I’m 68 and retired. I spent most of my career as the principal of a consulting engineering firm I founded. My family situation and my own inertia kept me on the slow end of the fast lane, but I had a very rewarding career and I was fortunate enough to be able to grow and sell my firm.
I’ve kept notebooks of inventions and innovations for decades, mostly tools and gadgets. I spent the past several months re-visiting my notes and concentrating on one idea with a good CENTS rating, with an eye on licensing. I had teamed up with an old friend with a marketing background because I knew that’s not how I wanted to spend my time. After I had performed a patent search, developed a functioning prototype for presentation and written and filed a PPA my friend went to work, but it wasn’t long before he realized that a lot of effort would be required and he bailed on me. I wasn’t crushed, but damn I was frustrated! I had done a lot of marketing for my consulting firm over the years and I knew I was capable of marketing my products, but it’s not really within my comfort zone. It was while casting about the internet for inspiration that I stumbled onto this forum. The call to execute and the many stories of perseverance have been the shot in the arm I needed. So now I’ve read MFL. I’ve re-worked my sell sheet, made a demo video, and have several commercial entities field my prototype. I’ll be getting evaluations from them shortly and will use the info to make any needed changes. Then I’ll start hitting up a list of prospects I’ve been developing, with definitive goals and a schedule. Meanwhile, my second and third innovations are taking shape on the 3D printer and electronics bench, and I’m doing preliminary sketches on a couple of more.
At this point in my life I’m in it mostly for the fun, but it’s just as exciting and interesting as if I was 50 years younger. I know that my innovations have value, and it would be really rewarding to see one or more of them manufactured and brought to market. I read these forums regularly, as I constantly need my butt kicked over the hurdle of ennui associated with marketing. And I now consider all of you to be my accountability partners, for which I am extremely grateful.
I’ve kept notebooks of inventions and innovations for decades, mostly tools and gadgets. I spent the past several months re-visiting my notes and concentrating on one idea with a good CENTS rating, with an eye on licensing. I had teamed up with an old friend with a marketing background because I knew that’s not how I wanted to spend my time. After I had performed a patent search, developed a functioning prototype for presentation and written and filed a PPA my friend went to work, but it wasn’t long before he realized that a lot of effort would be required and he bailed on me. I wasn’t crushed, but damn I was frustrated! I had done a lot of marketing for my consulting firm over the years and I knew I was capable of marketing my products, but it’s not really within my comfort zone. It was while casting about the internet for inspiration that I stumbled onto this forum. The call to execute and the many stories of perseverance have been the shot in the arm I needed. So now I’ve read MFL. I’ve re-worked my sell sheet, made a demo video, and have several commercial entities field my prototype. I’ll be getting evaluations from them shortly and will use the info to make any needed changes. Then I’ll start hitting up a list of prospects I’ve been developing, with definitive goals and a schedule. Meanwhile, my second and third innovations are taking shape on the 3D printer and electronics bench, and I’m doing preliminary sketches on a couple of more.
At this point in my life I’m in it mostly for the fun, but it’s just as exciting and interesting as if I was 50 years younger. I know that my innovations have value, and it would be really rewarding to see one or more of them manufactured and brought to market. I read these forums regularly, as I constantly need my butt kicked over the hurdle of ennui associated with marketing. And I now consider all of you to be my accountability partners, for which I am extremely grateful.
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