5 Impressive Kidpreneurs Who Created Successful Products

Who says you have to be a certain age to come up with a one of a kind idea? Just because someone’s under the age of 18 doesn’t mean they don’t have an agile imagination that can create products that the adult world may never have been able to devise on their own.

We’ve taken a look around the business world of the past couple of years and found some truly great innovators who often aren’t old enough to vote or drive, but who saw a need or problem in the marketplace and leapt in to fill it. Here are some great “kidpreneurs” and the inventions or innovations they came up with.

Isabelle May, Charming Wine Charms

This is a great example of inventiveness AND perseverance. The 12-year-old May tried one entrepreneurial idea and failed: Selling flip-flops during the winter. But rather than give up, she persisted, coming with Charming Wine Charms, a series of charms that an adult can add to a bracelet to keep track of how many drinks they’ve had. Every time you grab a drink, you simply add another charm to your bracelet.

It’s not only a novel idea, but one that helps us grownups act a little more responsibly while being fashionable at the same time.

Kia‘i Tallett, Pixsea Handmade

Kia‘I got her start early, learning how to knit caps at the age of 5. But she waited a bit longer to come up with her successful product line; the age of 11 to be exact.

Operating under the name Pixsea Handmade, Tallett still knits a lot of hats, but she also creates custom felt flowers, resin rings and knitted cuffs, all made to order from her home in Hawaii. She started out with a simple Etsy site (created by her mother), but she’s expanded significantly since then, learning how to expertly knit all sorts of accessories.

Taylor Rosenthal, RecMed First Aid Kits

Taylor is practically an old man compared to the other innovators on our list so far; he’s 15. But his creation is perhaps the most important one here. His idea is one that seems so simple when you think about it, but no one else had: A vending machine that sells first-aid kits. And this was not an idea that took long to catch on. The Six Flags family of amusement parks is already using his RecMed idea, with hundreds of orders for more kits coming in over the last few months.

Mercer Henderson, Audiots and FriendIts

Mercer’s app game is so strong that, at the age of 14, she’s created two successful ones. The first app, Audiots, allows people to add sound effects to their emojis, another idea that seems so obvious when you think about it: Why not give those adorable faces and symbols some sounds to make?

And her other apps, Friendits, allows people to lend, trade and match outfits and accessories to create the perfect ensemble. Given her rapid pace, we can only guess what fun and groundbreaking app ideas that Mercer is going to come up with next.

Rachel Zietz, Gladiator Lacrosse

Rachel is a 16-year-old who’s a great example of a problem-solver. A longtime lacrosse fan and player, she noticed a while back that the cost and quality of lacrosse equipment for younger players tended to fall into two categories: low-quality and too expensive. She solved both of those problems with her Gladiator line, getting in touch with manufacturers from China and American retailers and creating a line of top-quality equipment meant for younger players that could take a beating and stay in great shape, for a much lower cost than most high-end lacrosse gear.

Finding out about these young inventors and innovators is an inspiring process for us, and it reminds us that with a little help and a little spirit of invention, anyone can create a great new product or service. Find out how Pivot International can help you design your own game-changing invention.

5 Small Inventions That Have Changed the World

At some point during the development of your new product, when the initial excitement of invention or innovation dies down, you might reflect a bit and think that what you’ve come up with is too small or insignificant to make an impact on the marketplace or on the world in general.

But that’s a dangerous way of thinking, not only because it might stop your product before it’s even launched, but because you can never assume that a new invention won’t have an effect on the world, no matter how small it might seem. To prove our point, here are five simple inventions that changed the world.

Duct Tape

It’s not like there wasn’t already tape in the world before this ultra-durable, ultra-adhesive material was invented during WWII, but very few other kinds held on as tightly for as long as duct tape. It was initially created by researchers at Johnson & Johnson to help the military protect their ammunition cases from harsh conditions on the front lines.

After the soldiers came home, many of them got jobs in construction, and they recommended some rolls of their hard-working tape to heating and air-conditioning contractors to hold ventilation ducts together. Add a quick color-change to silver to match the typical duct color, and you’ve got an item that’s probably in your toolbox or under your sink right now.

The Potato Chip

Here’s an interesting one. Back In 1853 a chef in New York named George Crum found himself faced with an irritated customer in his restaurant who repeatedly sent his French-fried potatoes back to the kitchen because he felt they were too soggy. In an effort to show up the implacable diner, Crum sliced the potatoes into ultra-thin pieces, threw them into the deep fryer and smothered them in salt. The customer loved them, and one of the most popular snacks in America was born.

The Nail

It’s kind of amazing to think about how vital this small, spiked piece of metal has become over the centuries. It’s also mind-boggling to think about how structures were made before nails were created around 3400 BC.They were constructed by interlocking boards together in geometric patterns. But the advent of casting and shaping metal quickly led to the development of hand-made bronze nails, and by 1913, the vast majority of them were being made out of metal. Many buildings and sore thumbs later, they are part of the foundation of virtually every modern structure in the world.

Post-It Notes

This is another one of those great indispensable modern inventions that, like the potato chip, was made by accident. Back in 1968 a chemist named Spencer Silver who was working for 3M at the time discovered a low-grade adhesive that was perfect for holding something slight, like a piece of paper, to a surface, but weak enough that attempting to remove it from the surface would not tear or break it. Not that it’s marketability was clear right away. That took one of Silver’s co-workers, Art Fry, who figured out one day that it made a pretty good bookmark.

The Paperclip

Back in the late 1800s, a man named Samuel Fay was looking for a way to attach claim tickets to fabric. He obviously couldn’t use pins because they’d pierce the fabric. So in a moment of inspiration, he spotted a piece of wire nearby that bent it into the shape of an X and slid the ticket (and the fabric) right into the middle. Voila, the earliest version of the invention that you’ve probably got dozens, if not hundreds of, in your desk right now.

Feel better about your idea, design, or innovation now? We hope so. And if you need help along the way with engineering, development and manufacturing your new potentially world-changing new product, remember that Pivot International can provide assistance in any of those areas. Click here to find out more; you could be sitting on the new paperclip or potato chip!

How One Startup is Making 3D Printing Metal a Reality

We’ve talked a lot about 3-D printing in the past, and the amount of money, time and headaches it can save many companies. It’s one of the most revolutionary innovations in the last few decades, and it’s making things possible that were unthinkable (particularly for smaller companies) as recently as ten years ago.

And now there’s a new 3-D printer on the horizon that could be making some even more exciting breakthroughs, courtesy of a company called Desktop Metal. Thanks to a nearly $100 million investment from companies like General Electric, Alphabet and BMW, the company has developed a new 3-D printer that will be able to fabricate metal parts quickly and inexpensively.

It sounds like a daunting task, but Desktop Metal certainly has the brainpower to do it. The company was founded by a group that includes four professors from MIT, one of whom heads the department of materials science and another who is none other than Emanuel Sachs, the man who filed one of the first patents involving 3-D printing in 1989.

Together, they’ve created a product with the goal of reinventing how metal parts are manufactured, potentially changing the face of manufacturing as we know it. It’s an exciting breakthrough, to be sure.

The printer hasn’t been launched yet, but when it is, and if it works as well as Desktop Metal is anticipating, they will achieve something that 30 years of 3-D printing has been unable to do. While there are many advantages to the 3-D printing modelacross the board, it has yet to find truly widespread use or acceptance in the manufacturing sector at large.

While there are plenty of businesses and private designers who have been able to use 3-D printing to make various complex and innovative designs out of plastics, they’ve typically been for very specialized products like hearing aids or dental implants.

That’s partly because the main problem with using 3-D printing for more sophisticated (and more mass-consumption-friendly) products is the price, particularly when it comes to metals. There are currently some methods of 3-D printing with metals, but these processes are not easy, and they’re very expensive. GE, for example, uses one of these techniques, and it involves very specialized, very high-powered lasers to make a relatively small line of parts.

In their case, it costs millions of dollars for the machinery, and GE requires a group of highly-trained technicians to operate them. At present, there’s simply no available option to create a wider range of products or to do so at a cost that would be manageable for a smaller company.

In order to create a 3-D printing system that could accomplish these goals, Desktop Metal had to look back to move ahead.

They researched a type of technology that was first created in the 1980s. MIT, whose commitment to 3-D printing has clearly been a long-term plan, filed one of the first patents for a device that laid down a paper-thin layer of metallic powder, then used an inkjet-printing based printing method to lay a liquid over the powder that bound it together. The process was designed to be repeated hundreds, if not thousands of times, allowing the layers to define the intricacies of metal parts and pieces.

It was an exciting breakthrough, but the process was too slow to be useful to manufacturing companies. It’s only through the subsequent three decades of technological development that the process has been made quicker, easier and more cost-efficient. At this point in the process, Desktop Metal has improved the technology to the point that it’s about 100 times faster than the laser-printer system that GE currently uses.

The plan right now is for the process to be available in early 2018, but Desktop Metal is already taking the product to conferences and trade shows all over the country, allowing designers and engineers to get their first look at this exciting new breakthrough.

Interested in learning more about what’s next in product development? Read our post “How DIY Technology is Changing What’s Possible for New Products.”

5 Tips for Finding the Right Intellectual Property Lawyer

As we’ve discussed before, the world of intellectual property is an increasingly volatile one, and it’s a potential minefield for any entrepreneur who doesn’t have all of their ducks in a row before moving forward with a new product or innovation.

We’ve talked about making sure you have a legal team in place before marketing, manufacturing and selling a new product, because it’s an important pre-product-launch step. It’s simply part of the business landscape now.

But how do you find that legal representation? How you know what to look for? We’ve listed some helpful tips below on how to search for the right attorneys for your IP needs.

Note: Just as a reminder, “intellectual property” is defined as “an invention or work which is the result of creativity, like a manuscript or design, which one has rights for and which one can apply for a copyright, patent or trademark for.”

Know the most common areas of intellectual property conflict

The most common disputes when it comes to intellectual propertyoccur in the areas of property infringement (unauthorized use, reproduction, or sale of materials that are registered for protection under intellectual property laws), copyright law (the right to prevent others from using your originally authored work), trademark infringement (the unauthorized reproduction or use of a trademark) and patent claims (statements that describe in detail exactly what your invention covers).

It’s important before you begin your search for the right legal representation that you know the kinds of claims most likely to be filed against you in intellectual property cases, and what kind of claim you’re most likely to be vulnerable to.

Experience pays dividends

This might be a good time to use the business relationships you have to make some inquiries. Who do you know that might already have representation? Who can you ask for references? Successful companies very often have great legal representation, so if you feel comfortable speaking with potential competition in your field, this would be a great reason to do so.

Research

But asking fellow businesspeople about their legal representation is only part of the process. It’s up to you and your team to do as much research as possible once you’ve gotten some recommendations, or even – especially – if you haven’t.

As much as the rise of the Internet has made intellectual property claims easier to pursue, it’s also an invaluable educational tool when it comes to finding people to take care of your IP needs. What are the ratings and reviews of the attorneys you’re considering? What do you want to know about their areas of expertise?

Any experienced law firm will have had their services reviewed online, and it’s up to you to find those reviews so that you can make an informed decision.

Think globally

The marketplace doesn’t stop at our borders, and neither should your search for good IP representation. If you’re planning on doing business overseas, does the law firm you’re researching have the credentials and experience to do the same?

Intellectual property laws are not set in stone from country to country, so it stands to reason that you might very well need a law firm that’s knowledgeable about the laws in every corner of the globe.

Introduce yourself – as thoroughly as possible

Once you’ve decided who to contact, it’s important to make sure you give them as complete a picture of your business as possible.

What products do you manufacture? What patents, trademarks or copyrights do you have? Where are you in the product development process? When do you plan to launch your product? Have you already sold your idea?

These are all things that your potential legal representation will need to know, so they can decide what your potential liabilities might be, or if it’s a good idea for them to represent you or refer you to someone that better fits your needs.

We may not be lawyers, but we do know a thing or two about product design, development, compliance and manufacturing. Click here for more info.

5 of the Most Contentious Patent Lawsuits of All Time

Patent law is often a lengthy and difficult enough process to go through, and that’s if everything goes smoothly. Filing for a patent is a bit of an arduous process, but that’s because it goes so far towards protecting your idea or invention from those who might want to exploit it.

But another reason the task takes so much time is that there have been many disputed and contentious arguments over patents over the years, and every time one of those arguments becomes a legal issue, adjustments have to be made to the policies of how patents work. Here are just a few of the most controversial and contentious patent cases over the last century or so.

Continental Paper Bag Co. v. Eastern Paper Bag Co. (1908)

Nothing like two paper bag companies going at it to stir up controversy, right? But as it turns out, this Supreme Court cast made some vital new patent law.

In this case, Eastern Paper Bag brought an action to prevent its competitor, called Continental Paper Bag from using Eastern’s patent for a “self-opening” paper bag. Continental Paper Bag alleged that they could do so because Eastern Paper Bag was not using its patent.

The court ruled that one does not have to use a patent for it to be valid.

Bauer & Cie. v. O’Donnell, (1913)

This case involves a water-soluble drug product called Sanatogen, the patent for which was owned by a German company called Bauer & Cie.

The O’Donnell in the case was a pharmacist who bought Sanatogen wholesale, and sold it for less than $1 per unit, which was specifically forbidden by Bauer & Cie.

Bauer & Cie suggested that this amounted to infringement of their patent, but a divided court did not, ruling that O’Donnell could continue selling it for less than a dollar.

It was one of the more contentious cases of its era, spawning multiple arguments for and against the ruling and affecting case law in a ripple effect for decades to come.

United States vs. General Electric (1926)

This case came to the Supreme Court because General Electric owned three patents that essentially covered the entire process for making lightbulbs. GE had licensed Westinghouse to use those same methods to manufacture lightbulbs, but GE also wanted to be able to set the prices at which those bulbs were sold.

The court eventually ruled that GE could do just that, price-fixing the Westinghouse bulbs however they saw fit.

General Talking Pictures Corp. v. Western Electric Co. (1938)

One of the first patent cases involving the motion picture industry, AT&T owned patents on vacuum tubes that were used in large amplifiers at movie theaters. Transformer Company sold its similar products to General Talking Pictures despite having a “field-of-use” limitation in its license of the patent from AT&T.

The Court ruled that the Transformer Company had no rights outside its licensed field, and therefore could not convey to General Talking Pictures what both knew it was not authorized to sell.”

The decision remains in effect to this day.

Illinois Tool Works Inc. v. Independent Ink, Inc.(2006)

Independent Ink distributed printer ink and related products. Trident manufactured ink-related products used in printers for printing barcodes on cardboard. Trident’s license required Independent to use Trident ink. However, it did not require end users of the bar-code printers to refill the printers with Trident ink cartridges. Trident did not, though, warranty its printer for use with others’ ink cartridges. (So what was the issue? I’m assuming it was something like Trident sued Independent to stop them from selling different ink cartridges that would fit Trident’s printers.)

The Court ruled unanimously that there is not a presumption of market power concerning the sale of a patented product being conditioned on the sale of a second product in any kind of tied-in arrangement.

You can see from these examples that court cases creating new patent law can catch a company in a bad spot, for work they’ve already done while misunderstanding, or perhaps deliberately misconstruing patent law. Remember, Pivot isn’t just about development, manufacturing and engineering. We’re about compliance, too. Click here to find out more.

When Should You License Your Product?

Starting a new business can be both exhilarating and scary. There can be a great sense of accomplishment when you’re able to create a new company and get it off the ground. But at the same time, there are serious financial risks involved, to you and to any potential investors.It might be tempting in some cases to simply license a product you’ve created to another company to manufacture it. There’s certainly less risk involved overall, but there are also cons to that idea when it comes to control and ownership of what you’ve created.

So which way is better? When is it more beneficial to simply license a product rather than forming your own business to manufacture it?

We’ll be taking a look at both scenarios, and their advantages, below.

Goals

It’s important to figure out first what you want to accomplish with your product. Do you want to bring it from development to fruition yourself, and control its entrance into the marketplace? If your answer is yes, then starting a business to manufacture it is the best way to do that.

On the other hand, if your goal is simply to create the product and then have someone else worry about the rest of the process, you might be better off in licensing it.

Income

Some inventors become wealthy off of their inventions, but many do not. Once they’ve licensed the product, there’s almost certainly some income that will be generated by that licensing, but it’s rarely enough to live on exclusively.

Are you comfortable accepting a more modest income vs. putting in the sacrifice it often takes to start a business?

Not that manufacturing the product yourself is a guaranteed path to financial stability, by any means. For every new invention that thrives with consumers, there are many that don’t.

So the questions are, what level of risk are you willing to take, and what amount of compensation are you willing to accept?

Pressure

There’s no doubt that running a business puts an entrepreneur under significant stress, no matter how successful the business may be. In fact, success often brings more pressure to the owners, as they try to maintain and expand it. Little to none of that pressure will apply if you license your product to someone else.

So are you someone who can take, or even welcome, that new level of stress and turn it into a positive? That’s an important question when you consider licensing vs. manufacturing.

Resources

If you’re leaning towards manufacturing your product yourself, it’s a good idea to take stock of what you have on hand to do so.

Do you have the capital? If not, do you have the investors to help provide it? Have you prepared a pitch for your product that will get their attention? Do you have the means to live independently of your business while it gets up and running?

There are a lot of pieces of the puzzle that need to be in place before you can move forward with starting a company, especially if you intend to manufacture the product yourself. But there are other options. Instead of building a business that’s designed to handle manufacturing, build the business to manage distribution and supply chain, and turn to a company like Pivot International to do the engineering and manufacturing for you.

Legalities

Obviously, there are legal matters involved in both licensing a product and manufacturing one, but there’s a vast different in what you need to do each one.

When you license a product, it’s absolutely necessary to have a patent and a copyright. A trademark is helpful as well, but it’s not a requirement. No one is saying that it’s easy to get those things, but it’s easier than what you need to start a business.

Businesses will need a legal team to handle contracts and settle disputes in addition to all of the other basic requirements.

Do you have the stomach to fight legal battles if need be? If the answer is no, perhaps leaving it to the company you license your product to is best.

Learn more about getting your product off the ground with our e-book “Turn a Great Idea into a Thriving Business.“

5 of the Biggest Mistakes That New Inventors Make

Possessing the level of creativity, willpower and drive it takes to invent a new product, something the world has never seen before, is truly one of the great marvels of the human mind. In a burst of creativity, or sometime as the result of a long strategic struggle, an inventor seemingly conjures an idea from thin air and makes it real before our very eyes.

But even though there’s a burst of brilliance in every successful inventor, that doesn’t mean that they don’t make mistakes, either in the development or launch or evolution of their invention. Here are some common mistakes that inventors make that could ultimately doom their inventions.

Ignoring feedback

No one person is an island, and seldom is an idea perfect when only one person has worked on it. Inventors can be so passionate about their creations that it’s hard for them to take constructive criticism about what they’ve made.

Without vital feedback from people trying help or improve a product, it’s possible some unforeseen flaw could rise to the surface and stifle a new invention before it’s had a chance to get out into the marketplace.

Teamwork is the best option in many cases, and product development is most definitely one of those instances.

Stopping with the prototype

There are inventors who spend years working on the initial version of their inventions, tweaking and polishing and making adjustments to their prototype before there’s even been a pitch or a whiff of interest from investors.

Remember, what you’re presenting or working on will almost never be the final version of the creation. Have some confidence in the idea, and some faith in the process of refining it after you’ve gotten some interest from those in a position to fund it.

Stopping with the patent

It’s a big step getting a new invention patented, for sure, but it’s not the last step by a long shot. The patent process can be a long and complicated one, and it’s a mistake to wait until every step of the process is complete before seeking out financial backing or support.

A head start on seeking out buyers for a product can go a long way to making a successful launch once your product is ready to hit the market.

Relying too much on others for financial backing

You don’t just need investors for your invention. You need some sort of nest egg for yourself during the process of pitching, developing and manufacturing your product.

That’s not to say your one-of-a-kind idea won’t make you wealthy, but it seldom happens overnight.

Put as much money away as possible before you get too deep into starting up your product. Remember, very few inventions turn a profit right away, and it’s vital that you have something to live on while you’re getting started.

Focusing on one single product idea and nothing else

Yes, it takes a special amount of devotion to a new idea to get it off the ground. But that doesn’t mean that that one idea is the only one you should be working on.

You’ve come up with a great idea for a new product, so who’s to say you can’t do it again. What if your sure-fire idea isn’t as can’t-miss as you thought it was? What if you hit a snag during development or manufacturing that you hadn’t foreseen?

An idea that seems perfectly workable and practical when it’s in the theoretical stage might not be that simple once it’s become a real-life product, so it’s important to have some backup ideas or inventions at the ready in case the worst happens.

No one’s saying that’s easy, but very little about inventing is.

Pivot International can help with every stage of your invention’s evolution. Between our extensive experience with product design, development, engineering, manufacturing, regulatory compliance, supply chain management and data security, we’re a one-stop shop for those with an exciting new product idea. Read about some of the products in our portfolio here.

Common Misconceptions About Intellectual Property

Intellectual property can be a potential legal minefield for any product designer, developer or manufacturer. It was a difficult enough concept before the age of the Internet, but now, with ideas flying around all over the world and available seemingly at our fingertips, the need to protect what’s yours (and to make sure your concept, or parts of it, don’t belong to someone else already) is more pressing than ever before.

Despite the importance of establishing or being able to protect your intellectual property, it’s still a new frontier in many ways, and there are many myths and misconceptions that can trip up a new idea or product before it’s even launched.

Here are some of the biggest misunderstandings and mistakes designers and developers face when it comes to intellectual property.

Defining intellectual property

Some people may not be familiar with everything that the phrase “intellectual property” covers, so it’s important to establish that definition right off the bat. It refers to the results of a creation of the mind, whether that be inventions, artistic or literary works, designs, images, names or symbols.

If you have an understanding of that before wading into the world of IP, it helps you and your business or product in terms of preparation.

Patents, trademarks and copyrights

There are still a lot of misconceptions, especially among new entrepreneurs, about which is which when it comes to patents, trademarks and copyrights.

A patent gives the owners of an invention the right to prevent others from using that invention without permission.

A trademark is a larger concept than a patent, referring to words, logos, pictures, names, letters or numbers (or any combination thereof) that mark a certain brand in the marketplace.

A copyright, on the other hand, provides protection to the authors of literary or artistic works, like composers, artists and writers.

Protection doesn’t necessarily apply to an idea

The concept for an invention or a product, one that’s still in the inventor’s head as opposed to in the form of a tangible result, is not patentable or protected.

In fact, it’s only when there has been an execution of that idea in some form that it’s protectable under intellectual property laws.

That doesn’t mean it has to be a fully finished product. It can be the plans or the prototype or a rough version of the idea, as long as it’s been expressed in some form.

Think of it this way: How can a composer copyright a tune or a set of lyrics before he or she has written them down?

Businesses don’t automatically own the ideas created by employees or contractors

The misconception about what a company owns can be a pervasive one, especially if their employees have created a product.

It has to be explicitly stated in a business’ agreement with an employee or a contractor that any idea created during their employment will become the property of the company.

Without that specific statement, an entrepreneur could find themselves with limited or non-existent access to a great invention or product.

An intellectual property strategy cannot wait

Often, in the rush and chaos an entrepreneur can experience in the beginning of a venture, there are more tangible things they worry about rather than concentrating on possible intellectual property issues further down the line.

But in truth, formulating an IP strategy is one of the most important things any business can do, and it needs to be done in as quickly as possible. There are consultants and attorneys who specialize in IP issues, and it’s a good idea to hire them on before someone else does, someone who might be in a position to take advantage of your newly-created product’s lack of protection.

Pivot International has the tools to deal with intellectual property concerns all over the world, and we have the experience to help you protect your product. Find out more with a free consultation.

6 Unsung Inventors Whose Products You Use Every Day

Every product you use in your day-to-day life was invented by someone. Think about that. From the tires on your car to the glasses on your face to the sliced bread you make your sandwiches with, all of the innovations you consider commonplace today started with a spark of inspiration in one person’s mind.

Who are these great inventors who made our lives possible? Oftentimes, we have no idea. Their breakthroughs are all around us, but their names and lives are obscure notes in some history book. At least they were, until now. Here are a few inventors you probably haven’t heard of whose inventions you use every day.

Inventor: Ernie Fraze
Invention: The pop-top soda can

Ernie Fraze was already an engineer before he invented the pop-top, so he was a man used to solving problems.

The particular problem he encountered that caused this invention was forgetfulness. Fraze went on a picnic and forgot a can-opener for his beverages. That inconvenience fueled the creation of the pull-tab in 1959, and by the 1980’s, Fraze’s idea was worth about $500 million a year.

Inventor: Joseph Friedman
Invention: The bendable straw

Friedman came up with the idea for the bendable straw in 1937, while watching his young daughter struggling to drink a milkshake. He simply inserted a screw into a straight straw and wrapped floss around where the screw was to create a ribbed, flexible section. Today, bendable straws sell in the hundreds of millions every year.

Inventor: Charlie Brannock
Invention: The Brannock Device, a foot-measuring mechanism used to determine shoe size

Brannock had good reason to create the measuring device we see in shoe stores all over the country today. His father was a shoemaker, and Brannock spent his youth watching his Dad try to figure out people’s shoe size by using a wooden block.

Brannock built the device in 1925 using a children’s toy set, and what’s surprising is that 92 years after the initial model was created, there have been very few changes made to the design.

Inventor: James Goodfellow
Invention: ATM PINs

Goodfellow was a Scottish engineer who was presented with a problem back in 1966: How can people take money out of their bank accounts after hours or on weekends?

Some credit Goodfellow with inventing the ATM machine itself, but there’s some disagreement on that. What he did invent for sure was the ATM PIN. He did so because there had to be some way to identify a specific customer, and fingerprint scans and voice recognition software, both ideas that were considered at the time, were too difficult to create.

Inventor: Robert Kearns
Invention: Adjustable-speed windshield wipers

Kearns might be a little more well-known now because of the 2008 film Flash Of Genius, starring Greg Kinnear, but what he created is undoubtedly better known than he is.

Kearns was an engineer who grew up near a Ford plant, and was a big believer in the automobile industry. He invented his historic contribution to that industry in 1967 after becoming frustrated that windshield wipers only had two speeds: High and low. He created a way of adjusting the speeds on windshield wipers to fit the weather conditions.

Kearns actually patented the technology and tried to sell it to several auto manufacturers, who started using what he’d created without crediting him.

It took years of litigation before Kearns eventually won $30 million and credit for what he invented.

Inventors: Scott Jones & Greg Carr
Invention: Voicemail

In 1986, Scott Jones, an MIT researcher, and Greg Carr, a Harvard graduate student, formed a telecommunications company in 1986 and quickly hit upon the idea of a call-in system to received recorded messages that would work from anywhere.

Believe it or not, it took legal action in 1988 to allow telephone companies to use Jones and Carr’s invention, and today they’re both multi-millionaires.

Got an idea you think can match one of these invaluable inventions? Pivot can help you develop and manufacture it. And for more unsung inventors, read “A Tribute to Inventors: 5 Great Women Inventors.”

International Business Customs You’ll Need to Do Business Overseas

There’s only so much about the international business world that you can learn in your native culture. Someone brought up in the United States, for example, might not know a lot about how business is conducted in Europe, or in Asia, at least at first.

But as you expand your product-based business into international markets, it’s important to learn about the different traditions and expectations of countries other than the United States. After all, a breach in etiquette due to ignorance of a customer’s culture could easily be taken as an insult, and could ruin whatever business you were attempting to conduct.

Here are some business culture tips for different countries that might help things go more smoothly. Keep in mind, these aren’t hard-and-fast rules on what’s expected, just some information about the different traditions of other countries.

South Africa

Dressing well in both formal and informal situations will probably be expected by your host.

Gift giving when meeting your clients or collaborators is not recommended, but it’s considered perfectly acceptable to conduct business at a restaurant instead of a boardroom.

And don’t count on a quick transaction. There’s often a leisurely pace in South African business dealings.

Australia

Being on time to your meetings and making strong eye contact are often important in Australian culture.

Attire tends toward dark colors and conservative styles, and overly demonstrative physical behavior, towards men or women, is generally frowned upon.

United Kingdom

Much like South Africa, be prepared for a slower pace of business dealings in the United Kingdom. The style of dress for business meetings is more casual than you might expect, but there’s still a tendency towards conservative styles and dark colors.

There’s also generally a more reserved tone of speech in the UK. Consider the volume of your voice when speaking, and try to speak a little more carefully than you would in the U.S.

Keep George Bernard Shaw’s famous quote in mind during conversation: “America and Britain are two nations divided by a common language.”

India

India is a country where you might have to consider religious beliefs more than in other places. The vast majority of Indian citizens are part of the Hindu faith, which holds cows as sacred animals, and they could be offended by any leather goods or clothing you might be wearing or using.

And if you’re doing business over lunch or dinner, you might want to avoid beef or pork, once again due to the tenets of the Hindu and Muslim faiths.

There might not be as much of a language barrier as you’d expect in India, though. English is one of the two most common languages in the country. But DO make sure to use proper titles when addressing your hosts.

Hong Kong

Interestingly enough, color can be an important aspect of your meetings in Hong Kong. Red is considered a lucky color, so it wouldn’t hurt to sport some shade of red somewhere in your choice of clothing.

Be prepared to be social. Bar hopping and karaoke are extremely popular traditions in Hong Kong, and your host will probably want to take you out after a day of doing business. And it’s often considered rude to refuse.

Remember that Hong Kong is a densely-populated country; personal space, considered so important in America, often isn’t a priority.

Canada

Be prepared for cold weather, and be sure to favor classic, conservative styles over trendy clothing.

If you’re meeting over a meal, wait for your host to start the business conversation. It’s often considered rude to begin discussing business outside the office before the host does.

Once you’ve started talking, however, your conversation can be open and friendly. There’s little consideration for formalities in much Canadian speech, particularly in more rural areas.

Just like it says in our name, Pivot International is an international company, and we help businesses all over the world. If you’re expanding your own company outside of your home country, read our post “How to Tap into International Markets with Your New Product.“