one of America's hottest and sexiest new entrepreneurs defining the decade.

Richard was instantly famous and appeared on prime-time talk shows and evening news broadcasts. His unique interviews carry his legacy of entrepreneurship. Today his interviews from Oprah, The Today Show, Good Morning America, ABC's 20/20, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with David Letterman, and Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous are found easily on YouTube at @TheLegendofTheSharperImage.

His career continued to peak after the initial launch of sharperimage.com in the late 1990s. Steve Jobs and Richard, along with their two companies worked together to develop state of the art digital display options and algorithms for The Sharper Image website. At Internet World Expo in 1996, Thalheimer and Jobs presented NeXT dynamic web pages, unveiling the new 3D Sharper Image catalog, a first in the industry.

The revolutionary partnership between Richard Thalheimer and Steve Jobs pioneered modern-day eCommerce. Wired Magazine wrote that Jobs' innovations and Thalheimer's vision changed the retail sector forever.

Success continued into the 2000s at an outing searching for new products. Richard spotted the Razor scooter at a Chinese toy fair in Hong Kong and brought it to the United States. He negotiated an exclusive 24-month deal and sold a million of them in the first year. It was later heralded as the biggest gift of the year.

In 2010, Richard began studying with the Najarian Brothers and reinvented himself with a serious investment career where he quickly became an Investing Expert and Stock Guru. In 2015, he launched his private fund, The Sharper Fund, known for its aggressive formula, which includes put options, long call options, and holding stock positions in publicly listed US-based companies. The fund published three years of performance results, featuring a YTD total return of +92% in 2017, +96% in 2019, and +225% YTD as of November 30, 2020. He now shares his investing wisdom at SharperInvesting.com.

Thalheimer will be interviewed this week on Entrepreneur Magazine's podcast, The Playbook with David Meltzer as well as Author Hour with Drew Appelbaum to discuss some of the highlights from the book.

About Richard Thalheimer

Investing Expert and Stock Guru, Richard Thalheimer led The Sharper Image to its peak as CEO with annual revenues of $750 million, 200 stores, catalogs, an online store, and 4,000 employees. The company became a public corporation in 1987 when its stock was listed on NASDAQ.

Thalheimer now runs The Sharper Fund, a successful private fund, and shares his wisdom at SharperInvesting.com. He is a stock guru and investing expert, sought after by journalists and their readers for his trendsetting observations about products, companies, and market movements. His experience talking to analysts for 20 years as the CEO of The Sharper Image has given him great insight into how Wall Street analysts think, and consequently, when and why investors should confidently follow their judgments.

Sharper Image Success: Business Lessons from America's Gadget Guy is available now for immediate download on Kindle as well in paperback and hardcover form. In 2021, the audiobook, featuring Richard Thalheimer's voice as the narrator, will also be released. His next book, Sharper Investing, will be released in 2021.

Relevant Links:

Richard Thalheimer | RichardThalheimer.com

Private Family Fund | The Sharper Fund

Sharper Image Success - Business Lessons from America's Gadget Guy | Amazon Page https://geni.us/SharperImageSuccess

Media contact: Meredith Sasseen, [email protected]

SOURCE Richard Thalheimer

Related Links

http://SharperInvesting.com