Secrets from an Inventor's Notebook


Book Description

When the fuzz from his sweater was pulled off by a brick wall he was leaning against, Maurice Kanbar had a brainstorm. Soon he had patented, produced and successfully promoted the D-Fuzz-It sweater comb, and made his first fortune at the age of twenty-two. In this engaging “master class” Kanbar’s real world hits and misses illustrate the concrete steps every inventor must follow to successfully take his product to market.




Secrets of Successful Inventing


Book Description

"Tolchin mines the smartest brains in the field to create an essential book for novice inventors." —Barbara Corcoran, SHARK TANK The process of inventing and bringing a product into the marketplace is fraught with legal pitfalls, costly dead ends, confusing runarounds, and missed opportunities. Yet through the maze of hurdles to overcome, some seem to navigate the path to success without a worry. So what do these people know that the struggling inventor does not? They know enough to ask the right questions and find the appropriate resources they can count on. Luck may play a part, but having a team of experts to learn from will absolutely increase your odds of making it. Now, in Secrets of Successful Inventing, writer and importing professional Edith Tolchin has put together sixteen top experts who offer valuable information related to the various steps involved in bringing an invention to market. Ms. Tolchin has created an all-in-one guide that addresses the many critical issues that beginning inventors might never even consider. From prototyping to patenting, from licensing to marketing, each expert gives clear and practical advice to help inventors reach their goals. The book presents the chapters in a logical sequence that will allow the fledgling inventor to navigate the waters of product development. By following the steps offered and by heeding the words of these seasoned professionals, the reader will stand a better chance of avoiding pitfalls and finding success at journey’s end. Normally, novice inventors spend thousands of dollars attending lectures and workshops that they hope will prepare them for the challenges that lie ahead. In Secrets of Successful Inventing, Edith Tolchin provides a straightforward guide to the basics as well as a useful resource to take your idea to the next level.




Working Backwards


Book Description

Working Backwards is an insider's breakdown of Amazon's approach to culture, leadership, and best practices from two long-time Amazon executives—with lessons and techniques you can apply to your own company, and career, right now. In Working Backwards, two long-serving Amazon executives reveal the principles and practices that have driven the success of one of the most extraordinary companies the world has ever known. With twenty-seven years of Amazon experience between them—much of it during the period of unmatched innovation that created products and services including Kindle, Amazon Prime, Amazon Studios, and Amazon Web Services—Bryar and Carr offer unprecedented access to the Amazon way as it was developed and proven to be repeatable, scalable, and adaptable. With keen analysis and practical steps for applying it at your own company—no matter the size—the authors illuminate how Amazon’s fourteen leadership principles inform decision-making at all levels of the company. With a focus on customer obsession, long-term thinking, eagerness to invent, and operational excellence, Amazon’s ground-level practices ensure these characteristics are translated into action and flow through all aspects of the business. Working Backwards is both a practical guidebook and the story of how the company grew to become so successful. It is filled with the authors’ in-the-room recollections of what “Being Amazonian” is like and how their time at the company affected their personal and professional lives. They demonstrate that success on Amazon’s scale is not achieved by the genius of any single leader, but rather through commitment to and execution of a set of well-defined, rigorously-executed principles and practices—shared here for the very first time. Whatever your talent, career or organization might be, find out how you can put Working Backwards to work for you.




Inventing Joy


Book Description

The visionary entrepreneur and inventor shares an inspirational blueprint for promoting personal success and fulfillment, sharing stories from her childhood, family, and career experiences that illustrate how healthier perspectives can significantly improve one's life.




Invent, Reinvent, Thrive: The Keys to Success for Any Start-Up, Entrepreneur, or Family Business


Book Description

In today's uncertain world of business, one rule stands above the rest: If you want to survive--let alone thrive--you must embrace change. Everything else comes after. In Invent Reinvent Thrive Kellogg School of Management Professor Lloyd Shefsky provides the inspiration and insight any entrepreneur or family business needs for long-term success--and he backs it all up with proven models of what works and what doesn't. Shefsky reveals the common thread of all business success stories: reinvention. He explains not just how to reinvent concepts and ideas from the start, but ways to continuously innovate and reinvent your business to meet today's constantly changing marketplace conditions. In addition to his own expert insight, Shefsky provides firsthand advice through case studies derived from dozens of original interviews with entrepreneurs and family business giants, consisting of the leaders of some of today's most successful companies, including: Howard Schultz (founder, Chairman, and CEO of Starbucks) Jim Sinegal (founder of Costco) Chuck Schwab (founder of Charles Schwab & Co.) Tom Stemberg (founder of Staples) The author also gives special attention to family businesses (which account for over half the U.S. GDP) and how to address vexing family disparities, enabling family businesses to last more than two generations. Invent Reinvent Thrive offers all the answers you need to get your business where you want it to be. You'll learn exactly where new and multi-generational business owners fall short and miss incredible opportunities, why they fail to take the plunge or innovate--and how you can rework, revitalize, and reinvent your business not just to avoid the most common perils but to lead your business to the apex of your industry. "Entrepreneurship is not a cataclysmic event," Shefsky writes. "It is a constant process." Follow his advice through every step of the process and you will successfully invent, reinvent--and thrive. PRAISE FOR INVENT REINVENT THRIVE: "If you think business books are boring, this is your chance to prove yourself wrong. Storytelling is an art, and Shefsky brings that art to business. Invent Reinvent Thrive is a treasure trove of valuable lessons." -- STAN KASTEN, President and CEO, Los Angeles Dodgers; former President of the Washington Nationals and the Atlanta Braves, Hawks, and Thrashers "Invent Reinvent Thrive is full of wise and practical guidance for both would-be and continuing entrepreneurs. Shefsky's discussions provide wonderful advice that will aid anyone embarking on or continuing in an entrepreneurial enterprise." -- DAVID RUDER, former Chairman, Securities & Exchange Commission "Our company's direct experience with Lloyd Shefsky . . . inspired us to methodically pursue Brown-Forman's never-ending greatness, and this book can do the same for others. I highly recommend Invent Reinvent Thrive to all businesspeople." -- PAUL VARGA, CEO and Chairman, Brown-Forman Corporation, producer of Jack Daniels, Finlandia, Southern Comfort, and other spirits "Lloyd Shefsky tackles the issues many entrepreneurs face and offers practical advice to defy the odds. If you've had business success, yet need to go to the next level, read this book." -- GINGER GRAHAM, former President and CEO, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, and former faculty at the Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship at the Harvard Business School "This is a very serious study of a critical issue, and no one dealing with entrepreneurship or family businesses should make the mistake of ignoring it." -- ISRAEL ZANG, Professor and former Dean of Business School and Vice Provost of Tel Aviv University




Inventing the Internet


Book Description

Janet Abbate recounts the key players and technologies that allowed the Internet to develop; but her main focus is always on the social and cultural factors that influenced the Internet's design and use. Since the late 1960s the Internet has grown from a single experimental network serving a dozen sites in the United States to a network of networks linking millions of computers worldwide. In Inventing the Internet, Janet Abbate recounts the key players and technologies that allowed the Internet to develop; but her main focus is always on the social and cultural factors that influenced the Internets design and use. The story she unfolds is an often twisting tale of collaboration and conflict among a remarkable variety of players, including government and military agencies, computer scientists in academia and industry, graduate students, telecommunications companies, standards organizations, and network users. The story starts with the early networking breakthroughs formulated in Cold War think tanks and realized in the Defense Department's creation of the ARPANET. It ends with the emergence of the Internet and its rapid and seemingly chaotic growth. Abbate looks at how academic and military influences and attitudes shaped both networks; how the usual lines between producer and user of a technology were crossed with interesting and unique results; and how later users invented their own very successful applications, such as electronic mail and the World Wide Web. She concludes that such applications continue the trend of decentralized, user-driven development that has characterized the Internet's entire history and that the key to the Internet's success has been a commitment to flexibility and diversity, both in technical design and in organizational culture.




Hardcore Inventing


Book Description

A guide to inventing that explains how people can develop an idea into an invention, build a prototype, safeguard intellectual property, market strategically, field investors, and successfully navigate each step of the inventing process.




Inventor Confidential


Book Description

The road to licensing a profitable, innovative product or technology is riddled with curves, holes, and rocky cliffs. The President of the United Inventors Association shows inventors, innovators, and makers a better path towards monetizing your creations and how to avoid the get-rich-quick scammers. Every year, hundreds of thousands of eager inventors around the globe spend millions of dollars seeking assistance from inventor service companies and individuals claiming to be experts in the innovation and licensing fields, though their actual success rates are poor in relation to the dollar amounts they charge. The reality is, according to Inventors’ Digest™, while 78% of new inventors believe they will make over a million dollars with their inventions, less than 1% actually do. Marketers prey on this scenario for their own financial gain. In Inventor Confidential, inventor advocate Warren Tuttle tips the odds back in the investor’s favor, helping them: Gain a much broader picture of the many current challenges that inventors face these days. Understand the red flags to watch out for when individuals or companies charge up front for their coaching or help-to-market services. See how inventors can improve their odds of licensing success by following a thorough product development protocol, creating working prototypes, and filing U.S. patents. Get the insider perspective on how companies determine the quality of a product submission and if they want to work with the inventor. Learn the 30 steps to market if you want to go it alone. For anyone who has a great idea or invention and wants to monetize it but are not sure who to trust, Inventor Confidential will show them where to best spend their hard-earned money to maximize their odds for success.




Inventing the Future


Book Description

This major new manifesto offers a “clear and compelling vision of a postcapitalist society” and shows how left-wing politics can be rebuilt for the 21st century (Mark Fisher, author of Capitalist Realism) Neoliberalism isn’t working. Austerity is forcing millions into poverty and many more into precarious work, while the left remains trapped in stagnant political practices that offer no respite. Inventing the Future is a bold new manifesto for life after capitalism. Against the confused understanding of our high-tech world by both the right and the left, this book claims that the emancipatory and future-oriented possibilities of our society can be reclaimed. Instead of running from a complex future, Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams demand a postcapitalist economy capable of advancing standards, liberating humanity from work and developing technologies that expand our freedoms. This new edition includes a new chapter where they respond to their various critics.




The Art and Science of Inventing


Book Description

The Independent Inventor Most persons have at some time in their lives invented somethin- perhaps a gadget for making some task easier or a method for increas ing the economy of an everyday operation. Aside from a certain degree of personal satisfaction, the great majority of these inven tions have never yielded their creators any amount of real return. In many instances, the fault has been with the inventor himself, who made little or no effort beyond writing down the bright idea. In a significant number of cases, however, the problem has arisen from a general lack of knowledge of what to do about a promising idea. The individual who works full time in a non-technical job usually has no guidance for proceeding in a logical, professional way towards effec tive development and utilization of his invention. Several other factors are responsible for the considerable waste we see in the handling of inventions. Perhaps the most significant of these factors is an incomplete awareness of prior art. A stenographer dreams up a device to facilitate the distribution of incoming mail. She feels that the idea is so simple that others must have patented it long ago and so she goes no further with the concept. At the other extreme is the garage mechanic who invents a new type of wrench.