bobber critique

John,


I spent a portion of my engineering career designing products for inventors,

some kookier than others. Many wanted me to work sweat equity, which I did

to a small extent, but always retained fees for service. Most of them had

done little or no marketing of their idea and for the most part headed for

disaster just like I believe these folks will. I observed several important

factors that make up "the inventor" mindset:


1.) Most inventors want one (1, uno, 1) for themselves, they think it's

the best idea ever and as result they believe the rest of the world will

think so as well and come running to their doorstep.


2.) Most inventors don't have a clue about business or marketing and are

usually unwilling to learn or take advice from experienced individuals

offering.


3.) Almost all inventors are so paranoid someone will "steal" their idea,

they are very reluctant to even tell anybody about it.


I once worked with an inventor who wanted a lighted accessory for his TV

remote control. I designed a cool looking device and charged him $12,000

for the engineering. He then spent an additional $30K to build a huge

inventory, set-up supply chains, contract manufacturing and distribution.

Over a two year period he sold 23. He really just wanted "one" for himself

and invested $42,000 instead of buying a new $400 TV that comes with a

lighted remote control. Here, he had done zero marketing and now he's

blessed with a great stockpile in his garage, just like the "fish bobber"

guys.


I also worked with a building contractor that had a problem with his Makita

battery powered drills going dead because someone forgot to charge the

batteries. To be sure, it was a real problem when the drills went dead and

a crew of high priced carpenters stood around waiting for the batteries to

charge so they could drive their screws. He wanted to build a 110Volt

plug-in adapter, for just those emergency situations. We built him two

prototypes using state-of-art switching power supply technology and charged

him $15,000. He was very happy. He then went to build a bunch of them, but

folded when the price tag for production tooling was $100K. We thought it

was good idea. A year later Black and Decker came out with a similar

product, not near as sexy and only for their brand not Makita, which, at

that time, had dominated the battery powered market.


He really just wanted one for himself and was really not passionate about

bringing it to the rest of world or going into the business of selling

these.


I believe the "Motorized Bobber" guys have a cute little product. Even

their little story is cute and smacks of sweetness and Dad's helping Son's,

etc. The problem is they have a horribly narrow market niche..."little boys

who are afraid to cast fishing lines" I would suspect that if they want to

fish later in life, they'd better learn how. I also suspect this device is

useless in most fishing applications, like stream, deep sea, bay, dock,

etc. (only a smooth crystal clear lake judging by the microhorsepower)

This a terrific example of asking no one if they need it, assuming everyone

wants one and building the items with no orders, spending $$ on making a

bunch which most likely will rot in their garage. What's your take?


Mark Goldsborough


"DeDe"




----- Original Message -----

From:

To:

Sent: Wednesday, July 10, 2002 2:04 PM

Subject: Trailing Bobber



> Folks,

>

> This appeared in the Wall Street Journal classified ads:

>

> www.trollingbobber.com has patented a motorized fishing bobber. With

70,000

> in inventory, we are looking for an investor or partner. 866-876-5546.

>

> If you have time, please go to the www.trollingbobber.com website and tell

me

> what you make of it...

>

> John

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