Networking Web site gathers inventors
Got any good ideas for making life a little more hassle-free? A Web site may help make your idea the next big thing. Simone Orendain reports.
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Veterinarian Mike Thomann shows off his "Port-a-Scoop" invention.
TEXT OF STORY
Bill Radke: You know, I'll bet at some point in your life, you have said to yourself, "I have this great idea for a new product," and then you forgot about it because, how would you ever get it to market? Well reporter Simone Orendain tells us about an invention Web site based in Charlotte, N.C.
Simone Orendain: Every good idea needs a home. Like a scratching post covered with sand paper so your cat can file its own nails.
Ad: Here kitty, kitty! Ever try to trim your cat's claws? It's impossible! Now your cat can trim her own claws, with Emery Cat!
"Emery Cat" is on store shelves thanks to a PBS reality show called "Everyday Edisons." The program tracks how ordinary folks turn ideas into useful products. The show got so many great ideas from would-be inventors, they started a Web site called "Edison Nation" just to collect those pitches.
And the business community took notice. Now companies like Home Depot, Bed Bath & Beyond and PetSmart come to "Edison Nation" to find the next big thing.
Matt Spangard: We have a team of experts who interview the retailers.
Matt Spangard heads Edison Nation.
Spangard: They then tell us what their needs are. We put together a live product search.
So for example, Home Depot is looking for new tools that make painting faster and easier. Exactly what that means is left up to the inventor's imagination. Spangard says retailers like the system because they'd prefer to deal directly with Edison Nation's experts, rather than with individual inventors.
Charlotte inventor and veterinarian Mike Thomann knows what it's like to go it alone. He spent $50,000 and five years of his life trying to sell companies on his invention, a portable pooper scooper.
Mike Thomann: I'm trying to cram this down their throats, whereas Edison Nation has idea hunts where companies are coming saying these are the products we want, we have an opening for it, so just fulfill the opening.
Now Thomann's invention -- he calls it the "Port-a-Scoop" -- is a finalist in a PetSmart search.
Thomann: It's a streamlined process and you don't have to fight with these retailers and these big companies much to get your product on a shelf. So it's a very efficient process.
If Thomann's idea is accepted, Edison Nation will give him a $2,500 advance. And they'll take care of licensing the product.
So, what's in it for Edison Nation? It splits royalties 50-50 with the inventors.
In Charlotte, I'm Simone Orendain for Marketplace.
Comments
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From Las Vegas, NV, 12/17/2009
I have a patented 'heated' ironing board capable of working with a cordless iron in the US 110 volt environment using 'smart' circuitry to balance electric load between iron and board. Prototype already built. Cuts ironing time by 50 %. In interested, email me.
From New Bern, NC, 11/25/2009
I have an invention , plus a patent on my invention. My invetion is called The Auto-Mower. It can be seen on www.marketlaunchers.com under the home & garden section.
From Holiday, FL, 11/12/2009
I joined Edison Nation on Sept30th 09. I have 9 submissions into them and have watched almost daily as they have moved them along through their pre-screening,etc. processes. Normally, I would not have done anything with my inventions because I don't have the money to lay out for them and I have never trusted or felt safe to confide in anyone, other than my husband. Everyday Edison has integrity and they are an exciting team of intelligent people that I have entrusted my secrets to. This is the one positive avenue I have going for me and my future plans do rest on what my inventions can do for me. I have something very exciting to look forward to and because of Everyday Edisons, my future is something I can feel happy and secure about. Physically, I'm limited, but that does not stop me from using my brain and the feeling that my ideas have value and that I can contribute to our future plans and that my husband does not have to go it alone in these hard economic times. We have had inventions down on paper for 30 years and when EN came along,we dusted them off and submitted them. Because of EN, our dreams are coming alive. I am going on trust and faith and am happy I have an avenue for my ideas. We,my husband and I haven't even submitted our best because Home Depot will have to make it a topic of interest to EN before we can submit them. It is so exciting to go to my computer each day and see if they have moved our inventions up a notch!To actually think of one of our products on store shelves is the most exciting thing I could ever hope and pray for.
We will owe it all to Edison Nation and their wonderful team of positive, bright,innovative people.
From charleston, SC, 11/05/2009
I think I could live off 50% of an idea. Especially if numerous ideas proved economically viable for free enterprise markets. This could become the way the world makes its living in the next 100 years of global internet economic networks.
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