The info below was posted by Reyland on the UIA Forum. We wonder if the UIA board members support and agree with this,or is it just a Reyland control issue again. We would think with all the inventor knowledge & research ability Reyland "claims" he has under his belt he would worry more about large inventor submission companies scamming inventors rather than the smaller companies that he claims are out to hurt inventors. Maybe he approached the companies to buy a corporate membership and they told him to go take a hike. Now he wants to threaten them.
Reyland just needs to mind his own business.
The inventing industry has many holes you can fall in on your journey. One such hole is the use of crowd sourcing sites. Those are sites that ask you to list your invention and allow others to comment or give you feedback.
Here are some things you should know about using these sites.
Other than the Terms & Conditions sections are often written in such a way that you forfit all, or a significant part of yoru rights to the owners of the site. There are 3 main reasons the UIA does not recommend you use them.
1. Posting your invention on a site like this is public disclosure and can cost you the opportunity to gain patent protection on your invention
2. Any person that makes any suggestion to your invention that you use, could later make a co-inventor claim against you
3. Many companies that license innovation refuse to work with a product that has been listed on these sites for both of the reasons listed above.
Please do not list your inventions or ideas on these sites.
Quirky
Ahhha
MomQuestion
Genius Crowds
These are just the few that we know about – if you run across these kind of sites please let us know so we can let others know.
As always, the UIA recommends that you consult a practicing attorney in your state before enrolling in any site or listing your invention
Saturday 30 April 2011
Friday 29 April 2011
The Inventor Planet Back Fires on Mark Reyland
The info below was posted on Edison Nation. When the forum members started to slap Mark Reyland down the entire thread was deleted. We figured that would happen so we copied the thread for others to view.
By Roger Brown
I like this blog post and thought others would get some great info and understanding from it. If you are going to continue to improve and maximize your successes you need to understand both sides of the street. Even if you never plan on walking on the other side of the street you still need to know what is there and how it operates. If for no other reason than to know what to avoid or be able to know if someone from that side of the street is giving you a good deal.
I often give talks about the Inventor Planet and the Business Planet. I thought it would be a good idea to do a series of blog entries on this subject since it provides a very strong image of where we as inventors live, where we need to go, and the problems that often face us on our journey.
This planetary relationship illustrates the dynamic between the two worlds that govern the innovation and commercialization of inventions. That is – they come from two separate planets with wildly different atmospheres. Our ultimate success is dependent on mastering each of these different atmospheres and crossing back and forth between them.
Let’s start by looking at both planets and how they differ.
As you may imagine, The Inventor’s Planet is a place with zero gravity. The inhabitants are free to jump about and do things that would be restrictive on any other planet.
On the inventor planet creativity is a raging river irrigating the creative needs of those around it. The sky is Blue, or Red, or Purple…or whatever your mind’s eye may see, and the air is filled with tenacity and hope. While the people spend their days harvesting the crop of invention planted months before from seeds of innovation.
All in all, the inventor planet is a happy creative place where anything goes and the limits are all in your mind – But don’t look for any money on the inventor planet, there is none. For that you have to go over to the Business planet.
The Business Planet is a much different place. It’s a happy place as well, but for different reasons. On the business planet there is a strong gravitational force that governs a set of rules ensuring everything runs efficiently. The gravitational pull of manufacturing, the gravitational pull of consumer wants, the gravitational pull of money, and even a gravitational force of luck. All work in synergy to ensure it all functions correctly.
On the business planet the mighty river of commerce flows swiftly as people constantly throw new things in and fish others out. The sky is a constant, but beautiful, emerald green, the air is full of hope and tenacity. While most nights you can stare into a star filled sky of profit waiting for the next day to arrive and offer a new opportunity.
Sure, there’s often a lack of creativity, and the sky is always the same color, but on the business planet it all works well to make sure everything functions within the gravitational limitations of the planet itself. It’s not a bad place at all – just a different place than the inventor planet.
So – how does one move between the Inventor Planet and the Business Planet? – On a bridge of course.
Inventors always seem to think the problem in our industry is the business planet. Envisioning gangs of thugs running around just waiting to jump out and mug the first inventor that happens by – Wild gangs, intent on stealing the inventor’s money, their ideas, and their dreams.
Yet people on the business planet look across the bridge and conger up visions of these creative trolls locked in their basements toiling away on ideas that most people don’t really want or need – A greedy bunch that puts far more value on their invention than the rest of us do, demanding to be treated better than others when they grace the business planet with their presence.
Are either really correct? Maybe in some cases both are correct, but how do we fix this overall mischaracterization people on both planets have of each other?
The key is education, and that’s where the bridge between the planets becomes so important – it represents the ability to educate ourselves.
The bridge is a span between two known worlds. Each planet having its own environment, its own risks, customs, even personality. By educating yourself about what you will find when you arrive, you dramatically increase your chances of fitting in when it comes time to make that trip. That entire process happens on the bridge.
You see, the bridge is constructed of knowledge – built from planks of information dried in the kiln of experience. Google, Books, CD’s, DVD’s… Blogs, Forums, Radio shows, Magazines, even simple Conversations are all planks on the bridge of knowledge.
Some inventors take years to cross the bridge, soaking up the knowledge on every plank. When they arrive at the other planet they are truly prepared and the result is that they are generally successful. Other inventors want to run across the bridge, they bypass all the really important planks and in record time they have reached the other planet. The result is predictable – they normally fail, walking back angry and dismayed ready to tell all of us about the roaming gangs of thieves, and lack of appreciation and understanding the other planet has for inventors.
The bridge built of education and best traveled slowly and with persistence. It is in fact, an exercise in personal responsibility and the success you have when you reach the other side is directly relevant to the amount of time you took to cross it.
When you do get to the end of the bridge – you may want to take a cab, but I’ll explain that next.
We know there are two planets, the Inventor Planet and the Business Planet. We know there is a bridge between them designed to get you ready for what to experience when you get to the other side. But what about navigating the many roads and being able to get from place to place?
When that time comes many inventors charge off with little more than desire and a sense of what they think they know is correct. Others – well they take a Cab.
Not a Cab in the sense of a bright yellow car, but a Cab in the sense of using someone more familiar with the area to do the navigation for you. In the inventing industry those “Cabs” are the group of service providers waiting at the foot of the bridge as you step off onto this planet you know little about.
Picture this – you are on a cruise and you walk down the gang plank into a beautiful little island port. Waiting for you are 3 Taxi drivers.
You don’t know it at the time, but one will take you directly to your destination and charge you a fair price to do it. The second will take you to your destination but in a rather long rout that racks up your bill a bit. He’s not directly stealing from you, but he knows you don’t have a good sense of where you are or where you are going so he bumps it a bit for his own advantage. The third Taxi, well he’s fully aware you are clueless about where you are and how to get where you’re going. So he promptly drives you around the island twelve times only to drop you off very close to where you started.
How do we keep this from happening? It’s simple – we get a map of the island before we get off the boat and use it to understand where we are and where we are going. If you had a map in the third Taxi you would have seen very quickly what the driver was doing. The same could be said for Taxi number one. A map would have shown you very quickly that you could trust this driver and each time you needed a ride from that point on you would have looked for him.
Working with service providers in the inventing industry is really no different. There are all three types of “Taxies” ready to greet you when you walk off that bridge onto the business planet – and with little effort and a few conversations they will know if you are holding a “map” of the process.
Don’t get me wrong, its fine to use service providers. Just understand while many are like Cab number one, there are some like Cabs two and three. You don’t know when you get in what Cab you have, but if you have done your homework and figured out where you need to be going and what the stops are along the way, you will quickly be able to tell which Cab you stepped into and if you should take the ride, or get out before you spend all your money.
By James Chapman
"Chappy75"
Are there identities that tie to reality what these cabs are.
By Greg Bruce
051263
Chappy I’m guessing E.N. would be an example of Cab #1 in Rogers analogy.
After ten years of learning the ropes (or planks) that built my bridge my most discouraging moments have come from being fleeced by a couple of charismatic experts from the business side. I think in Rogers lesson those are the #3 cabs but unfortunately they were lurking in the building of the bridge rather than waiting on the other side when I would have been more educated so I don’t feel the cab analogy works well for me, with all due respect.
I completely agree with the premise that we all have to wear the hat of a business person as well as an inventor. I suppose my difficulty comes in trying to find where the business people are wearing the hat of an inventor.
That’s where I see the great potential in being a part of E.N. I believe the suits are being held accountable to the inventor more so than ever before.
Vive la E.N.!
By James Chapman
"Chappy75"
After ten years of learning the ropes (or planks) that built my bridge my most discouraging moments have come from being fleeced by a couple of charismatic experts from the business side. I think in Rogers lesson those are the #3 cabs but unfortunately they were lurking in the building of the bridge rather than waiting on the other side when I would have been more educated so I don’t feel the cab analogy works well for me, with all due respect.
I completely agree with the premise that we all have to wear the hat of a business person as well as an inventor. I suppose my difficulty comes in trying to find where the business people are wearing the hat of an inventor.
That’s where I see the great potential in being a part of E.N. I believe the suits are being held accountable to the inventor more so than ever before.
Vive la E.N
Agreed!!! Viva La EN! I am totally on the side of educating yourself on both sides. In fact Manufacturing Methodologies, Quality Control, and Streemlined Manufacturing Techniques, I feel, should be in the normalized vocabulary of persons that wish to take serious stock in being an inventor. There are so many methods of manufacturing and forms of material tensil strength and flexibility and even repeatability and hardness. Does your product need to be made of aluminum, A-2 steel, Carbide, plastic? Does it need to be casted, stamped, molded or edm? How do you store units; how much will it cost? How do you package, ship and display your product? Who pays for what? How do you price it? What is the Return of investment and the return On investment? How are they expressed?
And then, on a whole different level is negotiation and contracts!
I mean, There are so many things from the business side that we should be knowledgeable on that only an education can provide. I just feel like cabs and bridges #1, #2 and #3 are a bit etherial and elementary. Thomas Edison would roll over from laughter.
Inventors have a different but beautiful way of looking at things. Institutional learning teaches business, if we were that we would be that. Why are we trying to learn the business side of things opposed to learning how to read market trends supply/demand, laws of replacement, regentrification, perpetuation of relativity, object oriented deductive reasoning, Bilattice Progression. These are principals that would help us to invent better. Business principals are “Low-hanging-fruit”, well documented and actually principals that would make the inventors knowledge behind a businessmans only because they are good at business and we are good at tapping into an energy they do not.
I feel if we were to transition the way we think to the business mentality we would then become more drones than creators. Furthermore, maliable terminology that can be transformed into any meaning whether correct or incorrect is detrimental to valuable progressive learning, “Cab1, cab2, cab3”
By Roger Brown
The issue is that in order to succeed you are better prepared if you know how both worlds work whether you want to be in that other world or not. I get emails from Inventors that are panicking because after getting rejection after rejetion they finally got a bite and know don’t kknow what to do next. Because they never bothered to even look for an example of a licensing contract to get a feel for what is in it and what they need to avoid.
I sat with an Inventor that had gotten a letter from the company saying they were interested in licensing his idea and wanted to talk with him on the phone. He was so nervous prior to the call he dailed and hung up four times. He was sweating and started hyperventilating. When he finally dialed and they answered he could not speak clear enough for them to know it was him and they hung up. This made him even more nervous and I thought I would need to dial 911 before this was over. We finally got them on the phone and I started talking for him and once he saw they were not going to reach through the phone and harm him he started talking. When we were done he was happy but so exhausted he could barely walk.
That is why I am pushing Inventors try and at least have a working understanding of the business side, especially since the business side is the one sending you the
By James Chapman
"Chappy75"
Gotcha! That could be hillarious… unless your the person that is having the panic attack. Then you wou say you just need guidance. The laughing would not be nice at that point. You’re just trying to give guidance, I get that.
Please understand how painful it is to read Cabs, planks and bridges. It is “Dumbing” the material down and it is not Dummy material. Sounds to me like he needed skills in Negotiations and Contracts. If he had the confidence of knowledge in how to read Contracts he would have less anxiety with the phone call. If he was scripted and knowledgeable on the first phone call and knew what to say he would not be nervous.
I would like to believe that most inventors have life experiences past the 7th grade. So an effective way to put it without me stepping on the thread is.
“Negotiations”
“1st phonecall”
The inventors journey to finding a company to pick up their ideas is one that has many disappointments along the way. After navigating the fields of opportunists, swindlers and tricksters on their own, inventors will come to thr realization that they cannot usually make the journey on their own.
On the first phonecall the potential company they will be looking for:
A) yadda
B) yadda
C) yadda
You may feel like… “The neurotic emotion”
I felt the same way when… “example”
But I have found… sucessful remedy
Roger, we like how real you are but that copy/paste etherial elementary gimmicky stuff that you have adopted up there is insulting. Believe me I want to participate in this conversation by asking questions, I know you have a lot of knowledge and the desire to share it. Just shoot straight and be real.
Love ya man
By Roger Brown
James can you explain this comment a little more? I am not sure what you are referring too.
“Roger, we like how real you are but that copy/paste etherial elementary gimmicky stuff that you have adopted up there is insulting
By Greg Bruce
051263
Pardon me for cutting in…Chappy, huh? : (-
By James Chapman
"Chappy75"
All right, I will explain but won’t end up dwelling on it.
It was obviously copy/pasted because I saw the exact same stuff posted before under somebody elses ID. The Men are from Mars and women are from Venus thing is played out. That was a marketing gimmick that was brilliant and served a populous and is a little played out. Just like Mars and Venus with love languages in between Nothing useful really came out of any of it. I know dozens of women that read that stuff and there are dozens of interpretations of the same material. It is common for things to be written vaguely, like horoscopes, that can have multiple meanings when the writer is not sure of where he or she wants to go with the material.
Really, Roger give no context to the words and tell me what it conveys. Invention is a creative science. If I told a business man “hey I know the things you do on you planet and I don’t know if your map can get me where I think I want to go”. They would not take me serious. If I said the a businessman “I understand that you want to make the most money possible and he shortest period of time but the plan you have causes me serious concern on many levels.” the conversation would begin to achieve something. That is the transition from Etherial to concrete.
You just had an exercise on delivering a pointed message in the fewest powerful words possible. How much shorter could that be and convey a powerful message.
Yes you adopted it from somewhere, you are not the original author.
Finally I think you would talk to a 5th grader like that or publish a Yellow “For Dummies” book written in that tonality… I find it to be insulting others may not but that is my honest opinion.
And there is a lot of love for you here. I personally have a ton of respect for what you bring and have accomplished. I want to learn from you for sure. I could not seriously get involved in that conversation though on without jabbing at the loose ends.
This is not Bridges and Cabs This is real life. Stay real, Stay Thirsty , Stay green!
That’s all
By James Chapman
"Chappy75"
Yeah Greg
Just read it back… Kinda confusing. It is a script or temporal pattern within a conversation. I didn’t set it off with any delimiters and it is confusing… No more than cabs and bridges though. I appologize
By Greg Bruce
051263
Phew…thanks for clearing that up Chappy. For a minute there I thought I was just a mere mortal ; )
By James Chapman
"Chappy75"
Oh no, dont get me wrong, You are mortal… There can only be one!
By Roger Brown
Chappy, if you look at the first sentence of this thread I stated “I like this blog post and thought others would get some great info and understanding from it.” I did not infer I wrote it, just that I liked it. It was posted earlier but was deleted for some reason, so I brought it back.
Analogies, fables, and other methods have been used for centuries as a teaching tool. So have various creative writing techniques. Granted I am not the original author of any of the above stated methods, but I will use any that I feel will help Inventors get the point.
Sorry you feel I am not using the proper caliber of language for my audience. I try and write in a manner that anyone wanting help can understand and not have to use a thesaurus and dictionary. Most Inventors are looking for a method to get their point across in a Sell Sheet, not write a technical journal
By James Chapman
"Chappy75"
Roger, I don’t want to dwell in this so it will be my last response on this topic because I want there to be an air of honor between us.
I know you weren’t the author and that is good news… You’re not responsible.
I know you like it because we are still talking about it but I liked the movie GIJoe and that doesn’t make it a good movie. Yes, GI Joe will offend some people.
Always challenge your audience! If they don’t understand WE SHOULD be looking it up or get left behind. That is the problem in todays educational system.
If we are writing sell sheets, then our immediate audience are business people. What are you saying about business people? Is that how we need to talk to them? LOL.
A thesaurus or dictionary should ALWAYS be handy. The highest and best method to recalibrate your diction is to become an etymology conisuer! Perhaps that is a bit overboard. Maybe a step below is common but if we don’t challenge those in our affiliation to rise then our immediate sociological environment may not be conducive to exponential growth. Wait, Wait… if those around us don’t feel challenged then they might find our conversation to be to simple.
If I am in a yellow cab with a blacked out number and I am trying to get to the green city and my breifcase is purple but the blue building is on the 4th block why did the businessman in the brown hat take my sky colored money and leave me on the third block for his businessman friend that just came from the foot of the bridge in cab # 2 to pick me up and tried to get paid upfront again?
Sometimes a straight-forward conversation is best…
Lets move past this and get on to something a little more progressive. We cannot talk over anybody’s head and if we do they will ask what was meant
By United Inventors Association
Mark Reyland
Well James, I did write it, and although it may not be your cup of tea I’ve been using it in talks for a long time and people do get a lot out of thinking of this industry in these terms.
This is an industry of many levels, and although your stile is to dazzle with words, for most inventors visual thinking is a very effective way of learning and analogies are a large part of relating to visual thinkers.
It’s a simple lesson in personal responsibility conveyed in a simple way – that’s
By James Chapman
Chappy75
Mark, you already have a reputation and it precedes you. You talk down to people, inventors in particular. This is your reputation and the subject material is presented as a level of communication that will not grow anybody. You and I both know that! The businessman is no more important than the inventor and your materialis designed to dumb people down. Just like Mars and Venus… I have attended many, many seminars. Never had a professional speak to a room full of respectable people like that.
Perhaps you don’t remember moments like this http://www.edisonnation.com/forums/other/topics.... It amazes me that you continue to haunt these hallowed halls of good people… Do you remember saying this http://markreylandemail.blogspot.com/?
You’re a businessman, what is “Goodwill”? Is it an asset or liability?
Did I dazzle you with my words?…lol You are only dazzled because you don’t really know who I am or how to approach me. How many id’s do you have still? That is premium example of how Businessmen really operate!
I declare this Myth Busted and Exposed!
Like I said, let’s move on and not dwell in this. This conversation is quite disheartening… I have another product and I am hesitant to submit. Just finished my dazzling write up…lol Goodnight sir
By United Inventors Association
Mark Reyland
Oh James – I know who you are, and I know who’s feeding you too
By Roger Brown
Chappy, there is another challenge going on here http://www.edisonnation.com/forums/other/topics/lesson-number-25-help-writing-your-description-and-advantage-for-the-searches it would be instructive to everyone there to see how you would write your entry.
By James Chapman
"Chappy75"
Thank you Mark, You have served your purpose... You are dismissed.
And the trollish businessman hisses before he slinks hurriedly back into the shadows with his briefcase and moneybelt inhand. The iron gate winds shut as mark is banished to the cage from which he originally emerged. Chappy throws Mark a raw steak and the once proud businessman exposes his razor sharp teeth and his forked tounge before he satisfies his blood thirst and devours the meat.
I hope the moderators will keep this post up!
This, my fellow inventors is a deceptive businessman that makes his money off selling goods because he cannot invent. Sad, But true! Not everybody has the gift of invention. I am very new to EN but I know that the first person who wants me to follow them when I enter any new crowd is not part of the crowd they are almost always the vultures of the crowd.
This interaction should be a perfect example of how the business world operates. See... the only way to get ahead in business is to make more money. They do not pay full price for anything and expect to negotiate; therefore they ALWAYS offer low and/or with conditions that are unfavorable so that we will negotiate the conditions and give out on the price.
This is where "Contracts and Negotiations" comes in. Reading the fine print and being prepared to walk away but also knowing what our realistic value is and taking the right deal. That is not "Contracts and Negotiations" that is "Market Analysis", "Due Diligence" and a "Business Plan". I do not have a book and am not writing a book. I will never sell anything on this site and niether should anybody else.
Pay attention to your inventions and be passionate about them. Deliver focused submissions or modify. This is but the beginning of this journey and if we identify and protect these forums EN has only the monumentus task of figuring out how to make money out of our genious. We are a team and EN is the business side... They understand what the business world wants.
This is what I think I know now but it is subject to change. Be suspicious of everything and everybody but always stay cool.
Stay Thirsty, Stay Green!
It's pretty obvious the Edison Nation forum members are dedicated to Louis Foreman and Company. Mark Reyland has been out to damage Edison Nation for a few years. The members are finally standing up to him to protect their turf .
By Roger Brown
I like this blog post and thought others would get some great info and understanding from it. If you are going to continue to improve and maximize your successes you need to understand both sides of the street. Even if you never plan on walking on the other side of the street you still need to know what is there and how it operates. If for no other reason than to know what to avoid or be able to know if someone from that side of the street is giving you a good deal.
I often give talks about the Inventor Planet and the Business Planet. I thought it would be a good idea to do a series of blog entries on this subject since it provides a very strong image of where we as inventors live, where we need to go, and the problems that often face us on our journey.
This planetary relationship illustrates the dynamic between the two worlds that govern the innovation and commercialization of inventions. That is – they come from two separate planets with wildly different atmospheres. Our ultimate success is dependent on mastering each of these different atmospheres and crossing back and forth between them.
Let’s start by looking at both planets and how they differ.
As you may imagine, The Inventor’s Planet is a place with zero gravity. The inhabitants are free to jump about and do things that would be restrictive on any other planet.
On the inventor planet creativity is a raging river irrigating the creative needs of those around it. The sky is Blue, or Red, or Purple…or whatever your mind’s eye may see, and the air is filled with tenacity and hope. While the people spend their days harvesting the crop of invention planted months before from seeds of innovation.
All in all, the inventor planet is a happy creative place where anything goes and the limits are all in your mind – But don’t look for any money on the inventor planet, there is none. For that you have to go over to the Business planet.
The Business Planet is a much different place. It’s a happy place as well, but for different reasons. On the business planet there is a strong gravitational force that governs a set of rules ensuring everything runs efficiently. The gravitational pull of manufacturing, the gravitational pull of consumer wants, the gravitational pull of money, and even a gravitational force of luck. All work in synergy to ensure it all functions correctly.
On the business planet the mighty river of commerce flows swiftly as people constantly throw new things in and fish others out. The sky is a constant, but beautiful, emerald green, the air is full of hope and tenacity. While most nights you can stare into a star filled sky of profit waiting for the next day to arrive and offer a new opportunity.
Sure, there’s often a lack of creativity, and the sky is always the same color, but on the business planet it all works well to make sure everything functions within the gravitational limitations of the planet itself. It’s not a bad place at all – just a different place than the inventor planet.
So – how does one move between the Inventor Planet and the Business Planet? – On a bridge of course.
Inventors always seem to think the problem in our industry is the business planet. Envisioning gangs of thugs running around just waiting to jump out and mug the first inventor that happens by – Wild gangs, intent on stealing the inventor’s money, their ideas, and their dreams.
Yet people on the business planet look across the bridge and conger up visions of these creative trolls locked in their basements toiling away on ideas that most people don’t really want or need – A greedy bunch that puts far more value on their invention than the rest of us do, demanding to be treated better than others when they grace the business planet with their presence.
Are either really correct? Maybe in some cases both are correct, but how do we fix this overall mischaracterization people on both planets have of each other?
The key is education, and that’s where the bridge between the planets becomes so important – it represents the ability to educate ourselves.
The bridge is a span between two known worlds. Each planet having its own environment, its own risks, customs, even personality. By educating yourself about what you will find when you arrive, you dramatically increase your chances of fitting in when it comes time to make that trip. That entire process happens on the bridge.
You see, the bridge is constructed of knowledge – built from planks of information dried in the kiln of experience. Google, Books, CD’s, DVD’s… Blogs, Forums, Radio shows, Magazines, even simple Conversations are all planks on the bridge of knowledge.
Some inventors take years to cross the bridge, soaking up the knowledge on every plank. When they arrive at the other planet they are truly prepared and the result is that they are generally successful. Other inventors want to run across the bridge, they bypass all the really important planks and in record time they have reached the other planet. The result is predictable – they normally fail, walking back angry and dismayed ready to tell all of us about the roaming gangs of thieves, and lack of appreciation and understanding the other planet has for inventors.
The bridge built of education and best traveled slowly and with persistence. It is in fact, an exercise in personal responsibility and the success you have when you reach the other side is directly relevant to the amount of time you took to cross it.
When you do get to the end of the bridge – you may want to take a cab, but I’ll explain that next.
We know there are two planets, the Inventor Planet and the Business Planet. We know there is a bridge between them designed to get you ready for what to experience when you get to the other side. But what about navigating the many roads and being able to get from place to place?
When that time comes many inventors charge off with little more than desire and a sense of what they think they know is correct. Others – well they take a Cab.
Not a Cab in the sense of a bright yellow car, but a Cab in the sense of using someone more familiar with the area to do the navigation for you. In the inventing industry those “Cabs” are the group of service providers waiting at the foot of the bridge as you step off onto this planet you know little about.
Picture this – you are on a cruise and you walk down the gang plank into a beautiful little island port. Waiting for you are 3 Taxi drivers.
You don’t know it at the time, but one will take you directly to your destination and charge you a fair price to do it. The second will take you to your destination but in a rather long rout that racks up your bill a bit. He’s not directly stealing from you, but he knows you don’t have a good sense of where you are or where you are going so he bumps it a bit for his own advantage. The third Taxi, well he’s fully aware you are clueless about where you are and how to get where you’re going. So he promptly drives you around the island twelve times only to drop you off very close to where you started.
How do we keep this from happening? It’s simple – we get a map of the island before we get off the boat and use it to understand where we are and where we are going. If you had a map in the third Taxi you would have seen very quickly what the driver was doing. The same could be said for Taxi number one. A map would have shown you very quickly that you could trust this driver and each time you needed a ride from that point on you would have looked for him.
Working with service providers in the inventing industry is really no different. There are all three types of “Taxies” ready to greet you when you walk off that bridge onto the business planet – and with little effort and a few conversations they will know if you are holding a “map” of the process.
Don’t get me wrong, its fine to use service providers. Just understand while many are like Cab number one, there are some like Cabs two and three. You don’t know when you get in what Cab you have, but if you have done your homework and figured out where you need to be going and what the stops are along the way, you will quickly be able to tell which Cab you stepped into and if you should take the ride, or get out before you spend all your money.
By James Chapman
"Chappy75"
Are there identities that tie to reality what these cabs are.
By Greg Bruce
051263
Chappy I’m guessing E.N. would be an example of Cab #1 in Rogers analogy.
After ten years of learning the ropes (or planks) that built my bridge my most discouraging moments have come from being fleeced by a couple of charismatic experts from the business side. I think in Rogers lesson those are the #3 cabs but unfortunately they were lurking in the building of the bridge rather than waiting on the other side when I would have been more educated so I don’t feel the cab analogy works well for me, with all due respect.
I completely agree with the premise that we all have to wear the hat of a business person as well as an inventor. I suppose my difficulty comes in trying to find where the business people are wearing the hat of an inventor.
That’s where I see the great potential in being a part of E.N. I believe the suits are being held accountable to the inventor more so than ever before.
Vive la E.N.!
By James Chapman
"Chappy75"
After ten years of learning the ropes (or planks) that built my bridge my most discouraging moments have come from being fleeced by a couple of charismatic experts from the business side. I think in Rogers lesson those are the #3 cabs but unfortunately they were lurking in the building of the bridge rather than waiting on the other side when I would have been more educated so I don’t feel the cab analogy works well for me, with all due respect.
I completely agree with the premise that we all have to wear the hat of a business person as well as an inventor. I suppose my difficulty comes in trying to find where the business people are wearing the hat of an inventor.
That’s where I see the great potential in being a part of E.N. I believe the suits are being held accountable to the inventor more so than ever before.
Vive la E.N
Agreed!!! Viva La EN! I am totally on the side of educating yourself on both sides. In fact Manufacturing Methodologies, Quality Control, and Streemlined Manufacturing Techniques, I feel, should be in the normalized vocabulary of persons that wish to take serious stock in being an inventor. There are so many methods of manufacturing and forms of material tensil strength and flexibility and even repeatability and hardness. Does your product need to be made of aluminum, A-2 steel, Carbide, plastic? Does it need to be casted, stamped, molded or edm? How do you store units; how much will it cost? How do you package, ship and display your product? Who pays for what? How do you price it? What is the Return of investment and the return On investment? How are they expressed?
And then, on a whole different level is negotiation and contracts!
I mean, There are so many things from the business side that we should be knowledgeable on that only an education can provide. I just feel like cabs and bridges #1, #2 and #3 are a bit etherial and elementary. Thomas Edison would roll over from laughter.
Inventors have a different but beautiful way of looking at things. Institutional learning teaches business, if we were that we would be that. Why are we trying to learn the business side of things opposed to learning how to read market trends supply/demand, laws of replacement, regentrification, perpetuation of relativity, object oriented deductive reasoning, Bilattice Progression. These are principals that would help us to invent better. Business principals are “Low-hanging-fruit”, well documented and actually principals that would make the inventors knowledge behind a businessmans only because they are good at business and we are good at tapping into an energy they do not.
I feel if we were to transition the way we think to the business mentality we would then become more drones than creators. Furthermore, maliable terminology that can be transformed into any meaning whether correct or incorrect is detrimental to valuable progressive learning, “Cab1, cab2, cab3”
By Roger Brown
The issue is that in order to succeed you are better prepared if you know how both worlds work whether you want to be in that other world or not. I get emails from Inventors that are panicking because after getting rejection after rejetion they finally got a bite and know don’t kknow what to do next. Because they never bothered to even look for an example of a licensing contract to get a feel for what is in it and what they need to avoid.
I sat with an Inventor that had gotten a letter from the company saying they were interested in licensing his idea and wanted to talk with him on the phone. He was so nervous prior to the call he dailed and hung up four times. He was sweating and started hyperventilating. When he finally dialed and they answered he could not speak clear enough for them to know it was him and they hung up. This made him even more nervous and I thought I would need to dial 911 before this was over. We finally got them on the phone and I started talking for him and once he saw they were not going to reach through the phone and harm him he started talking. When we were done he was happy but so exhausted he could barely walk.
That is why I am pushing Inventors try and at least have a working understanding of the business side, especially since the business side is the one sending you the
By James Chapman
"Chappy75"
Gotcha! That could be hillarious… unless your the person that is having the panic attack. Then you wou say you just need guidance. The laughing would not be nice at that point. You’re just trying to give guidance, I get that.
Please understand how painful it is to read Cabs, planks and bridges. It is “Dumbing” the material down and it is not Dummy material. Sounds to me like he needed skills in Negotiations and Contracts. If he had the confidence of knowledge in how to read Contracts he would have less anxiety with the phone call. If he was scripted and knowledgeable on the first phone call and knew what to say he would not be nervous.
I would like to believe that most inventors have life experiences past the 7th grade. So an effective way to put it without me stepping on the thread is.
“Negotiations”
“1st phonecall”
The inventors journey to finding a company to pick up their ideas is one that has many disappointments along the way. After navigating the fields of opportunists, swindlers and tricksters on their own, inventors will come to thr realization that they cannot usually make the journey on their own.
On the first phonecall the potential company they will be looking for:
A) yadda
B) yadda
C) yadda
You may feel like… “The neurotic emotion”
I felt the same way when… “example”
But I have found… sucessful remedy
Roger, we like how real you are but that copy/paste etherial elementary gimmicky stuff that you have adopted up there is insulting. Believe me I want to participate in this conversation by asking questions, I know you have a lot of knowledge and the desire to share it. Just shoot straight and be real.
Love ya man
By Roger Brown
James can you explain this comment a little more? I am not sure what you are referring too.
“Roger, we like how real you are but that copy/paste etherial elementary gimmicky stuff that you have adopted up there is insulting
By Greg Bruce
051263
Pardon me for cutting in…Chappy, huh? : (-
By James Chapman
"Chappy75"
All right, I will explain but won’t end up dwelling on it.
It was obviously copy/pasted because I saw the exact same stuff posted before under somebody elses ID. The Men are from Mars and women are from Venus thing is played out. That was a marketing gimmick that was brilliant and served a populous and is a little played out. Just like Mars and Venus with love languages in between Nothing useful really came out of any of it. I know dozens of women that read that stuff and there are dozens of interpretations of the same material. It is common for things to be written vaguely, like horoscopes, that can have multiple meanings when the writer is not sure of where he or she wants to go with the material.
Really, Roger give no context to the words and tell me what it conveys. Invention is a creative science. If I told a business man “hey I know the things you do on you planet and I don’t know if your map can get me where I think I want to go”. They would not take me serious. If I said the a businessman “I understand that you want to make the most money possible and he shortest period of time but the plan you have causes me serious concern on many levels.” the conversation would begin to achieve something. That is the transition from Etherial to concrete.
You just had an exercise on delivering a pointed message in the fewest powerful words possible. How much shorter could that be and convey a powerful message.
Yes you adopted it from somewhere, you are not the original author.
Finally I think you would talk to a 5th grader like that or publish a Yellow “For Dummies” book written in that tonality… I find it to be insulting others may not but that is my honest opinion.
And there is a lot of love for you here. I personally have a ton of respect for what you bring and have accomplished. I want to learn from you for sure. I could not seriously get involved in that conversation though on without jabbing at the loose ends.
This is not Bridges and Cabs This is real life. Stay real, Stay Thirsty , Stay green!
That’s all
By James Chapman
"Chappy75"
Yeah Greg
Just read it back… Kinda confusing. It is a script or temporal pattern within a conversation. I didn’t set it off with any delimiters and it is confusing… No more than cabs and bridges though. I appologize
By Greg Bruce
051263
Phew…thanks for clearing that up Chappy. For a minute there I thought I was just a mere mortal ; )
By James Chapman
"Chappy75"
Oh no, dont get me wrong, You are mortal… There can only be one!
By Roger Brown
Chappy, if you look at the first sentence of this thread I stated “I like this blog post and thought others would get some great info and understanding from it.” I did not infer I wrote it, just that I liked it. It was posted earlier but was deleted for some reason, so I brought it back.
Analogies, fables, and other methods have been used for centuries as a teaching tool. So have various creative writing techniques. Granted I am not the original author of any of the above stated methods, but I will use any that I feel will help Inventors get the point.
Sorry you feel I am not using the proper caliber of language for my audience. I try and write in a manner that anyone wanting help can understand and not have to use a thesaurus and dictionary. Most Inventors are looking for a method to get their point across in a Sell Sheet, not write a technical journal
By James Chapman
"Chappy75"
Roger, I don’t want to dwell in this so it will be my last response on this topic because I want there to be an air of honor between us.
I know you weren’t the author and that is good news… You’re not responsible.
I know you like it because we are still talking about it but I liked the movie GIJoe and that doesn’t make it a good movie. Yes, GI Joe will offend some people.
Always challenge your audience! If they don’t understand WE SHOULD be looking it up or get left behind. That is the problem in todays educational system.
If we are writing sell sheets, then our immediate audience are business people. What are you saying about business people? Is that how we need to talk to them? LOL.
A thesaurus or dictionary should ALWAYS be handy. The highest and best method to recalibrate your diction is to become an etymology conisuer! Perhaps that is a bit overboard. Maybe a step below is common but if we don’t challenge those in our affiliation to rise then our immediate sociological environment may not be conducive to exponential growth. Wait, Wait… if those around us don’t feel challenged then they might find our conversation to be to simple.
If I am in a yellow cab with a blacked out number and I am trying to get to the green city and my breifcase is purple but the blue building is on the 4th block why did the businessman in the brown hat take my sky colored money and leave me on the third block for his businessman friend that just came from the foot of the bridge in cab # 2 to pick me up and tried to get paid upfront again?
Sometimes a straight-forward conversation is best…
Lets move past this and get on to something a little more progressive. We cannot talk over anybody’s head and if we do they will ask what was meant
By United Inventors Association
Mark Reyland
Well James, I did write it, and although it may not be your cup of tea I’ve been using it in talks for a long time and people do get a lot out of thinking of this industry in these terms.
This is an industry of many levels, and although your stile is to dazzle with words, for most inventors visual thinking is a very effective way of learning and analogies are a large part of relating to visual thinkers.
It’s a simple lesson in personal responsibility conveyed in a simple way – that’s
By James Chapman
Chappy75
Mark, you already have a reputation and it precedes you. You talk down to people, inventors in particular. This is your reputation and the subject material is presented as a level of communication that will not grow anybody. You and I both know that! The businessman is no more important than the inventor and your materialis designed to dumb people down. Just like Mars and Venus… I have attended many, many seminars. Never had a professional speak to a room full of respectable people like that.
Perhaps you don’t remember moments like this http://www.edisonnation.com/forums/other/topics.... It amazes me that you continue to haunt these hallowed halls of good people… Do you remember saying this http://markreylandemail.blogspot.com/?
You’re a businessman, what is “Goodwill”? Is it an asset or liability?
Did I dazzle you with my words?…lol You are only dazzled because you don’t really know who I am or how to approach me. How many id’s do you have still? That is premium example of how Businessmen really operate!
I declare this Myth Busted and Exposed!
Like I said, let’s move on and not dwell in this. This conversation is quite disheartening… I have another product and I am hesitant to submit. Just finished my dazzling write up…lol Goodnight sir
By United Inventors Association
Mark Reyland
Oh James – I know who you are, and I know who’s feeding you too
By Roger Brown
Chappy, there is another challenge going on here http://www.edisonnation.com/forums/other/topics/lesson-number-25-help-writing-your-description-and-advantage-for-the-searches it would be instructive to everyone there to see how you would write your entry.
By James Chapman
"Chappy75"
Thank you Mark, You have served your purpose... You are dismissed.
And the trollish businessman hisses before he slinks hurriedly back into the shadows with his briefcase and moneybelt inhand. The iron gate winds shut as mark is banished to the cage from which he originally emerged. Chappy throws Mark a raw steak and the once proud businessman exposes his razor sharp teeth and his forked tounge before he satisfies his blood thirst and devours the meat.
I hope the moderators will keep this post up!
This, my fellow inventors is a deceptive businessman that makes his money off selling goods because he cannot invent. Sad, But true! Not everybody has the gift of invention. I am very new to EN but I know that the first person who wants me to follow them when I enter any new crowd is not part of the crowd they are almost always the vultures of the crowd.
This interaction should be a perfect example of how the business world operates. See... the only way to get ahead in business is to make more money. They do not pay full price for anything and expect to negotiate; therefore they ALWAYS offer low and/or with conditions that are unfavorable so that we will negotiate the conditions and give out on the price.
This is where "Contracts and Negotiations" comes in. Reading the fine print and being prepared to walk away but also knowing what our realistic value is and taking the right deal. That is not "Contracts and Negotiations" that is "Market Analysis", "Due Diligence" and a "Business Plan". I do not have a book and am not writing a book. I will never sell anything on this site and niether should anybody else.
Pay attention to your inventions and be passionate about them. Deliver focused submissions or modify. This is but the beginning of this journey and if we identify and protect these forums EN has only the monumentus task of figuring out how to make money out of our genious. We are a team and EN is the business side... They understand what the business world wants.
This is what I think I know now but it is subject to change. Be suspicious of everything and everybody but always stay cool.
Stay Thirsty, Stay Green!
It's pretty obvious the Edison Nation forum members are dedicated to Louis Foreman and Company. Mark Reyland has been out to damage Edison Nation for a few years. The members are finally standing up to him to protect their turf .
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