Inventors Digest - February, 2015

Q&A CROWDFUNDING QUICKSAND

FIRST PERSON INTELLIGENT COATINGS

PROTOTYPING WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

LANDER ZONE OPEN SESAME

The Lemelson Center’s Places Of Invention Project (Part 1)

FIRST LEGO TEAM SOMERS MINDSTORM SPECIALISTS

Look Who’s Turning 20!

Nothing pleases us more than watching people or organizations that help inspire, motivate, educate and foster the next generation of inventors. One of the most prolific inventors and his wife -- Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson -- started the Lemelson Foundation in the early 1990’s. Over the past 20 years, the Lemelson Foundation has produced more than $185 million in grants and related investments to support its mission. What’s staggering is the foundations $370 million endowment and an annual budget exceeding $18 million per year.

I was intrigued hearing about the foundations 20th anniversary. I thought it would be a great story, but as I dug deeper I couldn’t help but become fascinated with the Places of Invention at the National Museum of American History.

The Places of Invention display is scheduled to open this summer. It’s modeled as a family friendly environment that explores how inventions or innovations happened when and where they did. Four case studies help guide you through process and give a fascinating account of how, when and why.

The original article was lengthy and we looked for ways to trim it down to 1 issue…… in the end, we couldn’t do it. I believe in the first time in Inventors Digest history, we’re splitting our cover story into 2 parts. It’s a fascination read and well worth every word.

We’re running Part 1 of 2 this month.

Pay it Forward We hear that phrase all the time, but do we really follow that credo? I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and spending time with some of the most prolific and unique inventors across the country. It doesn’t take more than 5 minutes to figure out if they’re purely in the “it’s all about me” category or can you see them helping the next generation of would-be inventors succeed and prosper.

I’m not implying people should stop whatever they’re doing to help others, but it’s nice to see people give back in time, advise or simple guidance. I work with many in our office, with inventor clubs, etc.

I felt they needed a shout out and acknowledgement that your help doesn’t go unnoticed or unappreciated. You know who you are and you don’t need an $18 million dollar budget to pay it forward.

Mark R. Cantey

VP & Associate Publisher

EDITOR’S NOTE

EDITOR’S NOTE

MANAGING EDITOR MARK R. CANTEY

ART DIRECTION AND LAYOUT TIFFANY TALATO

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© 2014 Inventors Digest, LLC. All rights reserved. Inventors Digest, LLC is a North Carolina limited liability company and is the publisher of Inventors Digest magazine. INVENTORS DIGEST and INVENTORS’ DIGEST are trademarks of Inventors Digest, LLC. Reproduction or distribution of any materials obtained in this publication without written permission is expressly prohibited. The views, claims and opinions expressed in article and advertisements herein are not necessarily those of Inventors Digest, LLC, its employees, agents or directors. This publication and any references to products or services are provided “as is” without any expressed or implied warranty or term of any kind. While effort is made to ensure accuracy in the content of the information presented herein, Inventors Digest, LLC is not responsible for any errors, misprints or misinformation. Any legal information contained herein is not to be construed as legal advice and is provided for entertainment or educational purposes only. Interested parties and inventors seeking legal advice should consult a lawyer.

IN THIS ISSUE ON THE COVER

MARKETING TIP OF THE MONTH by john rau

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THE LEMELSON FOUNDATION by arthur molella & monica smith

by jeremy losaw

INVENTORZ NETWORK

FIRST PERSON

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by dhana cohen

FIRSTPERSON

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by Jeff Moreau

FIRST LEGO LEAGUE team somers mindstorm specialists

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Ali Baba

by jack lander

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Q&A CROWDFUNDING by edie tolchin with dawn sole

40 CLASSIFIEDS

JACK LANDER, our regular columnist on all things prototyping,

licensing and inventing, explores the gap between inventor and entrepreneur.

Jack, a near-legend in the inventing community, is no stranger to the written word. His latest book is Marketing Your Invention – A Complete Guide to Licensing, Producing and Selling Your Invention. You can reach him at Jack@Inventor-mentor.com

DHANA COHEN Co-founder of The Women Inventorz Network and the newly created Inventorz(VIRTUAL)Network. Dhana knows a thing or two about great innovation, as an inventor herself she struggled with who to contact, and who truly had her best interest in mind. Luckily she stopped inventing after several products and took her background in marketing and partnered with Melinda Knight, together they have developed the right connections, education and marketing for the inventor community. The new (VIRTUAL) InventorzNetwork.com is the only platform out there in the inventor industry, think Match. com meets Angie’s List for the inventor industry.

EDIE TOLCHIN, also known as The Sourcing Lady (SM), has worked with new products and inventors for over 25 years. Owner of EGT Global Trading (www.egtglobaltrading.com) since 1997, she has helped hundreds of inventors bring their products to market through China sourcing, manufacturing, product safety issues, importing, Customs, branding, packaging design arrangements and websites. Author and editor of numerous publications for inventors, her most recent is Secrets of Successful Inventing: From Concept to Commerce (www.secretsofsuccessfulinventing.com). Contact egt@edietolchin.com.

JEFFREY G. SHELDON, is the founding partner of Sheldon Mak &

Anderson in Pasadena, where his practice focuses exclusively on intellectual property law, including prosecution, litigation, and international and domestic licensing, as well as an arbitrator and mediator. In addition to California state and federal courts, he is admitted to practice before the Ninth and Federal Circuits and the U.S. Supreme Court, and is also registered to practice before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

JOHN RAU, president/CEO of Ultra-Research Inc., an Anaheim, CA-based market research firm, has over 25 years of experience conducting market research for ideas, inventions and other forms of intellectual property. In addition, he is a member of the Board of Directors of Inventors Forum, based in Orange County, CA, which is one of the largest inventor organizations in the nation. He has been a contributor to Inventors Digest magazine since 1998. Mr. Rau can be reached at (714) 281-0150, or ultraresch@cs.com.

CONTRIBUTORS

CONTRIBUTORS

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common question asked by every aspiring inventor is “Does my invention idea have any commercial value?” If you have just sketched out your idea on the back of a napkin in a bar, then you’ve got a lot of work to do before being able to answer this question!

Your ability to make a commercialization assessment of your invention idea really depends on where you are in the invention development process. My “Market Research Tip of the Month” article in the January 2013 issue of Inventors Digest magazine suggests a time-phased way to view this process, namely: Stage 1 The I’ve got an idea stage (such as sketching out your idea on the back of a napkin

in a bar) Stage 2 The concept formulation stage Stage 3 The prototype development stage Stage 4 The commercialization stage (that is, you sell your patent idea, you license it or you

decide to manufacture and sell it yourself)

When you start out with an idea (i.e., Stage 1), a typical question to ask is whether or not your invention idea might have some commercial value. Of course, at this stage this can be expected to be a difficult question to answer because you have little or no useful information. Obviously, an investigation needs to be conducted, but should start with at least an initial patent search. Remember at this stage you don’t even know if you’re in the Red Ocean1 or the Blue Ocean2, but further research will enable you to provide some clarity to this initially “fuzzy picture”. The initial patent search should focus at least on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) patent database, but remember a complete patentability search conducted by the USPTO once you file for patent protection will consider all prior art, including earlier products, earlier patents, foreign patents, and non-patent literature. The primary purpose of the initial patent search is, however, to get some preliminary assessment of whether or not some product like your invention idea has already been invented by someone else; hence, depending on the years remaining in the patent life, you may be infringing on what someone else already owns if you try to move forward with your invention idea.

Walking the aisles at stores, going to applicable trade shows, conducting both library and Internet searches will at least give you some “general idea” as to exact or similar products are already in the marketplace. Remember, assessing the commercial viability of your invention idea is important early on in the development process to save you wasting time and money if someone already owns your idea.

At the concept formulation stage (Stage 2) is where you define in more detail just what your invention idea is and conduct more research into what are the competing products (if any), what problem(s) does your invention idea solve, who might be your customers and why would they buy your new product idea. At this point in time, you should be working with either a patent attorney or 8

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At this stage, you should also give consideration to obtaining the services of a market research company who can conduct research to give you an overall market assessment of the commercial viability of your new product idea.

At the prototype development stage (Stage 3) is where you develop the version of your product to show that it works and to obtain a “show and tell” version of your new product idea. Remember, reduction to practice is critical to commercial development. At this point in time is where you might want to consider obtaining a third party evaluation of your new product (see “Market Research Tip of the Month” article in the August 2013 issue of Inventors Digest magazine).

Finally, at the commercialization stage (Stage 4) is where you need to determine how you should proceed with commercializing your new product idea such as licensing it to one or more companies, setting up a company to manufacture and distribute it yourself or just selling your patent to a company or group of investors. Once again, obtaining the services of a market research company and perhaps a marketing company can help you gather the necessary information to enable you to decide the best way to go.

In his article entitled “How to Evaluate an Invention” (see: http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com) , Bruce Burdick suggests that the commercial viability of an invention should really be based on its “credibility” in the following sense: • A certain amount of credibility may result from the completion of an operating model since that shows the invention at least works.

• More credibility is gained with a production prototype since that shows that the product can be made in production.

• A manufacturing plan or production quotes from a reliable manufacturer gives credibility by showing that the invention can be made commercially and what the production costs might be.

• A favorable marketing plan gives additional credibility by showing that the marketing experts believe that the invention should be a market success.

• A favorable sales history for a patented product is usually the best indicator of the commercial value since it shows that the product has already been selling well.

The important message from Bruce Burdick’s comments is that “any step that concretely bridges the gap between a conceived idea and actual commercial exploitation tends to build credibility and the closer the product is to a going commercial success.”

In summary, commercialization assessment is really an on-going process spread out over the various stages of the invention development process. Remember, as you “get smarter”, the more accurate and complete an assessment you can make regarding your invention idea. _________________________________________________________ Red ocean companies try to outperform their rivals to grab a greater share of existing demand. As the market space gets crowded, prospects for profits and growth reduce.

Products become commodities and cut throat competition turns the ocean bloody red.

1.

Blue oceans, in contrast, are defined by untapped market space, demand creation, and the opportunity for highly profitable growth. Most are created from within red oceans by expanding industry boundaries. In blue oceans, competition is irrelevant.

2.

February 2015

Contact John Rau at: ultraresch@cs.com 714.281.0150

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patent agent to consider the potential patentability of your invention idea. If their advice is to consider a utility patent, then you should consider filing for a Provisional Patent Application (PPA) as that will give you twelve months of time to further research your invention idea.

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GPS Pet Tracker

The Gibi Pet Tracker is a waterproof, durable pet finder, designed

by Synette Tom, an electrical and electronics engineer from satellite telecommunications industry. The Gibi app works on any connected PC- or mobile device- to help pet owners quickly, accurately, and reliably find their pets. Pet owners easily set up safe zones on the app. If the pet strays outside that zone, pet owners receive alerts via email or text, then see their pet’s path, in real time, on a Google map. Although other pet locators exist, Tom, and her sister, Sheree Loui, saw some deficits they wanted to correct. That’s why they made Gibi. Gibi is available at Walmart’s and on Amazon. www.GetGibi.com

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E-Ink Phone Embraces Simplicity

The E-Ink phone from FormNation eliminates many of the adds-ons of today’s smartphones in favor of simplicity, style, and the ability to operate for one month on a single charge. The phone is still able to carry out the same basic functions of conventional smartphones, including sending and receiving emails, texts and calls, listening to music, and accessing the internet and maps. It can also take photographs (in black and white) and the E-Ink display eliminates the glare that plagues many of today’s smartphones.

FormNation now hopes to enlist the interests of manufacturers, with a target price for the phone set between $175 and $200. http://www.ideaconnection.com/new-inventions/e-ink-phone-embraces-simplicity-08543.html

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KizON Helps Soothe Parent Anxiety

Designed for pre-school and primary school children, the KizON lets parents track their child’s location in real-time via a smartphone. Created by LG, the KizON wristband is equipped with GPS and WiFi and 2G/3G network communication capability, which allows parents to keep a constant eye on their child’s location. The device also features the “One Step Direct Call” button, which lets the child place a call to a pre-set number, and can be programmed to accept calls only from pre-approved numbers. Additionally, if the child does not answer a call from one of the approved numbers within ten seconds, the KizON will automatically connect the call and activate its built-in microphone to allow parents to listen in on the child’s environs. Dr. Jong-seok Park, president and CEO of LG, believes the KizON would also be suitable for use by the elderly. http://www.ideaconnection.com/new-inventions/kizon-helps-soothe-parent-anxiety-08542.html

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Sensing Umbrella Monitors Air Pollution

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Not your normal umbrella, the Sensing Umbrella responds to the level of air pollution in the area with a series of LED lights while helping track air quality. Developed by a team from the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, the Arduino-equipped Sensing Umbrella is able to gather pollution data and upload it to pollution databases, making it possible to generate local pollution indicator maps for smaller regions. The umbrella’s LED lights also provide a more immediate source of information as they flash and change color depending upon the air quality in the immediate area. The student designers plan to keep the umbrella’s system open-source in the hopes of encouraging a global network of people collecting and sharing air-quality information. http://www.fastcodesign.com/3032344/track-air-pollution-with-this-smart-umbrella

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Your Position Desk Offers More Possibilities

The adjustable ‘Your Position’ desk from Not Just Chairs joins the recent flood of standing desks, but adds a few extra useful options.

Designer David Manning created the You Position to “blur the division between commercial and domestic environments,” and the unusual, compact design would be equally at home in a small office or urban apartment. The wheeled, L-shaped unit features a series of rungs that can be used to hold the working surface of the desk at the desired height, and they also provide an assortment of handy racks for accessories or gear. The entire structure can open to lie flat against a wall, where it can still be used as a hanging rack. http://www.treehugger.com/eco-friendly-furniture/your-position-adjustable-standing-desk-not-just-chairs.html

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Hot Oil in the Pan – Not on Your Hand!

Inventor and product developer George Burkhardt, has developed, patented and licensed a simple innovative tool for remotely removing hot oil drain plugs, resulting in NO touching HOT drain plugs; NO HOT oil on hands; NO oil soaked gloves; No dropping of drain plug in HOT oil and reduction of HOT oil splashing to a minimum.

Just magnetically attach the Drain Plug ProTM to a pre-loosened drain plug and rotate to remove the plug.

The “one size fits all” Drain Plug ProTM retains the plug and can be magnetically attached to an adjacent component to hold the plug away from foreign particles while the oil is draining. http://www.otctools.com/sites/default/files/12-137.pdf

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Collapsible Aeromobil 3.0 Flying Car

AeroMobil. Beautiful flying car. Beautifully integrated. Transforms in seconds from an automobile to an airplane. Gives you freedom to move. AeroMobil is a flying car that perfectly makes use of existing infrastructure created for automobiles and planes, and opens doors to real door-to-door travel. As a car it fits into any standard parking space, uses regular gasoline, and can be used in road traffic just like any other car. As a plane it can use any airport in the world, but can also take off and land using any grass strip or paved surface just a few hundred meters long. http://www.aeromobil.com

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GOkey Phone-Charging Key Ring

The GOkey takes the humble key ring into a new realm, outfitting it with features like data storage, an emergency charging station and a key-finder. The GOkey was originally designed with the goal of carrying a battery large enough to charge a smartphone while still being small enough to fit on a key chain. The developers’ efforts resulted in the small, round device housing a battery, which can provide a smartphone with up to two hours of extra talk-time. The GOkey also communicates via Bluetooth to allow the user to locate the device (using the phone) or phone (using the device), and a choice of 8, 16 or 32 GB of flash memory. https://www.facebook.com/mygokey

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EarlySense Chair Sensor Monitors Vitals While You Sit

With the Chair Sensor from EarlySense, monitoring a patient’s vitals is as easy as having them take a seat. The Chair Sensor was developed based on the long-held knowledge that moving patients from the bed to a chair helps to improve healing, particularly in the days immediately after surgery. However, until now there was no easy, non-invasive way to monitor patients as they sat in the chairs. The Chair Sensor is contained within a cushion that can be place on any chair, where it will measure the patient’s heart rate, respiratory rate and motion via its embedded sensors. A monitor attached to the device will display the information in real-time while also sending the data to the nurse’s station, and any unusual changes in vitals will trigger an alarm. The Sensor will also let staff know when the patient is attempting to get up from the chair, which gives them time to send someone in to assist. http://www.medgadget.com/2014/07/earlysense-chair-sensor-monitors-vitals-throughthe-butt.html

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Fugu Bag Inflates to Protect Fragile Devices

Designed for device-lugging people who live in urban environments, the Fugu Bag protects fragile electronic devices by inflating to form a cushion of air that can be released on command. Developed by Royal College of Art graduate Peng You in collaboration with Hongchao Wang, the Fugu Bag is made of polyurethane-coated, carbon-fiber fabric panels welded together for extra durability and waterproofing. The bag’s inflatable sections are made from thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) films, which can be inflated with a pump in just a minute and deflated in ten seconds. The panels have been carefully designed and arranged to absorb impacts, and can stay inflated for up to five days. www.benwustudio.com

Scanning and Share Magnifying Glass Concept

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Many scanners out their to scan and share, but Scanning and Share – Magnifying Glass forces us to give it a second glance by adding a unique functionality that differentiates it from the rest. The design is simple, but the handle doubles up as a projector that scans and beams the portion placed under the glass. Additional information like storage, OS, sharing and other information can help us well understand the project. http://www.gizmag.com/quirky-ge-refuel-smart-propane-tank-gauge/32765/

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Invisibility Cloak Concept Blocks Objects from Touch

Researchers have developed a proof-of-concept invisibility cloak that prevents objects from being felt, which could eventually have applications in ultra-thin mattresses or carpets able to comfortably conceal pipes and cables. The cloak is made of a polymer metamaterial formed into a micro-structure of needle-shaped cones arranged in a final design determined by the object to be hidden. In tests, the researchers inserted a hollow, rigid cylinder into the bottom layer of the invisibility cloak. The cylinder was undetectable to both human touch and a measurement instrument, as would be any objects slipped inside the cylinder.Although the touch-invisibility cloak is still just a concept, the research team believes it could find its way into an array of new applications in just a few years. www.kit.edu

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InkCase+ Extends Battery Life With E Ink

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The InkCase+ was created to alleviate some of the power needs of smartphones by providing a less energyconsuming way to check for alerts and messages. The InkCase+ has been embedded with an E Ink display and communicates with the smartphone via a low-power Bluetooth connection. That connection allows the user to check notifications or answer calls through the E Ink display, as well as run apps, control music or store maps. The company has also invited developer to build new apps for the device. The InkCase+ is compatible with all smartphones operating with Andriod 4.3 and above, and its battery can provide up to 19 hours of reading time. http://www.inkcase.com/en.html

Drowse-Detecting Car Seats

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By installing sensors in a car seat, a team of researchers hope to prevent some of the accidents caused by drivers falling asleep at the wheel. The system is an improvement on a previous version, which sees the cardiac-monitor devices installed on existing car seats. Instead, the sensors are built directly into the textile used to cover the seat, where the system will monitor the driver’s heart rate and trigger an alert if the driver falls asleep.

If the driver chooses to ignore the alert, self-driving technology could step in to guide the car safely off the road. http://news.discovery.com/autos/drive/car-seats-know-that-yourefalling-asleep-140715.htm

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COVER STORY

Institution’s National Museum of American History, the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation is dedicated to exploring the history of invention and encouraging inventive creativity in young people. Through our presence in the Museum as well as exhibitions, conferences, educational programs, publications, and other research, documentation, and outreach activities, the Center aspires to become the nation’s leading resource for the history and understanding of invention and innovation.

The Lemelson Center’s newest exhibition, Places of Invention, opens at the National Museum of American History in 2015. The questions it asks are timely: What is it about a place that sparks invention and innovation? Is it simply being at the right place at the right time, or is it more than that? How does “place”—whether physical, social, or cultural— support, constrain, and shape innovation? Why does invention flourish in one spot but struggle in another, even a very similar location? In short: Why there? Why then?

Places of Invention frames current and historic conversation on the relationship among place, invention, and creativity, citing extensive scholarship in the area and two decades of Lemelson Center investigation and study. The exhibition’s six case studies are: Silicon Valley, California, 1970s–80s; Bronx, New York, 1970s; Medical Alley, Minnesota, 1950s; Hartford, Connecticut, late 1800s; Hollywood, California, 1930s; and Fort Collins, Colorado, 2010s. Places of Invention’s central thesis is that invention hot spots are fueled by unique combinations of creative people, ready resources, and inspiring surroundings.

Now in its 20th year, the Smithsonian Institution’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the National Museum of American History (NMAH) is dedicated to exploring the history of invention and encouraging inventive creativity in young people. The Center was founded in 1995 by Jerome Lemelson (1923–1997), one of the most prolific inventors in American history with more than 600 patents for a wide range of inventions from toys to robotics to medical

technologies. Motivated by concern about America falling behind other advanced industrialized countries in technology and innovation, Jerry, as he was known to family and friends, and his wife Dorothy endowed the Lemelson Center in part because they hoped to inspire youth to consider becoming scientists, engineers, and inventors. (Jerry Lemelson often remarked that American kids could name any number of sports and rock stars, but could not summon the names of more than one or two inventors.)

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ounded in 1995 at the Smithsonian

The Center shares stories, artifacts, and archives of historic figures using research and collections at the Smithsonian and NMAH, which has the nation’s premier historic collection of inventions.

The Center also introduces youth and the general public to today’s inventors and innovators, providing positive role models and making the world of invention more accessible to all. We bring together the public, scholars, educators, and inventors to foster a better understanding of the role of invention in American history through exhibitions and programs, such as our annual New Perspectives on Invention and Innovation symposium. We advance the field of invention scholarship through publications, including our book series with MIT Press, fellowships, internships, and documentation activities. We support a new generation of innovative Americans through educational initiatives such as Spark!Lab, where young visitors and their families experience the process of invention through hands-on activities. With the Center’s range of scholarly and educational outreach activities, we aspire to become the nation’s leading resource for the history and understanding of invention and innovation.

THE PLACES OF INVENTION PROJECT The Lemelson Center’s newest exhibition, Places of Invention, focuses on the phenomenon of innovation “hot spots,” widely prized as forces for technological and economic, even national, regeneration. They come in various guises and

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names, such as technology regions, networks, clusters, or high-tech corridors. It seems everyone wants to replicate Silicon Valley. Can history offer us any clues about the secrets of such places’ success? The fundamental question is deceptively simple: What is it about a place that sparks invention and innovation? Is it just being at the right place at the right time? How does place—and “place” must be construed in the broadest sense, not just physical, but also social and cultural— support, constrain, and shape innovation? Why does invention take off in one spot but struggle in another, even very similar location? In short: Why there? Why then?

One of the most urgent questions today in the United States as well as around the world is how do we create and sustain innovative environments, whether on the scale of individual work spaces, of corporate and governmental labs, or of regional networks of R&D labs and organizations. The answers to such questions are anything but simple; invention hot spots are hard to account for because they are moving targets, constantly evolving and appearing in unexpected locations. Nevertheless, it is possible to identify some common characteristics, which the Lemelson Center has been documenting and interpreting since its inception, through the growing secondary literature on the subject and through primary research.

A SURVEY OF PERTINENT INFORMATION Since the 1980s, the literature on innovative laboratories and regions has grown at an extraordinary rate, attracting the attention of a multidisciplinary range of scholars: historians, geographers, economists, urbanists, psychologists, sociologists, and business experts. Places of invention can be examined at various scales. At the scale of corporate labs, historians such as Margaret Graham, David Hounshell, and John K. Smith, Jr. have studied research and development in firms like Corning, Alcoa, and DuPont. Among government labs, a good example is a book about the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) by 18

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Lillian Hoddeson, Adrienne Kolb, and Catherine Westfall, which documents the emergence of what they call “megascience”. Stuart W. Leslie’s interests range from laboratory architecture to the rise and fall of high-tech regions. As Leslie points out, for many years geography and regional networks were not on the radar of business historians concerned with innovation; they focused instead on the firm, the individual entrepreneur, or the industry. The scholarly scene began to shift in the 1980s, however, with new attention paid to the relationship between companies within regions.

Regionalism as a deliberate corporate strategy is the subject of several studies by Harvard University’s Michael E. Porter, who finds that “paradoxically, the enduring competitive advantages in a global economy lie increasingly in local things”.

Geographer Maryann Feldman has shown how local industrial clusters allow for the free flow of knowledge, skills, people, and, not least, money between institutions—universities, governments, and corporations. Alfred Marshall’s examination of English “industrial districts” in his magisterial Principles of Economics became the starting point for subsequent studies in economic geography and regional clusters. Members of the National Academy of Inventors would not be surprised by the catalytic role of academic institutions such as Stanford, the University of Minnesota, and MIT, in these regional clusters. But, while academe plays a crucial role in the larger ecosystem of invention and innovation, informal exchanges of knowledge and social gatherings among individual actors and institutions are also important. In a 1983 article in Esquire about Intel’s Robert Noyce, writer Tom Wolfe describes meetings among engineers, start-up founders, and venture capitalists at Silicon Valley watering holes like the Wagon Wheel and Chez Yvonne. Virtually every innovation hot spot has its own version of such social gathering places.

Highly relevant to our themes are the seminal studies of political scientist and information expert, AnnaLee Saxenian, who focuses on the interactions of firms within regions. In Regional Advantage and other books, Saxenian explores the cultural dynamics and the process of industrial adaption in high-tech regional networks. She points out that

There is one widespread notion that needs to be disposed of quickly: that, in the new world of innovation, cyberspace will soon displace person-to-person contact and spatial proximity.

That prediction has simply not come true. Even as leading computer and internet companies like Google and Apple generate ever new and surprising dimensions of digital space, they have invested heavily in company campuses clustered together in places like Silicon Valley, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the North Carolina Research Triangle. These shapers of our new digital landscape know that person-to-person contact still counts in the world of innovation. To be sure, digital communication has grown exponentially according to the predictions of Moore’s Law about the doubling of computing power about every two years. But the digital realm is not a world complete unto itself; rather it is the extension of our physical selves and communities.

RESEARCH ON INVENTIVE SPACES AND RESEARCH ON INVENTIVE SPACES AND PLACES AT THE LEMELSON CENTER

Since its’ founding, the Center has fostered the study and exploration of the role of place in invention and innovation. We visit inventors’ workspaces; acquire sketches, models, and records; conduct oral histories; and document environments using photography and video. We also host relevant conferences, such as our inaugural New Perspectives on Invention and Innovation symposium about “The Inventor and the Innovative Society” and a 2005 conference about “Cultures of Innovation”. To enhance our understanding of the relationship between physical spaces and creativity, we convened an interdisciplinary group of scholars and practitioners in 2007 for the “Lemelson Institute on Places of Invention.” The Institute’s findings offered insights into the qualities of physical space that are conducive to innovation; the ways that creative people shape the spaces in which they work; and the common features of creative places ranging from the garages and basements of independent inventors to academic or government laboratories to regions and cyberspace.

The following findings informed the Places of Invention exhibition:

COVER STORY

while physical proximity is critical, just being neighbors is not enough: “Firms are embedded in a social and institutional setting that shapes, and is shaped by, their strategies and structures” (19).

Another expert on regional industrial development, economist Ann Markusen, who previously studied the role of military funding in altering the industrial landscape, has turned her attention to culture and “creative placemaking,” focusing on the intersection between artistic culture and urban/regional development. Perhaps best known in the domain of creative spaces is urban studies expert Richard Florida, who links the new innovation economy to the rise of a “creative class” made up of people who create for a living—artists, scientists, inventors, engineers, architects, and entertainers, among others. Collectively, these scholars, working across a range of disciplines and time periods, have established the importance of understanding the role of geography and local culture in fostering innovative places.

• Places of invention that “work” share some common features, including flexibility, understated leadership, good communication, and a balance between individual and collaborative work.

• Communities, whether large and small, play an important role in shaping places of invention. Even the quintessential “lone inventor” is part of one or more groups and communities. Conversely, most creative groups have a leader, that charismatic person around whom teams form.

• Inventors and the many communities of which they are a part are affected by their social and intellectual networks, by changing forms of communication, and by the patent system. But trying to create a new community of invention by replicating a successful model seldom succeeds.

• Creative spaces, from laboratories and institutions to regions, go through lifecycles and are on average productive about 20 years.

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COVER STORY

This new interpretation of innovative places emerged alongside 21st Century Skills, a complementary educational reform movement launched by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Incorporating such cognitive and social skills as collaboration, adaptability, risktaking, problem-solving, communication, and creativity, the 21st Century Skills movement resonates with the findings of the Lemelson Institute and is incorporated into what we call “Skill Spots” in the Places of Invention exhibition, highlighting particular skills exemplified by inventors in each of its case studies.

We began to test ideas for the exhibition during 2009 in a small “showcase” exhibition at NMAH and in our New Perspectives symposium on “Hot Spots of Invention: People, Places, and Spaces.” This gathering of historians, practitioners, and a broad range of audiences explored at least a dozen different places that illustrated the interplay of people, places, resources, and ideas in shaping inventors’ work. Four of these eventually became Places of Invention exhibition case studies—Medical Alley, Minnesota; Hollywood, California; Silicon Valley, California; and Fort Collins, Colorado.

In 2010, our Places of Invention exhibition project received a generous grant from the National Science Foundation, allowing us to move ahead with content development, evaluation, and design for an interactive and highly engaging exhibition for the public. We knew that Places of Invention was not standard exhibition fare, even for science and technology centers and museums. Indeed our initial evaluations indicated that the public could not always understand how place connected to invention or to their own lives and personal inventiveness. “Place” is a complex concept with multiple meanings; we finally decided to focus on place at the city and regional levels, which incorporate a range of inventive work spaces such as labs, workshops, kitchens, garages, basements, and the like.

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THE PLACES OF INVENTION EXHIBITION AND CASE STUDIES Opening in the Lemelson Hall of Invention at NMAH in summer 2015, the Places of Invention exhibition features stories selected from various historical periods and focused on particular inventions. The exhibition’s six case studies are: Silicon Valley, California, 1970s–80s; Bronx, New York, 1970s; Medical Alley, Minnesota, 1950s; Hartford, Connecticut, late 1800s; Hollywood, California, 1930s; and Fort Collins, Colorado, 2010s. Collectively, they take visitors on a journey through time and place to discover the stories of people who lived, worked, played, collaborated, adapted, took risks, solved problems, and sometimes failed—all in the pursuit of creating something new.

In a certain sense, our choice of case studies is arbitrary. We could have easily told another set of six equally compelling stories. Since the exhibition is staged at NMAH, we have focused on examples within the United States, yet hot spots are hardly restricted to the US; they are emerging around the globe and, in some countries such as India, at a rapid pace. Rather than a scientific sample, our selections reflect the needs and approach of the exhibition: all of our examples are anchored in the Center’s research and in NMAH’s archival and artifact collections; we looked for diversity of people and communities; we wanted variety in time and geographical location; we focused on familiar, accessible inventions; and, not least, we wanted to share good stories—the necessary ingredient of all successful exhibitions.

A BRIEF TOUR OF OUR CASE STUDIES WITH THEIR EXHIBITION TAGLINES.

Hartfor A Facto

F

irst, we chose to go back in time and focus on Hartford in the late 1800s, because at the time it was indeed one of America’s leading industrial cities and a major place of invention. Founded in 1636, the state capital had long been a trading post, as merchants shipped goods along the Connecticut River to New York City and on the Atlantic. In the 1850s and 60s firms like Aetna and Travelers emerged to underwrite the valley’s robust maritime trade, making Hartford the “insurance capital of the world.” Meanwhile, the Colt Armory and its neighboring firms perfected the techniques of interchangeable parts manufacturing, establishing Hartford as one of the birthplaces of American mass production. Thus, all kinds of product were manufactured in Hartford, making this New England city a hotbed of “Yankee ingenuity” from the late 1800s through the early 20th century.

Unfortunately, Hartford’s fortunes changed abruptly after World War II, as deindustrialization turned the city into one of the poorest in the nation. However, Hartford’s leaders have drawn inspiration from the city’s innovative past to revitalize the economy and muster a comeback.

N

MAH is well known for its Hollywood-related collections, but heretofore the Museum has

COVER STORY

rd, Connecticut, late 1800s (Figure 1) ory Town Puts the Pieces Together in Explosive New Ways

focused on its social and cultural aspects rather than the technology. So, we decided we had a great opportunity to feature the Technicolor camera from “Wizard of Oz” and highlight the stories of innovators who worked behind the scenes.

Long before our present age of CGI animation, Hollywood movies had entered the modern era of technology. Initiative and creativity drove Hollywood in its “Golden Age” with inventions in color technologies for motion pictures. Oil strikes, a real estate boom, jobs in manufacturing and agriculture, and publicity touting the varied scenery, mild climate, and reliable sunlight of California enticed all kinds of people to head west in the early 1900s. The completion of the transcontinental railroad linking the East and West Coasts made that journey easier. Los Angeles County’s population exploded, growing more than 1,500 percent between 1900 and 1940. The new immigrants included most of the people behind the budding American film industry. Just as the electronics industry migrated westward across the continent, motion picture technologies invented in East Coast labs—including methods of making movies in color, such as Technicolor—also made their way west to the soundstages of Hollywood, leading to its “Golden Age” in the 1930s.

Hollywood, California, 1930s (Figure 2) A Young Town Gives Birth to the Movies’ Golden Age.

To be continued next month.

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PROTOTYPING

By Jeremy Losaw

Where are those Inventions Now?

A

nother year is about to close and it has been fun and rewarding to introduce the community to the projects and processes that make it such a great place to work. In the two years since I have started the ProtoTYPING column I have designed, prototyped, and worked on many different products, some of which I have already introduced to you. To close out the year, I thought it would be fun to stroll down memory lane and revisit some of these product ideas and see where they are now. Have any of them made it to store shelves, or were they just good ideas that couldn’t be made into products?

Wine Shark The development of the Wine Shark wine aerator was featured in October of last year. The Wine Shark is an immersion blender that was designed to run at low speed to oxygenate wine to release the hidden aromas without pulverizing it. It was a fun project to work on as it is not too often that you get to crack bottles of wine at work. When we left off, inventor Taylor Hayden was in the midst of a Kickstarter campaign looking to raise $40,000 Wine Shark in action. to cover the cost of the initial production run. He was successfully funded with $40,086 by 294 backers, including me.

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Once the Kickstarter was funded, the sourcing started in earnest. Taylor tried to find a firm in the US to manufacture it, but he was unable to find a group to do the injection molded parts and the electronics assembly under one roof. The cost and logistics to synchronize different vendors was prohibitive. With the help of the sourcing gurus on the team, Taylor was able to isolate a Chinese vendor to build the whole product for a reasonable cost per unit.

Once we isolated the manufacturer, we sent them a set of CAD files, engineering prototypes, and the beta prototype so they could tool it up.

After some back and forth with the factory, the product went through a few changes. The initial product had wireless inductive charging. This proved to be cost prohibitive, so the charging function was changed to sprung contacts. The factory also recommended taking out the gear The much simplified inner workings of the T1 sample of the train, as they had a motor that would Wine Shark. run at the correct speed without the need to gear it down. This reduced part count and complexity.

The first factory sample arrived this summer. As with most T1 samples, the first shark had a few issues. The axle did not stay on the shaft very well and it wobbled too much when rotating. Another issue was that the beta was designed with screws to hold the body together, but Taylor wanted snap fits so that the body would have a clean outer surface. We explored different options to attach the body halves together without having to change the tooling, but in the end we decided to start over and cut a new set of tools with snap fits to get the best

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quality product. The next set of factory samples are due in soon, and delivery of the Kickstarter orders should be sometime in 2015.

Stem Light Peter Goncalves is the inventor of the Stem light, and I talked about the prototype design and build in November of 2013. The Stem Light is a decorative light where LED stems reside in a housing or a cup that has the positive and negative power terminals built into the housing. When the stems contact the upper and lower ring they turn on, and they can be turned off by moving the bottom of the stem to an insulated area in the bottom of Lifestyle shot of the Stem Light prototype. the housing. It was a great idea that was inspired by the inventors love of art and creating mood with light.

The Stem Light was a very quick build for the Edison Nation team, and when we left off, Peter had just launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the production of the lights. He was asking for $78,000, but his campaign stalled at $21,511 and 171 backers. Despite the disappointment on Kickstarter, Peter submitted the idea to Edison Nation and the team is actively looking for a licensing partner. There have been a few lighting companies that have expressed some interest, but so far there have been no deals.

Sock Sync The Sock Sync is the sock sorting laundry basket that I covered in May of 2013. Andrew Riad is the inventor and when we left off with him, he was just starting to look for a manufacturing partner to get his product made. The sourcing of his product was a tricky problem. Laundry baskets are nestable, but they are big, so shipping can be a cost killer.

Many big box laundry baskets are made domestically in part for this reason. His spinning top is also a large assembly and requires packaging to keep all of the sock folding cups attached to it, so there is a lot of container packing inefficiency to overcome. The sourcing team worked with him for a few months to find a solution, but we could not find The latest rendering of the Sock Sync that is available for pre-order. one that fit his price point.

Andrew took on the sourcing work himself, and after a steep learning curve, he is on his way to getting his product manufactured. The tools for the product are very large and expensive, so he is having the tools cut in China. However, he was able to find a factory in North Carolina 24

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PROTOTYPING

to make the product for him. He will be shipping the Chinese made tool to the NC factory in the coming weeks, and manufacturing it domestically. He is now taking pre-orders on his website, and he will be shipping product in the second quarter of 2015.

Collar Perfect Collar Perfect is the portable travel iron product for doing touchup ironing on collars and hem lines and unfolds into a flat iron configuration to iron larger areas.

I featured this product just a few months ago, but there is already exciting news.

The inventor, Brandon Dierker, was running a Kickstarter campaign that ended in mid- November. He was successfully funded with $42,792 and 1,277 backers Early Collar Perfect prototypes 3D printed on a consumer grade machine. after asking for $40,000. It was featured on popular tech sites like Gizmodo, and got a lot of buzz during the campaign. Since the campaign has ended he has also been getting attention from some retail outlets as well. He was a finalist for the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce Power Up competition competing for a $25,000 grand prize, but sadly lost out to a gluten-free baking mix company.

While Brandon has been hard at work promoting the product, the design team has also been working behind the scenes to get the product closer to production. The beta prototype was finished in November just before the Kickstarter ended. Some significant gains were made with the aesthetic of the device, especially the setting indicator lights. We also added springs under the heating plates to give the iron a better feel. However, we also ran into a few snags.

A couple of the 3D printed parts made from SLA were getting too hot and we melted a few of the parts. So we are currently trying to solve these issues with some clever design changes and some better material choices. Once these issues are sorted out, the drawings, CAD files, and the beta prototype will be sent of to the factory so they can start working out the pricing and how they are going to make it. The Kickstarter supporters should receive product sometime in 2015.

The shop gets great new projects to work on each month if not each week, and I have been fortunate to work on some really fun products with some interesting inventors. Even with a great idea and successful funding campaigns, it can take a long time to get from idea to finished product, and it is great to see that many of my projects are well on their way to being successful. Hopefully I will be working on one of your ideas in 2015.

Visit Jeremy @ http://blog.edisonnation.com/category/ prototyping/

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INVENTORZ NETWORK

Innovation Divaz Melinda Knight & Dhana Cohen from the Women Inventorz Network Dhana nda Meli

ht

Cohen

Knig

Dhana Cohen is the co-founder of www.inventorznetwork.com the only connection platform in the inventor industry. From Media to Pitch sessions, to Industry Experts and Buyers, Dhana & Melinda have created an amazing network for all to get involved in!

Retail Ready or Retail Me Not?

T

he question has been posed thousands of times using keyword searches and SEO planning; what defines an inventor? My business partner and I spent countless hours when we first started our business, Inventorz Network to see if there was a broader word, a more universal saying. We hired experts and reached out to our community and there was no conclusive word that jumped out at us. Some people consider themselves entrepreneurs, others, product developers, makers, or brands. Whichever description you attach to your product, all of you have the same goal. Get your product made at the best quality, lowest cost and be able to position yourself as retail ready.

Let’s start first with the products that really aren’t meant to be…this is the hardest type of inventor to assist. They believe so deeply that any objective sight of reality Is lost. My suggestion is to bring a group of friends, family and neighbors over for a market research night. Give them all the information available and see which way the pendulum moves. Trust these people, as they will have your best interest in mind. And do it before you spend another dime.

On the other hand, there are many inventors that have created truly one of kind, amazing products that don’t take the necessary steps and fall into the retail me not category. From pricing, to manufacturing, to PR and trade shows, these pitfalls often burst the bubble of excitement and money spent by inventors before they are even ready to present their wares.

So, how does one avoid the retail me not bubble? Our theory is to educate yourself on who can help, what companies have the right expertise to assist you and which ones to stay away from. Sounds easy, yet it’s far from that simple. By depending on those who have been there before and doing your research without letting your idea get ahead of you, your business will stay in the game much longer. It is amazing how many times I speak to inventors and hear what went wrong first, how they wish they would have had a resource to go to and a community they could lean on. Yes, there are many groups out there, from Facebook to LinkedIn that post and share. We love that they are out there and we encourage inventors to belong to many of them, but we also believe there should be one place to give you all of the connections you need.

Since I started writing for Inventor’s Digest over a 2 and 1/2 years ago, I too was going through my own path of figuring out how I would bring value to this industry. With my background in marketing and 7 years in this business, I knew what I didn’t want to see in our industry. I witnessed inventors receiving the wrong advice and trusting the wrong people. As I became more engrossed in the industry and befriended my business partner Melinda, I knew I had stumbled on a stroke of great fortune with her by my side. Not only am I lucky, but the community of inventors we work with are too. For the first time, I knew I wanted to tell the readers a bit more of what Inventorz Network is all about, we hope you will see the value for your business as others have – whether you are an inventor or industry expert.

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InventorzNetwork.com does many things to get the word out about inventors; from our radio show, to TV appearances and endorsements by The International Home and Housewares Show, (Inventorz Network has the privilege to be selected as one of only 3 sponsors two years running for their Inventor Pavilion). Along with the first VIRTUAL TRADE SHOW and Virtual Pitching Platform in the industry…our site, offers a 24/7 connection program.

If you are an industry expert with services to provide the inventor community you have a virtual office waiting for you to set up in our Expert Pavilion.

Different than traditional trade shows, experts have their own area, a most valuable resource and educational component, for the inventors.

Of course the inventors have their very own pavilion, to create a virtual trade show booth. Both with state of the art design and video sharing capabilities. Buyers are welcome to join and walk the pavilion on their own time and find these diamonds in the rough products and strike up their own connections any time of day.

It doesn’t stop there, beyond the pavilions there is an incredible resource center, blog and newly renovated social lounge giving everyone the chance to connect and educate themselves.

So, at the end of each of your inventing day, do you ask yourself, are you truly retail ready? Either way, we are here to help connect you, at whatever stage you are at!

THE SECRETS OF SUCCESSFUL INVENTING

REVEALED!

Contact Dhana @ www.inventorznetwork.com

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NEW FROM SQUARE ONE PUBLISHERS Guided by the sure hand of editor Edith Tolchin, 16 of the most successful experts in the field of inventing offer invaluable advice and insight to would-be inventors everywhere Ms. Tolchin has created an all-in-one guide that addresses the many critical issues that beginning inventors need to consider. From prototyping to patenting, from licensing to marketing, each expert gives clear and practical advice to help inventors reach their goals. The book presents information in a logical sequence that will allow the fledgling inventor to navigate the waters of product development. By following the steps offered and by heeding the words of these seasoned professionals, the reader will be better able to avoid pitfalls and find success at journey’s end.

Normally, novice inventors spend thousands of dollars attending lectures and workshops that they hope will prepare them for the challenges that lie ahead. In Secrets of Successful Inventing, Edith Tolchin provides a useful resource that will empower you to take your idea to the next level.

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$19.95 • 304 pages • quality paperback • ISBN: 978-0-7570-0407-0

INVENTORZ NETWORK

Together we have created the most comprehensive and unique platform to support inventors, by truly connecting them to the who, whats and hows of the industry. We call our site, the Angie’s List meets Match.com of the inventor world.

FIRST PERSON

The First Ever ‘Intelligent’ Self-Healing Deck Coating.

It was a cold December day in 2008 when I wasn’t exactly surprised to get a phone call from my father who had another cool idea that I just “had to see” over a cup of coffee. As far back as I can remember, my Dad was always coming up with ideas for new products. Inventions that ranged from trivial home and garden gizmos that never took flight, to engineered retaining wall systems used coast to coast. He had made a living being president of a manufacturing company which produced his patented erosion control systems. Working for him every summer since age 13, I had the privilege to watch from a distance how an idea could actually manifest into a tangible, existing entity.

I agreed to meet Dad for a cup of joe after my classes that day had finished, I was currently attending my first semester at Kennesaw State University. Upon walking into Cuppy’s Coffee, I sat next to my Dad who, as usual, had his laptop open and his pen resting on a napkin with some indistinct scribble. I immediately noticed what looked to be a painted piece of decking next to him. “Painted” piece of wood decking probably isn’t the best verbiage to describe it. The “paint” was more of a coating, thick and rigid with a durable non-slip texture. It looked more robust than any other deck treatment I had ever seen. I instantly thought back to the late 1990’s when Dad had patented a particular coating used in commercial settings to protect marine infrastructure.

Aside from his erosion control systems, Dad took an interest in protective wood treatment in 1997. These industrial coatings were applied to large wooden pilings before being installed for marine pier and dock supports. Being completely encapsulated by the coating, the marine pilings now possessed a protective membrane which denied marine borer attack, and inhibited the wood’s chemical treatment from leaching into the water. This product, called “21POLY”, can still be found in service today at the Statue of Liberty pier and Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. 21POLY was a great model for the concept of wood encapsulation and longterm preservation, however the application process required huge spraying machines and a trained staff, all of which were under strict specifications given by the Corps of Engineers. To say the least, 21POLY was far from being a consumer product found in decorated packaging at your local paint store.

Aware of his prior patents with 21POLY, I was somewhat familiar with the object I found lying there on the table. This time, however, the application was on a traditional wood deck board, the kind you’d find behind your home. “This is the future of deck protection ” Dad explained, “This is going to change the industry ”. Unlike the old and outdated 21POLY , this new coating was water-based and easily applied with standard paint tools. Dad went on to explain how there are over 40 million wood decks in the U.S. reaching an age of 10 years and older. Of course with an aged wood surface comes cracks, splinters, and ugly imperfections that traditional paint and sealers eventually cannot remedy. These statistics, coupled with a terrible economic recession, demanded a new genre of deck protection that could serve a more long-term purpose and provide homeowners with a cost-effective alternative to lumber replacement. Consumers could now resurface their existing decking, eliminating cracks and splinters, and buy themselves some time during a recession that prohibited funds for new construction. This new concept we dubbed as “deck resurfacing” was staring me in the face as Dad and I finished our coffees, discussing the potential and opportunity. Waking up that morning, I had no idea I was about to dive head-first into coatings industry for the next 7 years (and counting).

My initial foray into coatings was mundane to say the least. At the beginning of 2009, I started what would be my last semester of college. During my free time, I’d 21Poly applied to old, damaged make my way up to a small warehouse Dad had rented, mainly used for storage at decking. the time. There I began blending and packaging small quantities of the new deck coating within the 200 square feet of available space. Dad educated me on the raw materials and how to appropriately formulate them. Sales were generated by cold-calling local painters and contractors from the Yellow Pages, asking, sometimes begging for 10 minutes of their time. I will tell you, trying to convince contractors that you have the “best new thing since sliced bread” is no walk in the park. However, the ones who gave me the time of day would soon become believers, for the product was truly unlike anything they had never seen before.

I was earning a small commission for every bucket of product I sold, plus a whopping 8 bucks an hour while manufacturing the product. I eventually found myself walking into every paint and hardware store in the area, toting a sample of our product and a home-made piece of literature which assisted me during my sales pitch. At first I had to balance my time between manufacturing

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In May of 2010, Encore Coatings LLC was born. We had moved into a larger facility with some built-in offices. We grew our sales force by hiring independent sales agencies within the paint and building industry. Taylor and I were still conducting most of the warehouse duties but this time with some new equipment and a more streamlined method of manufacturing. Things were looking bright as we moved into the fall of 2010. By this time we had a competitor in the deck resurfacing arena, a company called Synta who was eventually acquired by Rustoleum in 2012. Their coatings can now be found in nearly all the big-box retail chains across the country.

Winter of 2010 was very difficult for us with sales coming to a standstill. Taylor and I shared an apartment where we were 3 months behind on rent coming into 2011. With some free time and an eviction notice on hand, this is when I really began gravitating towards research and development in attempt to better our products from a formulating standpoint. I compiled my existing knowledge of water-based coatings with any reading material I could find regarding the latest emerging paint technologies. I began surrounding myself with industry professionals who would make weekly visits to show off their latest and greatest resins and additives. I would travel to consult with polymer chemists, touring their facilities and seminars to gather information in regards to new formula possibilities. I can truly say I fell in love with the art of formulating coatings, however ridiculous that may sound. _____________________________________________________________________ “I have not failed, I’ve just found a thousand ways that won’t work.”

Thomas Edison

_____________________________________________________________________ Dad and I began allocating a lot of time to modifying certain additives and investigating new polymer combinations. Our goal was to create the perfect balance between durability and flexibility within a custom matrix of resins, two very key features, which always come with a trade-off. Dozens of experimental formulas were put into testing to determine what our endeavors in the lab might yield. By Summer of 2011 we had assembled a new and improved formula of our flagship deck coating product. This 2.0 formula came with an improved warranty and increased performance in the field thanks to an improved co-polymer backbone. That year Encore Coatings finally began to look like a real company. Sales were at an all-time high and warehouse employees were hired, allowing Taylor, Dad and I to specialize our efforts within particular areas of the company.

I would spend the next 4 years as a student of water-based acrylic/polymeric coatings. Along the way in early 2012 I took a strong interest in nanotechnology, a very exciting new technology that is not limited to just paint and coatings. Nanotechnology is a relatively new field that is being utilized by energy and medicinal industries as well. It involves using extremely small particles, often on the molecular and sub-atomic scale, to produce a desired outcome. To be considered a “nanoparticle”, the particle must be anywhere from 1-100 nanometers in size; a nanometer being one billionth of a meter. To put that into perspective, a facial hair will grow one nanometer in size before you can bring a razor to your face. Once a particle’s size is reduced into the nano scale it behaves much differently than before, which is single handedly contributing to the invention of incredible, “intelligent” materials.

Intelligent materials are able to respond to their environment in a beneficial way. In other words, an intelligent material must be able to gather information from its surroundings, and react in the appropriate manner. For example, a Japanese firm called TOTO Ltd. has created an intelligent coating that reacts with sunlight and rainwater to not only induce self-cleaning, but also clean the

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FIRST PERSON

and sales since I was mostly a one-man show. Dad had since opened a restaurant which occupied most of his time. Yes, another one of his great ideas that never quite took flight.

With a few stocking dealers and repeat applicators under our belt, there was actually a small demand for our product by Summer 2009. Needing additional help in the warehouse, I called in Taylor Zaganas, one of my best friends from college.

Taylor had previously worked in the paint department at Home Depot, so he certainly resonated with the new product’s concept and saw the potential. We now had twice the man power in the warehouse and twice the cold calls hitting the streets. We finished 2009 with modest results, but our faith could not have been stronger. Dad, Taylor and I grew excited about the upcoming 2010 year, deciding Jeff’s first lab. we would all dedicate 100% of our time to making something of this deck resurfacing idea. The restaurant was put to rest and I dropped out of college.

FIRST PERSON

surrounding air. Current applications include applying this invisible coating to entire skyscrapers, which accomplishes two things; forever-clean windows without need of human intervention, and a beneficial air-purifying affect from the entire skyscraper. The coating can actually “eat” the main constituents in smog such us nitrogen oxide, allowing skyscrapers to now perform as giant trees in the middle of a city. Nanotechnology certainly plays a large role in this incredible performance.

To this day, we have grown our product line to approximately a dozen different paint and coating products which range from anti-corrosion coatings to paint additives to nano-particle clear sealers. As for our original wood deck resurfacing coating, it’s now called ENCORE (soon to be re-branded as ENDURA) and we have more competition than ever within the category. It didn’t take long for the new genre of deck resurfacing to claim its stake within the marketplace. The largest paint companies in the world have recently found their way into the market, making things quite interesting in the last couple of years. With the recent addition of competition and the inherent need for differentiating ourselves, there has never been better circumstances for innovation.

Over the past 3 years, after exhaustive trial and error and research into intelligent materials, I have finally accomplished my goal of transforming ENCORE into the first intelligent deck coating. Just as we pioneered the deck resurfacing genre in 2009, Encore Coatings plans to advance the category once more with a self-healing deck coating by 2015. As I previously mentioned, intelligent coatings utilize naturally occurring substances such as rainwater or sunlight to activate their integrated intelligent response(s). Since water is usually the number one contributor to a deck coating’s failure, it seemed like the perfect catalyst to make ours grow stronger. When any coating is applied, on any surface, there are always microscopic areas of weakness where water and other elements will eventually intrude, and ultimately cause the coating to fail. These areas of weakness are most always inevitable. We often refer to these vulnerable areas as ‘holidays’ in the coating industry. Our new intelligent formula not only has the ability to self-heal itself after it breaches, but also has an initial response of preventing water intrusion. When water is introduced into the coating’s microscopic holidays, the polymers within the coating swell to several times their own size, which closes the holiday or “gap” where water is attempting to intrude. In other words, this formula will provide two levels of intelligent response: Water-intrusion prevention via polymer swelling, and self-healing if the coating is ever compromised. Both of these 12-day healing cycle of Encore Coatings’ new Intelligent Self-Healing Coating functions simply require water as a catalyst. @ 15x magnification. This cracked sample was saturated with water every day to induce self-healing. Blue arrow is pen ink indicating crack location.

Encore Coatings is proud to bring intelligent coating technology directly into the consumer’s back yard (literally). Not only will this new formula be the first intelligent self-healing deck coating, it will claim new ground for intelligent coatings as a whole as it introduces intelligent materials to the mainstream consumer market. It won’t be long before society sees intelligent coatings being used everywhere.

At every turn we could soon see an intelligent material performing tricks we once thought to be science-fiction. NISSAN is experimenting with a self-cleaning car varnish. BAYER is heavily researching a self-healing car varnish, and the smog eating and self-cleaning coating we discussed earlier is already in the early stages of mass production here in the United States.

As for myself, where I am now and where I’d like to go, I’m really just happy to be where I am currently.

I’ve gotten the incredible opportunity the last 7 years to learn a lot of things about something I truly enjoy, and simultaneously experienced a startup company grow into something our team could be proud of. Although there were certainly hardships and uncertainty at times, I truly feel fortunate just to be here doing something I love and contributing to the industry. I will continue exploring new coating formulations but eventually I would like to explore green, self-sustaining building materials and lightweight high-performance concrete. Until then, I’ll see where the coatings industry pulls me next Visit Jeff at: and try to keep having fun in the process. www.encorecoatings.com Thank you for reading my story.

Jeff Moreau

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FIRST FIRST LEGOLEGO LEAGUE

TEAM SOMERS MINDSTORM SPECIALISTS

Edison Nation is pleased to partner again with FIRST Lego League for their annual Global Innovation Award. Ten teams from across the country were selected as semifinalists in this year’s Nature’s Fury Contest. This month we’re spotlighting the Team Brain Busters from Sherborn, MA. Their invention, “Power Genie” is a cost effective device that eliminates the life threatening dangers of downed power lines in natural disasters by automatically detecting a downed power line and stopping the flow of electricity through that line.

ID: Who is your favorite inventor and why?

Our favorite inventor is Marie Curie. She really inspires us, because our team is comprised mostly of girls, and Marie Curie overcame all the troubles she had as a women in mathematics and science, eventually becoming not only the first women to win a Nobel Prize, but also the first person to win two Nobel Prizes! She worked incredibly hard, and her memory really pushes us to be the best scientists we can be.

ID: What inspired you about this year’s Nature’s

Fury challenge?

This was quite an appropriate time to have such a challenge, because our region and many others have been experiencing dangerous weather with sometimes horrible results. Like many other teams on the east coast, we took into perspective Hurricane Sandy, which was a disastrous hurricane with so many aspects that we could focus on. When looking through statistics of many storms, including Sandy, we realized that people stepping on live downed wires caused many deaths.

This led us to create the PowerGenie, which would prevent people from getting hurt by the live wire by shutting off the wire before it hit the ground.

ID: Tell Inventors Digest about your team… how did

you all come together?

Our team is an all Somers team. One member of our team

ID: Did you encounter any problems or obstacles

during the Nature’s Fury challenge?

No journey to any form of success is easy, and each journey comes with its share of thorns in the rose bush, so naturally, our trip as a team definitely wasn’t easy! Once we got our idea, we were faced by the problem of creating a prototype, and meeting with experts in our field. We got across the first hole in the bridge by programming our robot to connect sensors and sense when our “power line” had gone over a certain angle. We also met with ConEdison to help go forward with our idea! This was an excellent experience.

ID: How did the team problem solve together to

invent, and what has it taught you?

Our team knew each other very well, and we were able to grasp on and build on others’ ideas very quickly. Someone came up with the idea, then someone added to it to make it better, and some more, and some more, until it became what it is today! It still has improvements we can make to it though!

FLL has taught us all so much! Our team worked very well together, and so this taught us one of the most valuable life long ideas, the idea of teamwork. A lot of genius things are not the result of one person’s ideas, but as Isaac Newton once said, people “standing on the shoulders’ of giants”, or in other words, building on what other people have said and working as a team to solve a problem together.

ID: What do you all want to be when you grow up?

FIRST LEGO LEAGUE

was in elementary school, a couple in middle school, and one in high school. We all did some sort of activity after school together, whether it be music, sports, or Academic Triathlon. We all knew each other before hand, so that definitely helped our team chemistry! We laughed with each other, and helped each other with all of our ideas, which is an extremely important life skill.

We honestly don’t know yet! The world is full of so many exciting things, so many pathways to take, so many people to help, so many problems to solve, that you should get experience with everything before you set your mind on something. That said, you should know your passion. You should always do what you want to do, because you will do amazing things with a subject you enjoy. For example, if you are absolutely fascinated with Mathematics, and you find pleasure in discovering all it’s hidden secrets, Fibonacci sequences in nature, graph theory, spherical trigonometry, and so much more, you should do math! The same goes for any other subject! If you love writing fantastical stories where you can get lost in another world, do that! You should always follow your passion and that fire in your heart that tells you what to do. For our team, FLL has showed us the joys of science and mathematics, and we want to become some kind of professional in that area!

ID: If you win the Global Innovation Award, what’s

next for the team?

Our team was honored to reach the point of semifinalist in the Global Innovation Award!

The whole point of innovation is to help others, and without spreading your idea to others and improving the lives of others with it, the idea is not much help. As a team, we would love to go forward with our idea, and it would be so amazing if we could actually create a working product and be able to help others with it.

ID: What advice or words of wisdom would you give

other FIRST LEGO League innovators?

FLL and the research process has also taught us so much about the idea of persistence and not given up when we reach a roadblock. It has truly taught us that we should look at problems not as holes in a bridge, but as challenges we can solve in our journey to success.

Follow your interest. Never give up. This one, we think, is a very important one. As always, any process has its problems, and those who do not have the courage to persist have given upon many great ideas. It does after all, take courage, to resist the feeling to give up and stay strong. Every research project will have it’s problems that you have to solve, and part of what makes an idea amazing is the fact that the people behind it have worked to solve those problems.

ID: How does it make you feel to create

something new?

ID: What do you think is the most important

invention of your lifetime?

Our team is incredibly honored to have gotten the opportunity to participate in the amazing FLL program, because it has taught us so much. The feeling you get when you not only win an award, but also work hard at an idea and have it succeed is absolutely amazing, you feel so enthralled that it leads you to want to invent more, to discover more, to be able to help people, because after all, that is what inventions are for. It also feels so good that we have thought of a completely new idea that hasn’t studied in detail before. Beautiful new ideas are rare, and we have to enjoy their sweet flavor while they are here.

It would probably have to be the amazing ways of social networking we have today. They have helped spread not only photos and minute-to-minute texts, but also great ideas. In ancient times, everyone traveled to Babylon to spread and share their ideas. Today, we can spread ideas on websites that allow us to share information, obtain help on difficult problems, and research topics with a single click of the mouse. This has helped programs such as FLL get started, and had spread awareness about a whole variety of topics. It has made a monumental impact on our society, and our world would be unrecognizable without it.

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Q&A

Crowd Funding

BY EDIE TOLCHIN WITH DAWN SOLE

Dawn

Pluck N’ File™

Crowdfunding Quicksand Our contributing editor, Edie Tolchin, recently spoke with Dawn M. Sole, inventor of Pluck N’ File™, who was kind enough to share her insight and experience in inventing and developing her new personal care product. The campaign was due to run from November 2, 2014 through January 2, 2015. However in early December 2014, Sole encountered a huge obstacle she is currently working to overcome.

Edie G. Tolchin (EGT): Please tell us a bit about yourself and your background…for example, have you ever invented anything before Pluck N’ File?

Dawn M. Sole (DMS): I’m very creative and I’m always looking for solutions to everything, and always trying to figure out a better way to do things. My mind never shuts off and I’m always tinkering with things by taking them apart and putting them back together or researching things on the internet. It’s the mere idea that the product(s) I create can somehow solve problems and fill needs for people who are searching for solutions that really make me happy. I find that I want to push myself to that point where I can truly see what I am capable of doing and just how far I can take something. My background is sales and sales management. I have thought of other inventions prior to Pluck N’ File.

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EGT: What exactly is Pluck N’ File? What are its many uses?

DMS: Pluck N’ File is a patented multifunctional beauty tool that makes the everyday beauty regimen that much more seamless. It combines tweezers, an eyebrow comb, replaceable nail file, and nail buffer. You want to carry one in your makeup bag, car, travel case, and purse just to name a few places. It’s the go to beauty tool for your eyebrows and nails. It is like the beauty Swiss Army Knife for us gals.

EGT: How did the “aha!” moment come about for this product?

DMS: Pluck N’ File was born out of pure necessity. I thought of Pluck N’ File ™ when I was grocery shopping and carrying several grocery bags to my car. When I opened my car door, I chipped my nail. It was a small

EGT: Please share with us your manufacturing process. Is your product made domestically or overseas?

does everything, it is multiple. Certain factories make certain parts and then it goes to the next factory and so on. Each factory has certain things that it specializes in. I researched everything myself and reached out to companies one by one and learned a lot through trial and error.

I’m proud to say my product is assembled in the USA. EGT: You began a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, for the period from November 2, 2014 through January 2, 2015. As of the time this article was written, you were close to 70 percent of your goal to raise $25,000.

Tell us about your campaign and the various rewards levels. Also, assuming you reach your goal, what’s next?

DMS: The reason I launched my Indiegogo campaign is so I could pre-sell Pluck N’ File units, and then I will be applying my funds raised to my manufacturing and tooling costs. This will allow me to go into my first production run and get the product out on the market.

Manufacturers require large order quantities and expensive tooling and there are multiple parts that go into making just one Pluck N’ File. Each reward level includes receiving Pluck N’ File. My product is the type where you need more than one, so with higher level rewards you can receive more than one, plus additional perks.

The benefit to people purchasing the product through my Indiegogo campaign is they get the product at a huge discount which they will not be able to receive once it hits retail. Once my funding goal is met I will then roll into production and begin my manufacturing process which will take approximately sixty days. Then, once that is complete I can start my shipping and people will receive the product and I will also be selling online to individuals as well as to retailers

DMS: Sourcing for manufacturing was by far the most difficult for me. Unless you have a background in this, or know of people & EGT: Have you considered companies, it is extremely a licensing agreement?

Pluck N’ File fits in any makeup bag. difficult. Not knowing the DMS: Right now I am focusing on manufacturing the right questions to ask or what to compare things to can product myself, however, I always remain open to differallow you to make mistakes which are costly and time ent possibilities. consuming. It took me a very long time to get my manuEGT: What type of packaging will Pluck N’ File have? facturers in place. It is not just one manufacturer that

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Q&A

problem, to be sure; but it’s one that is experienced by millions of women. I had to look through my large purse to find a nail file. Once I filed my nail, I had to go back into my purse a second time to find my nail buffer.

Because I was outside in the bright sunlight, I wanted to pluck my eyebrows, which meant going back into my large purse a THIRD time. That is when the “aha!” moment came…I wanted all these items in one simple tool.

So instead of ignoring the problem I created a solution, which is how Pluck N’ File was born.

EGT: Which came first: patent application or product development? Or did you do both simultaneously?

DMS: I started with product development. The initial prototypes were put together by me, and then I reached out to my patent attorney to do research and get clearance for us to move forward with a patent because nothing like my product existed. Then we applied for the patent. Once I completed my handmade prototype, I then had professional 3-D CAD drawings made by my design engineer. When applying for a patent you need to get your product as close as possible to what it is going to look like and how it is going to function.

EGT: Did you create a prototype? Was that a difficult process?

DMS: I created my own prototype first, and then after I had created my own I started reaching out to other companies to assist me in making a professional prototype.

I had to work with a design engineer to do this.

Did you work with a graphic designer for the packaging?

Q&A

DMS: The packaging is still being worked on with different designers.

It will be very clean and creative for sure.

EGT: What are your plans for sales? To boutiques and salons? To big box stores? Big chain beauty supplies stores? Online via your website?

DMS: My plan is to first work with the South Florida market, with boutiques, salons, spas and beauty stores and also to sell online through my website. This way it will allow me to work closely with my customers, and at the same time I can work with my manufacturers to make sure we have the proper procedures in place. As I continue to grow the business, I will then be working with larger retailers throughout the U.S. and eventually throughout the world. I will also be doing private labeling with different companies. There are many different sales channels for Pluck N’ File which is a great benefit. There will also be additional products that I will be launching that go under the Pluck N’ File ™ brand.

Pluck N’ File with additonal emery boards.

EGT: Are you considering any celebrity endorsements? It seems like this product would make for a perfect infomercial.

DMS: It’s so important to have the right fit when it comes to celebrity endorsements. I don’t want just anyone representing my brand just for the sake of an endorsement. I would love the opportunity to work with Lori Greiner, as I know this product would do excellent on QVC. EGT: Will you be working with a PR or marketing firm to get the word out?

DMS: No, I will be using social media and out doing shows and visiting customers. When you’re a self-funded startup you cannot afford a PR person or team. You are your own PR and need to get out and hustle and make things happen.

EGT: Have you encountered any obstacles or difficulties along the various stages of developing your product?

DMS: YES! Just because the way your products looks is appealing does not mean you can manufacture it that way.

You need to be able to design it in a way that is appealing, yet also can be manufactured on a large scale. Also, sourcing the right factories was very difficult because you don’t know where to start. But the key is to start somewhere! It was very time consuming EGT: Did you learn anything particularly significant about the marketing aspect of your product you might want to share with our readers?

DMS: Get out there with your prototype and show it to people who are not your friends and family. When people see your product, be silent, watch their facial expressions and listen to their feedback. This is such great market research because these people are your future customers. Make sure you have the right price point also. Just because you think you have a great product doesn’t mean that you can make money and turn it into a business. Know your numbers inside out, down to every penny. Once you know your numbers only then will you know if you can turn it into a business EGT: Do you have any final advice or words of encouragement for our readers? Many are inventors who have not yet pursued their ideas, or may be in the midst of product development but may have encountered complications.

DMS: Seek out mentors and do your research. LinkedIn and SCORE were a huge help for me. You will learn

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Q&A

through trial and error, however, the biggest thing is perseverance. Don’t quit when things get tough, and don’t have a backup plan. If you have a backup plan then in my opinion, you’re setting yourself up for failure, and if this is something you really want then you should go all in, because failure is not an option. People don’t realize how difficult it is to bring an invention to life and that’s why most people don’t make it all the way through. You have to breath, sleep, eat, and drink your business day in and day out and you’re trading in your 9-5 for a 24/7. Anyone who tells you differently is lying. Try your best to save your money because you will need a lot of it once you really get going. You can barter services or find people who are willing to work with you on prices. SCORE is great for that because they are professionals who are willing to help and do not charge. Bootstrap as much as you can.

EGT: What’s the anticipated selling price of Pluck N’ File? How can our readers contact you and order your product? Do you have a website?

DMS: $24.99. Readers can contact me at dawn@plucknfile.com. My website www.plucknfile.com Note from Edie Tolchin: As of the time this article was written, Dawn Sole had some unfortunate news… Apparently someone in the UK hacked her account and copied her campaign 100% accurately on Kickstarter, raising 17,000 (British) pounds for “her” Pluck N’ File product.

EGT: How do you think this happened? Can you show our readers a link to this bogus campaign?

DMS: A scammer copied and pasted my entire Indiegogo campaign and launched a separate campaign on Kickstarter.

So there were two campaigns going at the same time. I own all of the IP and my attorney and I sent documentation to Kickstarter showing proof that I am the owner. It appears to have been people trying to do a scam. They were using my IP (Intellectual Property) to scam consumers out of money with my products and they were using Kickstarter and the internet as the platform in which to do this and that is a crime. Here is a link to the fake campaign that was launched on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/203564162/pluck-n-filemore-than-a-tweezer?ref=nav_search EGT: How does this affect the progress of your campaign on Indiegogo? Will you still be able to proceed?

DMS: It has affected my progress in many ways. People are confused because they see there are two campaigns.

They ask me which one they should donate to because they are confused. Plus, it is extremely stressful because instead of having all of my focus on driving results for my Indiegogo campaign, I had to then stop and take a lot of time to try and fix this issue with my lawyer. It still is not resolved. I am still able to proceed with Indiegogo, however, I cannot recoup the time I lost due to the fake Kickstarter campaign. And lost time equals loss in funds raised.

EGT: Have you retained legal counsel, and if so, would the action be taken against Kickstarter (the impostor’s campaign), Indiegogo (your campaign) or directly against the impostor?

DMS: I have retained legal counsel and I am moving forward with a suit. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, U.S. Attorney General, New York State Attorney General, FINRA and SEC are all being contacted in regards to what happened.

EGT: How does this affect your company and brand?

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Q&A

DMS: It’s damaging because when people go to Kickstarter they see the account is “suspended.” It makes my company look bad when in fact it isn’t Pluck N’ File. However, the people do not know that it really isn’t Pluck N’ File. Kickstarter should have removed the campaign completely, knowing and having proof that it was a fake, but it is still up and showing as “suspended.” Also, is Kickstarter going to return the funds that were raised back to the supporters? Kickstarter should turn the account over to me and allow me to fulfill those orders to the people who backed the campaign. If I cannot fulfill those orders because Kickstarter will not turn that information over to me, that makes my company look bad because now people will be upset because they never received the product.

EGT: How has Kickstarter handled this situation? What have they done or haven’t done?

DMS: They have been unresponsive. Multiple emails were sent to them both by me and my attorney and the only response that was received was a generic “Thank you for sending your email.” There is no address for them and no one gets back to you. Since Kickstarter was the platform that was used for this scam, but with my IP, they have a duty and responsibility but they are failing to respond and get back to us regarding this important matter. By the scammers using Kickstarter as their platform it has damaged my company and brand in multiple ways and is very unfortunate.

EGT: What have you learned from this experience?

DMS: That anything is possible. I never would have thought something like this could happen.

I thought that Kickstarter would have done their due diligence by checking the campaign that was submitted and they did not do that.

Had they checked, they would have seen that one already existed with Indiegogo and that the IP was owned by me and we therefore would not be in this situation. I’ve learned that there need to be more policies and procedures in place when it comes to crowdfunding. There seems to be a lot of scams that take place where people can post fake accounts, get the funds raised, take the money and run and never fulfill the orders. What type of protection do people have? Crowdfunding platforms act as a “broker” because they allow transactions to be made and they take a percentage of the amount raised, so they need to be responsible. Make sure to always do your research. I Google my product every couple of days and that is how I came across this fake account. Make sure you stay on top of everything.

EGT: What advice do you have for our readers regarding crowdfunding campaigns?

DMS: Again, do your research. There is a ton of information that is not disclosed on the crowdfunding platforms and you need to know what you are responsible for and what they are responsible for. There are not enough rules in place to protect people from fraud and scams and that is scary. Know what your rights are and make sure you are 100% comfortable before you launch.

Dawn’s Pluck N’ FIle is available for pre-order at www.plucknfile.com

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LANDER ZONE LANDER ZONE

Ali Baba by Aubrey Beardsley, 1897

A perfect password for one Entrepreneur Ma Yun is the richest man in China, reportedly worth $25 billion. Alibaba, the company he founded and runs, entered the stock market last year with a value of $210 billion, now risen to around $260 billion.

Alibaba is China’s counterpart to Amazon. com here in the U. S. But Ma’s fortune is not something his boyhood friends or his family would have predicted. He failed the entry exams for college in China twice, and his applications to Harvard were rejected ten times. As a job applicant, he was turned down by a dozen prospective employers including KFC. But Ma had ambition and persistence.

He foresaw opportunities in the learning of foreign languages, but his limited resources ruled out formal schooling. So, he went to work in a hotel, and offered foreigners free tours of his hometown, Hangzhou, which he conducted every morning for nine years. His English is now excellent, and practically accent free. But what he learned about the world and other cultures was very different from what he was taught at home, and in school.

He acquired his Western name, Jack Ma, from a tourist who had difficulty pronouncing his Chinese name. And he named his company Alibaba because the Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves fable is known around the world, and his ambitions were global. He thought the story’s phrase, “open sesame” -- sesame being a seed -- had a prophetic message for his business.

Alibaba employs 30,000 people, 47 percent of whom are women. And it processes 60 million transactions each day through its 66 distribution centers.

(Amazon employs nearly 110,000 people, 37 % of whom are women.)

LANDER ZONE

O

pen sesame –

Ma came to the U. S. for the first time in 1995, and was introduced to the Internet, about which he had previously known nothing.

His first search was for beer, and the references seemed inexhaustible. Then, he searched “China,” and came up empty. That was an epiphany moment -- the seed for what became Alibaba, on his third attempt. But success did not come overnight. Ma says he invested a billion dollars before turning a profit. None of his financing came from the Chinese government or from Chinese banks.

He credits Forest Gump for much of his philosophy for success. Forest believed in what he was doing, and he never gave up.

In his TV interview with Charlie Rose, Ma appears to be genuine and modest. He claims that he doesn’t like being wealthy because it is too much pressure, and he has to be concerned with business all of the time. His philosophy is that a man who has earned a million dollars can claim it for himself and his family; but a man who had made a billion dollars must see his role as a steward of such riches. He must use it to help others. Ma practices his stewardship by helping small businesses, which make up a large segment of his customers. And he aims to establish a philanthropic foundation, and compete with Bill Gates in the giving away of his money.

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LANDER ZONE

Ma, who is 50 years old, disclaims his celebrity even though he admits that the world may think of him as such. He recalls his non-celebrity days when he, along with 17 friends, started the precursor to Alibaba from his apartment. His wife was his first employee. Alibaba was his third attempt, but “. . . he has the biggest dreams of anyone I have ever known,” states Porter Erisman, an American ad man who went to work for Ma in the early days of Alibaba.

Erisman says that he would come up with a goal, and Ma would change it to be three times as ambitious.

Ma likes to create aphorisms about his business like “EBay is a shark in the ocean.

We are a crocodile in the river. If we fight in the ocean we will lose. But if we fight in the river we will win.” (No doubt this applied to Alibaba only in its early days.) I admire this thinking because, as those of you who are regular readers of my column will know, I advocate that aspiring entrepreneurs start off and learn the entrepreneurial art with a niche item, rather than striving for the great idea or invention that will sell to “everyone,” as their first venture. _________________

“EBay is a shark in the ocean. We are a crocodile in the river. If we fight in the ocean we will lose. But if we fight in the river we will win.” _________________ If it really is that great, you’ll be risking getting squashed by well-capitalized competition not long after launching, or

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you’ll be struggling, possibly for years, because you lack the resources for the rapid growth that will be demanded, and which you won’t be able to fill. Jack Ma and his rags to riches story are the exception, not the rule.

What makes Alibaba so successful? Good service, good prices, and genuine care for its customers. If you are buying off-theshelf components in quantity, check out Alibaba. I recently made several purchases from Alibaba for a small business that I’m helping to start. Each order arrived as promised, surprising to me, via U. S. Mail. Apparently Alibaba flies combined shipments to a distribution center in the U. S., which then mails the items from the West Coast. One item I ordered was unavailable, and I was asked if I wanted to cancel or wait for its replenishment. I chose to wait, and a couple of weeks later the item arrived. Nothing was misinterpreted, the quality was very good, and my backorder had not been neglected. Jack Ma has set a new standard for China and beyond.

I should add that I favor Amazon.com for most consumer items I buy, because it supports our economy, and delivery is faster than from overseas sources. But due to an unusual error by Amazon on a recent order, I received four of a $50 item, of which I had ordered only one. The vendor sent me prepaid shipping labels, and a few days later I received refund notifications. I can’t complain, however.

That’s the first time I’ve had any problem with Amazon, and it was handled flawlessly. I can hardly wait for the first time the Amazon drone lands a package at my doorstep. But will it ring the bell, Contact Jack Lander at: Jack@inventor-mentor.com and ask me to sign?)

INVENTORS GROUPS

Inventors Digest only publishes the names and contacts of inventor groups certified with the United Inventors Association. To have your group listed, visit www.uiausa.org and become a UIA member.

Alabama Auburn Student Inventors and Entrepreneurs Club Auburn University Campus Samuel Ginn College of Engineering 1210 Shelby Center Auburn, AL 36849 Grant Moore hgm0001@gmail.com Invent Alabama Bruce Koppenhoefer 137 Mission Circle Montevallo, AL 35115 205-222-7585 bkoppy@hiwaay.net Arizona Inventors Association of Arizona, Inc. Tim Crawley, President PO Box 6436 Glendale, AZ 85302 (623) 680-5192 www.azinventors.org

Invention Accelerator Workshop 11292 Poblado Rd. San Diego, CA 92127 (858) 451-1028 Enovex@aol.com San Diego Inventors Forum Adrian Pelkus, President 1195 Linda Vista, Suite C San Marcos, CA 92069 (760) 591-9608 www.sdinventors.org Colorado Rocky Mountain Inventors’ Association Roger Jackson, President 1805 So. Bellaire St. St. 480 Denver, CO 80222 (303) 271-9468 info@rminventor.org www.RMInventor.org Connecticut Christian Inventors Association, Inc. Pal Asija 7 Woonsocket Ave. Shelton, CT 06484 (203) 924-9538 pal@ourpal.com www.ourpal.com

Carefree Innovators 34522 N Scottsdale Rd Scottsdale AZ 85266 ideascouts@gmail.com www.ideascout.org Arkansas Arkansas Inventors’ Network Chad Collins PO Box 56523 Little Rock, AR 72215 Phone: (501) 247-6125 www.arkansasinvents.org Inventors Club of NE Arkansas PO Box 2650 State University, AR 72467 www.inventorsclubofnearkansas.org Jim Melescue President 870-761-3191 Robert Bahn V. President 870-972-3517

CT Invention Convention PO Box 230311 Hartford CT. 06123-0311 860-793-5299 Danbury Inventors Group Robin Faulkner 2 Worden Avenue Danbury, CT 06811 (203) 790-8235 Inventors Association of Connecticut Doug Lyon 521 Popes Island Road Milford, CT 06461 (203) 924-9538 www.inventus.org

California American Inventor Network Jeff McGrew II 1320 High School Rd. Sebastopol, CA 95472 (707) 829-2391

Aspiring Inventors Club Peter D’Aguanno 773 A Heritage Village Hilltop west Southbury, CT 06488 petedag@att.net

Inventors Forum George White, President PO Box 1008 Huntington Beach, CA 92647-1008 Phone (714) 540-2491 inventorsforum.org

District of Columbia Inventors Network of the Capital area P.O. Box 18052 Baltimore, MD 21220 Ph: 443 794 7350 www.dcinventors.org

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February 2015

Florida Inventors Council of Central Florida Dr. David Flinchbaugh 5635 Commerce Drive Orlando, FL 32839 407-760-7200 www.Inventorscouncilcentralfla.us drdavidflinchbaugh@ bellsouth.net Edison Inventors Association, Inc. PO Box 60972 Ft. Myers, FL 33906 (239) 275-4332 www.edisoninventors.org grossrdlab@yahoo.com Inventors Society of South Florida Leo Mazur, President P.O. Box 6008 Delray Beach, FL 33482 561-676-5677 www.inventorssociety.net mazurelectric@earthlink. net Space Coast Inventors Guild Angel Pacheco 4346 Mount Carmel Lane Melbourne, FL 329 018666 321-768-1234 Tampa Bay Inventors’ Council Wayne Rasanen, President 7752 Royal Hart Drive New Port Richey, FL 34653 (727) 565-2085 www.tbic.us Georgia The Columbus Phoenix City Inventors Association PO Box 8132, Columbus GA 31908 Mike Turner cpcinventorsassociation@ yahoo.com www. cpcinventorsassociation. org Inventor Association of Georgia Dave Savage, Point of contact 1407 Bunky Lane Dunwoody, GA 30338 404-323-8686 www.GaInventors.org dave@davesavage.com

Hawaii Hawaii Inventors Club 95-488 Awiki st Mililani, HI 96789 www.HawaiiInventorsClub. com GaryF@ClayInnovations. com Idaho Inventors Association of Idaho P.O. Box 817 Sandpoint, idaho 83854 www. inventorsassociation ofidaho.webs.com inventone@hotmail.com Creative Juices Inventors Society 7175 W. Ring Perch Drive Boise, Idaho 83709 www.inventorssociety.org reme@inventorssociety. org Illinois Chicago Inventors Organization Calvin Flowers - President Maurice Moore - Office Manager 1647 S. Blue Island, Chicago, Illinois 60608 312-850-4710 www.chicago-inventors.org calvin@chicago-inventors.org maurice@chicago-inventors.org Black Hawk Hills Entrepreneur & Inventor Club PO Box 173 Lanark, IL 61046 (815) 541-0577 www.bheic.com info@bheic.com Illinois Innovators & Inventors Don O’Brien, President P.O. Box 623 Edwardsville, IL 62025 www.ilinventor.tripod.com Indiana Indiana Inventors Association David Zedonis 10699 Evergreen Point Fishers, IN 46037 (317) 842-8438 www.indianainventorsassociation.blogspot.com Iowa Iowa Inventors Group Frank Morosky-President PO Box 10342 Cedar Rapids, IA 52410 (206) 350-6035 info@iowainventorsgroup.org www.iowainventorsgroup.org

MidAmerica Inventors Association, Inc. David F. Herron II PO Box 12457 Overland Park, KS 66282 (913) 495-9465 www.midamerica-inventors. com Kentucky Central Kentucky Inventors Council, Inc. Don Skaggs 699 Perimeter Drive Lexington, KY 40517 dlwest3@yahoo.com www.ckic.org Louisville Metro Inventors Council PO 17541 Louisville, KY 40217 Alex Frommeyer lmic.membership@gmail. com Louisiana International Society of Product Design Engineers/ Entrepreneurs Roderick Whitfield PO Box 1114 Oberlin, LA 70655 (337) 802-9737 www. internationalsociety-of-productdesignengineers.ws Maryland Inventors Network of the Capital Area C/O Glen Kotapish PO Box 18052 Baltimore, MD 21220 (443) 794-7350 ipatent@aol.com www.dcinventors.org Massachusetts Cape Cod Inventors

Association PO Box 143 Wellfleet, MA 02667 (508) 349-1628 www.inventne.org Innovators Resource Network P.O. Box 6695 Holyoke, MA 01041 (Meets in Springfield, MA) 413-367-3668 (367-MEET) info@IRNetwork.org www.irnetwork.org Inventors Association of New England Robert Hausslein PO Box 335 Lexington, MA 02420 (781) 862-9102 rhausslein@rcn.com www.Inventne.com Michigan Jackson Inventors Network John D. Hopkins, Chairman 2755 E. Berry Rd. Rives Junction, Mich.

49277 jhopkins@jacksoninventors.org www.jacksoninventors.org Grand Rapids Inventors Group Bonnie Knopf, President 2100 Nelson SE Grand Rapids, MI 49507 (616) 293-1676 www.grinventors.org info@grinventors.org Inventors Council of Mid-Michigan Martin Sovis PO Box 232 Lennon, MI 48449-0232 (810) 659-6416 msovis@comcast.net www.inventorscouncil.org Muskegon Inventors Network Orville Crain 530 East Giles Road Muskegon, MI 49445 (866) 719-1290 www.muskegoninventors network.org Minnesota Inventors’ Network Minneapolis/St.Paul Todd Wandersee 4028 Tonkawood Rd Mannetonka, MN 55345 (612) 353-9669 www.inventorsnetwork.org Minnesota Inventors Congress

Deb Hess, Executive Director 235 S Mill Street, PO Box 71 Redwood Falls MN 56283 507.627.2344 800.468.3681 info@minnesota inventorscongress.org www.minnesotainventors congress.org Society of Minnesota Inventors 20231 Basalt street Anoka Mi 55303 (763) 753-2766 www.inventorsnetwork.org Missouri Southwest Missouri Inventors Network Springfield Missouri Jan & Gaylen Healzer PO Box 357 Nixa, Mo 65714 (417) 827-4498 janhealzer@yahoo.com Inventors Association of St. Louis Robert Scheinkman PO Box 410111 St. Louis, MO 63141 (314) 432-1291 president@inventorsinventorsconnection.org www.connection.org Inventor’s Club of Kansas City Carrie Jeske, President 15701 Howe Street Overland Park, KS 66224 (913) 322-1895 www.inventorsclubofkc.org Carrie@theickc.org Mississippi Mississippi SBDC Inventor Assistance 122 Jeanette Phillips Dr. University, Mississippi 38677 (662) 915-5001 (800) 725-7232 msbdc@olemiss.edu www.mssbdc.org Nevada Inventors Society of Southern Nevada 3627 Huerta Dr. Las Vegas, NV 89121 (702) 435-7741 InventSSN@aol.com Nevada Inventors Association C4Cube Location 300 east 2nd st #1405 Reno, NV 89501

775-636-2822 info@nevadainventors.org www.nevadainventors.org

INVENTORS GROUPS

Kansas Inventors Assoc. of S. Central Kansas Richard Freidenberger 2302 N. Amarado St. Wichita KS, 67205 (316) 721-1866 inventor@inventkansas.com www.inventkansas.com Kansas (continued) Inventor’s Club of Kansas City Carrie Jeske, President 15701 Howe Street Overland Park, KS 66224 (913) 322-1895 www.inventorsclubofkc.org Carrie@theickc.org

New Jersey National Society of Inventors Stephen Shaw 8 Eiker Road Cranbury, NJ 08512 Phone: (609) 799-4574 Monthly meetings Held in Roselle Park, NJ www.nsinventors.com Jersey Shore Inventors Group Bill Hincher, President 24 E 3rd Street Howell, NJ 07731 (732) 407-8885 ideasbiz@aol.com New Mexico The Next Big Idea: Festival of Discovery, Invention and Innovation Los Alamos MainStreet 109 Central Park Square Los Alamos, NM 87544 Phone: (505) 661-4844 www.nextbigideaLA.com New York The Inventors Association of Manhattan (IAM) Ananda Singh– Membership Manager Location TBD every 2nd Monday of the month New York, NY www.manhattan-inventors.org manhattan.inventors@ gmail.com Inventors Society of Western New York Alan Reinnagel 174 High Stone Circle Pitsford, NY 14534 585-943-7320 www.inventny.org Inventors & Entrepreneurs of Suffolk County, Inc. Brian Fried PO Box 672 Melville, NY 11747 (631) 415-5013 www.iesuffolk.com Long Island Forum for Technology, Inc. 111 West main Street Bay Shore, NY 11706 (631) 969-3700 LCarter@lift.org

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INVENTORS GROUPS

New York (continued) NY Society of Professional Inventors Daniel Weiss (516) 798-1490 (9AM 8PM) dan.weiss.PE@juno.com

www.daytoninventors.com groups.yahoo.com/group/ inventors_council

North Carolina Inventors’ Network of the Carolinas Tom Getts, President 520 Elliot Street, Suite 300 Charlotte, NC 28202 (704) 369-7331 www.inotc.org tgetts@ezclaw.com North Dakota North Dakota Inventors Congress 2534 South University Drive, Suite 4 Fargo, ND 58103 (701) 281-8822 (800) 281-7009 neustel@patent-ideas.com www.ndinventors.com

Canton Inventors Association DeHoff Realty Frank C. Fleischer 821 South Main St. North Canton 330-499-1262 www.cantoninventor sassociation.org Inventors Connection of Greater Cleveland Don Bergquist Secretary 440-941-6567 P.O.. Box 360804 Strongsville, OH 44136 icgc@aol.com Sal Mancuso- VP (330) 273-5381 salmancuso@roadrunner. com Inventors Council of Dayton Stephen W. Frey Wright Brothers Station PO Box 611 Dayton, OH 45409-0611 (937) 256-9698 geopierce@earthlink.net

InventorsDigest.com

Youngstown-Warren Inv. Assn.

100 Federal Plaza east Suite 600 Youngstown, OH 44503 (330) 744-4481 rherberger@roth-blair.com Oklahoma Oklahoma Inventors Congress Dan Hoffman PO Box 204 Edmond, OK 73083-0204 (405) 348-7794 inventor@telepath.com www.oklahomainventors.com Oregon MicroEnterprise Inventors Program of Oregon (MIPO) Kedma Ough 5257 NE MLK, Suite 201 Portland,OR 97202 (503) 998-9560 www.mipooregon.org

Ohio Inventors Council of Cincinnati Jackie Diaz PO Box 42103 Cincinnati, Ohio 45242 (513) 898-2110 x4 Inventorscouncil@ inventcinci.org www.inventcincy.org

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Ohio (continued) Inventors Network (Columbus) 1275 Kinnear Road Columbus, OH 43212-1155 (614) 470-0144 www.inventorscolumbus.com

South Coast Inventors Group c/o Southwestern Business Development Center 2110 Newmark Coos Bay, OR 97420 541-756-6866 lcapps@southwestern.cc.or.us Inventors North West Attn: John Herrick #11 Pioneer Lane Sunriver, OR 97707 Jhunterh2001@yahoo.com www.inventorsnorthwest.com Pennsylvania American Society of Inventors Henry Skillman PO Box 58426 Philadelphia PA 19102-5426 (215) 563-4100, Ext. 235 hskillman@ddhs.com asoi.org Central PA Inventors Association 9 First Avenue Lemoyne, PA 17043 (717) 763-5742 S1Pickford@aol.com

February 2015

Pennsylvania Inventors Assn.

2317 East 43rd St. Erie, PA 16510 (814) 825-5820 www.pa-invent.org Williamsport Inventor’s Club One College Ave., DIF 32 Williamsport, PA 17701 www.wlkiz.com/resources/ inventors-club info@wlkiz.com Puerto Rico Associacion de Inventores de Puerto Rico Dr. Omar R. Fontanez Canuelas Cond. Segovia Apt. 1005 San Juan, PR 00918 (787) 518-8570 www.inventorespr.com Puerto Rico Inventors Association PO Box 1081 Saint Just, PR 00978 (787) 760-5074 acuhost@novacomm-inc.com Tennessee Music City Inventors James Stevens 3813 Dobbin Rd Springfield, TN 37172 (615) 681-6462 inventorsassociation@ hotmail.com musiccityinventors.com Mid South Inventors Association Deborah Murdock 1115 Halle Park circle Collierville, TN 38017 (meets in Memphis) (901) 850-7324 murdock@legacytransfers.com Tennessee Inventors Association Igor Alexeff PO Box 11225 Knoxville, TN 37930-1225 (865) 483-0151 ialexeff@comcast.net www.tninventors.org Texas Amarillo Inventors Association J. T. Haynes, President 2200 W. 7th Avenue Amarillo, TX 79106 (806) 367-8610 info@amarilloinventors.org www.amarilloinventors.org

Houston Inventors Association Ken Roddy 2916 West TC Jester #100 Houston, TX 77018 (713) 686-7676 kenroddy@nol.net www.inventors.org Alamo Inventors 3463 Magic Drive Suite T-14 San Antonio, Texas 78229 210-582-5835 www.Alamoinventors.org Austin Inventors and Entrepreneurs Association Lill O’neall Gentry 12500 Amhearst Austin, TX lillgentry@gmail.com Utah UtahInventors.org David Osborne 8180 s 700 E, Suite 350 Sandy, UT 84070 (801) 748-1939 utahinventor.org Virginia Virginia Inventors Forum Bambi Walters PO Box 5743 Williamsburg, VA 23188 (757) 253-5729 www.virginiainventors.org Wisconsin Inventors & Entrepreneurs Club of Juneau County Economic Development Corp.

Terry Whipple/Sandra Morris PO Box 322, 122 Main Street Camp Douglas, WI 54618 (608) 427-2070 www.iandeclub.com jcedc@mwt.net Inventors Network of Wisconsin Jeff Hitzler 1749 Chateau Dr. Green Bay, WI 54304 (920) 429-0331 www.inventors-network.org inventorgb@sbcglobal.net

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