Beyond the big idea: you've got a million-dollar idea; now art you need is a strategy to make it marketable. These inventors brought their ideas to life—and hit it big. Find out how they made it happen

Entrepreneur, Oct, 2004 by Karen E. Spaeder

Like Abdo, the Align founders met with initial opposition. They put together the necessary computer graphics and brought on a local orthodontist, "but we talked to a dozen VCs, and most of them were not interested," says Wirth. Finally, big-name Silicon Valley 'CC firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers bit. Excited by the idea, the firm was willing to take a risk. Wirth and Chishti closed their first round of financing $3.2 million, in August 1997. They then went on to raise three more rounds as well as go public in January 2001, raising approximately $260 million altogether.

The co-founders got patients into clinical studies within six months of startup and introduced Invisalign in two test markets: Austin, Texas, and San Diego (the cities where they'd hired two sales reps with experience in the industry). They then trained scores of orthodontists nationwide, laying the groundwork for a $30 million national consumer advertising campaign, launched in fall 2000. The partners gambled that if they advertised directly to adult consumers, the product would be so appealing, orthodontists would jump on board. "Essentially we had a product that we knew ultimately would have tremendous consumer appeal," says Wirth.

What Wirth and Chishti found, however, was that consumers who asked their orthodontists about it were often told to try braces first instead. "We hadn't done enough of a job convincing orthodontists that Invisalign worked," recalls Wirth. "We had tremendous brand awareness in a very short period of time. But when it came to getting patients into treatment, we didn't have the results we had originally hoped for."

They refocused their marketing dollars in 2002 to include general practice dentists, reaching 120,000 dentists nationwide (compared to about 8,500 orthodontists), and giving the company the broad appeal it needed. "There are plenty of GP dentists who can put braces on," explains Wirth, who estimates the company's 2004 sales will be $175 million to $180 million, up from $122.7 million in 2003. Wirth stresses, however, that she's not sure where the company would be without first going through the national consumer advertising campaign.

To create consumer awareness of your product, you have several options, including press releases to editors of trade magazines, direct mail, classified and display ads, and speaking events and conferences with you as an expert. If your product is off-the-wall, try getting on a talk show such as The Oprah Winfrey Show or The Tonight Show, which occasionally have "gadget" shows. (For more information, see "Lights, Camera, Action!" in last month's issue of Entrepreneur.) "The wackier it is, the better," says Smith of showcasing your product on a talk show. lust be prepared to move your product: "Once your product is shown, it will hurt you if you're not able to meet the demand."

Your Name in Lights

Being able to meet the demand becomes a much more prominent issue with any TV exposure you might garner, including home shopping channels and any type of direct-response TV. But if you're prepared, TV can be a godsend.