Reinventing the wheel - innovative entrepreneurs

Entrepreneur, June, 1996 by Debra Phillips

Good Pointe

As the daughter of a ballet school founder, Eliza Minden is well-acquainted with the pleasure--and the pain--that comes with dancing. "I grew up taking ballet class every day," recalls the 37-year-old entrepreneur. "I was surrounded by ballet--and sore toes."

The latter is something she's determined to change with her innovative pointe shoe. Formally introduced by her New York City company, Gaynor Minden Inc., three years ago, Minden's pointe shoes use shock-absorbing materials to provide the kind of comfort and shock absorption typically associated with athletic shoes.

"Some teachers maintain that dancers shouldn't be allowed to put any cushioning in their shoes," says Minden, who consulted with doctors and dance professionals in designing her shoes. "I think that's a cruel, unnecessary attitude."

Obviously, plenty of dancers agree: Gaynor Minden stepped its way to nearly $1 million in sales last year. Bravo!

Clip Artist

A paper clip is a paper clip, right? Not according to J.P. Shyu, founder of JPS Enterprises in Laguna Hills, California. The 45-year-old computer-engineer turned-inventor put a rounded ring on the end of a standard paper clip to create a device that hangs papers from a pushpin on the wall.

"The idea is that you never have to remove a pushpin from the wall again," says Shyu of his Hang-it Clip. "It keeps the wall or bulletin board neat and clean."

Shyu thought up the Hang-it Clip after his own attempts to keep engineering data close at hand without filling the walls of his office with holes. He hopes to fill the shelves of major office supply stores with his brainchild by the time this issue hits the stands.

The Big Picture

"When you're an artist," says Bill Bresnahan, "you come up with crazy ideas at times."

Not that Bresnahan's collapsible cardboard binoculars warrant that description. To the contrary: The retired police officer has sold 10 million of his creations so far this year--and 1996 is far from over. "We've thrown our business plan right out the window," laughs Bresnahan 48.

Bresnahan, whose great-great uncle invented baseball's batting helmet and shin guards, was inspired to invent his binoculars while watching a football game on television. Several years later, he's realizing the fruits of his labor.

"Perseverance is probably the key to our success," says Bresnahan, who launched his Lansdale, Pennsylvania, company, R-Visions Inc., last year. "People [often tell me], `When you get your teeth into something, you don't let it go, do you?'"

Piece Of The Pie

Tino letterieri's biggest problem in developing his Pizza-on-a-Stick? Gravity. "A lot of major [food] companies were trying to do the same thing," he reveals, "but everybody failed because the stick didn't hold the product."

Determined to get a slice of the convenience food market, the 37-year-old former soccer player divined a solution: He put the toppings inside the pizza.

Lettieri expects the Pizza-on-a-Stick to roll in more than $700,000 this year for Lettieri's Authentic Italian Inc., his Hopkins, Minnesota, company. Currently sold in supermarkets in Minnesota,. Pizza-on-a-Stick is expected to go nationwide. Proclaims Lettieri), "It's a fun product to watch people eat."