Waiting Room

Matt did.

Life was Hell for Matt. He was a struggling writer in Los Angeles who worked at an alternative weekly newspaper doing typesetting, delivering papers and answering phones. To entertain himself he chronicled his observations in a self-published comic book … after showing it to the editor … the comic became a regular feature … and before long it was syndicated into 250 weekly papers across the country.

Then one spring day Matt fielded an interesting offer. A TV producer needed some animated shorts for a new show ... while sitting in the producer’s waiting room Matt suddenly had a thought … if this new show failed he could lose the rights to his existing comic ... So on the spot he came up with a whole new set of characters … and named them after his family members.

Well the show did fail … but people loved the animated shorts … so Matt and the producer pitched the network on a stand alone series … and the rest is history.

Today, the characters Matt came up with in a waiting room are the stars of the longest running primetime entertainment show in television history with over 574 episodes over 26 years … and it is still going strong … the Simpsons.

The Simpsons is a great idea … because drawing on your experience can help you craft an innovative business.