Armchair Inventors and Armchair Quarterbacks NEVER Win!

Andy Gibbs
date: Wednesday, September 26, 2001

We hear it at the water cooler the day after Monday Night Football. We hear it at the sports bar. We even hear in the living room on Sunday afternoon! It’s the armchair quarterback and there’s one on every block, in every bar, and in every office, yelling at the referees, calling the plays, and spewing expletives when the receiver drops the ball on the 10-yard line. Ah! The “wisdom” of the all-knowing armchair quarterback.

Of course, we all know that this “expert” wouldn’t survive the two-minute warning if they took their position on the line of a real NFL team. Yet, he hides safely behind the reality that he will never have to prove his expertise on the field. The fact is that he’ll never earn an NFL player’s income either.

There are nearly as many armchair inventors, too. “Experts” who have dozens of million-dollar ideas they absolutely KNOW will sell. They just need someone to “take their ideas and run with them.” Here’s the drill I’m confronted with hundreds of times every year:

Inventor says: “I have 23 inventions that are all winners. I haven’t patented any of them yet, and I have so many great ideas, I don’t know where to start. I need someone like you to take my ideas and run with them. You’ll make millions, and I’ll partner for only 50% of the profits.”

This shows that the Armchair Inventor is lazy! He thinks he understands varied industry and market segments, manufacturing costs, and competitive market positioning. Of course, the inventor also thinks every idea is novel and can be protected by a patent even though they have never bothered conducting a state of the art search. He ignores reality - that he really knows nothing about the invention process - and wants to find a REAL INVENTOR who will “run with his idea.”

If you are an armchair inventor, HERE IS REALITY:

a) If you don’t bother to search, research, develop, invest and learn the inventing process, you will forever remain in your armchair.

b) Your “idea” is worth less than a cup of coffee, and all 23 ideas together are almost worth a cup of coffee.

c) You are wasting the REAL experts’ time, since you really have nothing of any commercial value to offer. You will be as effective at having the football refs on your TV overturn a bad call as you will be in trying to call the shots for a proven inventor.

d) If one day you rise to the challenge, and you DO develop an invention, file a strong patent or patents, and develop a business plan that clearly quantifies the business potential, you MAY be able to successfully negotiate a license with a company that cares, and earn a 3%-5% royalty on wholesale sales.

e) IF you ever do succeed in commercializing a single invention, you will not bother giving the time of day to another armchair inventor who “knows” they can make you rich - for you will have learned what it takes to become a real contender.

If you really want to play in the big game, you’ll need to train and bring some talent to the table. Here’s how to transition from armchair inventor to REAL INVENTOR:

1) Learn the invention process. There are many good books on inventing, and a few great ones. There are hundreds of invention articles written by experts, each one teaching you the ins-and-outs of the business of invention – and most are available online, for free.

2) Apply the process to ONE idea, and work through it until you succeed, or findan insurmountable problem that suggests that THIS idea may not be the million-dollar winner you thought it would be.

3) If it succeeds, make your next investment in invention #2, then #3, and so forth.

4) If you end up in a dead end alley, shelve that idea, and start on invention #2. Keep your thoughts moving.

5) If you are not ready to play in the big game, if you’re not ready for the hard work, time and money investment, disappointments, and the satisfaction of really getting on the field and playing a good game, stop wasting your time.

Inventing takes time, money, commitment, and follow-through. There are ways to shortcut each of these, of course, but there are no ways to eliminate any of them completely.

The “idea” is 1% of the successful invention process. Working through prototyping, business planning, patent searching, licensing presentations, negotiations and agreements will take 99% of your time and money investment. These same items would take a professional the same time and investment as well … and giving up 99% of what your invention could make to the person who can make it for you is just poor business.

So you see, the real player, the one with real value, is in the person who can convert the invention into cash. Ideas are worthless without the OTHER 99% of the formula.

If you want the big trophy get up out of your chair, get on the field, and play. Success doesn’t happen by yelling at your TV.