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I remember reading about some guy a while back who's made a fortune by actually selling businesses his ideas...the ones that come to mind are gift ideas sold to

by walterk 19y ago

I remember reading about some guy a while back who's made a fortune by actually selling businesses his ideas...the ones that come to mind are gift ideas sold to Hallmark, and something about increasing label space on bottles of things like aspirin. At any rate, I'm really not looking for entrepreneur macho speak, e.g. "Ideas are NOTHING! Execution is EVERYTHING! This is SPARTA!!!!" I just want practical advice on what to do. Not worrying about it and pushing forward regardless is one option which I'm giving strong consideration to. But I'd also like to know what sort of legal and other options I can pursue, if I ought to be making any preparations, etc. You know, when you start renting a place, it's always a good idea to take photographs of it in case there's a dispute later over the condition of the property. Something along those lines.

chaostheory 19y ago
"some guy a while back who's made a fortune by actually selling businesses his ideas... and something about increasing label space on bottles of things like aspirin" that's a little misleading. yes that guy has tons simple ideas like that - but he did execute and it wasn't easy. He filed tons of provisional patents (cheaper than full blown patents - but not cheap on time or money) and he's on the phone 12 hours a day. Not to mention, he's a master networker. "it's always a good idea to take photographs of it in case there's a dispute later over the condition of the property." Unless you've already filed a patent or made him sign an NDA before hand... I could be wrong but there's really nothing big u can do.
- walterk 19y ago
  Correct. Although often execution in his case meant setting up proper terms for a deal and/or having a very minimal prototyping phase, as I recall. For folks like us, "execution" means considerably more than that. We actually have to develop the full blown product, whereas that was something he very intentionally shied away from doing.
  - chaostheory 19y ago
    well like i said before if your idea isn't simple to duplicate why worry? if it is simple to duplicate (like say twitter) you should assume that you already have competitors and just focus on out gunning them "having a very minimal prototyping phase" well developing good relationships can take longer than prototyping a product Can you even tell us what the idea is? If not this is just a re-hash of the idea vs execution debate.
mixmax 19y ago
I have heard many of the stories of someone that got rich off an idea, but when I have researched them I have always found that either it was an urban myth, or else it was some guy selling something that he had spent ten years in his basement perfecting. If you have sources I'd love to see them. Oh, and I wasnt trying to ignite the whole idea vs. execution debate, hope it didn't sound too much like it. It's just that I have never verifiably heard about someone making good money off an idea, and so I thought it would be interesting to put forth the challenge.

by walterk 19y ago

chaostheory 19y ago

"some guy a while back who's made a fortune by actually selling businesses his ideas... and something about increasing label space on bottles of things like aspirin" that's a little misleading. yes that guy has tons simple ideas like that - but he did execute and it wasn't easy. He filed tons of provisional patents (cheaper than full blown patents - but not cheap on time or money) and he's on the phone 12 hours a day. Not to mention, he's a master networker. "it's always a good idea to take photographs of it in case there's a dispute later over the condition of the property." Unless you've already filed a patent or made him sign an NDA before hand... I could be wrong but there's really nothing big u can do.

walterk 19y ago
Correct. Although often execution in his case meant setting up proper terms for a deal and/or having a very minimal prototyping phase, as I recall. For folks like us, "execution" means considerably more than that. We actually have to develop the full blown product, whereas that was something he very intentionally shied away from doing.
- chaostheory 19y ago
  well like i said before if your idea isn't simple to duplicate why worry? if it is simple to duplicate (like say twitter) you should assume that you already have competitors and just focus on out gunning them "having a very minimal prototyping phase" well developing good relationships can take longer than prototyping a product Can you even tell us what the idea is? If not this is just a re-hash of the idea vs execution debate.

mixmax 19y ago

I have heard many of the stories of someone that got rich off an idea, but when I have researched them I have always found that either it was an urban myth, or else it was some guy selling something that he had spent ten years in his basement perfecting. If you have sources I'd love to see them. Oh, and I wasnt trying to ignite the whole idea vs. execution debate, hope it didn't sound too much like it. It's just that I have never verifiably heard about someone making good money off an idea, and so I thought it would be interesting to put forth the challenge.