Changing the World
Changing the world is not an easy thing to do by any stretch of the imagination. The goal of changing the world is one that has been historically repeated by those who have accomplished it, and blatantly ignored by those who have failed. If you want to make an impact - a real impact - there can be only one goal and you can never waver from it.There is a difference between wanting to get rich and wanting to change the world. There are a lot of ways to get rich. Rich is also a relative term. Plenty of people have opted to stop or slow their efforts before they achieved maximum impact because money got in the way. Changing the world is not a way to make money, although you can make a great deal of it if you are paying attention on your journey.
Think Outside the Box
Thinking outside the box is a given for innovators, but so many innovators have come up with brilliant ideas and have seriously suffered by trying to push their innovations through already paved roads.If you seek venture capital conventionally, you have lost before you started. The only reason you should seek outside capital at all is if you already have a profitable venture to begin with and you are looking to expand it beyond your own internal capabilities.
I don't care if you've created a brilliant piece of software, invented a new product, or developed a business plan to attack an emerging market - seeking external investment will kill your idea before it has a chance to be realized.
Think outside the box. If you don't have money for manufacturing, how can you get your product manufactured without spending any money? If you don't have money for distribution, how do you distribute without spending any money? If you don't have the contacts to pitch your invention, how can you make the contacts?
You have to take what you inherently know and turn it upside down. You have to analyze convention and attack convention's flaws. Make up for what you don't have in capital through ingenuity.
Be Determined
You aren't going to get a shot at pitching your product to the design team at Ford Motorcars - you probably won't get past a secretary. So how do you go about getting your new time-shifting radio installed in every Mustang? Relentless Determination.Find out who is on the design team using whatever means necessary. Figure out everything you can about the tiny demographic you need to attack. Get highlighted on a small time radio show they might be listening to during their commute. Get noticed on a web site they might frequent. Meet the people they do come in contact with and get them to arrange a meeting.
Be prepared with a 30 second pitch, a 5 minute pitch, a 30 minute pitch, and a 2 hour pitch on a moment's notice. Have all of the answers - from a technical perspective, a business perspective, and a spiritual perspective. Know who the potential manufacturers are and how they would fit into the Ford business cycle. Analyze their current profit points and show how your new product is going to improve their bottom line.
Be determined to make the contacts you see as key in your goal to change the world. Know your shit more than anybody who has ever pitched to them. Make it so that it is not a choice to follow your theology, but a detrimental decision not to.
Lay out your goals. You want a commitment from every contact you make. Achieve that commitment. Don't over-estimate the people across the table. Don't feed people information they don't need to know. If they aren't decision makers, give them just enough information for them to commit to putting you in contact with the decision makers.
Plan for failure. If you can't get in the front door, head for the side door. Side door closed, go in the back door. If all entrances are closed to your concept, and there is no way to open one - find a different customer. If there is only one customer for your idea, or one contact that can move it forward, you are doomed before you even start.
Innovate
There is a fine line between engineering and innovation. At some point, you are going to have to explain, in detail, your idea to somebody that you should not trust. If your project is not dependent on you for success, your idea will be taken from you without compensation. I don't care if it is patented and you have signed contracts from everyone you talk to. If it is easy to reproduce you are not a necessary part of the equation. If you aren't necessary, you will lose your place in the driver's seat.The key to protection is innovation. Innovate in every aspect of what you are doing - from your original idea to your business plan to your vision of the future. Be fluid and exercise your mind. Don't be 10 steps ahead of the people around you, be 2 decades ahead.
Make it impossible to ignore your own value.
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