How Business Innovators Get

Great Ideas to Market

1. The Impossible Dream
 The innovator must have a unique vision.
 Innovation without commitment dies on the vine.
 The first mover’s advantage is real and valuable.
 Sometimes, the innovator must be an SOB.

The story of Teflon

How the Remote Control Came to Be- Lazy Bones Jones
Velcro- Recreating Nature’s velvet crochet
The surprise discovery of Micro Wave oven
Birth place of newspaper USA Today
How the REMOTE CONTROL came to be
Eugene McDonald and Dr. Robert Adler
 It was McDonald’s dream to rid viewers of annoying TV commercials.

 Decided to adapt tech. of remote units used by the military of that time.

 Came up with a Hand Grenade style, wired remote- proved to be problematic.

 Then, made a unique wireless remote, using a flash light and photocells. But
created problem when TV was exposed to SUN light.

 Came up with an idea of using ultrasonic sounds. It was hit for 25 years till
the infrared remote controls came to be.

 The invention changed the way people lived and the electronics industry
forever.

 Today it is used in other domains such as house, garage doors, fireplaces,

etc.
“The remote represents power”
Velcro
Herb Burdock been both blessing & curse to Humanity
 It has high medicinal values but if you ever taken a walk in the woods
you will get to know its negative qualities- sticking to socks and dogs.

 But George de Mestral, turned this sticking feature of Burdock into a

multi-million-dollar business.

 Once, under a microscope, he found that each burr was covered with
hundreds of tiny hooks that grabbed on to anything with a loop.

 This gave him an idea which could create a new product to fasten
things together without the used of a zipper or button.
 “Being a visionary is not often an easy thing. The very nature
of innovation is that the innovator sees something
extraordinary where others see only ordinary”

 Called one of the most useful inventions of the 20 th century, Velcro can
be found in a human heart surgery, in nuclear power plants, army
tanks, etc. NASA even uses it on the inside of space helmets to provide
astronauts a rough surface to scratch itchy nose or chin.
2. Radicals in Blue
 The radical idea is often met with scorn and the innovator
must meet that with patience and education.
 Nothing beats good publicity for increasing acceptance of an
innovative product.
 Innovators must use patents, trademarks, and copyrights to
protect their products.

Geodesic dome- Do more, use less

The revolutionary development of Viagra
Tampax (Tampons)- Changing the life of women
Silly Putty’s wild ride
The Experiment that created that Geodesic Dome
Buckminster fuller- inventor of the dome
 This dome is quite unique as it can structurally take different forms. By
very laws of nature, it encloses the greatest space using least amount
of surface.

 To comprehend how innovative the idea of geodesic dome is, just look
at the 90-degree angle buildings around you. This dome uses none 90-
degree..

 He was nonconformist. Smart enough to get into Harvard, but stubborn

enough to get thrown out twice!! He always wanted to do things his
own way..

 In early 1920s, he became part owner of construction company,

Stockade systems..

 He created a brick, only 2 lbs, unbreakable and required no mortar but

the product failed.
 He was hit with a second blow, daughter’s death and he cursed himself
for a less drafty home, the reason he thought for her death. Thus for
Fuller, innovation was born of desperation.

 1927 Suicide attempt…but suddenly found himself suspended in air

enclosed in a sparkling sphere of light- Life changing event.

He resolved, to do his own thinking and see what one individual, starting
without any money, in fact with considerable debt- with a wife and new
born child could produce on behalf of his fellow men.

 He committed himself to learn the laws of nature and create artifacts

that utilized those laws.

 First invention- Dymaxion- doing the most with the least. A solution he
found to the American housing shortage of the Depression but sold none.

 3-wheeled Dymaxion car, 20 feet long, 11 passengers, and 120

miles/hour was too a failure!!
 Though a failed business man, his ideas pulled him to Black Mountain
college where he was invited to lecture..

 There, he began to think of a completely unique geometrical

architecture. A triangle shape rather than traditional right-angled,
squared configurations.

 Most considered it at first as non-sense.

 4 decades later, researchers at Rice Varsity discovered CARBON 60,

which when magnified was found to be made of interlocking triangles
and looking exactly like a geodesic dome.

 Scientists named the carbon, “buckminsterfullerene”

 At the end of summer term at Black mountain, he and his crew

successfully built a 14-foot dome. Not only it was erected quickly, it
was found to strong and cheap.
 He took 2 important steps innovator must take- he incorporated and
second, applied for a patent.

 It took time for it to market though. His first real break came when
Henry Ford ordered the dome for Ford Motors HQ.

 From that point on, with backing of some one as influential as Henry
Ford, and with publicity, orders for the dome began to flood from all
over the globe.

Think of it. We are blessed with technology that would be indescribable to

our forefathers. We have the wherewithal, the know-it-all to feed
everybody, clothe everybody and give every human on Earth a chance. We
know now what we could never have known before- that we now have the
option for all humanity to make it successfully on this planet in this
lifetime. Whether it is to be Utopia or Oblivion will be a touch-and-go relay
race right up to the final movement.
3. If you Build It, They Will Come
 The attributes of a new product are not always obvious; it is
sometimes necessary for the wise innovator to teach people
how the product can benefit them.
 Knowing what people want, like or need will enable you to
innovate in a way people will respond to.
 Know your market.
 Know your limitations and bring in others who can fill your
gaps.

Divine intervention- Post-it Notes

Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty- Creating a Demand for Kitty Litter
The Mach 3 Razor- The Best a Man Can Get
Its Party time- Tupperware
The bristle brush
The tall task of replacing the best men can get
The MACH 3 RAZOR
 Gillette is so committed to innovation that new products go on the
drawing board as much as a decade before they are introduced.

 In may 1994, months before it first shipped its successful Sensor Excel
Razor in USA that plans were already underway for the MACH 3.

 In 1971, it took the shaving world by storm when it introduced TRAC

II, the first twin blade razor. Again in 1977 it launched ATRA, the razor
with a pivoting head. In the same time, it launched disposable razors.

 In 1990, after 10 years of research and development, it introduced its

Sensor twin blade razor which could adjust to the shape of a man’s
face and resulted in better shave that its predecessors.

 But as indicated, it never rests on its laurels. In 1990s, its scientists

studied metallurgy, skin and hair to figure out if it could make a triple-
bladed system to work.
 After years of research, computer design, human trials and lots of
scrapes, they came up with a 3 bladed-system which proved to be
quicker, smoother and was found to cut 40% more hair than the 2-
bladed system.

 Mach 3 was introduced around the planet in less than a year. By 1999,
Mach 3 blew away the skeptics and became a huge success.

“Radically innovative marketing techniques are also sometimes

required besides innovative products”
4. Money, It’s a Drag
 Whether you are on you own or part of a large corporation,
allocating the necessary resources is critical to the eventual
success of the product.
 Resource allocation also requires funding new and improved
versions of the product.
 Run a lean ship.
 Unless you are willing to strike out, you will not hit a home
run.

Bottom Up- Diapering with Pampers

The Third Time’s a Charm- Palm Pilot (PDA)
The Trivial Pursuit- A board game
A Stroke of Genius- Liquid Paper (Whitener)
BOTTOMS UP
Diapering a Nation with Pampers
 In 1956, Procter and Gamble (P&G) researcher Victor Mills was asked to
care for his newborn grand-daughter. Delight turned to despair when he
found having to change the diaper, a messy, labor-intensive unpleasant
task.

 Fortunately for him, he had a staff of able researchers to whom he gave

the task to create a diaper that is absorbent and leak proof, keep Babies
dry and disposable.

 The initial plan was to develop a highly absorbent and pleated pad that
would be inserted into a specially designed plastic panty, but the soaring
temperatures made plastic panty uncomfortable.

 They came up with a softer and more absorbent, with an improved

moisture barrier between the wet padding and the baby’s skin to keep
moisture away.

 At that time, there were no machines, so that had to prepare by hand.

But positive response from parents compelled them to allocate resources
to mass-produce the diaper.
 P&G invested millions of dollars in its attempt to create a viable
production facility.

 The next vexing resource issue they face was that mothers liked the
product but were unhappy with the cost.

 After researching, the marketing department, concluded that they

needed to reduce price by 40% and to do that was to increase volume.

 Finally, with price of 6 cents per unit and a huge financial gamble,
Pampers went on sale in August, 1961.

“Pampers was not only an innovative product, it created an entire

new industry. Today it is a $4billion business annually”
5. The Best laid plans of Mice and Men
 An undercapitalized innovation can wreak havoc on all
concerned.
 Jackals are waiting to steal you idea.
 Unfortunately, innovating well and pricing the product to
sell do not always go hand in hand.

PONG- Giving Birth to a Video Nation

Cola War Casualty- The Backlash Against New Coke
Mismanaging Innovation- The collapse of DeLorean
Lisa- Computing’s Most Innovative Failure
Computing’s most innovative Failure
Lisa
 Apple computer founded in 1976 was the fastest growing computer
company at that time.

 With APPLE II, company had revolutionized the computer market.

 Inspired by ALTO, a prototype machine of PARC, having features never

seen before, Apple was working on a new computer LISA.

 For the first time, commercially available computer featured pull-down

menus, keyboard shortcuts, menu commands named New, Open etc,
windows that zoomed open and closed, pictures that moved by pointing
and clicking boxes etc. But all of this came at a price- each Lisa sold for
$9995.

 But it was too heavy, slow and too complex for software designers…

 Sales was a failure…

 Lisa II was introduced.

 Finally abandoned in favor of Macintosh…

“As is learned not every great innovation works because success is

not guaranteed. One must admire apple’s bold stroke because
without Lisa, there would never have been a Macintosh…”
6. Resistance is futile…
 Expect resistance.
 Bureaucracy is intended to maintain the status quo so don’t
expect it to fall easily.
 Publicity is a great way to usurp authority.

A Call to Action- How the Cell Phone Overcame Govt. Bureaucracy

The New Volkswagen Beetle- A Friendship Rekindled
The Big Cheese- The Man Behind the Computer Mouse
Battling Depression- Resisting the Opposition to Prozac
How the cell phone Overcame Govt. Bureaucracy
 Back in 1970s, Telecom was a highly regulated industry. AT&T was the
only long distance carrier.

 The world was so different back then. If tuned to the far end of AM
band, once could pick up police dispatch calls. Such was the shortage
of allocated-frequencies.

 Motorola were developing 2-way communication devices but the

problem was lack of Bandwidth. They were being reserved by FCC.

 On Motorola’s petition to FCC, they disagreed to open up the lower end

of VHF agreeing only for high end of the spectrum.

 At that time, there were Mobile phones and portable phones. Mobile
phones were constrained to use only in car and portable phones- what
we call as cell phones were not even in existence.

 But the mobiles phones were quite cumbersome to use.

 AT Motorola, Mitchell and his colleagues knew that an actually portable
cell phone was possible!!

 The engineers at Motorola saw what few others at that time did: By
tapping the 900 MHz frequency and installing cell towers thru out an
area, a usable cell phone system could be created that would able to
switch callers from one tower to the next, automatically.

 How visionary? Even though there were no cell towers anywhere,

even though FCC had to yet open high end spectrum, though no
one knew what a cell phone was, Motorola and Mitchell knew
that cell technology “was where our future lay”.

 They pumped $100 million into development of its 900 Mhz technology.

 By 1973, they created a working cell phone by 1973. It took them

15years from conception to completion.
 The company then sent its best people to Washington, D.C., as
FCC announced to one up high end VHF Band.

 Shockingly, FCC granted an exclusive license to AT&T. Motorola

was dumb founded and panic set in.

 They had expended too much money, time and effort to let some
bureaucrats stand in its way. After emergency meetings, they
came up with a secret game plan.

 Motorola petitioned the FCC for reconsideration basically asking

FCC to reverse its decision. They had no other choice. It sent its
team to hearing a day early to get things ready, Part of the
necessary secret apparatus was placed atop a building near where
hearing was to take place.

 The FCC commissioner however concluded that the decision was

likely final.
 Then came the master stroke….

 Mitchell was allowed to speak. He slowly opened his coat pocket. In his
hand was a large, white, boxy-looking phone with a little antenna on
top and a mouth piece at the bottom. It was wireless.

 Commissioners had never seen anything like that ever. Mitchell said to
the commissioner to make a phone and he replied asking how.

 Mitchell, then, demonstrated to hem and to AT&T what the future

would look like.

 Thus it was here at this reconsideration in 1973 that history was made
when the first cell phone call ever in Washington, D.C., took place.
7. Patience is a virtue…
 When it will take longer than desired to get an innovation to
market, it is incumbent upon the innovator to keep the
plans secret; operate in stealth mode.
 Teams are often more successful than a lone wolf,
especially when patience is required.
 Innovation that makes life better almost always will find a
market.

Worth the Wait- Barbie’s Long Road to the Prom

Polaroid Camera- Instant Image
The First Xerox Machine- The Slow Journey to Quick Copies
Liberating People from Wheelchairs with the iBOT
The split second vision that developed into The
Polaroid Camera
 Back then, digital pictures, instant photography were a distant dream.

 Before the Polaroid camera, photography was an esoteric, expensive

endeavour.
But Edwin Land changed all that…

 Land had observed that every invention must be startling, unexpected

and come to a world that must not be prepared for it. If world were
prepared for it, it would not be much of an invention.

 Once, in 1943, Edwin while taking a snap of his daughter, she asked to
see the picture. He replied that it was not ready to which she asked
how long would it take…Eureka…

 With in an hour after the question, the camera, the film and the
physical chemistry became very clear in his mind. He envisioned a
pocket-sized came that would allow the user to focus, shoot, and get a
finished color picture in an instant.
 After 29 years of intense research, he was able to fully implement his
vision..

 One hallmark of a great entrepreneur is that he knows his strengths

and weaknesses. Edwin knew that his strengths were in physics and
chemistry and to turn his camera into a mass-produced market, he
called for Bill McCune’s help.

 By 1947, Edwin demonstrated a crude instant picture camera to Optical

society of America..

 A year and half later, the Polaroid camera, Model 95, four pounds in
weight was sold for $100.
 Edwin hired Harold Booth from Bell & Howell camera to head marketing.

 Booth had to sell a radically new product and also deal with lack of
money supply, so he came up with a marketing that would give Polaroid
an aura HARD-TO-GET exclusivity and desirability while attracting much
needed free publicity.
 As a result of his genius, owning a Polaroid camera became for a while,
being the first person on the block to own a TV set.

 In first 5 years, half a million models were sold and 200 million snaps
were taken..Unhappy with the current model, he came up with Polaroid
SX-70, a compact, elegant, integral and garbage free model.

 The secret of his succes was that he always stressed on innovation

over profits. Land used to say,

“The thing that drives that analysts wild is that we grow

and grow and grow, not on that basis of the bottom line
but on the basis of faith, that if you do your job well that
the last thing you need to worry about is money, just as
if you live right, you will be happy”
7 great lessons of innovation..
 Think of Things That Never Were and Ask,
“why not?”
 The Power of One
 Keep it simple, stupid
 First is Best
 Try, try again
 Risky Business
 Synergy is necessary