The Inventor’s Mind | Inventions | Ideas | Product

Many people equate inventing to gambling: trying our luck at being the one in a million winner. But Chris explains how inventing is actually an investment, one that – although it is high risk – has high rewards for people who execute smartly. “With investment, you control the odds by how you execute and what you choose to invest in.” – Chris Hawker What you’ll learn about on the show: How inventing is more like investment than like gambling. You’re creating value and impacting the likelihood of a positive outcome by how you execute. It is high-risk and high-reward, a lot of stars have to align. 2/3 products at Trident are going to fail. If you’re going to take the time to invent, make sure it is a high reward. The barrier to entry for investments is higher for others. $20,000 is the baseline for what you need to start. “There is no such thing as million dollar ideas, there’s only million-dollar executions.” – Chris Hawker Things to consider before you invest in your invention: Never bet more than you can afford to lose. Understand that you may have to go in for more, which costs more money. Start small: it’s a complicated endeavor so start with something simple and small before you go into something complex with electronics, etc. Don’t be too attached. Passion is important, but if you are too attached and you ignore feedback, you are going to dig yourself into a hole.

Chris Hawker outlines the best ways to get your foot in the door at the companies that you may be able to license your product to, as he draws on years of experience doing just that for Trident Design. “Use the internet to research, use LinkedIn, and news stories to find out who is in charge.” – Chris Hawker What you’ll learn about on the show: How to get the appointment where you get to make the pitch. To license products, you have to talk to high level people. Chris and his team have mastered the art of how to get these appointments. “A trade show is the single easiest way to get in touch with the right people.” – Chris Hawker Tips: 1. Start as high up as possible on the totem pole. 2. Make sure that you’ve got a good elevator pitch. 3. The goal of the first pitch is to get time to give a longer pitch. 4. Pay for access to a database, like data.com. 5. Sometimes we write 30-40 emails trying to get into a company. You have to be relentless.

Chris Hawker walks through the steps of what it takes to launch a product business, and cautions against some of the common mistakes that people have before they embark on the journey. “You’re going to be living and breathing the product, and the industry that your product is in.” – Chris Hawker What you’ll learn about on the show: Understand that it is a lifestyle decision. It’s not something you can do casually on the side. You don’t want to be spending your time in an industry that you don’t actually love. “If you do everything else right, but you don’t do well at sales, your company fails.” There’s a lot to learn. You have to know how to make it, shipping, insurance, sales, marketing, etc. Launching a product takes twice as long and costs twice as much as you think it’s going to. Come up with your most conservative estimate for how long it’s going to take, and double it.

When you’re organizing a large crowdfunding campaign that is going after millions of dollars instead of thousands, you need to run your campaign like a small company. And that starts with a world-class team. In this episode, Chris Shows us what roles are essential in creating a successful large-scale crowdfunding campaign. “If you wanna go big and go after millions of dollars, you’re going to need a championship team who is committed to your project and who fills all the roles you need.” – Chris Hawker What you’ll learn about on the show: Why it takes a team to go after hundreds of thousands of dollars on crowdfunding platforms. The 11 roles that need to be filled to get a world-class crowdfunding campaign together. “Media attention can really drive a lot of interest in your campaign.” – Chris Hawker The edea guy: the person with the idea that is leading the charge to create the campaign. The campaign manager: the person who runs the campaign and coordinates between all of the team members. The campaign strategist: someone who has taken the time to research what works and what doesn’t work in crowdfunding. A public relations strategist and social media expert: someone who understands social networks and how to effectively get the word out and promote your campaign. The video person: most people just watch the video and never read a single piece of the campaign. The person who is in the video: the creator or idea guy, or someone else who can tell the story. Graphic design person: excellent graphic design is what separates the professional campaigns from amateur campaigns. Photographer: someone who can create something that catches people’s eyes. A web marketing specialist: someone who knows how to run Google Adwords and Facebook ads. Communications and customer service specialist: someone responding to concerns, questions, and following up with rewards. An organized logistics person to fulfill the orders and rewards once the crowdfunding campaign is over.

Chris discusses how to get your product on the shelves of brand name stores such as Walmart, and why it’s important to license your product. “The easiest way to get on the store shelves is to go through someone who already has a relationship with the store.” – Chris Hawker What you’ll learn about on the show: How do you get your product on store shelves? Stores don’t buy from individuals. “License your product to an established manufacturer!” – Chris Hawker Why stores don’t bet on smaller companies. How Chris’ company has a dozen products at Walmart.

Chris explains business aesthetics, a lens through which you can look at your business and see qualities that makes business thrive or fail. Ask the question, what makes a business beautiful? “A beautiful business is going to do good in the world and give back.” – Chris Hawker (Tweet) What you’ll learn about on the show: Is this business beautiful? A happy workforce is important. A beautiful business will have beautiful design. “A beautiful business is going to be profitable.” – Chris Hawker (Tweet) Multiple streams of income is a sign of a beautiful business. How it allows you to assess your own business.

In this episode, Chris outlines how to create a workplace that breeds innovation instead of stagnation, from hiring the right people to managing in effective ways. “Being careful is the enemy of coming up with new and innovative ideas.” – Chris Hawker (Tweet) What you’ll learn about on the show: How to create a culture of innovation. Hiring the right kind of people – people with low egos who are good at divergent thought. Your management style creates innovation. “People can manage themselves based on their alignment with your vision.” – Chris Hawker (Tweet) Practicing vision-based management. How to manage team dynamics. Creating a workplace that breeds new ideas. How to do away with cubicles.

In this episode, you’ll learn where Chris sees opportunity for new innovations and inventions and how you can capitalize on that opportunity as well. “I like to focus on creating tools for these everyday jobs and irksome tasks.” – Chris Hawker (Tweet) What you’ll learn about on the show: Why focusing on everyday inventions that focus on everyday things is a huge opportunity. Why people like to focus on sexy, flashy products. There’s a lot less competition in spaces like the sanitation industry. “The sanitation industry is a space where very few entrepreneurs are acting. That’s an opportunity for us.” – Chris Hawker (Tweet) How to create value by improving big chunks of people’s time. Make things easier and more pleasant to do, it improves people’s quality of life.

Learn how to think up inventions by playing this handy mind-mapping game to see what things will look and feel like in the future. “Where is this going to go in 10 years?” – Chris Hawker (Tweet) What you’ll learn about on the show: What forecasting the future means. Fill in the gaps. How not to take the product too far into the future. “What is the very next step that will take it one step closer to the future?” – Chris Hawker (Tweet)

Learn what you need to think about after you complete a successful crowdfunding campaign. “Leveraging the crowdfunding campaign can get you better terms on a licensing deal.” – Chris Hawker (Tweet) What you’ll learn about on the show: What do you do after your crowdfunding campaign is successful? “Running a company is a lot different than running a campaign.” – Chris Hawker (Tweet) 3 Options: 1. Fulfill your campaign and then you’re done. You’ve delivered. 2. Start a company to sell the product on an ongoing basis. 3. License the product after the campaign.

Chris Hawker details the best ways to make money from your idea or invention, and he lays it out simply to help you cut through what seems like a daunting and complicated task at first. He goes over the pros and cons of licensing, manufacturing the product yourself, and crowdfunding in this episode. “Manufacturing is a lifestyle choice. It’s almost impossible to do casually.” – Chris Hawker (Tweet) What you’ll learn about on the show: Manufacture your product yourself or license? The pros and cons of crowdfunding. How you choose will depend on who you are and what you want in your lifestyle. “If your product fits the mold, you definitely want to crowd fund it before you go do one of the other options.” – Chris Hawker (Tweet) What the target audience is for crowdfunding. Why not to crowd fund if you’re product doesn’t fit the target demographic of crowdfunding. Links mentioned: Watch the video version of this podcast here.

Chris Hawker has licensed hundreds of products to manufacturers over the years, and has some tips for how you can successfully license a product. Listen to learn about patents and why a good prototype is very important. “The person you’re presenting it to has to respond to it like a consumer, as though they would want that product.” – Chris Hawker (Tweet) What you’ll learn about on the show: The 4 “Ps” that anyone needs to license a product to manufacturers. How some kinds of products license better than others. Why it already has to look like someone would want to buy it. How to capture the value of your idea with a patent. “They know that a good rendering does not necessarily mean that a product is going to work.” – Chris Hawker (Tweet) Why a good prototype is key. How the presentation can make or break your licensing deal. Links mentioned: Watch the video version of this podcast here.

Chris Hawker goes into detail about his “Perfect Product Pyramid,” a lens through which you can see if a product will be successful or unsuccessful. Chris explains the three facets you need to have a successful product, and the mistakes that inventors often make. “If you’re designing something for women in their 40s, it’s going to have a very different look than if you’re designing it for a 10-year-old child.” – Chris Hawker (Tweet) What you’ll learn about on the show: How Chris uses this Pyramid as a lens to see what products are successful and which ones are not. What separates the winners from the losers? The three elements are the design, the function, and innovative concept. “This is the most common mistake inventors make is they invest primarily in the idea and functionality but they give short shrift to the design.” – Chris Hawker (Tweet) Why the design is so important. Why all three elements have to be there in order for the product to be successful. Links mentioned: Watch a video version of this podcast here.

Chris gives some important tips for anyone who has a booth at a tradeshow. As someone who has been to dozens and dozens of tradeshows, Chris has experience with many kinds of booth setups and knows what works well to attract potential customers and clients. “Whatever you do, don’t sit in a chair!” – Chris Hawker (Tweet) What you’ll learn about on the show: Why it’s important to have enough business cards! The pros and cons of a “booth attractant”. “It’s an easy place to get a hangover – because you are in Vegas having fun. So be careful!” – Chris Hawker (Tweet) Practicing good hygiene is important as well. Make sure to be friendly and engaging at your booth. Links mentioned: Watch a video version of this podcast here.

Chris formulated a success equation in his 20s when he was trying to figure out what success meant to him and how to achieve it. Learn this simple formula that will help you set your goals and make small daily decisions. “If you’re having a positive impact in the world in some way, that gives you the fuel to overcome the hard times.” – Chris Hawker (Tweet) What you’ll learn about on the show: How Chris formulated The Success Equation. What FIP stands for. “I think that the greatest fun that you can have in life is to do something that you’re good at and that you’re passionate about.” – Chris Hawker (Tweet) What success means to Chris. Why it’s better to have a positive impact on the world. How Chris uses this formula to inform the decisions he makes on a daily basis. Links mentioned: Watch the video version of this podcast.

Mid life can create some challenges for many people, whether in their work or in their life in general. But it also creates opportunities. Chris Hawker is here to tell you why you may be looking at mid life all wrong. “All of the things that have led to this point in time actually set you up for a big breakthrough in your life.” – Chris Hawker (Tweet) What you’ll learn about on the show: What a midlife crisis is and how we create them for ourselves. How language influences our reality. “Language not only helps us describe our reality but it also helps us create our reality.” – Chris Hawker (Tweet) Chris’ invention that is the antidote for a midlife crisis. How the mid life leap can create reality and also describe it. How midlife could be a perfect point for exponential growth or moving in a new direction. Links mentioned: Watch the video version of this episode.

Crowdfunding is all over the place these days, from music to video games to potato salads. Is is worth it and how do you maximize your crowdfunding campaign for the most success? “We are running into challenges getting our product made, even something so simple.” – Chris Hawker (Tweet) What you’ll learn about on the show: Is crowdfunding a good thing? About Chris’ own crowdfunding experiment. His lessons learned from crowdfunding. The success of the campaign is about relationships. “I was able to call on my network and ask them to help promote the project. Some of those people have a lot of followers.” – Chris Hawker (Tweet) Why it is important to create a great campaign. The challenges of crowdfunding. Getting realistic about timelines and communicating clearly with your backers. Links: See the video version of this podcast.

Chris visits Kevin Alan Tussy’s office to find out what he has been up to and how he has become so successful as an inventor, entrepreneur and angel investor. “When I’m creating a product usually it’s because it’s a need or a demand that I have.” – Kevin Alan Tussy (Tweet) What you’ll learn about on the show: An Interview at Kevin’s office What advice Kevin has for aspiring entrepreneurs “I’ll do a quick google search – sometimes those solutions are there and you just don’t know about them.” – Kevin Alan Tussy (Tweet) The importance of putting yourself in different environments. What he does once he has an initial idea. His biggest challenge in bring products to market. Links: Watch the video of this interview. Learn More about Kevin Alan Tussy: Website | Twitter | Facebook

What’s the first thing you do when you get an idea for an invention? “Because they had never noticed it, they assumed it never existed.” – Chris Hawker (Tweet) What you’ll learn about on the show: The first thing you should do: do some research! How to avoid confirmation bias. How to search for your product idea on the Internet. “We look for a product as though we know it already exists.” – Chris Hawker (Tweet) How to make sure the idea doesn’t already exist.

Have you ever wondered who is working on cutting edge technology innovations? Have you ever wondered how they think? Today on the Inventors mind, we have that guy. He has an extremely interesting job at an extremely interesting place. This episode is all about the mindset of a world-class inventor. Thank you again for downloading the show and please welcome, the Senior Inventor at the Intellectual Ventures Laboratory in Seattle, Washington; Pablos Holman “I try to live in the future a little bit. We need some people to do that. Most people are probably better off living in the present.” – Pablos Holman (Tweet) What you’ll learn about on the show: The story of how Intellectual Ventures Laboratory was founded The motivation and the action behind making invention capital buyable and sellable About the disconnect between entrepreneurs and academics “I think we are at the very beginning of figuring out what to do with computers.” – Pablos Holman (Tweet) Pablos’s background as a hacker and why it was important to an organization like Intellectual Ventures Laboratory The team involved in the Intellectual Ventures Laboratory and how they mix experts together to develop unheard of designs (like a mosquito destroying laser) The invention seeking process of Intellectual Ventures Laboratory Why 1 in a 1000 is a success rate that keeps them going “In our business we expect to be wrong almost all the time.” – Pablos Holman (Tweet) Why Pablos sucks at inventing industry specific things, and why that doesn’t bother him How to “cheat” at invention Why the invention business is the most secure business in the world “There are no jobs in the world that I’m qualified for.” – Pablos Holman (Tweet) Links mentioned: Learn more about Nathan Myhrvold the founder of Intellectual Ventures Laboratory – Website Learn more about OQO the miniaturization startup Pablos worked with Learn more about the Zero Effect and how to be a private detective   Learn More about Pablos Holman and Intellectual Ventures Laboratory: Pablos Holman Website | Twitter | LinkedIn Intellectual Ventures Lab Website “I’m never trying to invent for what is possible with computers today, I’m trying to invent for what’s going to be possible with computers in 5-10 years because I have greater level of faith in their advancement than most people are comfortable with.” – Pablos Holman (Tweet)