Inventor Spotlight Ep. 13 | From Refugee to Inventor: Dan Dimitriu’s Inspiring Journey of Innovation - Inventor Smart Community App Spotlight

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Hi, Dan, how are you hibot that I am?

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Would good?

Speaker 3 (00:26):
Hey listen, Welcome to another episode of the Inventor Spotlight,
brought to you by the Inventor Smart Community and the
National Inventor Club. You are our honored guests for Inventor
Episode number thirteen, So welcome, Welcome. I'm going to try
to say your name correctly, Dan Demetrio.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
Do I have that credit?

Speaker 4 (00:48):
Perfect?

Speaker 1 (00:50):
Wonderful?

Speaker 3 (00:51):
So here at the Inventor Smart Community, you know, we
have just a full community full of independent, amazing inventors.
And I know you became a member just a few
months ago and we've talked before, and I just find
you absolutely fascinating. I know that you're from Romania originally.

(01:12):
I know you have a couple of master degrees, you
have a PhD, you're an engineer, you have a science
and math background, You've written.

Speaker 1 (01:21):
A couple of books, you love to invent toys.

Speaker 3 (01:25):
So personally, for me, your background is just incredible and
I can't wait just to give you the floor and
hear all about it again.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
For those just kind of.

Speaker 3 (01:35):
Joining in or new to the Inventor Smart community, my
name is Sam, this is Dan, and we like to
highlight our inventors within our community bring so much value
and inspiration.

Speaker 1 (01:48):
So Dan, welcome, welcome.

Speaker 4 (01:51):
Thank you, thank you for having me.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
And I want to start by presenting myself, where I
am from and so on, because yes, you gave a
good introduction, but I like to make the introduction with video.
I have my background, I present here my education and licenses,

(02:15):
and I will explain why they drove me here.

Speaker 4 (02:18):
So hi, I am done the video.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
And I was born in Romania, Bucharest, and as the hospital,
I was born on sixteenth of October nineteen forty seven
and the last months I just celebrated seventy seven years.
And then I graduated from the high school Region Lazer

(02:41):
and my first master was in nineteen seventy. I got
it in mechanical engineering from Polytechnic Institute. Then I got
in nineteen seventy one, I enrolled for three years at
the Popular School of Arc, where I got on a
social degree in graphic arts because my dream was to

(03:03):
become a disney and so I needed some you know,
art background. But Romania didn't have a major cartoon industry,
so I stayed engineer. Then I got another master in
business administration, specialized in international economic relations. And that was

(03:27):
in nineteen seventy nine, and again after that, in nineteen
eighty two, I defected from Romania. I went to the
refugee trans Kirk and Trail refugee camp, and that's the
map that I have from again the refugee camp. When

(03:52):
I got the acceptance to come to United States, I
wanted to see where the Roumanians are and guess what
I ended up. Now go back. I ended up in Fargo,
North Dakota, where there were no Romanians. I was no
so that's why I put them up. I have all

(04:12):
those are Romanian ancestry people. But I ended up with
the Stares in Fargo, North da Quota. That's where the
sponsorship came. So in the meantime, I love water, so
I became a licensed UH scuba diver and really I

(04:34):
did some really nice dives. I got my professional engineering
license in North Dakota, and again I as an engineer.
I worked all these years with other engineers and this
helped me join the community better. I invented a lot

(04:54):
of stuff and I got a PhD for this, and
then I I came to San Antonio. After I got
my PhD, I got a job here and coming here
at San Antonio. I became a licensed tax advisor because
I had the NBA, so I wanted to support it

(05:16):
with agenal Bloke training. So that's where I functioned in
after a program for about a year. Then because I
like games, I became certified play Expert from US right
in nineteen twenty twenty two. So now the last one is,

(05:41):
you know, because I want to stop here, I want
to learn more.

Speaker 4 (05:44):
So that's where I am. That's my presentation.

Speaker 1 (05:49):
Bravo, Bravo, Bravo.

Speaker 3 (05:52):
That was really good. I'm just like, I'm overwhelmed. You're
so amazing on stormy levels. I mean, I don't even
know what you're gonna do next. Okay, I.

Speaker 2 (06:05):
Didn't see anything here, So the presentation is again. My
next presentation is what inventions I did while being hired.
Very important because my life had three proms, the being hired,

(06:30):
being an independent and teaching higher but teaching not doing engineering.
So the creative life as being hired started in Romania.
I for eight years I designed chemical plants and chemical equipment,
and you can move it down.

Speaker 4 (06:52):
That is I did plants.

Speaker 2 (06:54):
Those are pictures similar to the things that I did
in get me.

Speaker 3 (07:03):
I love how you have these presentation slides ready to
go for us to explain all this about your incredible life.
I'm literally captivated. So we'll let Andy move the slides
for us and we'll go on to the next presentation.

Speaker 2 (07:21):
The next one.

Speaker 4 (07:22):
Brilliant.

Speaker 1 (07:22):
It's just brilliant. Thank you Dan.

Speaker 4 (07:26):
Okay, Andy, what's up? Can can you move the slide?

Speaker 2 (07:38):
Different slide?

Speaker 3 (07:40):
Yeah, creative ye, the creative life slide, yes, sir, being higher.

Speaker 1 (07:49):
Sorry, I guess it was a movie.

Speaker 4 (07:51):
Okay, yeah, that's there you go.

Speaker 2 (07:57):
So first, I started from once I my master, I
started working in chemical industry. I designed and invented all
kinds of chemical equipment and so on. Then I stayed
there for eight years and then the next one is
a major earthquake hit Romania in seventy seven. And if

(08:20):
you look the red light there, the red line is
where the my main earthquake went and I am I
was there where the star is the gold star. It
was a very very very scary situation. So then from
that moment, I was recruited to work in mining industry

(08:42):
and I worked would serf addressing roof support and the
long wall cutting machines. Said this is me on site
checking how the machines work with a colleague. So that
is me as a miner underground and it's really exciting,
a different world again, refugee I defected.

Speaker 4 (09:04):
And then next one is my strong thing.

Speaker 2 (09:08):
I was an illegal alien working and that's me. If
you look here on the top, I am on that roof.
And this is another picture of me. And this was
a nine hundred year old castle that was hired to

(09:29):
help restore it. And you can see here the all
the one that I watered and how it looks now exactly.
That is the tower that I was working for and
I was looking at the entrance with the most beautiful
absolutely beautiful.

Speaker 4 (09:47):
The next one that was an experience, a unique thing, and.

Speaker 2 (09:51):
This is how it looks us on scaffolding at the
time and how the cotting Broom castle looks now and
it's fantastic.

Speaker 4 (10:01):
Again this is United States.

Speaker 2 (10:03):
I moved from refugee camp into the United States and
when I arrived in Fargo, I started working. In a year,
I worked at nor Dakota State University, but I also
did some private work as a consultant. So I was
hired as director of engineering at Dynamic Industries and my

(10:27):
first American patent was this one that once frustrated this
machine that we were building. So that is my first
first America. This is a second one that was we
worked on it when the company was sold and the
patent was abandoned.

Speaker 4 (10:48):
What a success.

Speaker 2 (10:49):
But the company that bothaus didn't believe in patents, so
they didn't want to pursue and spend the money, so
it died. But I had a very very very successful
presentation at the Milwaukee convention where we launched the machine.
Then for three years I was an editor technical you know,

(11:13):
technical page in a Romanian newspaper. I was its editor
in Romanian. Of course I was speaking Romanian. What else?

Speaker 4 (11:22):
And then that is my invention.

Speaker 2 (11:25):
I invented a unique combustion chamber to study the digital combustion.
And when I presented it at the Society of Automotive Engineers,
I had standing room only because it was for the
first time. I have a lot of stories about this one. Anyway,
I had a really unique idea. I published papers, and

(11:48):
this is the vice president of the Society of Automotive
Engineers that.

Speaker 4 (11:52):
Came in person to see my invention.

Speaker 2 (11:56):
That's me. Hey at the time, all right, then with
that I got I graduate, I got my PhD. This
is my mom, this is my wife, and this is
our Bison North Dakota State University. With that, I came
to San Antonio and I was hired by kCi Kinectic

(12:17):
Concepts Incorporated. And I had a patent that was the
next one. The triadine is my flagship invention because if
you look next, that is the patent and we won
eighty five million dollars patent infringement from the competition. And

(12:41):
that was my baby. And again with that I went more.
I had more patents. You can see them bariatric system.
I was a co.

Speaker 4 (12:52):
Inventor and another one and I became.

Speaker 2 (12:59):
This became the expert in support medical support services. And
I designed one of the first support for cinemamography that
is different from mammography. And this was my design that
I did for this medical procedure. Again, I became a

(13:19):
medical engineer and I designed something for aviation. Also, those
are things that I did while being hired at the
CASEI here is pre PRIs hired me a vice president
of engineering and I became a guynecological engineer and that
is again my invention is I was an expert in

(13:44):
problem birth. If you if you think about the birth
is a is a mechanical act. And I was a
mechanical engineer. You passed a body through a small opening.
That's the job of a mechanical engineer. So I became
an expert in vacuum extraction and I created also four
steps with the force measuring device. This is my first

(14:09):
gynecological patent, vacuum extraction cup, and I have more. This
was another one, all my patents and with their application.
And next this ah, this is no no no, that
back back back. This one is a mutic membrane perforator.

(14:32):
My invention was in the nineteen ninety eight was the
best selling ammutic membrane perforator on the market.

Speaker 4 (14:41):
And so that is my baby.

Speaker 2 (14:43):
I have the prototype in my room, the first one,
and it's really beautiful. That is my baby. I'm proud
of it. I'm proud of the other ones, but this
looks good. Next one, this is a vacuum extra or pump.
That again, when the company was sold, was moved to

(15:07):
our competitor. So at that moment I became really really
upset with these hostile takeovers. And comes the next one.
I became hired as Anatario College as the engineering coordinator
there and I published papers, I published books. I did

(15:30):
all kinds of stuff. These are the books that I published.
I went to NASA. I invented the next door is NASA.
I invented I wasn't the engineering director that I invented.

Speaker 4 (15:46):
Fluid storage tongue.

Speaker 2 (15:48):
Then I went to zero G testing guy that was
the famous vomit comet. I flew that, and that is
where you are the closest being an ass rounout experienced,
you know, lack of gravity. And then I went with
my students and we created that was that's my team,

(16:14):
a car that was fure Cell and we won the
first time in twenty seventeen the third place in prototype category.

Speaker 4 (16:25):
And the next one we won the first place.

Speaker 2 (16:29):
And this is the first place and we were competing
against MIT and Purdue. So that's my again, my team
with the students and the creation of the second car
and the next one. What do I have? That's it?

Speaker 4 (16:45):
That is the yoda to be continued.

Speaker 2 (16:49):
So that was being hired, well was successful being hired.
I was successful in everything I invented and out comes.
The second part education and I held the presentation what
I invented in education, because that's again I consider that

(17:12):
education is something that we need to improve in the
United States, because when I came to the United States,
I was surprised how little preparation the students had in
high school. And I started in Romania. I was an
evening professor lecturer at an industrial college, teaching engineering courses.

Speaker 4 (17:36):
And then when I defect, I came to.

Speaker 2 (17:40):
USA. I started the first week I set footing on
the American soil. I got hired by in DSU because
I got there with my degree and Dean said, look
in his book and he said, oh man, this is
worth a master here. By the way, do you want
to teach here, because we need a professor that is

(18:03):
experienced in metric. And I said, oh my goodness, what
system do you have and he said, you know, we
are aches and pounds. And then I said, I swear
that was my question. With this system, you went to
the moon and he said, yeah, I believe it. And
I was a strong supporter of moving the sister of

(18:27):
the US into metric, but the politicians screwed up. Anyway,
that's my office in the SU and so on. Then
I had some friends at Morehead State University and they
had an opening and they couldn't find somebody to teach,
so I went there. And I was visiting professor at

(18:48):
Morehead State University.

Speaker 4 (18:50):
Across the Red River in Moorhead.

Speaker 2 (18:53):
And then I started, as I said, at San Antonio College,
and I got so many words I didn't put all
of them excellence whatever. And I started a program at
the Duseum here in town, teaching kids to make toys

(19:14):
that instruct other kids to learn about physics and other
concepts in mart and so on, and that was a
very successful I published a paper for that one and
the next one is ah, this is why again. In
twenty fifteen, I received the Presidential Award for Excellence in

(19:38):
matt Engineering, Math, science, math.

Speaker 4 (19:40):
And Engineering in Washington.

Speaker 2 (19:43):
And then I had a meritorious award from CE and
what else I have Oh. In the meantime, our program
got in the top ten in the nation. Our comedic
Courage engineering program was ranked in top ten engineering.

Speaker 4 (20:03):
And also in parallel, I.

Speaker 2 (20:06):
Was at UTSA here in town, University of Texas. I
was a part time there and our Lady of the
Lake there for about nine ten years. I developed a
graduate program much for engineering, engineering for a teacher.

Speaker 4 (20:27):
E for e F E engineering for educators.

Speaker 2 (20:33):
And in twenty one I decided to retire, so I
became a professor emeritus. That's the problem, and then I
couldn't stay put. In twenty twenty two I entered in
the ELCAST program, developing special skill and visualization training for

(20:56):
STEM careers. And again that's my motto, to boldly play
like no one has played before.

Speaker 4 (21:02):
As I said, I'm a trachy O yes.

Speaker 2 (21:04):
And in parallel, I am Now tomorrow I have class
at Bob Ross. I developed a Sharper mind a program
based on the one that I have at Young Minds
is for senior citizens and Oasis at San Antonio Doris

(21:24):
Griffin and San Antonio Bob Ross.

Speaker 4 (21:28):
So I have the.

Speaker 2 (21:29):
Class tomorrow and if I want this to be available
for people that want to ask me, because.

Speaker 4 (21:35):
I want to monetize the program.

Speaker 2 (21:38):
It can be spread all over the United States, so
I want to push it somehow.

Speaker 4 (21:44):
I'm a one man show.

Speaker 2 (21:47):
I have no other resources, so I want somebody to say, hey,
I like that, let's do something with it. And I
am game.

Speaker 4 (21:57):
That's my teaching.

Speaker 3 (22:00):
Well got a boom, I mean Dan this is just incredible.
Thank you for this very sought out presentation, this amazing
overview what you've been involved with. And truly, sir, your
accomplishments are just mind blowing. And I know, as I'm
saying this, I know you've heard it before, but it's

(22:23):
really truly remarkable and your contribution just so.

Speaker 2 (22:28):
Many listen listen from that point, yes, probably, but from
me that was life. I don't know. I didn't aim
to be whoa I want to be the Nobel Prize winner,
but it came. And the euro Presidential Award for Education
is the highest in the United States. It's like an.

Speaker 4 (22:49):
Educational loss card.

Speaker 2 (22:51):
It came. So the seventh one, twenty fifteen, I caught it.

Speaker 3 (23:00):
Well again, these are amazing accomplishments of contribution to so
many things in your industry and your space. And you know, listen,
you have a ton of energy and excitement, and clearly
you're not retired, you're not done, You're working on things.

Speaker 1 (23:15):
So tell us more about this.

Speaker 5 (23:17):
The toy industry, the representation I have lost.

Speaker 1 (23:22):
Okay, let's real, man, let's get into it. I'm excited.

Speaker 3 (23:25):
I want to see more, all right, yes, and they
hit me.

Speaker 4 (23:32):
Look at that as a free lancer.

Speaker 2 (23:35):
Again, I was freelancer only in the United States because
Romania didn't have free lancing. So that is my life
in the United States and coming here. I had a
hobby of developing games since I was about ten eleven.
Because Romania did not allow Monopoly to be played because

(23:57):
was capitalist propaganda. I invented Monopoly by myself. I saw
the pictures and I made the monopoly with my own rules.
And when I came to the United States, I said,
I need to do this by the book and I
These were the two books that I considered the best

(24:18):
advanced invention game inventors guide books, and I followed them.
So that's my games. I guaranteed that they are playable
and I tested them. So as an engineer, I know
what I do, and I considered that my product should
be operational when it goes out there. So my first

(24:46):
patent was a maze game with the parts and stuff
in a box. Thirty five companies I contracted. None of
them wanted to take a look at my patent because
they were saying, oh, maybe we have something similar to
your patent, and then you will claim that we infringe

(25:10):
your patent. They didn't want to look and I got
so mad. I was freshly out of refugee camp. I
didn't have any money, and I abandoned the patent. Yes,
what about a year or two after I abandoned the patent,
two companies came out with similar games with my game.

Speaker 4 (25:33):
So I was disgusted.

Speaker 2 (25:36):
This is my free lance, not well hired. I was
trying to put my games out there regardless.

Speaker 4 (25:45):
It was a failure.

Speaker 2 (25:47):
And here is another one. Next, I published a book
in twenty fifteen. It was in six months became a bestseller.
The publisher called me and said, doan, congratulations, your book
is a best seller. Now. Now don't think that I
was competing with City Shades of Gray. No, I was

(26:09):
was a manual. That was a training manual. So that
was the book that and after several years I saw
that was a bestseller in Japan. Anyway, based on that book.
The next sride, I, together with my daughter, we invented
a game called Cryptoglyphs and won the best educational concept

(26:34):
the world.

Speaker 4 (26:35):
And it was really something else.

Speaker 2 (26:39):
I had people coming after eleven companies were chasing us
to get the game, but slowly they tried to dumb
it down. And at one point one guy came to
me and said in a zoom in a video, he said, done, listen,
I cannot take your him to a pub and replace

(27:02):
their darts with your game. And I said, of course,
it's an educational game, not for a pub. I'd like
to go on pubs, but not to play this. So
I said, let's do next. I had this game developed
for education, and I have heard the examples. You can

(27:24):
see them, and it's a fantastic game. Kids love with parents,
love with teachers, love it. I cannot produce it. It
costs money, and I then have the finances to invest
and create a because you need to advertise.

Speaker 4 (27:43):
You need to advertise. This is a thing that you
should think about.

Speaker 2 (27:48):
When I was working on this, I asked National Science
Foundation to give me a small drumt to help me
develop these models, and they rejected it because I said,
I invented some three dimensional letters and they rejected it
because I could buy three dimensional letters at every craft store,

(28:14):
and that was the comment they rejected my And they
are different, and once we are done presenting, I show
them they are total People that saw this day said whohaw, fantastic.
How do I produce it. I have no idea, and
it's frustrating because look from the years I started having

(28:37):
the pattern, I still cannot have a company taking it
and making You need to advertise it and show the advantages.
I have proof. I used it for years in my
school and here at the aircuts, I have results. But
I need a company to make it and advertise it. Anyway,

(29:00):
that's another game here. I have another one.

Speaker 4 (29:03):
When they said that is I don't have a game
for a pub.

Speaker 2 (29:08):
I created the UFOs that has these straws like the
straws that you see outdoors for pool, and you have
the frying saucers and you have to feed them in
between and you win points for that very cheap, very easy,
and so on. So that is the UFO game. Then

(29:30):
next one, this is another pride. I've published another book
and it's based on Lego, and Lego said they don't
upset outside submissions. And I'm still using it with my
book and Lego bricks. But Lego could do a much
better job spreading the world. How the concept this is

(29:55):
a new concept, and I published the results in a
paper and everybody loved it. But where is the marketing?
The people getting to use this one because this is
a stem stem specific game. Anyway. Next one, this is

(30:16):
another one. I got a patent for cylindrical games and
they are beautiful, absolutely gorgeous. This is again this is
one of them. This is the cylindrical chess spread. Oh yes,
and you you should see how you can play checkers

(30:37):
on this one because you don't have a border here
so you can go. It's absolutely mind blowing. And again
this is a pattern. I go nowhere, and I don't know.
It's hard to manufacture something like that anyway. Next, this

(30:58):
is another thing. I this sign this.

Speaker 4 (31:00):
It's the chiap all that you can get it for.

Speaker 2 (31:04):
About a buck, the Lastek pyramid and you have to
put the balls with a stick on this and you
have the trajectory with different challenges to put it on
the top. Who gets there first? With the game cheap
is blow molding. And I still have a different I

(31:29):
asked my patent attorney. He said, it's not pattern topple
all right. Next, this is a game I call it
puzzle build that has dots on different trials and you
can create letters. This game was really good for my

(31:53):
students to help them improve dyslexia reading because they said,
after we played with your letters, we read better. And
I read about dyslesia and I saw that this alexia
has a big component visual So visualization is part of

(32:15):
the not the treatment helping them become better readers. I
got again, I cannot find.

Speaker 4 (32:26):
People to taste it because they're afraid. Schools say they
have to follow the.

Speaker 2 (32:34):
School district policies, and if I don't have the numbers,
they don't change the policy, and so on. I don't
have the numbers because I had engineering students. But I
saw the problem and I have a solution visual simulation. Again,
I don't know where in the world I can find
dyslexic students to show that it works anyway. Next, this

(33:00):
is hoop a loop, yes, again less than a buck.
You have this one with three different places you put
a string in each one of them. Each one is
challenging because you have different movement of the ball and
the complexity is is not around hoop is square and

(33:27):
you have to match diagonal and the side, and it's
much more difficult to evaluate how you.

Speaker 4 (33:36):
Guide the ball into that.

Speaker 2 (33:40):
Look.

Speaker 4 (33:41):
Again, it's probably less.

Speaker 2 (33:45):
This one has an attachment that you can move it
from hole to whole is there. It's less than a back,
less than a back. How do I make it? I
don't know.

Speaker 4 (33:58):
I need a company to do it.

Speaker 2 (34:00):
Next. Yeah, this is I had this fun this summer
on my backyard table maze that you drive with the hands,
and the ball is on this side and you.

Speaker 4 (34:20):
Put it in the center, and you have all kinds
of traps.

Speaker 2 (34:23):
That you can lose the ball and can be played
on the in the pool in the water, so you
have all kind of challenges because the waves are moving
it and so on. So it's very difficult and challenging.
I'm still waiting to have somebody to make it. These
are money on the table right.

Speaker 3 (34:45):
Clearly you have an abundance of great ideas.

Speaker 2 (34:49):
I am not done. This is. This is a finger golf.
You have a ball here, and you have the gold
truck here the course with five sets and who gets
the ball in the collar. This is red to red,

(35:10):
white to white, yellow too yellow, and you have hazards sun,
little sun, big sun, and mounts and so on, laughter,
rain and so on. Finger and you drive it. It's cheap.
You put it on the table. I did it on
my No, I didn't make this. I fake it. With
the truck on the table with silly putty and stuff.

(35:35):
I didn't have the money to make the whole disc.
And it's there. You get again vacuum form and you
have it done. And you said it. This is broken Shapes.
It's right here, Broken shapes. It's a box right here.

(35:58):
And I have ten shapes that the kids love. It
is very cheap. You cut them and you put them together.
Every color is a shape, so you cannot make mistakes.
That is again, this is a very good one. We
played it, and this is for kids. The short and

(36:19):
the long. It's three sections and this one I developed
it to be implemented in casinos.

Speaker 4 (36:29):
The casinos. I love casinos and Las.

Speaker 2 (36:31):
Vegas, and they don't have a game that kind of game.
And I since I came to the United States, I
was looking to see what new game they have.

Speaker 4 (36:42):
They don't have something of this category, and I don't know.

Speaker 2 (36:47):
I tried to write to Steve Win and all that
they don't even want to look at me. I don't
have the money to pay agents and find agents for that.

Speaker 4 (36:59):
I have to demonstrate that works and start.

Speaker 2 (37:02):
This is Flippers is another game that I created that
it's really fun and again this is duell of sorcery
and you build a beautiful castle and being a sorcerer,
and who builds the castle first wins the game and
then the next one. But I had the Star game

(37:25):
and this is a very nice sweet game. You start
from your color with four PAGs and you aim to
put a peg in your collar and the opposite and
you just moved with one dice. Show it's very simple,
very it's brainless. And the next one. I became the

(37:47):
ASTRA Certified Prekfert to support my games and recommend them
for stem and.

Speaker 4 (37:53):
Other type of activities.

Speaker 2 (37:57):
And again my last is do you see what I
wrote there, Samantha, What did I write?

Speaker 1 (38:06):
H A E E N no.

Speaker 5 (38:11):
H A A V E Oh, I say it, yes,
have fun f u N have fun.

Speaker 1 (38:23):
There is brilliant.

Speaker 2 (38:26):
There's my three divisualization. And I forgot to mention my spinner.
That is the dumbest toy. I wanted to make it smarter.
This is the rock paper scissors and I call it
the Executive decision Maker and you do that and this

(38:51):
executive or if you want for kids, I have this
one with the dice and you can play. I hate
them games I hate them. And the spinners are dumb,
don't do anything. This one has a competition, you see
who gets the And the whole idea is you play

(39:12):
it like this and you.

Speaker 4 (39:14):
Stop it and you have opposite to your finger.

Speaker 2 (39:18):
What's the value and it's a paper or rock ord scissors. Again,
I went to the manufacturers and they said they are
not interested, absolutely not interested. So all by individual creations,

(39:39):
not higher are ilimbo. They are in the twilight zone.
They exist, but they are not alive. And I am real.
That's why I really wish that with this meeting that
we have here other people in the community or people

(40:01):
from industry that are interested. We're coming us and I
am here. I have prototypes. The prototypes are here. I
put them. If you want to see them, I can
show them, but they are ready. I designed them and
I made them in three D modelings, so they're available.

(40:21):
Like I said, I had the change right here, and
everything that I presented I haven't here.

Speaker 3 (40:27):
So I think we can all identify with You know,
you're definitely a serial inventor.

Speaker 1 (40:33):
I mean your mind is just brilliant, right, You're you're really.

Speaker 3 (40:37):
Oh yes, really thinking out you know the difference of
the toys and how they're time with the educational I mean,
I'm listening to all this.

Speaker 1 (40:45):
I get it.

Speaker 3 (40:46):
I've spoken with you before. I love your energy. I
love all this about you, you know, and I understand
that it's frustrating, like as inventors, where do we get
the money, the manufacturing, the distribution.

Speaker 1 (40:56):
Who's going to license these great ideas?

Speaker 2 (40:58):
Right?

Speaker 3 (41:00):
And I feel that you're frustrated. I see the hands
going and frustration. I'm really glad that you've joined this community.
And here's the thing too, You're not alone, right, You're
not alone. You have some brilliant, really thought provoking ideas
and some games that that I'm interested in. I'm like,
I want to see where these develop. But you're not
alone in this space where there is frustration and where

(41:22):
do we go? But I'm glad that you've joined us,
so we can kind of be in this a little
bit together.

Speaker 2 (41:27):
Right.

Speaker 3 (41:28):
We all have our individual journeys that we we've got
to travel. Listen, I can't say anything to you that
you haven't heard before, sir. You've done, You've got some
serious accomplishments. So my question to you is kind of
what I want to throw at you, is like what
to me, I'm like, it's just a matter of time.

Speaker 1 (41:47):
Maybe just the timing.

Speaker 3 (41:48):
For you, sir, it's just it hasn't the timing hasn't
just aligned yet. The only answer that I kind of
have not that you're asking me a question. I think
you're just having that for stration overall. But to me,
it's simply down to timing.

Speaker 4 (42:06):
I would say more than timing.

Speaker 2 (42:09):
The reason why I thought that I hit some really
good companies that are a good match, but they rejected
because one of them said they don't want to cannibalize
their toys and games. Another one said that, yes, we

(42:30):
are overwhelmed with our own project.

Speaker 4 (42:33):
We don't take any other projects.

Speaker 2 (42:35):
I have all kind of answers or the timing, the timing, Samantha,
there are the time is any time is coming, the
next Christmas is coming, the summer vacation. People could use
the things for backyard ands, whether they and the thing

(42:59):
is I paid money to a company that said I
will do I would be a legent agent, and they
did it, and they proved to me. They wrote about
fifty letters pretty much. This was at the time with
my first game, and they proved that they mailed at

(43:22):
the time was mail not email, to fifty different companies.
And I was upset and I said, okay, so what
are the rest off? They weren't interested, So what's the
difference from what I did? I paid them to do it.
Now I'm looking for partnership. When somebody says that parts

(43:43):
to help me, I said, good, help me. I give
you a share of whatever proceedings you get.

Speaker 4 (43:49):
Because if there is no skin in the adventure here.

Speaker 2 (43:56):
They can say, hey, don we did what we wanted,
what we needed to do, but look interest and so on.
That's why I, uh, I'm waiting for see who would
partner with me? And I said, I'm not greedy. I
know that these games will take off. It will be

(44:17):
enough for everybody, right right, No, I don't have some
cheap craft and so on. I have good games. And
as I said, they are cheap, but they are challenging.
They're very easy to manufacture.

Speaker 1 (44:32):
Right.

Speaker 3 (44:33):
Well, I think I understood when you were saying cheap games.
You know, we have to stay in that manufacturing mind too,
as inventors, because we know that's attractive to buyers. You know, listen,
you know again, Dan, we don't have to talk about
the toy trade shows, and how how much of the
boots on the ground, the licensing that that kind of

(44:55):
we have to attract ourselves. Inventing is not easy, and
it is common to find a marketing company.

Speaker 1 (45:02):
I mean they're a dime a dozen, right.

Speaker 3 (45:04):
I've met a lot of inventors that get caught up
in and that expense of.

Speaker 1 (45:08):
It all, and they really are kind of let down, right,
or they feel like they've wasted a lot of money.

Speaker 3 (45:15):
I'm going to talk about thousands of dollars to hire
these companies to submit your product ideas. Just like that,
we can do ourselves right. Those are tough lessons learned, right. So, Dan,
I know that you have some experience in that area
with the licensing and the marketing companies that we were

(45:36):
just talking about.

Speaker 1 (45:37):
So what you know, how do you feel about some
of that.

Speaker 2 (45:42):
I don't want to say I feel bad, but it
left the taste that is unpleasant. I had several companies
helping me find a place where my games can be manufactured.
I paid the fees, but nothing was done. I started

(46:03):
doing myself the stuff and since the GPT, I asked
GPT to recommend what companies can help me with my
specific games and I apply to them, and.

Speaker 4 (46:24):
There are three alternatives.

Speaker 2 (46:27):
They don't answer, or they say they are not interested,
or they say we are looking for something else. And
so if they respond, basically, nobody said I don't like
this game, because I have them, they are all ready made,

(46:51):
I tested them and so on, and so I am
ready to show them. And not only that, but there
is a problem that led me with a very bad
taste about so called entrepreneurship.

Speaker 4 (47:07):
I tried to have a company.

Speaker 2 (47:09):
I found a partner and we formed a company in
twenty twenty. And after a while, in three years, I
felt that I wasn't wanted anymore because I asked we

(47:32):
had two games ready, and I asked to put my
name on my.

Speaker 4 (47:37):
Games that are mine. I have the pattern for them,
and they refused.

Speaker 2 (47:42):
And then I got really upset and I realized that hey,
I am unwanted here, and I wanted to get out.

Speaker 4 (47:52):
Of that partnership. I'm still one third honor.

Speaker 2 (47:57):
But in four years I did see any financial anything,
and they are pretty much doing their stuff. And what
bothers me is that that's why I wanted to show you.
I have heard this is the game that I invented
in the refugee camp. I can in it with me

(48:21):
because it's really has a value, emotional value, and it's
really going strong. But again, the company didn't want to
put my name because they said I don't bring any
value to the.

Speaker 4 (48:38):
Marketing and so on.

Speaker 2 (48:40):
So right now they don't even mention my name on
their website.

Speaker 4 (48:45):
I want to show that I have these cryptoglyphs that
are three D letters.

Speaker 2 (48:57):
Yes, the three D letters.

Speaker 3 (48:59):
I let's circle back around to kind of where we
just said that you face a lot of challenges, and
then I let the challenges.

Speaker 2 (49:10):
Are continued, said I don't know how to overcome them
at this point. That's why I want to see that
I can develop a partnership with some more experienced people.

Speaker 4 (49:20):
There is that website that is Scored.

Speaker 2 (49:25):
Are you familiar with Scored?

Speaker 3 (49:27):
Yeah, very familiar with Score and the SPA our partners
with the.

Speaker 2 (49:33):
I asked for help three people, three people at different
times wanted to help me, and they abandoned me because
my situation is so complex that they couldn't and they
said they will volunteer and so so I have no

(49:54):
idea how to overcome this because again it's a lot
of to have fun and I want to commercialize my program.
I just came this morning. I had a class and
it was a blast, and I want to spread the word.
How do you do it? Again? I have now four

(50:19):
centers when I have this program, three are senior citizens
and one.

Speaker 4 (50:28):
Haircuts.

Speaker 2 (50:29):
Right, I try to I have a program to help
with dyslegsia. I don't have where to test it because
nobody wants to get involved. So what am I supposed
to do? All right?

Speaker 3 (50:43):
Let's just you know, sometimes when I get like this,
and I get kind of frustrated and overwhelmed, and like
every door I'm knocking on just feels close or whatever
that vibe is that we can create as inventors, and
you know, it gets very frustrating.

Speaker 1 (50:58):
And you know, even doing this for a while, man,
I know that.

Speaker 3 (51:01):
You you know what you're talking about, right, and you
you've reached a level of really frustrated. I need a breakthrough,
you know, dang it. I need my breakthrough. So for
you know, let's just talk off the cuff, right or
just friends, So.

Speaker 1 (51:14):
You know, I'm not here to offer advice or or.

Speaker 3 (51:19):
I mean, I don't even know if I can hold
a candle to your accomplishments and what you've got going on.
But what I do know, and I do believe this
is just a human spirit, right, is sometimes when we
are feeling, you know, like you know, just it's coming
at us and we can't quite figure it out, sometimes
I just revert back to the basics, right, I just
kind of slow everything down, and I go back to

(51:42):
the basics of what I know, and in my learning
and teachings of you know, inventing and projects and entrepreneurships,
sometimes we have to slow.

Speaker 1 (51:51):
It down and go back to the beginning.

Speaker 3 (51:53):
So even just finding one toy that that you really
are the most passionate about out and where it could
do the most impact. And I've suffered with some dyslexia
in my life as well, so I'm really drawn to
that part of it.

Speaker 1 (52:11):
So maybe Dan.

Speaker 3 (52:13):
Just back to the basics, finding that one piece, you
decide which one that is for you, and let's circle
back around and just start from.

Speaker 1 (52:22):
The beginning again.

Speaker 3 (52:24):
Because what we do know is technology and advancing is
changing all the time, right New people are coming into
the licensing field, other people are coming out, New opportunities
are opening all the time, all the time. We just
have to stay resilient and like I've been trying to
point out, circle back down to the basics. You know, Listen,

(52:47):
I'm not trying to be this raw row cheerleader and
you know, hey, you've got this. I'm accepting your frustrations.

Speaker 1 (52:53):
Man, I get it. I've been there myself. But how
do you now that you're a part the Adventure Smart community.

Speaker 3 (53:02):
I know that you jump into the app and you
attend some of the meetings. You know, I'm hoping that
our community has given you a little bit of encouragement
and inspiration, because you should know that you're around a
ton of other other other people that are kind of going.

Speaker 1 (53:20):
Through some of the strange same struggles.

Speaker 2 (53:23):
Yeah, I know, And the problem is that I have
high expectations. But again, I I'm at a point where
I don't know what to do next.

Speaker 4 (53:37):
And I don't know. I don't I don't feel that.

Speaker 2 (53:47):
I saw a movie about Van God and remember that
he never sold one of his paintings. He became famous
only after he was gone. And I have the feeling
that all my games will become popular once I am gone.

Speaker 1 (54:07):
Oh my gosh, say that you're gonna get me in
a cry and be emotional A very what a very.

Speaker 3 (54:13):
Tender thing to say, right, I mean, lett we find
inspiration as well, and you know, and I think I
think of the documentaries like Pixar or even Steve Jobs
or or oprah Winfair. I mean, there's so many examples
that that we can look at for inspiration, especially for

(54:34):
feeling kind of down and frustrated. You know, this is
a great interview too, because this is real talk. I mean,
it's raw. You're frustrated, you feel like.

Speaker 6 (54:44):
You I mean you can tell just by our interview
today you are extremely talented, uber intelligent.

Speaker 3 (54:54):
You know, you've got great products. I believe in you.
You know, like I said, let's get back to the basics.
Maybe we should find one and let's make a really
good sales sheet.

Speaker 2 (55:04):
Right.

Speaker 3 (55:04):
If you want some help doing that, man, I'll jump
in with you on that one. Let's make a really
creative sale sheet and let's pitch it to a couple
of companies.

Speaker 1 (55:13):
By the way, I love the idea that you.

Speaker 3 (55:15):
Just gave us by using AI to suggest and recommend companies.
I've been doing this for a hot minute, and I
use AI chat GP all the time, and I didn't
think to do that, So thank you for inspiring us
with new ideas. You know, you know, I know that
you're an educator and you teach classes and you're involved

(55:36):
in all kinds of things. I'm so grateful that you
joined us on this podcast episode of Spotlight Inventors. You
are episode thirteen and elis and I thirteen is a
lucky number. All right, come on now, so.

Speaker 2 (55:56):
Is it?

Speaker 3 (55:57):
Yes? Look things are turning around already. Look, man, you
inspire me. I know your background. I know that you're
a talented toy creator. You're an amazing inventor. So maybe
we'll close out twenty twenty four of that was then
and this is now.

Speaker 1 (56:18):
Maybe back to the basics. Let's do a.

Speaker 3 (56:20):
Sales meat on at least one of your products. And
I know a couple of weeks ago we had.

Speaker 4 (56:25):
A product I have has a sales sheet.

Speaker 3 (56:30):
Well, yes, let's refresh them, rede them, renew them, whatever
it takes. With new set of eyes, you know what
I'm talking about.

Speaker 2 (56:40):
I just wanted to mention.

Speaker 3 (56:41):
There is a gentleman that joined one of our meetings
a couple of weeks ago, and his name is not
registering to me right now, but I'll see if he's
going to be on our one of our meetings.

Speaker 1 (56:52):
He's very involved in the toy industry, very involved. So
he's an inventor himself.

Speaker 3 (56:58):
I'm going to look him up and see if I
can find him and maybe we can connect you to
on an email just for conversation and industry talk.

Speaker 2 (57:08):
Eventually, yeah, eventually, I'm looking for a partnership I have.
The whole thing is it's too much for one single person. Yes,
I'm not good in marketing, and there is all kind
of other activities. I am a design engineer all my life,

(57:32):
and you saw the success that I had wild Hire
with my.

Speaker 4 (57:37):
Inventions all right all the time.

Speaker 2 (57:40):
Well now my private invention.

Speaker 1 (57:44):
I don't like I said, Nefan's over.

Speaker 3 (57:47):
You're just being honest and sharing your frustrations about the
longevity and how long it takes of being an inventor.

Speaker 1 (57:55):
And listen, man, I can respect that. I think we've
all been there.

Speaker 3 (58:00):
But again, I don't know you very well, but I
know enough to where I think you're a pretty resilient guy.
And so you've had a couple of differents clothes. But
let's see if we can get some open for the
new year.

Speaker 2 (58:12):
Absolutely, and again if you have connections. That's what I
want here for connections.

Speaker 3 (58:18):
Well, and that's what you know again, that's why Brian,
you know, kind of invented this app and put everything
together so that we could come together as a community.

Speaker 1 (58:26):
And we know that nothing is built overnight, you know.

Speaker 3 (58:29):
Uh, this, this Inventors Smart Community has grown exponentially just.

Speaker 1 (58:34):
In a year.

Speaker 3 (58:35):
New people are coming in all the time. So this
is where we try to do our best to connect
people to network together. What we meet in person, we
have online events of course. If you want to learn
more about Inventor Smart, you can just go to your
Apple Store, your Google Play and grab the Inventor Smart
Community app download.

Speaker 1 (58:54):
Become a member.

Speaker 3 (58:56):
We're also brought to you by the National Inventor Club.
We have members all across the United States and beyond,
and a.

Speaker 1 (59:03):
Lot of us are in the shame same shoes.

Speaker 3 (59:05):
A lot of us are in just different stages and phases.
And Dan, you are always welcome as one of our
members and our Spotlight episode thirteen for the National Inventor
Club and Inventor Smart Community. And I love your energy
and I think you're just honest and raw and I
appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (59:23):
It's a pleasure to.

Speaker 3 (59:24):
Have met you in this forum, and I look forward
to connecting and doing more stuff with you in the
near future.

Speaker 1 (59:30):
Does that sound good?

Speaker 2 (59:32):
Absolutely? I want to turn these as, how to say,
an example to be followed.

Speaker 1 (59:39):
There we go, and we're going to rapid leave it
at that.

Speaker 5 (59:42):
Thank you so much, Dan, Thank you so much for
having me at any time you need more like a sequence,
a sequel.

Speaker 1 (59:51):
Yet, I think that's a great idea for getting this sequel.
That's good, all right, well done, well done.

Speaker 4 (59:59):
Absolutely, invention one on one is this one end?

Speaker 2 (01:00:03):
The two ones? The next steak?

Speaker 1 (01:00:06):
That's good, all right man.

Speaker 3 (01:00:08):
We'll merry Christmas to you and happy every one thinks
wh

All Episodes

Inventor Spotlight Ep. 13 | From Refugee to Inventor: Dan Dimitriu’s Inspiring Journey of Innovation

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

Crime Junkie

Cardiac Cowboys

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Inventor Spotlight Ep. 13 | From Refugee to Inventor: Dan Dimitriu’s Inspiring Journey of Innovation