February 2019

Dave Zedonis (president, Indiana Inventors Association; principal, Z*Tech; patentee) treated us to a discussion on how to successfully invent and innovate.

Inventing is in our genes.  It gave our ancestors the edge they needed to prosper in hostile environments and gives us hope today for a better tomorrow.  Almost everyone invents to some extent and for a variety of reasons.

If you invent to make money, solve an important, widespread, and widely known problem.  Working or playing in any technical field will acquaint you with such problems.  Chatting with or surveying experts and workers in technical fields (eg, at trade shows) can do the same.  Solving such problems avoids a barrier to entering the market—the need to educate potential customers on the benefits of your invention.

Stick with a problem that interests you.  Solving an important problem can easily take 3 or 4 years.  Developing a working prototype of your invention can help you learn more about the problem and your solution, can help you teach potential investors and clients about your invention, and can help you avoid those Wile E. Coyote moments that all inventors dread.

If you want to change the world, don’t think that discovery ends with your invention.  Now you need to discover how to fit your invention into the marketplace.  Because you and your invention are unique, finding a good place in the market for your invention is up to you.  Either learn what to do or pay others for what they know.  Stephen Key, through his company, InventRight, offers free education and paid coaching on what to do.  Steve Blank offers free education on how to start a small business.  Our blog lists additional resources.  In general, don’t rely on invention companies; most give you no return on your investment.

Make your invention interesting to make others (investors, partners, customers) part of your story.  Some innovators patent their inventions or prevent others from doing so, other innovators forego patents and only build public awareness of their inventions.  Some innovators sell their inventions or license their inventions in exchange for a royalty of 5% of wholesale, others start their own businesses to sell embodiments of their inventions.  Some must cross‑license their inventions to gain the right to make, use, and sell them.  As with most business, negotiation is a must.

To learn more, please join us at our monthly meetings and tap into Mr. Zedonis’ extensive knowledge and experience.

Thank you, Mr. Zedonis, for sharing your expertise and enthusiasm with us!