Richard Thalheimer is an American entrepreneur and investor. He is the founder and former CEO of the US-based consumer brand, The Sharper Image. He established The Sharper Image in 1977, after taking an interest in watches. The early watch designs were inspired by a $69 watch that he owned and advertised his watch range in Runner's World magazine. The success of the watch advertisement led to the inaugural distribution of The Sharper Image catalog in 1979. Thalheimer took his company Public company in 1987 on the Nasdaq exchange. The San Francisco-based company grew from three employees in the late 1970s, to 195 stores, a staff of 4,000 and revenues of $750 million. Thalheimer left the company in 2006. After leaving his role at The Sharper Image, Thalheimer started his own online retail business in 2007, RichardSolo. Early life Thalheimer's family owned The Blass Department Store, which for many years was Arkansas' largest department store. He was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas. After graduating from Hall High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, he left for New Haven and graduated from Yale University in 1970. He entered San Francisco's University of California, Hastings College of the Law the following year, graduated with a J.D. degree, and was admitted to the California Bar in July 1974. After graduating from law school in 1974, he practiced law in San Francisco for a year. Career The Sharper Image After graduating from law school in 1974, Thalheimer passed the California bar exam and practiced law in San Francisco for a year. While still studying law, Thalheimer at the age of 24 started a part-time office supply business, named Thalheimer Business Systems. Based in San Francisco he started the supply business with $500 worth of copier paper. He later renamed his venture The Sharper Image. The rebrand was to help promote the quality of the copier paper and toner sold by his business. After rebranding to The Sharper Image, Thalheimer stated in interviews that he had a desire to transform the business into a mail-order retail empire. He then began to study tech products that could be supplied by the business. His first idea was digital watches, after seeing a $300 Seiko watch. He spotted that some wealthy runners were using the Seiko, but many everyday runners would never have been able to afford the price tag. He took a flight to Las Vegas to