Why Didn't James Dyson Sell His Company?

David Senra reads James Dyson's reason for refusing to sell once the company succeeded. Dyson did not set up the company to make money. A burning desire drove the work, and he finds inventing, researching, testing, designing, and manufacturing creative and satisfying.

People asked when he was going to sell. After his first million, the picture they had was a reclusive landowner building duck houses and cleaning the moat around a castle, far from the sweat, grime, and grim routine of the factory. Friends advised him to take offers that came in. Most of a family business's wealth sits in the business, so keeping it is both a risk and a responsibility. He likes living on a knife's edge, competing and building the business, and he is passionate about developing new technology with a creative team. The advisors missed the point. He did not work through 5,127 prototypes, or set up Dyson, to get rich.

Going against expert thinking was a huge risk. No one confirmed the idea was good. Everyone confirmed the reverse, and the data were all against it. Believing the data instead of trusting instinct would have meant the path of dull conformity. Obstacles meet pioneering manufacturers, and solving seemingly insolvable problems is wonderful. Pioneering is hard because you do not know whether you will succeed, and you have to believe you will. He is scared all the time. Fear pumps the adrenaline and motivates.