Bob Oros

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Bob Oros of Business Development Resources www.bdrinovate.com truly knows the ins and outs of working with corporations better than anyone else I know. After all, he has worked for major corporations marketing and developing over-the-counter products, foods and beverages, etc., for more years than he will admit to. 

In 1983 he founded Business Development Resources, a marketing consultancy specializing in new business and new product development and innovation. BDR’s client roster is “bipolar” with corporate clients on one end as well as inventors and entrepreneurs on the other. 

Domino’s Pizza “Heat Wave” delivery bag and P♥M Wonderful Pomegranate Juice are two projects in which the company played a major role from inception through strategic development. 

Now here is a little secret that most people don’t know. A lot of corporate executives like to keep their hand in the business when they retire. They do this by becoming an Angel Investor, helping startups break into their field. However, most inventors hear Angel Investor and try to pitch their baby changing table to someone who spent a lifetime working for the Ralston Purina company then wonder why they didn’t seem interested. 

Bob has spent his time developing relations with all the top people he comes in contact with and is now putting all that hard work to a new use. When he finds a project that he feels has potential but the client may not have the resources to develop it properly, he calls upon his contacts “In That Field” to see if they have an interest. This is HUGE !!! 

Just imagine, an inventor goes to XYZ Company with a product that is perfect for them, the VP of Product Development actually likes the product but isn’t too sure. The safest answer is NO. Now imagine that same VP gets a call from the person who had his job before they retired  and mentions that they invested in this product. If you were that VP would you be more inclined to give it more attention? I think so.

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Stephen Kerr The Real Deal

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The Real Deal

Stephen Kerr is an incredible person. He is an MD, a very busy surgeon, an inventor, a medical device manufacturer, an author of both medical articles, and the book “How To Develop Your Product Idea Without Going Broke”. It is that publication that will be the basis of his zoom presentation for us.         

Let me tell you, I have read all sorts of books on inventing. However, this is possibly the best that I have ever read. It is concise (only 109 pages), packed with useful information ( some, that you won’t find anywhere else), presented in a step by step formula, that I found fascinating.      

Very early on, he identified a problem that I have found with most inventors. They fall in love with their solution to a problem. Thus, closing their mind to any other solution. This is deadly to the process and usually ends in failure. 

Alternately, he suggests, to research all the existing solutions to the problem, then develop a better answer. This could be a reduction in the cost or possibly an improvement that is easier to use, etc..  

Another thing that I found fascinating was how deep he, personally, gets into a problem. In one instance, he was working on a fashion product. So he bought a sewing machine and studied some U Tube videos on the subject. During another project he had a machinist show him how to use a lathe and milling machine. After which, he bought a pair of used machines for his shop. To me, that’s the Real Deal. 

   

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Lesia Farmer

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Be A Wise Inventor

Lesia Farmer’s journey began by being burned by hot spaghetti. She swore that would never happen again and so she began her research. Eventually, she developed the Trap Door Colander which she licensed to Farberware through Lifetime Brands. 

I remember seeing it many years ago and writing an article about it for our newsletter. It is really quite clever and one of those simple solutions that calls for the response of, “why didn’t I think of that”? 

Now, ten years later, she is manufacturing, marketing, and selling the product herself. She has also become a wealth of information for independent inventors like us. The blog on her website https://inventingwise.com/ is chock full of knowledge that you need to know to become a Wise Inventor. 

Of particular interest, she is committed to save would be inventors from scam companies and phony paid mentors who fleece them out of all of their money. There is a very well written  article on her blog about this and I must say everything she says is exactly what I have experienced with the inventors I have come across.      

In her presentation, like on her blog, she will cover a plethora of topics that inventors need to know in a very simple yet informative format. After all, she Has done it all herself and very successfully.

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Rita Crompton

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Working Well With Others

I don’t care how self-sufficient you are, at some point you will need to hire a service provider and the more you can do yourself the harder it is to work well with others. Most independent inventors don’t have a clue of what to do and blindly spend a ton of money learning the ropes.

Rita Crompton, The Inventor Lady, https://www.inventorlady.com has an excellent reputation throughout the Inventor Community. She has been working with inventors for 2 decades. So chances are … she learned a few things along the way. I highly recommend downloading and reading The Inventor’s Galaxy Guide™ from her website. It is a great starting point for new inventors and if you have been working in the field for a while, you’ll find some great tips.

Before you can work with a service provider, you have to pick the service provider you want to work with. That is the actual title of this program, “How To Pick Service Providers”. Picking the right person can make or break a project. I’m sure that we have all gone through some horror stories that we wished that we could have avoided.

Here is your chance to hear from a true professional how she finds the right service provider for a specific project. 

  • What to look for
  • Where to look
  • How to look

One thing that we can all agree with is Rita’s mantra, “Don’t spend a dime before its’ time”. The wrong service provider can cost you a fortune. 

  

Join The Tribe David Fedewa

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Join The Tribe

Invent Tribe, https://www.inventtribe.com/ is a very interesting website/organization. They have a highly organized system that has produced some pretty spectacular results but more about that later. Now, I’d like to introduce you to their founder.

David Fedewa, negotiations coach and licensing specialist, has coached over 180 students to successfully license their own products.  He has been featured in Inc. and Entrepreneur’s online publications on licensing and negotiation strategy.  He has licensed five of his own products, with one being featured on Time magazine, CHIVE, and CNET Father’s Day Product of The Year list.  His strengths lie where business and psychology meet.  While coaching students through multi-million dollar negotiations, he not only looks at the present deal at hand but teaches strategies that can be used in constructing deals with a win-win scenario throughout life.

His system is based on 5 elements, the first, being Research. I totally concur, this is the most crucial step that most inventors get wrong. He has some hard knock stories that will drive this home for you.

Next, is Marketing. Nobody can see your vision unless you can convince them. He does this by showing you how to do a 30 to 60 second video pitch. This lead to Protecting your invention through various types of intellectual property. Then, of course, comes Sales. If you have ever watched Shark Tank, they always ask, what’s your sales, what’s your margins? The answers make or break the offer.

Lastly, Closing The Deal, here David is a true expert. He knows how to assess the company and develop a winning approach. He and I spoke at length about all the steps. I must admit, I was impressed and I believe you will be too.

Chris Ladano

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The Inventor’s Hero

Chris Landano is a true to life Hero. After 20 years, including the towers of 9/11, he has retired from the NYC Fire Department. He started with the NYPD as an auxiliary police officer and also worked on a NYC ambulance as an emergency medical technician. He finally retired from 911 calls to dedicate his time helping inventors.

Inventor Rescue https://inventorrescue.com/ is so much more than a website. It is a treasure trove of information. He started it to educate budding inventors about promotion companies who lead inventors to believe that they are just seconds away from making millions while charging them thousands of dollars for overpriced services until they run out of money. 

The site has evolved to include “how to” information regarding inventing, all sorts of video, books, magazines, links to websites, the list goes on and on. He also personally mentors inventors for FREE.

Chris is a successful inventor. He developed his product the Tracbelt 360 to satisfy his needs as a FDNY forensic photographer. It is a tool belt that allows you to rotate the various containers giving you better access to all of them. He went on to manufacture it himself, sell it through various websites, ran a Kick Starter campaign, and secured funds from an angel investor. 

When he takes on a project, he’s All In. Along with his website and product, he is an ambassador for the United Inventor Association (UIA), he runs two NYC inventor clubs, goes to various trade shows, he even appeared on America’s Big Deal. The experiences that he will share with you will keep you mesmerized. 

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Stanley Eyler

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The Other Road To $uccess

Every successful invention follows the same path to success. First, the inventor must identify a commercially viable need or want by making sure that the market is large enough to attain success. Then, they must develop the idea into a commercially viable product. This takes into consideration the cost of manufacturing, customer appeal, how well it functions over its’ competition, all the overhead expenses, leading to a competitive price.

Once this is achieved, the product is ready to launch. Now the roads start to branch off. The inventor might choose to license the invention or sell it out right. They might manufacture it and sell it on a website, listing sites, through stores or directly to the consumer.      

Last month, we learned about how an inventor successfully licensed her inventions. This month, we have an inventor who took the other road to success. 

Try to imagine a time when credit cards were rare. They actually used the imprint of the card on a packet of paper which included carbon paper to pay a bill. Then, magnetic readers changed the world. However, they were bulky and when the reader needed to be cleaned, they had to send it back to the factory.

Stanley Eyler saw these drawbacks as an opportunity and seized the day! He created the perfect cleaning device which he turned into a successful business that held its’ place in the industry for many years. Then saw another branch of a road coming his way and sold the business.

I am sure that every single inventor out there would Love to have the $uccess that Stanley had. If you are one of them, make sure that you tune into his presentation on 10/8/22 at 1:00 pm eastern to hear his wonderful and insightful tale of how he did it. I found it incredibly interesting. So you can get started down your own road to success.

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The Real Deal April Mitchell

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The Real Deal

April Mitchell describes herself as, “… a professional problem solver, creative thinker, idea machine, magic maker, dreamer, and What If-er, also known as an inventor and designer specializing in the toys, games, party, and  housewares industries.” She is also an InventRight licensing& product coach, holder of 2 patents, self-made product licensor, author, mother of 4, and military spouse. I would describe her as Amazing.

She has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, Military Entrepreneur, Military Spouse Magazine as well as contributing to 4 books and has a monthly column in Inventors Digest, which is where I found her. Her articles are packed with information, yet, succinct. One article stood out for me, where she shares her experiences, good and bad, in acquiring a licensing deal for her product. I said to myself, “My People Need To Hear This”.

Licensing is the dream of just about every inventor I know. Here is a woman who’s been to the front line and returned to tell the tail. Not only that, I am sure she will go into how to develop the idea into a commercially viable product. She often gives credit to her Team (family of 6) who help her develop her products.

As a self proclaimed, “Teacher at Heart”, she is driven to share her real world expertise with her fellow inventors. As Mr. T from the A Team would say, I pity the fool, I Pity The Fool who would let this opportunity slip through their fingers!

      

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Eileen Fischlschweiger

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An Overview Of Patent Public Search 

If you are serious about inventing you Must become proficient regarding patent searching. The Patent Office tells us that 97% of all issued patents never make back the money spent on their development. So what are the chances that somebody else already owns your idea? You don’t want to spend all your money on a patent, manufacturing, marketing, etc., to get your product to market only to have somebody tap you on the shoulder saying, “Guess what, You got a partner”.

It is also how you maintain your knowledge regarding the state of the art in your industry as well as inspiring huge improvements to your original idea. I once misunderstood a patent drawing and thought, what a brilliant concept this inventor has. After reading the specifications, I realized my mistake, but then I became overwhelmed with excitement when I realized, this is the most brilliant concept that I, Have Ever Had!

Eileen Fischlschweiger, Librarian, Senior at the Broward County Main Library, is the Patent and Trademark Resource Center’s Representative Librarian for the Fort Lauderdale PTRC for over 25 years.  As such, she is the library’s liaison with the US Patent and Trademark Office. 

    She has been working with patent and trademark information for over 27 years, starting shortly before they implemented the Provisional Patent Application, and she has been on top of every change that has happen since then, thanks to annual training from the USPTO at their campus in the Washington, DC area. She has also implemented a program whereby an inventor working Pro Se, writing their own patent, can get help from a patent examiner in their art department. 

This presentation will provide an introduction to Patent Public Search, the new system that is replacing the legacy patent searching systems  PubEAST and PubWEST and the online patent searching databases PatFT and AppFT.  Learn how to search with key words as well as with the Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) to locate patent documents (issued patents and published patent applications). 

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Terrence Bentley

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Mastering The Pitch

One of the most important skills an inventor or entrepreneur Must develop is the Pitch. It is the moment of truth that determines, in an instant, success or failure and every pitch must be developed for the intended audience. Although, some points may be the same, your approach to pitch a product to an end-user, a retailer or an investor would all be completely different. Successful business people know this. 

Terrence Bentley is the epitome of the successful business person. His early career was in network Product Management (25 products). He finished up by closing deals in tech Corporate Development and Mergers And Acquisitions (M&A), Completing 40+ key strategic transaction ranging up to $3B in individual value, and delivered tech solutions in Product Management and Marketing.

Terence negotiated acquisitions, divestitures, and corporate restructurings, working with C-suites and Boards. He found running deal teams fascinating as he closed tech transactions in software, IT services,, databases, web applications companies, aerospace, network systems, and semiconductors. International M&A became his specialty, closing deals in the UK, Norway, Germany, Israel, France, Canada, and Brazil. Those deals varied from large public companies to private companies, VC investments, technology alliances and divestitures.

Sooooo, YES!!! I would say that he has mastered the pitch. After moving to Florida he became very active teaching startups as well as becoming a Founding Mentor of The Venture Mentoring Team www.thevmt.org which is an extremely interesting group. They have put together a huge, diverse team of experts that mentor various types of startups. This has got to be the most powerful organization of its’ type that I have ever seen.

There is a no nonsense application process and a rigorous format to follow if you are accepted as well as a commitment to Pay It Forward, once you achieved your goals by helping others who are starting out. Now, guess what part of that application process is … a 60 second pitch that must contain the answers to a whole list of questions.

Learn how to develop that pitch and others from the Master, Terence Bentley, by tuning in to this FREE webinar on 7/9/22 at 1:00 pm eastern. 

     

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