How to make money from an idea, without the risk

You know my great idea for aging people--drive-through kitty litter stores--no getting out to heave around 20 lb bags? Well, I am too broke and not commercially oriented to do it, but what if I could sell the idea?

You see where I am going here.

According to the WSJ of Sept 30, 2013 (you need to get it, I am just hitting the high spots), 43.5% of Americans saw a business opportunity last year, way up from previous years.

But only 55.9% of Americans, the same as in past years, think they are capable of launching a business.

The percent of Americans who didn't launch because they feared failure is way up, too.

Here's a secret: The next step after an idea is not necessarily launching a startup. Sssh--don't tell.

But--before doing anything--inventors should protect the idea, usually meaning get a patent.

You might also want to do a prototype. Or do a survey--who would want it?

Then see what companies have gone into products or ideas like yours.

You may wish to approach companies one at a time--some want exclusivity.

Or you might want to license--say it's an item that won't be replaced soon--you want part of every sale.

Or if it would help all mankind--maybe give your idea away.

I guess I already gave away drive-through kitty litter. And, of course, it would help mankind. Maybe I could make money naming it--come on, entrepreneurs, be a sport.

Let's see, Kitty Gurney...no...wait, give me a minute. Something with Toonces--the Cat Who Can Drive a Car.

A few mistakes OK if it uses less energy

What do you think of deliberately designing a "good enough" computer?

I know this sounds laughable in this age of freezes, comments that do not appear, orders lost, and just plain irritating stupid computer tricks, but some thinkers say it might be good to quit trying to be cyberly-perfect if it means burning too much energy.

Energy-saving/somewhat error-prone. What do you think?

At the University of Washington, they are designing a computer language called EnerJ, which allows benign errors to slip through, but blocks big giant horrible ones.

It's called approximate computing.

Now--they say--they need to think of a use for it. Any come to mind?

I say almost anything--the errors are slipping through now. But that would be mean, wouldn't it?

Still, I had to switch to Chrome just to do this post. Everything else works with the AOL browser. This is what I mean.

Repurposed, adapted--whatever--still creative

To be a handy invention, something need not be new from the blue. It can be the result of..."Hey, what if...?"

Example: A spoon with internal balancers to counteract the tremors from Parkinson's and other motor skills impairments.

My father's half sister had Parkinson's.  Once, when she was visiting, her fork tapped on the plate during the meal and my little brother started tapping on his high chair tray with his fork. We laughed, but it was awkward.

Tremors can also result in spills and embarrassment.

Now we have the handSteady cup and the Liftware spoon.

These feature small movements of the hand, much as your smartphone stabilizes to take a picture.

The Liftware spoon reduces the effect of tremors by 75%.

Check out http://www.liftlabsdesign.com.

Someone thought, "Hey..."

That's where it all starts.

Inventing advice from good old Tom Edison

I found a fun blog--it's called Imagineer 7. Check it out: http://imagineer7.wordpress.com/.

There is one long entry on Thomas Edison--you know, the lightbulb guy. Well, he actually had 1,093 patents. He tinkered around and built a phonograph, motion picture camera, talking doll, concrete house, you name it.

See what you can do if you don't have a TV--he didn't invent that and no one else had either.

He believed in quantity. He set a quota of one minor invention every 10 days and a major one every six months.

One tip: Initial ideas are usually poorer in quality than later ones.

Edison believed in challenging all assumptions. He thought his lack of formal education was a plus--he leaped into everything with enthusiasm. He offered new employees soup--if they seasoned it without tasting, they were assuming it would not be salty enough--he did not hire them.

The key is take an assumption, reverse it, and to make the second version work. All restaurants have menus--so create one with no menu. What if the diners told the chef what foods they liked and he created dishes based on those foods?

He never let a failure go to waste. He recorded all of them--sometimes he could use the failed idea somewhere else.

Now--truth time. Edison did not invent the lightbulb--be he did make it commercially practical.

Read the article--more cool stuff within.

For every solution there is a problem

Don't laugh, but what if you spent years designing, financing, and building a tall building--and the thing turned around, reflected the sun and melted part of a Jag on the street?

They call it the Walkie Talkie Tower in central London. Or they did call it that--now they call it The Fryscraper.

It was designed by Rafael Vinoly, who blames the consultants he was forced to use for the um...glitch.

Apparently the specs were way off. The result? Cars and eggs melted to Dali perfection.

Vinoly had the same problem with a building in Las Vegas--but he prefers not to discuss that.

Maybe--in the future--make things less shiny?

In the meantime, they are erecting scaffolding on the London building to protect pedestrians from being scorched from above.

Years ago, I heard about another building in windy Chicago, where the wind currents were so strong, people could not get out the door--they had to form an assembly line to pull people out of the front entrance.

Two lessons from this: Learn from experience and of course, always have someone in mind to blame.

Have you seen the show called "The Pitch"?

This is a "reality" show on AMC--DVR it if you can. In each episode, two ad firms vie for the same project.

You can see the creativity in action--or see the process stall.

I am a product namer, but I never worked for an ad firm. I love this, though--it brings back old memories.

It is also fun and snarky. In one episode, the product to be pitched is a women's facial hair remover called Fuzz Off.

One firm is two metrosexual men, one especially so with obsessive hair issues, the other a sort of snooty Asian guy. No women, although they agonize over whether to bring a young blond intern to the pitch to get the women's angle in there. Gee, that wouldn't be a token, would it?

The other firm is almost all women, run by a mad genius type guy who lost his money in some murky backstory and lives at the office.

The women team brainstorms in one room. The two-men company disdains that and has people work separately. But I notice they eventually BS (funny how those initials came out) in one room.

Both pitches make female mustaches sort of larky and funny--just get rid of it, no worries. Both are asked to incorporate social media, FB, video. That is the new way now.

Another episode is for a company that replaces all your electronics if they break--eek, my phone! It's basically a warranty company--how sexy is that?

The two firms are an older one, serious, almost grim (also no women), and a loosy-goosy new viral video company--all big talk and I wonder how much marketing or ad training (no women). They made a funny video, though.

Both spend three days of their week getting...nothing. Then the client comes over and says, you have nothing. So they get serious.

No matter how much new media is involved or how people have "changed," you still need to listen to the client, find the big idea (although this is mentioned way too often for me), and execute.

You may fall in love with a quirky angle and think it's "big"--but it may not be anything the customer cares about.

In a pitch, think client--but also think sales.

Plus--smile. These young people troop into the client's office as if they were coming to bury their pet dog.

Goldilocksing the coffee...

According to a story by Amy Westervelt (WSJ, Aug 19, 2013), two engineers, David Jackson and Dave Petrillo, were talking about phase change materials.

These are substances that, like water, change based on temperature.

At the same time, Jackson was trying to make a perfect latte--first it would be too hot, or he would have to put it in the microwave to make it too hot.

The two were thinking along the same lines--why not make a phase change product to keep coffee at the perfect temp?

They started tinkering with Coffee Joulies--metal cubes about the size of ice cubes filled with phase change stuff.

When place in hot coffee, the Joulies cool it to 140 degrees F. As the coffee cools, the beans release that heat keeping it drinkable for five hours.

With the help of Kickstarter, they perfected the materials and launched in upstate NY. Last year, they did $1.4 million in sales.

They now work on Joulies full-time, but are still thinking and inventing. All that caffeine can't hurt.