Innovation CHEF

Earlier this year Micheal Connolly went on RTE’s Dragons Den with his Innovation. A Self employed animator he came up with the idea of a children’s amination kit three years ago. Now after investment from Gavin Duffy the Animatazz is set to be a contender for the Christmas number one slot.

When we reviewed the show we said:

This product promised to bring the magic of animation home. Essentially it is a box of pipecleaners and other odds and ends to make characters that are then animated by following the instructions on the book and DVD. In a smart move, you provide your own camera/phone and use the moviemaking software that comes already with your computer, thus avoiding those difficult software warranty issues. Is this business viable? Yes. Is investable? Yes again. With the right marketing and product placement strategy this is a brand that could grow and grow and make an investor a handsome return. It is the growth potential that makes Animatazz investable.

Great to see another success story.

Hope to see more when #ddire returns

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The Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, in response to what he calls “the worst global recession of our lifetime” has announced an Innovation Task force to  ensure Ireland is well positioned for ” the global upturn when it comes.”

The idea is that this top team of advisors will create options for the government to ensure an increase in Innovation and Entrepreneurship and have Ireland positioned as an international Innovation Hub with the fabled Smart, Green Economy.

“The Ireland of the future will be a smart, high-value, export-led economy. It will have some of the world’s leading research-intensive multinationals, a number of which will be Irish-owned. It will have thousands of innovative small and medium enterprises,” the Taoiseach said.

Innovation taskforce: membership

• Dermot McCarthy , secretary general, Department of the Taoiseach (chairman)
• Lionel Alexander , vice-president general manager of Hewlett Packard (Manufacturing) Ltd and chairman of the Government’s Enterprise Feedback Group
• Prof Don Barry , president, University of Limerick
• Dr Hugh Brady , president, University College Dublin
• Damien Callaghan , investment director, Intel Capital
• Michael Carmody , president, Institute of Technology Tralee
• Dr Steven Collins , co-founder chief technical officer, Kore Virtual Machines
• Ned Costello , chief executive, Irish Universities Association
• Joe Harford , chairman of the Government’s High Level Action Group on Green Enterprise
• Dr John Hegarty , provost, Trinity College Dublin
• Dr Chris Horn , co-founder of Iona Technologies
• Dr Brian Kelly , founder chief executive, Celtic Catalysts
• Dr Burton Lee , director, European entrepreneurship programme, Stanford University; managing partner, Innovarium Ventures
• John Lynch , chief executive, Merrion Pharmaceuticals
• Tara MacMahon , IP lawyer
• Dan MacSweeney , chief executive, Carbery Group
• Bryan Mohally , vice-president of supply chain operations Europe, Johnson and Johnson
• Mark O’Donovan , director, Raglan Capital
• Barry O’Sullivan , senior vice-president, Cisco Systems
• Dr Paul Roben , president, Celtic Consulting
• Anna Scally , partner, KPMG

I have had a lot of CV and Interview related questions recently.  A lot of folks are out there looking for few enough jobs and just a scan through the job sites shows employers are looking for creativity and innovation in their new employees.  The reason is pretty straightforward. They are going to make a significant investment in that new employee and someone who can create value over and above that which is expected is going to yield a better return on that investment.

Communicating that you are a creative or innovative potential hire is a great differentiator.

Here are 5 Dos.

1.      If the job description uses terms like ‘innovative’ or ‘creative’ use these terms as descriptors for you and your approach. Use the exact term they used when you are writing your Cover Letter. Use synonyms as well as the exact terms in your CV.

 2.      Highlight an idea that YOU had that was implemented. Be sure to describe the idea clearly and what the result of the implementation was.

Example: Developed a novel solution that made a step increase in product performance of 20% and was filed as patent no. USxxxxxxxx

3.      Highlight that you have a process or use some structure. You want be seen as someone who can add to a team asset not a lone magician.

Example: I led the project team through a structured creative problem solving process that identified the root cause and a set of options from which we selected our final solution.

 4.      Point to tangible expressions of your creativity. Patents, websites designed, articles or papers written. Contributions to online forums, especially those that relate to your prospective employer could also be used.

 5.      Show learning experiences that have enhanced your creativity. This could be formal training courses. It could also be volunteer work or episode where you had to rely on your wits. 

And some Don’ts

• Don’t be tempted to jazz up your CV with fonts, colours, stickers or other nonsense in order to show how creative you are.
• Don’t attempt to be ‘Whacky’ in tone – it will not work.
• Don’t use insider language unless it is the name of a formal course- avoid acronyms, especially Russian ones, in the body of your CV (TRIZ,ARIZ)

Finally don’t overplay the innovator, it will be one of a number of traits and skills you will want to communicate. Employers know that smart creative people are valuable assets so put that clearly on display alongside your leadership and communication skills.

If you are pitching to a Venture Capitalist, the Bank Manager(!)  the Dragons Den, your boss or anyone who could help you build a business you want to get the basics right.  This is a slide pack to help you cover some of the key questions in a succinct an effective manner.

Intentionally the slides are plain so you can add a bit of branding and sizzle  for yourself.  The content on these slides are pointers; filling in the blanks will get you started nothing more so think about the material and make it work for your business.

Guidelines

• 10/20/30 10 slides, 20 minutes talking, 30 point font size minimum.
• Talking points – don’t read them while looking at them, look at the audience
• Black & white hardcopy- No fancy graphics or animations or anything that depends on subtle colour variation.
• Intelligible - It should make sense when they read it again tomorrow.
• Positive and honest – your business is good so don’t trash the competition or oversell.

Best of Luck!

• First you have a business strategy.
• Then you have an IP strategy.
• Then you have Business Strategy.

There are a lot of things to consider when building a business. Especially a tech business. Especially if it is a new technology that you are going to set the world alight with. Getting the product right, pulling in customers and getting the finance … these are all crucial to success. An IP strategy doesn’t lead the business but no business should be without one.

I’d also argue very strongly that the IP strategy should not be left to the lawyers, shouldn’t be the responsiblity of the R&D guys but should be front and center with the business heads. Why? IP is a business asset and like any asset you need to be mindful of the the return you are making from it. IP is a control point for your business. If you have a patent you can exclude others or through licensing allow access to those who you have chosen to make a deal with – thats a big deal.

Always identify the Key IP. The stuff that makes a difference. The reason why someone will come to you rather than someone else.

Without getting overly complicated here are three things to consider. There are many more factors and nuances but these are biggies:

1. You only have protection where you look for it so do you know where your market is? Do you know where it will be in 5, 10, 20 years time? Consider what happens when your product is successful. Even if there are geographies that you couldn’t exploit directly – could someone else?  Wouldn’t it be better if that happened on your terms?
2. In most countries the exclusive right granted to a patent holder is the right to prevent others from making, using, selling, or distributing the patented invention without permission. Think about locations where your product could be manufactured or key ports it might need to travel through.
3. Check for workarounds to your invention, check for modifications that can be made to your product that could dent your revenue stream. Make sure that the patent claims protect your business not that they protect certain technical choices that you made. You could have a brillantly written patent that is worthless because a competitor chose a way that was second best technically but leveraged other factors such as price or brand and they now own the market. If you can own second best, and third best then do so too.

IP is there to help protect the revenue stream and profits that you are working so hard to get. It is not an insurance policy for when things go wrong so much as a protection policy to maximise your upside when things go right. If the business doesn’t work out quite as you hoped you can always scale back on that investment or sell it on / license it as an asset.

Innovation is about turning those inventions and ideas into commercial reality, an IP strategy is about making business sense of the innovation.