InventRight Review

Before I continue with yesterday's post, I want to give a quick review of inventRight as a company.

If you are not familiar with inventRight, it is a company started by Stephen Key and Andrew Krauss.

Stephen Key is a New York Times Bestselling Author and author of the book One Simple Idea. The book goes into excellent detail and breaks down the exact steps in order to successfully achieve a licensing deal.

Even if you don't have an idea, Stephen gives you tips to get an idea to run it through the gambit of a successful  licensing deal. It has been my own Bible while attempting to licensing out my and other's ideas.

The key (no pun intended) to its success is the content within the book. It breaks inventing down step-by-step so the average person can understand it. It also utilizes Stephen's personal experience to solidify the point.
Highly recommended: Purchase a copy!


The company (inventRight) teaches inventors to successfully close a licensing deal with direct mentor from Andrew and Stephen (founders of the company). They really put time and effort into helping the common man get their foot up in the inventing world.
Check them out!
http://www.inventright.com/

Getting over your Fear (part 1)

Today's post will be about getting over your Fear.

• It is about acknowledging that you may be stagnant and want to improve an area of your life. 
• It is about taking control of your life.
• It is about taking your life to a level that was unimaginable to you.
• It is about realizing what it really is.

Fear is a sly devil that hides in our thoughts and pretends to be rational. I have definitely let Fear get the better of me.

We all have Fear and here are the three parts to taking control of it:

1. Realizing the Fear
2. Overcoming the Fear
3. Looking back at Fear

This will be a three-part post and tomorrow's post will be focusing on realizing the fear (which is an easy step). 

*Prepare to see the word Fear a lot in the next day's posts

For today, I want to focus on the application of this to inventing. I have come up with several inventions in my life and the first time I did so I followed my gut instinct. Turns out my gut instinct was based on Fear.

My idea was the best in the world, so I wouldn't show it to anybody. Sound familiar? Maybe that is something you have experience or are going through.

Read on tomorrow because you want to know how to deal with Fear in your inventing life.  

What Batman can teach you about inventing

Here is a recent interview I did that can help you in your inventor's journey:

• Batman is a defender of justice in Gotham. 
• Bruce Wayne (a friend of Batman) is a playboy and runs Wayne Enterprises. 

They can actually help you a lot in your efforts to invent and license out one of your ideas.
(Bold is what they said, italics is my take away)

Here is what he can teach you:
1) Always fight for justice!
A little abstract, but look for ways to solve people's problems. Solving problems makes people pull out their wallets.

2) No matter your past you can still be a defender of Gotham
Look at Batman. He was born rich and saw his parents murdered. He came back from that and became a legendary hero. Don't let your past "hold you back".

3) Take lessons from Ra's al Ghul
Remember that Batman learned from the best and so he became the best. When trying to become an inventor or product developer, take advice from those who are on your same path.

4) Get cool gadgets from Lucius Fox
So Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) was Bruce Wayne's assistant and would always hook him up with cool gadgets. Get help from others in your journey. They might have some good tips and tricks.

5) Get support from Alfred the Butler
Alfred is Bruce Wayne's butler and helps him out a TON. Don't be afraid to rely on others for support especially during rough times.

6) Don't be afraid of what others think. Justice is the most important thing
Sometimes the sexiest idea is not the best one. Invent for things you are passionate about and invent to solve problems. 

These are the key take-aways that I got from the Batman and Bruce Wayne interview. It was weird that I couldn't get them together in the same room at the same time. Several times during the interview, Bruce went to the bathroom and Batman appeared for a few minutes. He then left and Bruce came back. They could really benefit from getting to know each other!

I hope you liked this post... let me know how I can help you in your journey.

Making money in the New Year

Money is important to you and me. If you don't think money is important, then stop lying to yourself.

Making money on your own is difficult, but I have found a shortcut. We'll get in more detail in future posts, but you should know for now that inventing and innovating is the great shortcut.

Remember that companies need innovation in order to survive. They need innovation to make more money and grow. Every day they are faced with their competition and must think of ways to crush their skulls!

That's where you come in. (Yes!!! in the skull crushing part)

 You are fresh-faced and open to try new things. You are an inventor. If you don't think you are an inventor, then please do reconsider. Everybody has at least had one idea in their lifetime to improve something. Or everybody has complained about something they had a problem with.

That is the first step and often times the most difficult. Finding the problem

Realizing the problem is half the battle.
How does this relate to making money? Check out tomorrow's post and I will dig deeper on how problem solving makes money....

5 things James Franco can teach you about licensing

Licensing is a difficult game... but James Franco can help you navigate those difficult waters. He and I were hanging out recently and he decided to give me some tips. These are things that are designed to help you, an inventor, sell your idea to an interested company.

So here they are, the five things James Franco can teach you about licensing:

1) Mr. Franco told me that he actually dropped out of UCLA after his first year. 

Failure is only bad if you allow it to be... use your past experiences to your benefit

2)  Stare down your enemies... with those half-sleepy James Franco eyes. His eyes look upon his opponents with the same steady gaze that is ready for bed. 

This one is a little bit of a stretch... I will admit. Look at companies and potential licensing partners the same as you would a friend or neighbor. Be nice and friendly with them. Over-professional inventor won't make the same impact as friendly inventor.

3) Keep working hard. James told me that his first attempt at a t.v. show went into the dumps. It was cancelled after the first year.

Keep working with different ideas and different companies to get your idea out there.

4) Try many different things. James Franco was an extra in a movie even after he "made it." James Franco went back to school to get his PhD after he had "made it" as a big Hollywood Star. 

Try different things with licensing. Don't be afraid to tread into new waters.

5) Keep smiling and having a good time. James Franco loves to smile and is known for his smile. 

Don't take yourself too seriously and keep trying.

I hope those tips were helpful... they sure were to me. Good luck on your invention journey and drop me a line about your struggles. Best comment will get to sit down and chat with James Franco!

Trying your best and failing

As you know, this blog is for inventors. Inventors that have an idea and want to go out into the world and pursue it.

What is important is going out into the world and falling on your face.

I have been pushing a certain device that one of my clients wants to license out. There is only one company that exists in the market that can sell this. I worked my butt off making phone calls and getting a hold of the company's right people.

And I did! Great success, right?

Not yet! As the company reviewed the project, they emailed back that they were not interested.
(Cue the sad music sob story)
That's unfortunate.

What does all this mean and why do you care?
This is why you should care... even though I failed in trying to get this invention licensed out, I had the biggest smile on my face. I at least tried! I tried my best and failed. That is alright. I know that in the future I can take what I learned here and apply it. I know that I am light-years ahead of any other inventor who is in the basement dreaming of big bucks.

This blog is about you and bringing success to your life.
How have you failed in the past? Were you happy that you at least tried?
Let me know by inputting your comment.

Power of Baby steps

With the New Year upon us, I bet you have set Resolutions that you wish to change in your life. The common ones are losing weight, getting a better job, and/or finding a significant other.
January 15th is a special day because that marks the day that 80% of people give up their New Year's Resolutions and go back to old habits. 80%!

How can we become the few and the proud who actually stick with our goals and see the positive results?
Baby steps

Although it may not be the sexy thing to do, baby steps are what keep you moving and motivated. While others are becoming hyper-motivated eventually to fail and regret making a resolution, you will be taking baby steps.
Let's apply this to an example.
Let's say you wanna lose weight... Great! Let's actually take that and move with it.
There's gonna be one guy who is sick and tired of being overweight and resolves to go to the gym 5 times a week at 5:30 AM! He won't last the entire week.
Now there's you who is gonna first start by getting to know the gym. Walk around the lockers and the weights to become familiar with everything. That is baby step number one.
Next time you go to the gym, you will do one workout.
Do you see how this works?

Post a comment below on how you plan to surpass all your friends and colleagues by taking baby steps.