The Story

Bruce Lee was born in San Francisco on November 27, 1940 yet the city had never properly honored the martial arts legend. Working with his daughter Shannon, the Chinese Historical Society of America in San Francisco Chinatown developed a new museum exhibit that examines his life and legacy.

The WE ARE BRUCE LEE exhibit frames Lee's life as an integrated set of four personas that allowed him to unlock his full potential: The Visionary, The Athlete, The Thinker, and The Unifier. It was The Visionary persona that inspired Thomas Lee, the exhibit's lead curator and editorial director, to write a book about Lee's business acumen.

Bruce Lee probably never thought of himself as a businessman but his career and teachings demonstrated an intuitive grasp of business concepts, including entrepreneurship, adaptation, innovation, resilience, vision, branding, strategy, and tactics. 

Lee was one of the first Hollywood stars to start his own production company called Concord Production. He opened a chain of schools that preached his special philosophy of martial arts called Jeet Kune Do. Lee was a master marketer who developed a unique personal brand from the ground up, decades before social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.