Stephen Dubner

If Helen Fisher is to be believed, the difference between success and failure is sometimes just timing. Time, after all, is the dimension of change. It isn't hard to think of success and failure as nearly identical, as twins even separated by nothing but a few moments. This is what Travis Thull came to believe. Thull, you will remember, is the inventor of the ramen now.

After he spoke with us about his failed invention, he started thinking maybe he shouldn't have given up. He still doesn't have the $200,000 or $300,000, but he did think of a way to raise it. with a campaign on Kickstarter, the crowdfunding platform. So we got back on the line with Travis Dull.

After he spoke with us about his failed invention, he started thinking maybe he shouldn't have given up. He still doesn't have the $200,000 or $300,000, but he did think of a way to raise it. with a campaign on Kickstarter, the crowdfunding platform. So we got back on the line with Travis Dull.

After he spoke with us about his failed invention, he started thinking maybe he shouldn't have given up. He still doesn't have the $200,000 or $300,000, but he did think of a way to raise it. with a campaign on Kickstarter, the crowdfunding platform. So we got back on the line with Travis Dull.

What do you think your chance of success is?

What do you think your chance of success is?

What do you think your chance of success is?

Would you put your odds at maybe 50-50 at least or no?

Would you put your odds at maybe 50-50 at least or no?

Would you put your odds at maybe 50-50 at least or no?

be interested and he's not that busy?

be interested and he's not that busy?

be interested and he's not that busy?

So the last time we spoke, you said, here's a quote from you, Travis. There's nothing more that I would like to see in my lifetime than the successful launching and widespread adoption of Ramen Now. I was looking back over that transcript and I was thinking like, really? There's nothing more you'd like to see? You have a family and there's cancer and cancer. climate change.

So the last time we spoke, you said, here's a quote from you, Travis. There's nothing more that I would like to see in my lifetime than the successful launching and widespread adoption of Ramen Now. I was looking back over that transcript and I was thinking like, really? There's nothing more you'd like to see? You have a family and there's cancer and cancer. climate change.

So the last time we spoke, you said, here's a quote from you, Travis. There's nothing more that I would like to see in my lifetime than the successful launching and widespread adoption of Ramen Now. I was looking back over that transcript and I was thinking like, really? There's nothing more you'd like to see? You have a family and there's cancer and cancer. climate change.

How do all those challenges, let's say, compare to the problem of instant ramen?

How do all those challenges, let's say, compare to the problem of instant ramen?

How do all those challenges, let's say, compare to the problem of instant ramen?

I hope you enjoyed this episode, and we've got an update for you on Travis Thull and the Ramen Now. His Kickstarter campaign raised only $54,000, a long way from his goal of $277,000. That might sound like another failure, but the story did not end there. After this episode aired in 2023, two listeners reached out to Thull to learn more about Ramen Now.