Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Announcing "Got Invention Radio"

I've had the privilege of working with inventor, innovator, entrepreneur, and author Brian Fried on some of his patents. Very impressive inventor and businessman. I've watched with pride as he's worked to educate and inspire many inventors in New York and beyond. Now I'm delighted to share the news about a new radio program he is hosting to help innovators and inventors. Got Invention radio (see http://www.gotinvention.com) makes it debut this week. Here's an excerpt from a press release at BusinessWire:

Inventor and Author Brian Fried Launches Nationally Broadcasted Live Radio Show “Got Invention Radio” on November 19, 2009 for Inventors and Entrepreneurs on wsRadio.com

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--“Got Invention Radio,” a new live talk radio show for inventors, hosted by Brian Fried, to premier on wsradio.com on November 19th, 2009. Got Invention Radio, a prime time hour long show airs Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. ET/ 5:00 p.m. PT. The show will be available through wsradio.com, the leader in Internet talk radio and can be accessed though the www.gotinvention.com LISTEN LIVE button.

"People have so many great ideas and inventions but they're not sure what their next steps are or how to bring their product to market. That will be the focus of Got Invention Radio,” stated Fried. It was through writing the book "You & Your Big Ideas" (www.youandyourbigideas.com) and founding the Inventors and Entrepreneurs Club in Suffolk County, NY, that Brian first realized the lack of resources available to inventors to get the answers to their many questions. He continued, ”Got Invention Radio is going to be a great resource for today's inventors and want-to-be-inventors. They'll be able to gain the knowledge they need from well known inventors and other service professionals that can help to make the process easier and contribute to their success.”

Got Invention Radio has an impressive lineup of upcoming guests to be interviewed and featured, including Mike Drummond, Editor-in-Chief of Inventors Digest, the only print magazine for inventors, as well as AJ Khubani, the Founder/CEO of TeleBrands, one of the world’s top “As Seen on TV” products company and Louis Foreman, author of “The Independent Inventor’s Handbook”, CEO of Enventys, executive producer of Everyday Edisons; and co-founder of Edison Nation.

About Got Invention Radio

Got Invention Radio welcomes listeners to call-in during live broadcasts to ask the guest experts questions. All shows will be archived and will be podcasted via itunes. A resource link is available on the website to serve as an ongoing flow of information for inventors and new business owners. Join our community online at Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook.
Congratulations, Brian!

Thursday, November 5, 2009

For Sharper Innovation, Focus Not on Ideas But on Unmet Needs

In response to a recent BusinessWeek article on generating creative ideas ("How to Produce Big Ideas on Demand"), one commenter, Larry McDonald, made a valuable albeit overstated observation about the problem with idea generation per se:
Ideas are the kiss of death, sadly. The fastest way to fail is to have ideas, instead of looking for unmet needs. If you must have ideas, the most critical issue is what you choose to have ideas about. Picking the right subject to innovate around should be half the task. Once you know the target of opportunity, only then think of solutions.

Ideas on their own can be a problem. They can distract and turn our focus away from the real needs in the marketplace. Too many inventions and patents represent clever concepts in search of a problem. Without being tied to meaningful unmet needs, the idea or invention, no matter how clever and interesting, is unlikely to become an innovation--something that changes the way people do things. The place to begin is not with lots of random ideas, but with understanding what people need and what problems they are facing, even if they can't recognize and express that problem.