Mind Mapping: Putting Chaotic Thoughts On Paper

December 4, 2008 by Daigle

If you’re a “thought leader” or an “idea generator,” you are probably familiar with the problems surrounding the generation and control of ideas. Watch the last 15 seconds or so of this Touchstone commercial for a great visual demonstration of what goes on, not just in communities, but sometimes just within the mind of one highly imaginative or creative individual.

This sort of idea generation can’t be effectively organized with Post-it notes or legal pads. Sure, you can write all of your brain sparks on Post-its but it’s hard to share them or get input from others to help you organize and prioritize things. Most flowcharting software requires 6 hours of computer science just to understand the menus. Aside from the learning curve, they also are not cheap.

freemind-learning-german

Fortunately, there are some affordable (even free) tools you can install on your computer that can help you think the way you like to think and still organize and share those ideas. These are called mind mappers. Mind maps let you arrange things intuitively based on your individual classification method, which, with “idea generators,” often is non-linear in nature. Some ideas don’t make sense on their own so here’s a chance to organize things based on the way you think rather than the way some software thinks is best for you. These can usually be either concept-based or structure hierarchically.

Mind mappers to try out:
FreeMind
Pimki
Buzan’s Mind Map
OpenMind (integrates with MS Office)
SmartDraw
WikkaWiki (a wiki with a native mind mapper)

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Funding - How Much Is Enough?

November 28, 2008 by Daigle

A quick survey of the web points out an interesting statistic that many budding business builders may not realize. New businesses do not go after enough cash to get a solid start.

If Your Estimates Are Guesstimates

Underestimating what it takes to sustain a business can be a fatal flaw in an otherwise perfect business plan. Patricia Schaefer, writing for the web site Business Knowhow, is among those who rate insufficient capital very highly as a major cause of venture failure. “Business owners underestimate how much money is needed and they are forced to close before they even have had a fair chance to succeed. They also may have an unrealistic expectation of incoming revenues from sales.”

Notice the second half of Patricia’s statement - inexperience can cause the new business owner to not only misjudge what kind of funding is required to actually keep a business afloat long enough to become established, but because they don’t have adequate experience, planned revenues are often over-estimated and dependent on too many uncontrollable factors. If you don’t allow enough of a cushion, the business itself may barely have a chance to get started before a funding squeeze forces a closure.

Consulting with a professional accountant, banker, small business mentor or other individual experienced in your line of business may help you recognize where you might be erring in your estimates one way or the other.

Don’t Be Bashful

According Brad Sugars of Entrepreneur.com, “In a 2004 U.S. Bank study of reasons for small business failures, 79 percent cited “starting out with too little money” as one of the causes of their collapse. That’s often because entrepreneurs who are wet behind the ears don’t realize that they should calculate their borrowing needs based on their worst-case scenario instead of their best-case forecast.”

Our natural inclination is put our best foot forward. No one wants to walk into a meeting and throw down a spreadsheet with horrible numbers, but that’s what a worst-case scenario forecast is. You, of all people, want your business to succeed, but you owe it to yourself and your potential investors to think about the unthinkable and make sure your funding request covers it. What if you lose your key man -does your funding allow for carrying key-man insurance? What if your design computers get hit with the worst virus known to man – does your funding allow for the maintenance of complete off-site backups of sensitive data? What if your market sector suffers a setback – a recall, a class-action suit or something similar that doesn’t involve you directly but affects how consumers view your product. Do you have enough of a cushion to be able to sustain your business operations until the industry recovers?

Remember that the people funding new business ventures want them to succeed. Don’t shortchange yourself by asking for just enough funding to get by – make solid estimates for what it will take to get your business established and self-sustaining. The best way to impress your investors is to plan and execute well enough to generate a return.

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The Tax Man A’ Cometh

November 15, 2008 by Daigle

As newcomers to the world of business, one thing we have to know about is taxes. It’ll no doubt help to have some knowledge beforehand about the taxes that we have to pay as soon as our business starts churning money. If you’re paying taxes, then congratulations… because it shows that you have built a successful business. There are, in general, three types of taxes you should become familiar with:

• Self Employment Tax
• Income Tax
• Payroll Tax

Self Employment Tax. Whether or not you pay this tax depends on your structure. Typically sole proprietors and limited liability companies (LLCs) have to pay this, but again it depends on how you setup your business and your state. This is tax on what you pay yourself in your business and can be minimized by incorporating.

Income Tax. If you make a profit, then you have to pay income tax. Sometimes tax is required quarterly depending on how much revenue you have.

Payroll Taxes. As an employer, you have to pay payroll taxes. Payroll tax goes towards Medicare , FICA, and social security. In Texas, payroll taxes are 29% of a person’s salary. You can minimize these taxes by hiring independent contractors instead of employees. Learn the difference between contractors and employees or the IRS could come after you.

You can find out more through your state’s tax website or www.irs.gov. This is also where accountants can come in handy – and keep you out of trouble!

- Bryan Daigle
President & Founder of ideatango.com - the #1 site for inventors & invention ideas For more good info & advice, check out the official IdeaTango Blog

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How to Get Your Invention on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno

November 14, 2008 by Daigle

We just received word that several IdeaTango members, and InventBay expo exhibitors will have their 15 seconds of fame TONIGHT, November 14, 2008, on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno’s Pitch to America segment.

Here’s a sample Pitch to America segment from September.

Once we have video of our inventors, we’ll definitely be posting that on our InventBay.com Blog.

Along with this great news, brings up the questions, “how were these individuals so lucky as to have their invention or business on NATIONAL television? Here are my thoughts on that . . .

Although each opportunity for publicity will be different, I think there are just a few simple things that entrepreneurs need to keep in mind in order to get publicity:

  • Be persistent. I actually went to a presentation last night by 5-time Emmy Award winning reporting Shawne Duperon, and she said that in order to get something in the news, you need to pitch it 27 times. 27 TIMES! “I don’t have time for that,” you say. Well she also gave a shortcut. Build a relationship with a reporter and skip this waiting line. But to even build a relationship with someone will take persistence: going to networking events, calling, etc. So #1 reason these inventors are on TV tonight, they never gave up. They went to shows, they met people, they built those relationships.
  • Energy. I know that energy definitely came into play with the Tiger Taco guys, Chris Miller and his partner. Those guys are full of energy and people just love being around them because of that. They radiate positive energy! For example, they gave InventBay expo staff members samples of their own products to help the unloading of boxes. And they helped stuff bags for the expo. And then they ran around the expo all weekend meeting everyone they could. To get publicity, it greatly helps to be enthusiastic (but not overly enthusiastic, that’s called crazy) about your product.

In my opinion, energy and persistence were the common variables in the publicity success of these inventors. Once you have publicity once, it’s much easier to get more, because that gives your product credibility in the eyes of journalists. So if you are lucky to get publicity, use it to your advantage.

Bryan Daigle

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Inventor Trends During Down Times

November 5, 2008 by Daigle

Some buddies & I were debating the other day if more people start businesses during recessions, or during periods of growth. I didn’t have access to yearly data on entrepreneurs, but what I do have is access to the US Patent & Trademark Office data. So if we asked another question, do more people start inventing during a recession or expansion?

Just a few disclaimers. We looked at approved utility patents that were filed by independent inventors. In the definition of the USPTO, a patent is filed by an independent inventor if an individual is listed and not a company. Unfortunately, year by year data isn’t available before 1991. The year is the year that the application is approved, not the year it was submitted.

Actually, the data shows us one thing for sure - we peaked in the late 1990’s during the dot com boom. Since then, we have been on a slow and steady decline in the number of applications being approved, not because the USPTO isn’t approving enough, but just fewer applications are being submitted.

Inventor Patents vs Economy

Inventor Patents vs Economy

We had a positive blip in 2006, but after that it was back to the usual decline.

So back to the original question: how closely does the economy relate to people inventing?

It appears that there may be a slight direct and positive correlation between GDP growth and approved patents, but there is a 2 year delay (see GDP growth in 1994 and patent peak in 1996, again GDP growth 2004 and patent peak in 2006). That makes sense that there would be a delay after the application is approved. A rough guideline is that patents take on average 2 years to get approved, which would account for the delay. So the answer appears to be that, yes, in a growing economy, more people will be creating inventions. In a sagging economy, fewer people will jump ship to create a risky invention.

However, the larger thing that this shows us is that relatively steady decline in patents from the late 1990’s. I have two theories of why this might have happened:

  • The high-tech boom of the late 1990’s caused a slew of patent applications and approvals because everyone wanted a piece of the gold rush. Not only that, since internet technology was new, no one was sure what could be patented and what couldn’t. Since then, we’ve come to a better realization of what can be patented, thus the drop in patents being submitted and approved. (Patent approval rates as a percentage have actually decreased since 1998, also having some effect)
  • Also, I think the mounting legal costs of filing and then PROTECTING patents is increasing. Because of this, fewer individuals have the resources necessary to pay a lawyer $10,000-$20,000 to file, and potentially hundreds of thousands to defend a patent if it is infringed.

So there you have it. When the economy is good, more people invent (albeit with a little lag).

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Top 10 Tips for Starting a New Business

October 23, 2008 by Daigle

I recently read an article in Inc. Magazine about entrepreneurs who started their businesses during a recession. Like many small businesses, we are not totally immune to the macroeconomic cycles of the day, but if you have a good business, it doesn’t matter what the consumer confidence is. If you’re thinking about starting a business, here are some things to consider before making the leap:

1. Jot down a rough business plan; this helps you to focus your time and energy in the right direction.
2. Pick something you really enjoy doing since you’re going to be doing it a lot.
3. Network and make new contacts, utilize your existing rolodex.
4. Start the business while you are still working, this ensures adequate flow of money while you are still going through the startup phase. Try giving your product or service away for free to get your first customers. This will also help you learn a great deal about what your future customers will expect.
5. Get a support system while starting your business, people whom you can bounce ideas off of and get to listen to your latest business decisions.
6. Join a related industry or professional organizations prior to starting your business and do more and more research on your industry, services, until you become an expert.
7. Save your time and money in the long run by hiring or partnering up with expertise that compliment your skill sets and experience.
8. To finance the business, save your money, as well as approach potential investors and lenders. Also prepare a backup plan in case your first financial plan falls flat.
9. Bring a professional attitude and process to your business right from the start, to let people know that you are serious about your business.
10. Before starting your business, learn about the legal and tax issues.

- Bryan Daigle
President & Founder of ideatango.com - the #1 site for inventors & invention ideas For more good info & advice, check out the official IdeaTango Blog

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Putting on a Giant Expo

October 21, 2008 by Daigle

Now back in college, I ran a couple events for the University of Texas Ultimate Frisbee Club Team. Our biggest money maker as a team, and a way to subsidize our spring season travel ($50,000 travel budget), was hosting tournaments. Back when I was there, our club team hosted two tournaments.

I learned a great deal from putting on these events, the biggest which would attract up to 30 teams, or 450 individuals to come play, and several hundred spectators. We’d organize about 45 volunteers for an event like that, so we definitely had a LOT of help.

Never had I appreciated the experience of putting on a large, high-traffic event until 5 weeks ago, when IdeaTango was officially acquired by InventBay. Since then, my focus has been on only two things, the InventBay Expo, which we held last weekend, and launching them a new website within 3 weeks.

We launched the new website October 9th, with much help from my IdeaTango partners and our experience working together. This past weekend, October 18 & 19, 2008, we officially held the coming-out party (Quinciniera or Barmitsva as it is called in other cultures) for InventBay, in the only place big enough to hold us, Las Vegas, Nevada.

The expo was hosted at the Sands Expo, in Hall A, which has 178,000 sq feet of open space. Of course since this is our first year, we only filled up 1/2 the show floor with ~130 exhibitors + another 70 booths where people could sign up for local inventor associations.

Some valuable lessons that I learned when putting on tournaments, came in handy when being an integral part of this expo:

  • You can never do something on this scale alone, so the ability to delegate is more important than any other factor.
  • If something can go wrong, it will. Double-check and verify everything. For example, for one of our tournaments, the person who wrote up the tournament finals bracket left it at his house, and caused our Sunday playoffs to start an hour late. Eventually this led to us shortening the finals game because we didn’t have daylight. At our expo this year, Kinkos was scheduled to print up a bunch of stuff for us the day before the doors opened. I asked our guys to double check what they received. Well, Kinkos forgot to print our speaker bios and we had to go back and pick it up 7 hours later. Good thing we checked!
  • Stuff will go wrong, and rather than say that was ____’s job, just take the responsibility. Do whatever you can to fix it, even if it sometimes costs money.
  • Always throw a party. I was able to convince our executive team that we needed a mixer, networking-like event either Friday or Saturday. Thanks goodness, because some of the people we talked to said that they met “so and so” and because of our party, they’ll come back next year. It’s a great way to informally talk with exhibitors, speakers, VIP guests, because once those show doors open, you won’t have another opportunity.
  • Have fun. This goes with the point above. No matter what, if people have fun at your event, most will come back. Of course you need things like qualified attendees and exhibitors, but having fun can make up for quite a bit.

    • Let me tell you, it was fun and emotionally fulfilling to be part of such a big event, but I’m glad it’s not happening again until next year!

    - Bryan Daigle

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Street-Smart Tactics to Get the Financing You Need

October 9, 2008 by Daigle

The most important thing to make your business venture successful is $$. To get financing, you need to impress investors, and trust me, that is not an easy task. So before you venture into the investor market and pitch your business, here are some tips to help your prospects:

Smart Stalking: Just finding investors can be tough. They hide because otherwise they’d have everyone asking them for money all the time. The best way is to get a personal introduction from someone that knows the investor. That’s where networking comes in handy. You can also use resources such as LinkedIn to find potential investors. Also, many people that call themselves “investors” actually don’t have experience investing in companies, so be sure they have done investing before.

Speak Their Language: When you are presenting your business ideas in front of the investors, be very careful regarding the language you use. There are industry-specific terms which might not be understood by everyone; so speak in simple, plain language to avoid misunderstandings.

Remember That It is Their Money: One investor pointed out that the key for an entrepreneur seeking funding is to figure out how to convince an investor to pull out his or her wallet and why they should invest. Put yourself in their shoes. Why would you invest in your business?

- Bryan Daigle
President & Founder of ideatango.com - the #1 site for inventors & invention ideas For more good info & advice, check out the official IdeaTango Blog

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Successful Marketing for Successful Inventing

September 25, 2008 by Daigle

Famous inventor and entrepreneur Bob DeMatteis always says the same thing to every new entrepreneur and inventor: “If you want to be successful, then you must have a successful marketing strategy.”

Of the four people whom you must have to launch an invention - a patent attorney, a marketing expert, a manufacturing expert and yourself - the most important person is the marketing expert, since often inventors aren’t good salesmen or marketers. For whatever reason, the side of the brain that helps people think of inventions, seems to conflict with the side needed to market inventions. And to make money, you need to sell your product.

Having a marketing expert on your team as early as possible is absolutely necessary, because your success as an inventor depends on whether you can sell your invention. For that to happen, you have to successfully market your invention. How well your product will sell is not dependent on patents, because patents don’t mean your product will sell.

You might be a brilliant inventor, but a marketing professional on your team will help you evaluate the market needs, inform you about your customers, and determine exactly where and how to market to customers in order to earn a profit.

Since marketing types are expensive to hire, consider bringing them in as a partner. That’s what we did with ideatango, and boy has it paid off. Just be sure to do your due diligence when looking at anyone. I suggest using a trial period where either party can back out if it’s not working out. However you do it, make sure you have someone with the right marketing mindset when getting your product or business off the ground.

- Bryan Daigle
President & Founder of ideatango.com - the #1 site for inventors & invention ideas For more good info & advice, check out the official IdeaTango Blog

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Posted in inventions, marketing tips | 2 Comments »

Selling My Company 2.0

September 23, 2008 by Daigle

After weeks of negotiation hoopla, legal paperwork, and minutae, I can finally get something off my chest. My first company (and one true love), IdeaTango, was recently bought by another industry player, InventBay.com. Here is today’s press release.

I’m taking a cue from Norm Brodsky, who wrote about his highly publicized acquisition in Inc Magazine while it was still taking place (and falling through and then taking place again). Because of its public nature, I can’t get too much into the details, but I’d still like to share my experience with some of you who might find yourself in the same position one day.

After two years of not knowing what would happen the day-after-tomorrow, it’s finally good to know that my partners and I have had a successful exit. That doesn’t mean that we won’t continue to work for the acquiring company, we will, it just means that our few years of doubt and hard work, have had their first payoff. The second payoff will be in working with InventBay (a publicly traded pink sheet company) to maximizing their value to shareholders and owners.

It’s funny though, because there were definitely days that I didn’t know how much longer IdeaTango would be around. Usually it had to do with cash. Sometimes I had to reach into my own pockets. Later, I had to ask for help from my inner circle of friends and family. As you can see my earlier posts, we even thought about approaching professional investors.

We made the decision to sell the company for three reasons. First, we realized we needed more resources ($$) to take IdeaTango to its full potential. Second, we realized that we were running low on both the time and energy needed to pitch, get rejected by, and then acquire some investors. The time horizon for selling a company like ours would save 75% of the time. Third, my partners and I sacrificed for two years (no salary, no benefits) and needed a shot in financial arm to rejuvenate us.

It was not an easy decision to make, and of course I would have liked IdeaTango be sustained and grow using its own internal cash flow. But with a model like ours, which requires a long time horizon, that just wasn’t possible. Perhaps that’s a lesson learned for my next startup.

Overall though, my partners and investors were happy with the deal. Myself, Pablo, and maybe even Lisa will continue in some capacity with the acquiring company.

Feel free to ask me questions about how my experience might apply to your situation.

- Bryan Daigle

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