The investors: it takes a lot more than a great idea to take a jury-rigged tool from the jobsite to a shelf at the Home Depot. Just ask these guys

Tools of the Trade, Jan-Feb, 2003 by Rich Binsacca

Out of a thousand submissions, Davis says, perhaps 100 get a second look, with 10 or so moving on to one of the company's tool development teams and one or two of those entering negotiations for a licensing, buyout, or royalty agreement with their inventors. "It's a pretty steep fallout, but it does happen" Davis says.

Asking for Help

Despite independence matched only by their persistence, most of these and other tool inventors have not embarked on the journey to commercial availability alone. Gass, for instance, took two other patent attorneys with him to develop SawStop, while Davies is looking for a CFO-type to manage the financial end of his High-Jax venture, and he took on a partner to run his framing business so he could focus on the invention. "If you're in a position where you don't have the time, funds, or ability to communicate, you need to find someone to do it for you" Davies says.

Licking their collective chops for such an opportunity are myriad invention submission consulting firms. Often criticized for their willingness to take on any crackpot idea for a few hundred bucks' fee--with much more out-of-pocket as their services mount--such companies represent thousands of inventors nationwide. "People want to take their idea to market and are looking for options and to learn about the process" says Melinda Miller, an associate with Invention Submission Corp. (ISC) in Pittsburgh.

In its brochure and other printed and online materials, ISC reports that 55 of its 5,681 paying clients between 1999 and 2001 received licensing agreements for their inventions, while 15 (a mere one-third of 1 percent) have received more money than they paid to ISC. "We're realistic about the length of the process and the potential for payback" Miller says.

Eschewing such pursuit of his product and his pocketbook, Martin instead joined a local inventor's association chapter, where he can get free advice from invention veterans and network with vendors, consultants, and others. "It's by far the most valuable resource I found" he says.

Payback

With ideas that have the potential to save time, money, and even human flesh on the jobsite, none of these investors have yet to earn back even close to what they've invested in their respective ideas to date.

Far from discouraged, however, they look for rewards in addition to a financial windfall. "We've spent more than a million dollars, not counting our time, but it'll be worth it if this product is on every power tool in five years," says Gass. "This is important enough technology that should be out there."

Money, of course, still drives most inventors, but those who have gone through the wringer come out a bit more realistic, if still hopeful. While Rodenberger and Urbanovic wait for a white knight to buy their idea, Giffin hopes to rekindle the Jack Rabbit with an investor or have a marketing score akin to getting tool guru Norm Abram to use it on The New Yankee Workshop. I've never encountered a buyout option on any of my ideas" Giffin says. "My goal has always been to make money with it."