Tim Clark is an American teacher and writer based in Portland, Oregon, and the author of Business Model You, released by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. in 2012. The book, which has been released in Spanish and Dutch and is currently being translated into ten other languages, adapts Osterwalder and Pigneur's Business Model Canvas for use by individuals, and introduces the concept of the "personal business model." Clark served as contributing co-author and editor of Business Model Generation, a self-published book that became an international bestseller after its purchase and release by Wiley in 2010.
Clark's first book is Saying Yes to Japan: How Outsiders are Reviving a Trillion Dollar Services Market, a business title that appeared in 2005. The book shows how unconventional business models were "imported" or conceived in-country by non-Japanese entrepreneurs and used to develop successful service sector businesses. Nikkei released a Japanese language version of Saying Yes in 2006.
Clark's second book, The Swordless Samurai: Leadership Wisdom of Japan's 16th-century Legend Toyotomi Hideyoshi, appeared in 2007 from St. Martin's Press. It explores leadership principles through biographical anecdotes and apocrypha related to Hideyoshi's ascendancy from the peasantry to the heights of power in sixteenth-century Japan. In 2009 Jakarta-based Red Line Publishing released a local language version of The Swordless Samurai that became a minor bestseller in Indonesia.
Clark also authored The Prosperous Peasant: Five Secrets of Fortune & Fulfillment from the Samurai's Temple School, a collection of personal development parables centered on Hideyoshi and depicting the hardships of peasant life in sixteenth-century Japan.
Prior to focusing on books, Clark worked as a Japanese-to-English translator, and wrote original articles and editorials that have appeared in publications including the New York Times, Asiaweek, and his own newsletters and blogs, which include Japan Internet Report, Japan Entrepreneur Report, and Soul Shelter. He is also an entrepreneur who sold his first company to a NASDAQ-listed entity, an experience that has informed much of his teaching and business writing, particularly with respect to business models.
Clark currently serves as a visiting professor of business at the University of Tsukuba in Tokyo.
He hold undergraduate, MBA, and doctoral degrees from Stanford University, the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and Hitotsubashi University's Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy.
Business Model You: A One-Page Method for Reinventing Your Career
Business Models for Teams: See How Your Oganization Really Works and How Each Person Fits In