Episode 3 - YOUR FIRST IDEAS (you need a box)

Do you have a box? What do you keep your finished, unshown ideas in?

This episode looks at getting started and the mental attitude that is needed to be a successful inventor.

Contact: [e-mail]

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
So tell me if you've heard thisone before. I'm at some type of
outdoor bistro and there's a very sexywoman sitting about two tables away from me.
I noticed her, but I don'twant to stare. She's looking at
my hands, and then I realizeI'd already taken my idea out and she

(00:20):
could see it. I'm ruined,my secrets out. My idea that could
change the world is about to Yeah, you got it. It's a dream.
But that idea in my hand,that was it. It's what I've
been waiting for. The design isalready starting to get fuzzy. Where's my

(00:42):
book? Where's my pin? Crap? I'm losing it, Jack. If
only I had a pen and paperby my bed, I'd already be a
millionaire, an overnight hit. Nomore waiting in line. I just can't
remember it now it's gone. I'msure still in there. How do I
get it back and become rich?Jack? You gotta help me. I'm

(01:04):
your host, Jack Courge and thisis the thirty year Overnight Sensation podcast.
This podcast is about being an inventorand actually designing and inventing something. It's
rough. I'm an inventor, notan on air personality. Let's just say
that I have the next size forradio. Also, this podcast is not

(01:26):
a front for a subscription service,a product development firm, or some company
that tries to generate money off ofyour ideas. Inventing and designing is not
easy. There are very few shortcuts, but you can do it yourself.
However, this podcast is a conversation, not a class. If you're a

(01:49):
novice inventor or want to be aninventor, these are the very trials one
goes through to get a product outto the public market. Episode three,
You need a box building your idea. I do wish dreams made inventing easier.
I'm one of the lucky few thathas had dreamed and they have become

(02:10):
products. But to be sure,I was already thinking about it before I
was dreaming about it. But beforewe get to the actual idea and making
something you have always dreamed of,you really have to be ready. And
once you are ready, when ajob or an idea comes along, like
my present head covering idea, youneed the peace of mind to know you

(02:35):
can do it, and that confidencestarts with a box. Yeah, I
said it, a box every inventorI've ever met or known has a box.
It is actually a point of pridewith some inventors. For years,
my box was an extremely sturdy cardboardbox. I didn't even know about inventors

(02:57):
having a box, but I didneed something that I could put constructed ideas
into and hide it at the topof my closet. I never decorated mine.
Then one day I had a prettyimportant pitch and all I had was
this crappy cardboard box. An oldgirlfriend took pity on me and gave me
a nice one for a birthday present, and I've got it still to this

(03:21):
day. The importance of a boxisn't even the box itself. The idea
of the box is what's important,and it's the beginning of you getting serious
about your ideas. That doesn't meanyou don't already have good ideas or maybe
even an invention or two. Butonce you have a box, then you
have something to put it into,and since it's yours, you'll only put

(03:46):
in things that are working, haveworked, or have a good chance of
working. Hey. I know itsounds silly, but there's something mentally satisfying
about elevating your work to a stagethan only your best and most solid ideas
go into your box. I muststress here that when you're starting out or

(04:09):
you finally get going on a box, it's not to be confused with the
boxes arch nemesis, the dreaded bagof ideas. I'm sure it's called something
else by other inventors, but thebag of ideas can be the end of
the road for you as a trueinventor. Usually in just a few minutes

(04:30):
of being asked questions after a speechor a meeting, I get a pretty
good idea of the people that haveboxes and the bag of idea person the
bag of ideas are really just poorlyformed ideas disguised as thoughtful inventions that go
nowhere. A bunch of them lazy, ill thought out take up people's time,

(04:55):
and most times it's just a wishlike I wish I had. That
the back of ideas is usually carriedby people that find it more important to
be called an inventor or designer thanto actually be an inventor or a designer.
Yes, there are those types ofpeople out there, and they usually
make themselves known fairly quickly. Irun into them a lot at shows and

(05:19):
speeches. They really only care aboutthe label of being a designer inventor so
that they can tell their friends theyare a designer inventor. For me,
being an inventor has been an eversurprising curse. I didn't wish it,
nor would I wish it upon anyone. It's just that I get so damn

(05:40):
mad AT's stupidity and inconvenience. Ididn't know I was going to end up
inventing items, but I do becomefurious when simple things don't work and nobody
wants to figure out why and fixthem. They just settle. They just
go now, all right, I'llyeah, okay, but they really don't
want it. I think what alwaysbothers me about this is they probably could

(06:02):
fix it. The industry, theinventor, the designers, they could fix
it, but they just figured,eh, it's inconvenient and they're gonna do
it. And as for these,for lack of a better term, bag
of idea carriers, they just wantthe title. They usually don't even want
to work for it. They wantto do just enough that they can be

(06:26):
called technically a designer inventor, andthen that's their identity and their ideas.
They rarely are thought out, andthey almost never make it to the public
market. For all the ideas Ihave designed and invented, most of them
are funny, frivolous, irreverent,and almost all of them came about by

(06:47):
solving a problem that was pissing meoff in some form or fashion. Ever,
sit in one of those Bolshemaki meetingsand somebody with good intentions but has
probably just stupid as come on,gang, there's no such thing as a
bad idea. Let's think of justgood ones. Yeah, there are bad

(07:09):
ideas. There's plenty of bad ideas, and usually sitting in meetings like that
is a bad idea, and it'senough to make me want to scratch out
my eyes. And since there areactually too few inventors, I hear this
a lot. I can usually tellwhen someone is sincere and when they want

(07:30):
to learn. I don't think youreally have to sleep with a pad of
paper by the bed, but thereshould be one around somewhere. As for
starting out with the basics, Ithink you really just need four items,
which means anyone who wants to thinkthings up really can do it. You
need a notepad, a pencil,a hand pencil, sharpener, and then

(07:57):
a miniature pot. No trick,It's that simple. I've been down on
my luck before, so bad thatthree of these four items were all that
I had. But the fourth thepot. By the way, it can
be any size pot. It wasjust as important. And in my estimation,
the pot is just as important asthe box once you get going.

(08:22):
And the reason is the pot isfor spite. Just hang with me a
bit and I'll explain. There wasa time in my life when all I
had was one traveling super thin sleepingbag, a suitcase, a garment bag,
and a notepad, a pencil,sharpener and a pencil. Later,
once I had a pot, Iknew I could take on anyone, and

(08:45):
I did. I wasn't stupid.I knew at the time I was in
a tough spot, but I wasnever afraid to work hard, which leads
to the pot or crockery, assome people may say. I had a
dream once when I was in aglamor coastal city with nice surroundings. It
was a very nice area out ofthe blue, Much to the dismay of

(09:07):
my then girlfriend, I dreamt thatI would find my fortune in a faraway
city. It felt so real thatI couldn't shake it, and after a
few weeks of the same dream,I packed up and left. I got
a lot of crap from my friendsand relatives, but the first thing I
did when I arrived was go toa secondhand army Navy surplus store and bought

(09:31):
one of the mess kits that hada pot in it. Now, all
this sounds quite desperate, and believeme, my folks were not very thrilled,
but I felt okay. Now Iwas there to find my fame and
fortune no matter how much crap Igot. And believe me, the crap
was considerable. But that is wherethe pots saved me and why it is

(09:54):
an essential tool. I did usethe mess hit since I was a little
or on cooking utensils, and Ialso didn't make some soup in the pot,
but more of it, as Isaid, was first fight. Now
I had a pad, a pencil, a pencil sharpener, and a pot
to piss in. So when anyonestarted in on me, you gave up

(10:16):
a great job where you lived allfor this, I would just let them
know. The first thing I didis I had a pot to piss in,
and all the rest of it wentdownhill from there. That seemed to
always clear the way in the conversationsso I could concentrate on the next idea,
whatever it was going to be.I've seen people by tons of things

(10:39):
to get them motivated, and tome, that's just fluff. I think
you only need four things and youcan start to design and invent just about
anything from there. And I've provedit. And since I didn't go to
any special school to do this meansyou can do it. Also, even
at this stage in my career,all these many years later, I think

(11:03):
about my box and the four basicitems. Now present day, given this
chance to develop a subtle, industryaltering product hasn't changed my needs. I
still need to make a prototype andit has to work where no one has
cared to make one work before.And here, as an aside, is
where my blood boils. There arebig manufacturers out there that could have done

(11:26):
this, but they are big,fat and lazy. Remember I approached them
and they wouldn't even give me thetime of day. Their attitude actually is,
let them make do what we're alreadyselling. Why go to trouble to
make something new? And I cantell you why, and I do because

(11:46):
it makes the employees life better.It may make it a little easier and
a little bit more comfortable. AndI've had crappy jobs before. Anything that
makes a crappy job just a littlebetter, it's worth it. And having
my box and its contents, itgives me the support that I've done it
before and I can do it againnow and in the future. And as

(12:11):
for my four basic items, theystill are really all I need. That
all said, most people throughout theworld can afford a box and those four
basic items. So if you reallywant to invent and you want to design
something, quit blubbering, get cracking. You can do it. These are

(12:33):
basic items. From there, theworld is yours. So until next time,
when you're thinking of ideas, neversettle. And when you're struggling,
I mean really struggling, just staythe course. Keep in mind that's when
most people give up and quit.There is always another way. I'm your

(12:56):
host, Jack Courage the thirty yearovernight Sensation. Stay at it.