9.2. Lesson 80: "Mean to Succeed"
By the time he was working on a new design for a generator to power his electrical lighting system, Thomas Edison possessed a keen insight into his own inventive process. He wrote to his European agent, Theodore Puskas: "I have the right principle and am on the right track, but time, hard work, & some good luck are necessary, too."
How did he know these things? From experience.
"It has been just so in all my inventions. The first step is an intuition and comes in a burst. Then difficulties arise. This thing gives out, then that. 'Bugs,' as such little faults and difficulties are called, show themselves. Months of intense watching study & labor are required before commercial success—or failure—is certainly reached." ...
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