11 replies to this topic

[Mark Parchezzi III]

I have a shitload of ideas for inventions but have virtually NO capital, not even enough to fabricate a rough prototype of even the simplest of my inventions, I'm just that f*ck*ng poor.
I'm a bit of an artist, so I can at least draw some of these ideas on graph paper but that's as far as I can go with making these ideas a reality.
I really do want to make some money from my ideas however I don't want to sell my butthole on the streets for $20 a pop just to pony up the cash to make it happen.
Any advice? Your input is appreciated.

[Mad Max]

Have you thought about using Kickstarter?

[Mark Parchezzi III]

"Kickstarter" Hmm, never heard of it, will definitely look into it. Thanks
OK, just gave it a quick look from the link you provided. Looks very promising. At least ONE of my ideas should be a good fit for the program. Thanks.

Edited by Mark Parchezzi III, 09 June 2012 - 08:09 PM.

[Mad Max]

I just found this on its Project Guidelines page:

“Kickstarter requires additional information from Design and Technology projects so backers can make informed decisions about the projects they support. These requirements include detailed information about the creator’s background and experience, a manufacturing plan (for hardware projects), and a functional prototype.”

[Mark Parchezzi III]

Awesome! Tonite I guess I'll mull over my various invention ideas and elect which ones will be my top priority for submission and development.
I'm tired of being poor...
Thanks.

[JaRDoS]

The main problem with Kickstarter and other crowd sourcing is that you need to bring a crowd or have a product that so mind blowing people will get you a crowd.

Since you say fabricate a prototype I assume your inventions are real world mechanical devices?

[Mark Parchezzi III]

I wouldn't say "mechanical" exactly, however they are indeed real-world items that would make some people's lives slightly less complicated.

[Captain Steve]

As a fan of copyright/patent law; I advise you to tread carefully and ensure that whatever it is you're making is quite dissimilar to anything already out there. Companies (like Apple; they're the biggest dicks in this, though by no means the only) tend to love to offer people legal protection from being sued by them in exchange for allowing them to license your patent for free. And seeing as how they have billions already invested in production and marketing; they're basically going to crush whatever it is you have. So even if you have an original idea, it may infringe on one of their patents with absolutely no intention of doing so. It's not your fault; they write them in such broad terms and hire teams of lawyers specifically for crushing competition.

Just be warned; if have an improvement on something already existing, there's a really good chance it's going to end up with a ultimatum of "give it to us for free or be sued into oblivion." The patent system is broken.

[Jootboo]

from watching a lot of Dragon's Den I'd say..hopefully it's something that you can patent? If its an idea that anyone can do, then once the idea is out there there's nothing to stop bigger companies doing it and putting you in the shade because of their networks/marketing/resources

Edited by Jootboo, 10 June 2012 - 05:42 AM.

[Dark Sider]

What sort of scale of funding are you looking for anyway? Can you not go to a bank and ask for a loan/overdraft/credit? You could try to get a small, modest sum enough to make a simple protype and then use that to propel your kickstarter funding.

[prank munkey]

See if there's a local community of Makers nearby, they're usually friendly people who get fired up about making cool things (just for the joy of it) and might help you or have access to kit that can be used to fabricate your prototypes.

I know there is a maker/hack group with a free-to-use space in London, for instance. A couple of people I know have been along to it.

You could also get your hands on some free/open source 3D modelling software and model your prototypes. Once you have that you might be able to find somebody local with a 3D printer, or use a service like Shapeways.

Another good place to try and insert yourself is an art college, they will very likely have workshops and good kit for making things of all sorts. Obviously enrolling for classes would be the easiest way in, but you can probably make friends and get access.

[Salty]

Soooo.... what're ya inventin?