Archive for August 2010
48 Year Old Invention Poised To Become Multi-Billion Dollar Hit
In the 1960s, an ultra-strong glass was invented by Corning, but it contained no purpose. “Gorilla” glass was expected to be a huge hit unfortunately, it had no real purpose, according to the Associated Press. We tried the automobile windshield market, but the glass was too strong for windshields,” said Kelli Hopp-Michlosky, an employee for [...]
Not Enough Women In Sillicon Valley
Mike Cassidy from the Mercury News found himself at yet another conference in Sillicon Valley with a panel on female entrepreneurs. The ultimate conclusion was that there just are not enough women in business. The moderator, sitting on a stage at Stanford University with six female CEOs, noted dejectedly how hard it was to find [...]
According to a story at CNNMoney.com, as mom-and-pop businesses struggle to make ends meet, the latest attempt to help them has gotten mired in Washington politics. The debate began in October, when President Obama started pushing ways to get cheap capital to small businesses. It continued after his State of the Union address, in which [...]
Brian Taylor can thank his tired taste buds for his expanding popcorn-seasonings empire. As a student at the University of Michigan, the Chicago-area native was bored of snacking on butter-and-salt-flavored popcorn every night, so he copied down the ingredients in his favorite potato chip flavors and took a trip to the store to buy spices [...]
Sad. But profitable, I’m sure. The NY Times has a profile of the world’s first divorce insurance product. Here’s how its WedLock product works. The casualty insurance is designed to provide financial assistance in the form of cash to cover the costs of a divorce, such as legal proceedings or setting up a new apartment [...]
I’m from California and we have earthquakes. It’s just part of living here for me, but I’m sure that people in the midwest are frightened by the idea. I know how they feel. Their tornados scare me. But, do tornados excite you? Have you ever wanted to chase a storm? Two of the world’s best [...]
I’m Looking for Small Biz Owners in NYC
I’m still looking for “brick and mortar” small business owners in NYC. I’m looking for one that I can interview at their business, on camera, for a short video interview on Thursday 8/12 or Friday 8/13. Email me dane@danecarlson.com or call me 209-379-5371. Photo by joeywan
Unique products to inspire and amuse. Bacon Refrigerator Magnets. Bacon is everywhere. Stiletto Speakers. When your Blaupunkts just don’t cut it. iPlunge iPhone & iPad Stands. Can also be used to unclog drains. USB Hamster Wheel. Just don’t let your PETA friends see it. Photos by trendhunter.com.
For years the Japanese inventor Masuyuki Naruse has felt that the traditional gas and brake petal were flawed reports the New York Times. The side-by-side pedal arrangement, the inventor says, can cause drivers mistakenly to floor the accelerator instead of the brakes, especially under stress. The solution? A single pedal that accelerates the car when [...]
Plan: 1. Quit Job, 2. Win Lottery
According to a story in The Yakima Herald-Republic, Richard Foster had put in a two-week notice at his job in order to search for something better and was a bit concerned about taking care of his family while looking for a new job. Then he popped into the Wolf Den Restaurant and felt an urge [...]
For Jennifer Gould it isn’t about taking first place, she runs to finish says Mlive.com. Gould is a 38-year-old mother of four, a wife and a business owner — a full plate by any standard. But the Bay Cityan also finds time to run each day and prepare two sets of meals — one for [...]
UPDATE: Please Sir, Don’t Kill My Dream
We ran a post yesterday about 7-year-old entrepreneur Julie Murphy and how county health inspectors shut down her lemonade stand. After their public image soured, elected officials apologized for shutting down Julie’s lemonade stand because she didn’t possess the proper permit. According to The Oregonian, Multnomah County Chairman Jeff Cogen called Julie to apologize, telling [...]
In an alternate universe, it’s 1960 and the Internet is ALREADY here. via: Ads of the World Credits: Advertising Agency: Moma, Sao Paulo, Brazil Creative Director: Rodolfo Sampaio Art Director: Marco Martins Copywriter: Adriano Matos Illustrator: 6B Studio
Entrepreneurs Need A Solid Handle On Cash
Whether you’re running a startup or you are a fortune 100, it is important to have a firm grasp on your financial situation. Unlike most big companies with a CFO your small business or startup only has one money manager, you. According to abj Entrepreneur, Philip Campbell has written a new book that’ll help entrepreneurs [...]
Cashing In On ‘David After Dentist’
If you spend any time on the Internet, you’ve no doubt seen “David After Dentist,” the YouTube video of a woozy 7-year-old boy in the back seat of a car, struggling to understand the effects of anesthesia. According to CNN, the viral clip has been viewed almost 54 million times and gave rise to the [...]
With the number of jobless Americans still on the rise, a startup company in Atlanta wants to be the tiny fish that feeds the multitude by offering all of them a source of income. Is it legal? Yes. 2PONS Magazine, a printed coupon publication, launched its “Now Hiring 15 Million” website last week and plans [...]
Do You Know What Your Strengths Are?
I have an excellent free resource to share with you today: The Perfect Biz Finder. Every hyper-successful business owner i know will tell you that in order to succeed in today’s world, you have to know what your individual strengths are. And while it’s easy to think you know what they are, you probably don’t. [...]
Please Sir, Don’t Kill My Dream
A 7-year-old entrepreneur named Julie Murphy set up her lemonade stand at the monthly art fair in Northeast Portland. Julie had become enamored with the idea of having a stand after watching an episode of cartoon pig Olivia running one, said her mother, Maria Fife. The two live in Oregon City, but Fife knew her [...]
Gadgetwise asks, you can make a movie with a phone, so why not with a doll? The Barbie Video Girl Doll ($50, Mattel) looks just like a regular Barbie, but a closer look reveals a camera in her pendant, and a postage stamp-sized color screen on her back, peeking through her blouse. Powered by two [...]
If At First You Don’t Succeed…
As Mario Jurcic gives business a second try, no one has to tell him to remain humble reports The News-Herald. The 25-year-old entrepreneur loves to talk about his year-and-a-half-old business, SECURE IT Asset Disposition Services, but he doesn’t mind talking about the operation he shut down before that, ESCRAPOHIO. The newer Mentor company isn’t that [...]
Jason Fried, co-founder of noted web developer 37signals and author of Rework, made a pretty good case for ignoring people at work. In a big think interview, he explains how starting your business should involve seriously, drastically paring down your ambitions.
Entrepreneur Takes To The Road With Video Games
Pete Rodriguez is proud to admit that he thinks like a 12 year old, even if he is currently 35. It is that mindset that helps him relate to his customers reports news-press.com. Rodriguez tows a 30-foot converted trailer to parties and events and features three Xbox gaming stations displaying inside on 52-inch screens, as [...]
Inc.com reports that the tastiest thing served at the world-famous Inn at Little Washington is the service itself. Few restaurants — indeed, few businesses of any kind — seem so adept at fulfilling their customers’ every need. Founded in 1978 by chef Patrick O’Connell and Reinhardt Lynch, who who oversees the business, the Washington, Va., [...]
The New Economic Indicator: Brake Pads
Lewis Schiff over at Inc.com had a recent conversation with Jack Stack, the father of “open book management” and the chief executive behind SRC Holdings, the industrial conglomerate based in Springfield, Missouri. I asked Jack if he was able to tell, from his sales volume, whether the economy was headed up or down? “Up,” he [...]
That’s My Business!: Skoy Cloth
Here’s another episode of THAT’S MY BUSINESS! This week Rich Whittle talks with Karen Petersen about her business selling the super absorbent Skoy cloth.
Unique Furniture For A Modern Home
One of the oldest professions around is furniture making. It takes a lot of creativity, patience and knowledge to create a piece of furniture that is not only beautiful but will stand up to the test of time. No one would know this better than Jody Racicot. Like all craftsmen, his business had to start [...]
Summer camps aren’t just for archery and basket weaving anymore. The newest camps are borrowing from the latest television shows and replacing swimming and capture the flag with crime solving. The Wall Street Journal has more: On a summer morning in southern New Jersey, a team of crime-scene investigators gathered around a body lying face-down [...]
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The Web’s New Gold Mine: Your Secrets
According to a story in The Wall Street Journal, hidden inside Ashley Hayes-Beaty’s computer, a tiny file helps gather personal details about her, all to be put up for sale for a tenth of a penny. The file consists of a single code— 4c812db292272995e5416a323e79bd37—that secretly identifies her as a 26-year-old female in Nashville, Tenn. The [...]
Program Helps Low-Income Women Become Entrepreneurs
In the blink of an eye Emma Llanas sews up a tear in a pair of shorts and in no time it almost looks like it was never there. This skill is something that Emma picked up as a young girl while fixing clothing with her family. Now she hopes to use this talent to [...]
Jobprize allows job seekers to offer a “prize” to in-the-know employees to refer them to and help them land a job, reports Coolbusinessideas.com. Anyone can go to the website and post a profile about his or her background. What makes this different from other job search sites? Job seekers pay a prize to employees in [...]
Mom Inventors Take Their Other Babies To Market
For many mompreneurs, having their product picked up by a major chain is a sign of accomplishment. It validates all of the hard work and time spent to build their inventions reports the Los Angeles Times. Excitedly snapping pictures of herself and her daughter next to a rack in the Babies R Us store in [...]
Biz Resource: Inventor’s Handbook
An online handbook created for independent inventors and entrepreneurs to address questions concerning the protection of intellectual property, raising capital, applying for patents, and other steps to protect and commercialize ideas. The handbook was created by the Lemelson-MIT Program to address the independent inventor’s and aspiring entrepreneur’s most frequently asked questions regarding United States patents. [...]
In 1983 Paul Sellew started a company that converted farm waste into a fertilizer. Fifteen years later his company, Earthgro, was sold to Scotts for $47 million reports Forbes. Nearly three decades later Sellew, 52, is on his sixth eco-company, called Harvest Power, in Waltham, Mass., which aims to build multiacre facilities around urban and [...]
According to RedFerret.net some enterprising chap in New York has turned a simple plastic food replica into a potential money maker. The Seat Savers concept comes from a simple idea. People won’t disturb or use a chair with a spilled beverage or foodstuff on it. Martin Freedman, the Regional Sales Manager of “Seat Savers” outside [...]
Inventor’s Journal: The BIG Idea Group
Here’s another episode of Inventor’s Journal. This week Rich Whittle interviews Mike Collins, Founder and CEO of The BIG Idea Group about how they help people bring their inventions to market. Mike Collins has also written a handy inventor’s guide, The Million-Dollar Idea in Everyone. This book gives you new and exciting ways to make [...]
Join Rich Whittle as he talks with Mike Collins, Founder and CEO of The BIG Idea Group and how they help inventors bring their ideas to market, Wednesday on Dane Carlson’s Business Opportunities Weblog.
Inventor Legends: Edwin Binney and Harold Smith
Edwin Binney and Harold Smith founded Binney & Smith, Inc. in New York City in the late 1800s. At first, they specialized in industrial colorings—including the pigments that made country barns red and automobile tires black. Later, they began to make slate pencils for students. At the St. Louis World Exhibition in 1902, they won [...]
Lisa Bailey Montgomery tried for years to find a way to juggle a career while battling her desire to be at home with her children reports the DesMoinesRegister.com. After eight years, she’s found that balance with Distinctive Decorating by Lisa, LLC. After several years as a corporate buyer at Younkers, Montgomery was pregnant and decided [...]
Niche Biz: Upscale PortaPottys
If you were a guest at Chelsea Clinton’s wedding, you didn’t poop in just any porta-potty. Oh no, you pooped in one of these: A porcelain toilet that flushes, with a stereo and hot water, reports Gizmodo. Founded in 2006, Pretty Pottys provide elegant restrooms for any occasion, from the corporate awards ceremony that lasts [...]
VCs Seek The “Ninja Assassin” Entrepreneur
ABC News wonders, what does it take to make it as a tech-preneur? If you asked a venture capitalist, they would tell you that it takes a “ninja assassin”. So what exactly does that mean? The passion and focus associated with the Japanese discipline goes a long way in impressing would-be investors. “What I’m looking [...]
Cheez Doodle Creator 1920 – 2010
According to Inc.com, Morrie Yohai developed Cheez Doodles in the 1950s. The company already was selling Dipsy Doodles rippled corn chips, which were made with a machine that spit them out under pressure. His son Robbie Yohai says his father applied a similar concept for Cheez Doodles, adapting the machine to extrude liquefied cornmeal into [...]
Andrew Kitzenberg was a student at Babson College when he started developing his idea for a wristband that conceals a 2 gigabyte USB storage drive for easy, anytime access to electronic files, reports The Daily Grommet. His Memory On Hand bands have a casual look that’s geared for kids and young adults — and functionality [...]
A College Student T-Shirt Entrepreneur
If going to college isn’t hard enough, have you tried running a business at the same time? Raymond Lei is one such young entrepreneur that is doing just that. For Raymond it all started with a t-shirt order. As he shopped around at different printers it soon became obvious that all of his options were [...]
According to Bloomberg Businessweek, we are living in the golden age of coffee lid design. The breakthrough lid, Solo Cup’s Traveler model, made its debut in 1986 and is now part of the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent design collection. “Initially the Traveler lids were a tough sell, on account of its higher price,” says [...]
Teens Sew Up Duct-Tape Contest
Who says couture has to be expensive? Two teenagers walked away with $3000 each for creating their prom outfits entirely out of duct tape. The Arizona Republic says it took Ray Banna and Yancy Esquivel 300 hours to create their designs. They used scissors, permanent markers, a sewing machine and 30 rolls of duct tape. [...]
Just got an interesting email from Amazon that will interest you if you make money from their affiliate program. Ever thought about selling textbooks? Textbook season is here again! The Amazon Textbooks team invites you and your readers to hit the books and save. Our Textbooks Store features savings of up to 30% on thousands [...]
According to ShowbizGossips.com one of the best things to sell on eBay is something you got for free. And that’s exactly what some enterprising Australians are doing as they are selling free Go Cards they got from the Queensland government. The Australian institution gave away free Go Cards to boost usage of the public transport [...]
Even though his product is available at every diner, deli and corner bodega, one New Yorker has found success selling grilled cheese on the black market. The underground chef takes orders by text message, cooks his sandwiches on the stove in his brother’s East Village apartment, and then meets his customers on street corners. “I [...]
Inventors Hall Of Fame Inducts 16 New Members
At a ceremony held at the Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C., the 2010 class of the National Inventors Hall of Fame was formally inducted. David Kappos, director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, said, “The 2010 inductees have collectively amassed 387 patents. Their innovations have saved millions of lives, improved the quality [...]
