#HTE

The Back Story: How Leatherman Was Started

Imagine coming up with an idea for a tool, and you become so obsessed with creating it that you spend years in your brother-in-law’s garage doing it. It sucks up so much of your time that you quit working and your wife agrees to support you.

After three years you’ve got a workable prototype–and then you spend the next five years trying to sell it and getting over 500 rejection letters.

Most folks would give up by then. Thankfully Tim Leatherman didn’t. Here’s the fascinating back story of how a backpacking trip to Europe, and an unreliable Fiat, sparked an entire generation of multi-tools: