Jagat Rathore

I help women entrepreneurs and leaders carve their own destiny.

  • Updates
  • About
11 Feb,15
ADVICE FROM ENTREPRENEURS: Bringing An Invention To Market

Bringing An Invention To Market - “Best bits of advice” from Michael Grothaus, creator of SITU Scale.

 

SITU Scale is a great example of innovation at it's best! It's just a simple food scale with a Bluetooth chip that talks to your iPad or Android tablet - that's it! You can place virtually any food item on SITU and view the exact nutrition information for that amount of food on the companion SITU app. Yet, this 'simple' invention has taken the market by storm. Below are some of Michael's "best bits of advice" on what it takes to bring an invention to market. 

 

"1) To start, make the product for you.

I only created SITU because it’s what I needed to achieve my own personal health goals. In that way, it was a selfish venture on my part.

 

But creating a product solely for myself ended up being an advantage. I didn’t get into the trap of trying to answer the unanswerable question "What will sell to others?" This freed me from second-guessing every design and user interface choice of both the hardware and software and allowed me to simplify the product. 

 

The first working SITU prototype cost over $50,000 and at the end of the day, if it had caught on with no one and all I had to show for my work in creating SITU was one $50,000 kitchen scale I would have been content because it allowed me to lose weight.

 

2) Then think of others...

I believe it’s because I was free from the constrains of designing SITU for others—and didn’t even care if I made money from it—that the first prototype turned out as well as it did, which, ironically, made it appeal to a large amount of people.

 

After the prototype helped me accomplish my weight loss, Jose and I decided to go to Kickstarter, raising over $60,000 in a month. Once we started getting a lot of press, it was astonishing how many emails, messages, and phone calls we received from not only other people who wanted to lose weight like me, but from diabetics and athletes, from health organization leaders and obesity researchers. Everyone who contacted us made us see our product in a new light and had suggestions on how to tailor it to fit their specific needs.

 

3) Know there will be unintended revelations along the way.

Any time your promote change, no matter if its losing 100 pounds or starting your own company and bringing your invention to market, know that there will be unintended revelations along the way, most of them unpleasant.

 

After I lost 80 pounds using SITU I looked like a completely different person. While it was obvious to me that my physical attraction would increase to others, what I didn't expect was the change in how professional contacts treated me. Without calling anyone out, I’ll just say I was shocked to learn of how much people judge your abilities based on your body size. Suddenly the exact same ideas Thin Michael had were better and more valid than when Fat Michael had them.

 

It was a revelation I wish I could unlearn.

 

4) "F*ck ‘Em"

This last bit of advice I can’t take credit for, though I’d like to because it’s the most valuable. In May of 2001 I was working for a film studio at the Cannes Film Festival. I was at a press junket with a director and his actors. Someone from the press asked the director if he thought his film, which departed radically from most Hollywood narratives and techniques, could be a viable commercial success given some people just didn't understand it. Before the director could answer the film’s lead stood up from his table at the opposite end of the room. "If they don’t get it, fuck ‘em," the star shouted. "We understand it, we know it’ll work, and that’s all that matters."

 

That film went on to be nominated for multiple Oscars.

 

When I (that is, Fat Michael—see #3 above) first described SITU to people hardly anyone besides Jose got it. Most couldn’t grasp the concept of why SITU was a better solution than manually entering the things you ate in random food logging apps. Worse than the people who didn’t get it though, were the people who didn’t get it yet still proceeded to tell me why it wouldn’t work.

 

I frequently heard "I’d never use it.", "That won’t work.’, "If it were a good idea someone would have done it by now." Or worst of all: "You shouldn’t do that. Here’s what you should do."

 

And to those people I said "Fuck ‘em" (in my head anyway. To their face I smiled, thanked them for their advice and then carried on with my plans).

 

My point is, everyone becomes an expert on why something can’t be done when you tell them your idea. This is mainly because most everyone likes to have something to say—most everyone is just waiting for their turn to speak—even if they don’t have a real understanding of the subject.

 

It was the same feedback I got from many when I told people I wanted to lose 80 pounds. "You? Eighty pounds thinner? No way." "No one can lose eighty pounds without surgery." "You’ll lose twenty and then gain it back. Trust me, I’ve tried." "Want a piece of pie?"

 

And if I wouldn’t have said "Fuck ‘em" to those people in my head and smiled and continued on about my plans I wouldn’t be where I am today. Two years later and I’ve kept the weight off. I’m thinner and healthier than I’ve been in almost two decades and I have a kick ass health tech product to boot.

 

So the next time someone tells you you can’t achieve your personal or professional goals?

 

F*ck ‘em."

 

(Adapted from an article by Michael Grothaus, co-founder and CEO of SITU Scale)

I am the Managing Partner and co-founder at Wisnes OD Consulting, an organisation that designs customised interventions to improve organisational effectiveness. My key area of expertise is business strategy. The three key focus areas for Wisnes OD Consulting are: 1) Organisation Culture Building : a practical implementation of the organisational Values, Vision, and Mission 2)- The Leadership Journey : identifying, grooming, and developing future leaders 3)- Teams & Silo's : enhancing productivity, improving customer experience, and increasing profitability through an engaged workforce I have extensive international exposure spanning the US, Middle-East, Africa and India. My knowledge of OD Consulting has been honed over eleven years’ working with a wide range of businesses and industries including Manufacturing, Media, Telecom, Pharmaceuticals, Insurance, Financial Institutions, IT, Infrastructure, FMCG, BPO/KPO, and Consulting. I have served as a guest faculty member at ISB, Hyderabad for Leadership Development Programs, and delivered guest sessions at the MDI, Gurgaon and the Delhi School of Economics. On the personal front, I am an avid adventure sports enthusiast and outdoors lover - I am a certified Scuba Rescue Diver and Sky Diver - I enjoys camping and trekking - and I am passionate about super-bikes. My latest hobby is bee-keeping, to indulge which I am building an apiary in a remote corner of the Kumaon region in Uttarakhand.

SHEROES Android App