The Commercialization Process Advisor

Who Will Buy Your Invention?

Ideas are easy and are literally unlimited.  Everyone has ideas of new products and inventions.  The tough work starts when you begin the transformation of that idea from just a thought to a tangible product or service.  This is when you enter the invention process.

But developing your invention in a vacuum, as most inventors do, disconnects you from the market place.  This marketplace is where your potential partners, distributors and customers live and breath.  Your invention has to meet their needs or it will retreat to the category of bad ideas.

Identify your potential partners and customers as you move through the invention process.  Keep them and their needs in mind.  This simple step can significantly increase the potential value of your invention.

Just start by asking yourself, "Who will buy my invention?"

Building the Invention Prototype

One of the most common concerns that most new inventors have is about building the invention prototype.  Building a prototype, in many instances, is seen as this difficult hurdle that has to be overcome.  For most new inventions this is simply not true.

A prototype, at the early stages of the invention process should be developed in the design phase so that you understand the general product design and its basic functionality.  Is it the right size?  Do the basic laws of science support the transfer of the invention concept from a 2D drawing or sketch to a physical 3D object that you can hold?  The questions can continue on indefinitely...

Your first invention prototype should be a mock-up or stage prop type made of simple materials such as cardboard, pvc pipe, sheets of plastic, duct tape, paint and other common supplies and materials.  The purpose of the first prototype, and quite honestly most subsequent versions as well, is to give you a good sense of the look and feel of the invention product.

The prototype can make or break a potential invention commercialization partnership or invention funding deal.  Investors and invention commercialization partners respond to new inventions better when they have something that they can get a "feel" for.  They want to touch it and hold it.

You can continue to improve the prototype as you learn more and move through the invention process.  You can develop more sophisticated versions of your invention prototype.  These later versions should focus on critical factors such as dimensions, weight, functionality, ergonomics, safety, design for manufacturability, design for assembly and any regulations with which the invention product must comply.

Lots to Learn from this Inventor

A unique solution to a common problem.  Pay particular attention to the inventor's comments on building a prototype and making a business case for the invention.  These are two critical steps for the successful new inventor. 

Remember - no market - no value!

"Perseverance Furthers" the Invention Process

"Perseverance Furthers"
- I Ching

Most new inventors are not prepared to navigate the obstacles in the invention process.  They think that they have a great idea for an invention that will make them millions because everyone will want it.

Nothing could be further from the truth.  Getting your invention to market is hard work.  It requires salesmanship, negotiation skills and team work on top of the vision and creativity that many inventors display.  It requires perseverance to get through the prototype, patent and product commercialization phases of the invention process.

It is easy to get frustrated, and quite frankly, many new inventors do.  But if you want to make money from your invention than develop patience and perseverance because without that your invention will not make you a dime.

Invention Marketing Secret Most New Inventors Don't Know

There is a dirty little secret to marketing your invention that very few new inventors (and some experienced inventors) don't know.  Many successful entrepreneurs know it and practice it daily.  For that matter, even Clint Eastwood, one of those iconic tough guy actors has shared the knowledge in one of his 80s era films.

The secret is flexibility.  In order to make money in this innovative world you, the inventor, must be flexible in how you see the market and in how the market will get value from your invention.  Flexibility creates market opportunity.  Rigidity and the inability to envision a new approach or use for your invention can lead to no market interest and no money for you.

Of course, when Clint Eastwood shared this knowledge he phrased it as "Improvise, Adapt, Overcome" in the 1986 movie - Heartbreak Ridge.  In the movie, Clint played a rough edged USMC Gunnery Sergeant who was teaching his Marines how to think, stay alive and win.  (Semper Fi!) 

The metaphor is very appropriate in the invention marketing process.  If you want to make money than you have to adapt your vision and your invention to the needs of the market.

Protect Your Invention - Without Breaking the Bank

Lately we have been getting a lot of calls from new inventors who pretty much have the same story.  They found a company on TV or on the Internet that said that they could help them make money off of their invention.  Of course they ended up spending thousands of dollars only to find out that it would cost them a lot more money to protect their invention and to get it ready to present it to the market.  By "a lot more money" we mean literally thousands of dollars.  These costs could equal $10,000 - $15,000 with nothing to show for it but more bills.

Now we all know that the world is not fair and quite frankly, sometimes it seems like the invention process is even less fair.  But, in the rare instance of common sense that the US Government displays - the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) does provide a very inexpensive alternative for you, the new investor, to protect your invention.

In the mid 90s the USPTO set up the provisional patent.  It allows you to protect your invention for a little over $100.  The protection only lasts a year, but it allows ou to legally use the "patent pending" term, while moving your invention through the invention commercialization process.

This method which cannot be extended allow you to determine if you want to continue developing your invention or let it die.  It can be converted into a regular patent, officially known as a non-provisional patent.  This provisional patent method offers you, the new inventor, the opportunity to protect your invention on a budget.

Developing Winning Inventor Presentations

We work with lots of inventors and one of the things that we have noticed as a commonality amongst most of them, if not all is the poor presentations that they develop to market their invention.

Invention presentations have to be tailored to the specific audience that the inventor is presenting to.  Your presentation will be different for each of the following audiences:

• strategic partner
• investor
• potential customer

The presentation cannot be the same for each.  It will lead to rejection. 

One of the first things that the individual inventor needs to know is that very few people really care about the technology that drives their invention - no matter how good it may seem.  Inventors are enamored with the results of their labors, and they feel that people will be overly impressed with it as well.  This is just plain wrong.  Most people don't care about the technology - they care about what the technology does.  They want to know how it will improve their lives, their profit margins or their general standing in business or in life.

Don't spend the majority of the presentation talking about the technology.  Spend your time telling them what problem your invention is designed to fix, how it fixes it and why they either want to be a part of the team or need the invention to make their life better.  Of course you have to mention the technology and give an overview, but giving every detail will bore the audience and give them a reason to bail.

If your audience starts asking lots of technology oriented questions, then by all means, answer them.  But don't use that as an excuse to tell them everything that you know, or think that they want to know.  Answer the question and move on.  They will ask more detailed questions if they so desire. 

The focus of the inventor presentation should be on the benefits of the invention to them.  Once they understand the benefits, they can make a decision as to how this compares to other options that they may have.

That's right, other options.  No matter how great you, the inventor, may think that your invention is, the audience always has other options.  Sometimes the other option is to do nothing and maintain the status-quo.  Sometimes there is an alternative technology that suffices.  Know their options so that you can speak about them intelligently. 

If I had a dime for every inventor who told me that there is no competition for their invention than I would retire now.  Everyone has some type of competition.  There are alternatives to everything.  The alternatives may not be as technologically advanced as your solution, but your audience may not care about that.  They may equate new technology with more headaches.

Do your homework, know your audience and present your invention in a way that is tailored to their needs.  Talk problem, solution and benefits; not technology and novelty.  This is a key step in the commercialization phase of the invention process.  This will yield much better results in your invention presentations.

Protect Your Invention on a Budget

Money is tight everywhere, or so the media would have us believe, but that's a different blog topic.  Not protecting your invention can, if your invention really has some market potential, cost you a lot of money.  The conundrum is that you have to find out how to determine what your invention's market value really is.

One thing that we can assure you.  The real market value is rarely what your spouse, parent or friends will tell you it is.  You have to find out what the value of your invention really is from disinterested third parties.  That requires a formal or informal market study or survey.  It can be conducted by you or someone whom you hire.  You can do it with or without using your invention concept.  The data that you gather will help you determine true valuation.

If you perform the study with the invention than make sure that you have your intellectual property protected.  The best way to do that at this early stage is with a provisional patent.  It is a low cost one year protection mechanism that allows you to test the market without the risk of losing your intellectual property rights and future earnings. 

The provisional patent, which costs about $100, establishes a filing date and allows you to use the term - "Patent Pending".  It lasts one year and it cannot be extended.  You must file a regular patent, called a non-provisional patent, within that one year or you lose your rights.

The provisional patent is a quick, easy way to protect your invention on the cheap, while determining its true market value.

4 Tips for that First Invention Licensing Call

The first time that you call a company with which you want to pursue a licensing agreement make sure that you get to a real person.  Don't email your invention description to a general email.  Talk to a real person or research and work at it until you do.

When you do get to the right person, whether they are in a small, medium or large sized business, insure that you:

1. Understand their market.
2. Understand their goals.
3. Relate your invention to their market & goals.
4. Show how your invention will grow their revenues or save significant operating expenses.

Understand their market - Know who their customers are and what and how they sell to them.  Is it based on quality, price, service, etc...  How do they deliver their products and services?

Understand their goals - Research - If its a public company then this can be as simple as paying attention to their advertising and sales campaigns.  Look on line for their SEC reports.  Find out their current strategy.  Is it growth or survival?

Relate your invention to their market & goals - How does your invention concept align and fit in with this target market and the company's goals?

Show how it will grow revenue or save operating expenses - If your invention will grow revenues than you should be talking to marketing people.  Show them how your invention will increase their revenues. 

If your invention will save operating expenses then find a senior executive who is responsible for that operating expense.  Make sure that they understand how your invention can save them money.  This can be a tough bunch, but it has a much higher chance of success than approaching someone in middle management. 

Do your homework and make sure that you understand how your invention will save them money.  When dealing with senior executives it is best to low ball the savings estimate.  If they truly understand its potential than they will add in other opportunities.  This means that they will buy in to the invention concept and advocate it as their own initiative. 

7 Technology Transfer Officer Recession Beating Tips

Times are hard for everyone and most technology transfer officers know this.  They see potential invention commercialization partners face significant financial and market challenges and as a result reduce their research and innovation investment and spending. 

Here are 7 tips to help the technology transfer officer weather the recession storm:

1. Maintain a list of problems that are relevant to the research and technologies that are in your university's research pipeline.
2. Develop long term business relationships before you think you might need them for your commercialization efforts.
3. Find business mentors for your lead researchers.
4. Develop alternative commercialization strategies while you are focused on your primary strategy.
5. Reduce risks for everyone in the commercialization process - the researcher, the business partner, and the university.
6. Teach your entrepreneurial researchers and start-up teams how to bootstrap their business.
7. Partner with other technology transfer offices in basic business support, product commercialization and innovation development efforts.

Tough times require flexibility and unique solutions to problems.  These 7 simple tips can make the difference between success and failure in these challenging economic times. 

In many cases failure in technology transfer means that the university does not reap any financial rewards for its research investments.  These tips can make the difference between the technology gathering dust waiting for obsolescence and making some money for the greater good.