Advice Appreciated

mytime2

I am a 33 year old steel worker that has had numerous business and new product ideas, but has never followed through with any.  I feel the time is now.  I have talked to someone close to me that I feel would be a great strategic partner/mentor about my current idea and would like to get some help from you guys on how to turn this idea into a solid business plan.  Basically I have found a company that has 1.2 billion dollars in revenue already and I would like to follow their business model pretty much to a T.  My product would be very similar to theirs, but in no way competitive.  They could easily add this product to their company and do very well with it.  I have read up on this company and founder and have been very impressed.  If I had the capitol I would invest in their stock without reservation.  With that being said, I don`t believe that they themselves would like to add another product because they believe in order to grow and thrive they should concentrate on one product and be the best rather than be good at several.  This I think is great news for me.  Is it conceivable to get in touch with the founder and pitch my idea, or should I try this on my own.  If I wanted to know everything about how a company is structured from top to bottom and how its founder went about startup and financing what would be my best resources and plan of action?  Any comments or ideas would be greatly appreciated