The Dragons are back

Have just finished watching the first of the new series of BBC’s Dragon’s Den in the hope of catching Ed Wray one of our success stories. He mentioned his BarbeSkew product was going to be appearing in the series but wasn’t allowed to say whether he got backing from the Dragons.

In this evening’s episode I was surprised by Peter Jones investing £75,000 in rock group Hamfatter with an unproven track record of sales, in exchange for 30% of their future royalties. Note – their website was down this evening due to too many visitors.

Since the last series I have begun giving business advice sessions myself, and I have to say that I am not a fan of the way the program turns entrepreneurship into entertainment. In particular I find the flippant comments from the Dragons to the enterprising inventors and business people annoying.

However, despite these criticisms, the questions they ask are often valid, as are many of their observations.

But Peter Jones came out with the quote of the show when referring to a product with a small potential market. He said there was a niche in the market, but no market in the niche.

Sadly I have come across several business ideas that fall into this category.

Henry Ford didn’t succeed by asking his customers what they wanted

The June issue of Inventique, the newsletter of the Wessex Round Table of Inventors has an interesting article by Sir James Dyson, the renowned inventor of the Dual Cyclone bagless vacuum cleaner, amongst many others.

He quotes Henry Ford the pioneer of popular motoring, “If I’d asked customers what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” Although familiar with his line, “Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black”, I hadn’t come across this one before.

What I like about it (although some might say that it was written with the benefit of hindsight) is the way it illustrates the limited thinking of most business people. In particular the approach that seeks customer requested minor improvements, instead of radical leaps. It is only those with a vision of the future who are able to make significant changes to the way we lead our lives.

Ford MondeoWhat is ironic about the Henry Ford quote above is that it was the Ford motor company of the UK who produced one of the blandest models in recent memory, in the shape of the MK1 Mondeo. The cautious styling of this car was a direct result of the negative press the revolutionary Sierra received when first launched in 1993. Consequently the Mondeo is often cited as the most clinicked car of all time. So many potential customers were consulted that the resulting model became the definition of middle of the road boring. The phrase ‘Mondeo Man’ was used to describe the epitome of middle England values.

I am glad to report that Ford learnt from this mistake and have since produced several out of the ordinary models such as the Ka, Focus and even the replacement Mondeo.

How To Protect Your Intellectual Property

When helping our customers wanting to protect their intellectual property as well as referring them to the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO), we also include Own-it, which offers free intellectual property advice for creative businesses.

Here is a summary of their offering:

“Own-it offers free (yes – free!) online advice to help you solve your IP issues. This could lead to a free one-to-one advice session with specialist lawyers!

To use the service you need to be an Own-it member so why not register now or log-in using the form on the right-hand side of this page.
How Does It Work?

We offer two levels of service:

1. Check to see if an answer to your query can be found on the information already on Own-it. We offer FAQs, factsheets, podcasts, articles and events. This will save you time because if the information you request is already provided on the website, we’ll simply direct you to that information.
2. If your issue needs legal advice or intervention, then fill in our online advice form. We will then either answer your query online or offer you one free meeting (max. 45 minutes) with a lawyer from Own-it’s associated intellectual property firms.

Am I Eligible?

1. You cannot use the Own-it IP clinics for any existing legal claims or for second opinions on any legal intervention already taking place.
2. Please note that the Own-it IP clinics are for IP related legal advice only. The lawyers will not be able to deal with non-IP related queries or provide related information.
3. Please note that the Own-it IP clinics are for business whose annual turnover is below £100,000”

The cool Wattson from DIY KYOTO

In the networking area of the Business & IP Centre are several illustrated examples of ‘success stories’. These are entrepreneurs and inventors who have made use of Centre and gone on to achievement.

One of my favourites is the Wattson from DIY KYOTO who’s wonderful motto is, “to value simple things, and seek to produce products of perfect convenience and utility, elegant in their conception and efficient in their operation.”

The WattsonIf you have been reading this blog for a while you may have noticed my interest in product design and the Wattson is a perfect example of form and function combined into one. Not only does it look elegant whilst showing you how much money you are spending on electricity, the coloured glow emanating from its’ base gives you an immediate sense of your consumption as it changes from blue (good) to red (bad).

This achievement has been recognised by Stuff Magazine who awarded the Wattson number 8 on the cool list of gadgets for 2007, beating the iPod nano into 10th place. An amazing achievement for such a young company.

Clip & Pull a Dignified Living product

One of the perks of my job is meeting inventors and then seeing them go on to be successful with a bit of help from us in the Business & IP Centre.

The latest one to make it into the media is Cintra Jaggan-Vince and her Clip & Pull invention. One of several products from her company Dignified Living providing solutions “to help people maintain their independence, safety and dignity with the task of dressing and undressing.”

In a double page feature in the Guardian of 1 February 2008 Cintra is mentioned and a photo of her proudly holding the Clip & Pull product.

Cintra certainly made an impression on me and my colleagues by demonstrating how effective her invention is, in front of our enquiry desk with the aid of a large pair of frilly knickers.

She has already won several awards including the Global Women Inventors & Innovators Network – Special Recognition Award Singapore 2004.

Everyday Marvels of Design

As a late Christmas present to myself I bought a copy of Humble Masterpieces: Everyday Marvels of Design by Paola Antonelli the Curator of Architecture and Design at The Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Each page is devoted to a design classic and I am still working my way through. However I have already come across two of my favourite items.

Spartan Swiss Army KnifeOn the very first page is the Swiss Army Knife which I first came across back in my Scouting days. I have owned one ever since and always take it on my travels. There are now over one hundred different models to choose from, including one with a USB computer storage chip. My favourite has always been one of the simplest (see photo). I have only just discovered it is called the Spartan, which is very apt given my youthful Scouting experiences.

ScrewpullThe other design classic is the Screwpull Corkscrew which surprisingly was invented as late as 1979. I have tried many different types of corkscrews over the years and have found nothing to touch the Screwpull. What makes it even better is the simple construction, light weight and low cost, which makes it ideal for pick nicks. The key to it’s success is the Teflon-coated helical screw which enables the screw to penetrate the cork and then pull it out of the bottle in one continuous action.

By a strange quirk of fate, the copy of the book which arrived from Amazon’s used books service originally belonged to Gwinnett County Public Library in Lawrenceville, Georgia in the United States, and still has a security tag in the back. I can only assume it did not prove to be a popular item, and to use a librarian’s term was de-accessioned.

Broadcast your invention to the world

I was recently contacted by Roger Nettleford who I met at the Business Startup show at Olympia in last year.

He is the founder of www.uploadideas.com an online video business start up site which allows members of the public and entrepreneurs to broadcast their business ideas or inventions using a short video.

The site is still being developed but Roger believes that there are many people who have a great idea or invention but don’t have funds for marketing. He sees the site as YouTube meets Dragons Den, because potential investors are alerted once a video or webpage of interest is uploaded to a selected subject area. He sees this site as a catalyst for business start up assistance and innovation and expects to add ‘How to’ business advisory videos in the future.

Uploadideas

Goodbye to the CD-Walkman

I was having something of a mini-clear out over the holidays and came across two rather forlorn looking portable CD players. Neither of my kids expressed any interest or even recognition of these previously prized possessions. Actually my daughter did get excited at one point, but only when I revealed a long missing CD lurking within one of the players.

All of which made me realise just how quickly we have moved on from the orginal format of the cassette-walkman to the CD-walkman to the now ubiquitous MP3 player.

Although Amazon.co.uk still has lots to choose from, evidence is found on the Sony UK website which has just two current models of player to buy, compared to their 42 ‘previous’ players.

Sony CD Walkman

The end of the road for the portable CD-player?

When Things Start to Think by Neil Gershenfeld

This is one of my favourite non-fiction books which I reviewed when it came out but have updated.

When Things Start to Think by Neil Gershenfeld – 1999

When Things Start to Think coverThis amazing book by Neil Gershenfeld the director of the Center for Bits and Atoms at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was so futuristic when it was written in 1999 that we are still waiting for many of his predictions to come true.

The book was written while Gershenfeld was the co-director of the Things That Think project at the MIT Media Laboratory. Here he was exposed to futuristic technologies on a daily basis and so gained an insight into the world of technology to come.

For example if you think the current state of computing is pretty advanced, what about a computer in your shoe that can communicate intelligently with others ‘wired’ footwear when you pass by on the street? Or the printer which produces three dimensional ‘printouts’ which will be your personal desktop factory.

My favourite chapter concentrated on the future of the book (surely a topic close to many of our hearts). He describes an electronic book containing around twenty or so pages of digital paper ‘printed’ using computerised ink. The text and images can be refreshed from the inbuilt memory or downloaded from the internet. The pages are fixed on the page and don’t disappear when the power is turned off. The real challenge for the technologists is to produce a page that has the readability as existing printed text. Gershenfeld spends several pages detailing just what a fantastic medium the ‘old’ technology of the printed page is for acquiring information. A book can contain a vast amount of information, you can jump to any page almost instantly, your can read it in the poorest of light, it needs no power and it is remarkably cheap when produced in large volumes.

I like the way the books is written in a chatty non-technical style with lots of clear and simple explanations, which is a rare ability in a technologist. Also, despite having seen quantum leaps in computing in over the years Gershenfeld realises there is still a long way to go before computers can be regarded as intelligent. Humans shouldn’t have to adapt to computers – it should be the other way around. For instance does your computer even know when you are sitting in front of it, let alone what kind of mood you are in, or how hungry or tired your are.

However I believe that Gershenfeld does fall into the scientists traditional mistake of thinking that we will reach a kind of technological nirvana. He fails to note examples from history where scientific developments have been abused to the detriment of humankind. For example, on the one hand we have nuclear power and genetically engineered medicines but on the other nuclear bombs and chemical warfare.