10 Tips for Entrepreneurial Inventors

As an early stage investor, and a California capitalist, it has been my good fortune to work with and support many hardworking, insightful, effective innovators over the years. Their inventions have ranged from hardware devices and new software solutions, to algorithms that snuck into lots of products.  Sadly, not every invention finds its way to market and not every hard working inventor dies wealthy.

The following tips are based on my experience watching inventors succeed and fail over decades.  I hope they shorten the road a bit for those of you who envision a better world.

• Invest your time and talent in developing solutions that people you know need.  To be "profitable" inventions need to be something people want to buy. Most inventors who choose to stay engaged in the world can readily solve problems for people they know. Those "solutions" tend to do well in the market.
• Patent and sell all the "little inventions" you come up with. Many inventors think they should only invest time in great inventions with lots of moving parts for their work to be marketable.  The truth is almost exactly the opposite. Some of the smallest, simplest, most elegant inventions have been the most profitable because they become components in many larger solutions.  Be diligent in marketing all your solutions and find people to help you if required.
• Make "intellectual property" law your new hobby.  I can hear inventors wincing at the idea.  But you'll discover that every story about patent and copyrights is a story about invention and innovation so it is not as dry a pursuit as it sounds.  Failure to become familiar with how to protect your property guarantees financial ruin.  Your patent attorney and your corporate lawyer work for you.  You are the decisionmaker, so you must take it upon yourself to understand the fundamentals of intellectual property rights and how to protect them.
• Actively look for non-technical collaborators.  To be an inventor is to be a visionary which involves the capacity to look within and imagine the world as it could be.  It is often handy to work with people who see the world as it is, and to get support from people who have special expertise in non-mechanical systems. Almost every inventor needs to actively collaborate with a smart sales professional, an effective accountant, a good graphic designer and a smart attorney or two.  Network to find your team.
• Recognize that those with a technical background can often choose to be very effective business professionals. Much of business involves analysis, numeracy, testing hypotheses, etc.  Good business skills are easy to acquire and the more of them you have the more inventing you get to do. Don't be afraid of sales or marketing.  You'll find your vision and insight are great tools in those trades.
• Keep notes, logs, emails and other records of your work.  They are handy for legal purposes and they are a source of insight and inspiration when you feel the "well has run dry" creatively.
• Recognize the "boom and bust" involved in inventing for a living.  After every big project there is a lull and many find that period to be a crisis of confidence time and again.  Relax. That period of "lying fallow" is part and parcel of the innovation process for inventors, entrepreneurs and every other creative discipline.
• Network with other inventors on a regular basis.  You will find you are almost never in direct competition with anyone you meet, which means you can feel comfortable sharing insights and opportunities.
• Remember to recharge.  Inventors who bring inventions to fruition spend many hours in isolation as a rule.  So, find a way to refresh skills or expertise in order to remain current.  Trade shows and conferences can be a good way to keep current.
• Enjoy.  It is a unique and wonderful thing to live in a world populated by what could be and not what is.  Not everyone has that option.

If you need help building a strong profitable business around your innovations, I hope you'll visit www.schoolforstartups.co.uk. We're launching a new mentoring program which is great for the entrepreneurial inventor.  We also offer new online and face to face events every month we think you'll enjoy. Follow us on Twitter @s4startups or watch our past programming on s4stv.