How to invent or have a great idea - Quirky
Do you want to invent or have a great idea for an invention and need help getting it done?
That's the challenged I am faced with when I talked to young people about their future - it's always: I don't have the money, I don't have the knowhow or the skills - You need to know the right people to be able to even get started. Well - what if I told you that you can have all that, what excuse will you give me then?
The possibilities are endless and our youth, the children of this generation have it all - it still takes a bit of effort and some luck, but they have so much potential and so many more opportunities compared to the previous generation.
In the past, becoming an "inventor" had been a very hard endeavor to succeed in. The complexities relating to financing, engineering, distribution, and all the legalities have stood in the way of brilliant people bringing their great ideas to life and to market.
But as they say "the times are a changing", and a company called Quirky has rapidly changed the way the world thinks about product development.
Quirky has endeavored to bring at least three brand new consumer products to market each week, by enabling a fluid conversation between a global community and Quirky's expert product design staff.
"The world influences our business in real-time, and we share our revenue directly with the people who helped us make successful decisions."
Ben Kaufman is the 24-year-old chief executive of Quirky, a consumer products company. Designers, lawyers, finance officers, and engineers come together in one room to take user-generated invention ideas submitted online and turn them into two new products a week at Quirky's lower Manhattan headquarters.
Ben Kaufman was on the subway in New York City in 2005 when he had his light-bulb moment. He saw a girl--a stranger--sporting a pair of headphones he designed at mophie, the iPod accessories company he founded the day he graduated from high school.
"I saw something I invented out in the world, and it was the best feeling," Kaufman says. "That's when I realized I needed to help more people experience that."
Four years later, Kaufman launched Quirky, an online consumer products company with a social development twist: products for the people, created and designed by the people.
"We're making invention accessible," Kaufman says during a whirlwind tour of Quirky's offices, which occupy the third floor of a building in SoHo, one of New York City's busiest retail corridors. "Ninety-nine percent of people are armchair inventors. They have great product ideas, but most don't have the time or money or expertise to make them happen."
The goal at Quirky is to change that, and ultimately become the global, go-to brand for everyone who's ever dreamed of becoming an inventor.
The opportunity is available and endless. Today's generation of children and teens have the opportunity to do so much more in life. I hope that unlike me - they open their eyes soon enough to take advantage of it.
That's the challenged I am faced with when I talked to young people about their future - it's always: I don't have the money, I don't have the knowhow or the skills - You need to know the right people to be able to even get started. Well - what if I told you that you can have all that, what excuse will you give me then?
The possibilities are endless and our youth, the children of this generation have it all - it still takes a bit of effort and some luck, but they have so much potential and so many more opportunities compared to the previous generation.
In the past, becoming an "inventor" had been a very hard endeavor to succeed in. The complexities relating to financing, engineering, distribution, and all the legalities have stood in the way of brilliant people bringing their great ideas to life and to market.
But as they say "the times are a changing", and a company called Quirky has rapidly changed the way the world thinks about product development.
Quirky has endeavored to bring at least three brand new consumer products to market each week, by enabling a fluid conversation between a global community and Quirky's expert product design staff.
"The world influences our business in real-time, and we share our revenue directly with the people who helped us make successful decisions."
Ben Kaufman is the 24-year-old chief executive of Quirky, a consumer products company. Designers, lawyers, finance officers, and engineers come together in one room to take user-generated invention ideas submitted online and turn them into two new products a week at Quirky's lower Manhattan headquarters.
Ben Kaufman was on the subway in New York City in 2005 when he had his light-bulb moment. He saw a girl--a stranger--sporting a pair of headphones he designed at mophie, the iPod accessories company he founded the day he graduated from high school.
"I saw something I invented out in the world, and it was the best feeling," Kaufman says. "That's when I realized I needed to help more people experience that."
Four years later, Kaufman launched Quirky, an online consumer products company with a social development twist: products for the people, created and designed by the people.
"We're making invention accessible," Kaufman says during a whirlwind tour of Quirky's offices, which occupy the third floor of a building in SoHo, one of New York City's busiest retail corridors. "Ninety-nine percent of people are armchair inventors. They have great product ideas, but most don't have the time or money or expertise to make them happen."
The goal at Quirky is to change that, and ultimately become the global, go-to brand for everyone who's ever dreamed of becoming an inventor.
The opportunity is available and endless. Today's generation of children and teens have the opportunity to do so much more in life. I hope that unlike me - they open their eyes soon enough to take advantage of it.
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