Idea ChallengeIdea ChallengeIdea ChallengeIdea ChallengeNabil MaalejNabil Maalej

Physics Dept. KFUPMPhysics Dept. KFUPM

Outline

• What is innovation?• Can you innovate?• How do you innovate?• How do you know if your idea

is innovative? • How to evaluate the business

opportunity for your idea? • How to fill the form?

Innovation• The act of introducing something new (

The American Heritage Dictionary). • The introduction of something new. A

new idea, method or device. (Merriam-Webster)

• The successful exploitation of new ideas (Department of Trade and Industry, UK).

Innovation

• The term innovation may refer to both radical and incremental changes to products, processes or services

• The goal of innovation is to solve a problem• Innovative: creative, inventive, imaginative,

progressive, revolutionary, enterprising, bold, resourceful, adventurous, new

Innovation

• New/improved product• New/improved Service• New/improved production method• New market

Barbed Wire

• In 1868 Michael Kelley--one of the first men to patent a form of barbed wire--wrote: “My invention [imparts] to fences of wire a character approximating that of a thorn-hedge. I prefer to designate the fence so produced as a ’thorny fence’.”

Barbed Wires

• A wire patented in 1874 by Joseph Glidden of DeKalb, Illinois, became the best-seller. Glidden’s design remains the most popular model of barbed wire today because of its simplicity and adaptability

Paper Clip

• The first patent for the paper clip was awarded to Samuel Fay in 1867. It was designed to fasten labels to garments and textiles, but was also marketed as a paper clip.

• The modern paper clip was patented on November 9, 1899 to William D. Middlebrook of Waterbury, Connecticut.

Coat Hanger

• Albert J. Parkhouse, on a cold day in 1903, he found no hooks to hang his coat. In a burst of inventive inspiration, he grabbed some wire and twisted it around so that it fit inside the shoulders of his coat it allowed him to hang the coat anywhere he wanted.

Innovation in Services• Old:

– Pizza Delivery– Ice-cream Truck

• New:– Online everything: banking, shopping,

games …– Micro credit (Muhammad Yunus ,Nobel prize)– IT training – Recycling (New in KSA)

Can you innovate?

How to Innovate?

• Need driven innovation• Brainstorming• Researching• Deep thinking

Brainstorming• Developed in the 1940s by the

American advertising executive Alex Osborn

• Powerful tool for team innovation• Used to generate ideas in a group

Brainstorming

• Prepare: Relax, Have fun, Laugh• Completely free your mind (No

boundaries)• The purpose is to generate as many

ideas as possible (Quantity matters)• No idea is a bad idea: No criticizing,

No evaluating and No dismissing

How do you know you idea is innovative?

• Is it a new or improved device? – Patent, literature, internet search

• Is it a new or improved service?– Internet search– Chamber of commerce

Product Innovation• Patent databases

– http://www.google.com/patents– http://www.uspto.gov– http://patents1.ic.gc.ca– http://www.epoline.org/portal/public– http://www19.ipdl.inpit.go.jp

How to evaluate a business opportunity?

1. What is the need you fill or problem you solve? (Value Proposition)

2. Who are your customers? 3. How would you benefit/make profit? 4. How will you differentiate your

product or service? 5. Who are your competitors?

How to evaluate a business opportunity?

6. How big is your market ? 7. What type of company would this be? 8. How much would it cost to get

started? 9. How do you plan to finance your

innovation (loans, investment)?10.What are the barriers?

Filling the Form

• Public Summary• Inspiration • Elevator Pitch: to impress a potential

investor• The market opportunity: need?

customers? • The product/ service• Competitors

Filling The form

• Public Summery (20 words): – Brief – Clear (without detail)– Attractive

• What inspired you?– How did you get the idea?

Filling The form

• Elevator pitch: (100 words to impress to impress a potential investor)– Brief– Clear– Catches the attention– Stress innovation– Assert profitability

Example

• Our innovation is to make and sell a Mobile Cardiopulmonary Test (MCPT) machine: By providing this life saving mobile machine to the public, we will open a new market in smaller clinics, gymnasiums, sports facilities, schools and even homes. Without the home use, the market size is at least 65 Million SR.

Filling The form

The market opportunity– What is the market need?– How big is the market in SR or US$?– Who are your target customers? How

many?– Is the market growing or shrinking?– What will be your share of the market

(%)?

Example

Heart and lung disease, obesity and diabetes is on the rise in the KSA and it is effecting people at all ages. There is a more urgent need to detect health problems at an early stage. There are at least 300 gymnasiums and sports facilities and 1000 small clinics in the Kingdom that will benefit from the MCPT machine. For an initial price of 50000 SR, the projected market size is 65 million SR. The market will grow further as the new generation of health conscious people will buy the MCPT machine for their home usage.

Filling The form

What is your product/ service?• What does it do?• How does it meet the market need?• What is the ‘Unique Selling Point’?• Why will the customer buy your product/

service? • How have you ascertained that your

product/service is technically feasible?

Example

The MCPT machine provides measurement on cardiopulmonary performance by non-invasively measuring the heart rate, blood pressure and lung capacity. Presently, cardiopulmonary diagnostic machines are too expensive, too big and only available in hospitals and large clinics. By being the first company providing this mobile and affordable MCPT machine, we will open new market and attract small clinics, gymnasiums, and school to procure the MCPT machine and provide the potentially life saving heath test for their customers.

Filling The form

Competitors:• Who are your main competitors?• Why are they not solving the market need?• What are the ‘substitute’ products/ services

to yours? • What competitive edge do you have against

your competition?

الفكرة إنجاز مراحل هي ما اإلبداعية؟

الفكرةاإلبداعية

األفكار إنتاجتقييمهااختيار الفكرة حماية

المشروع خطة

المنتجالشركة

اإلستراتيجيةاإلدارةالتصنيع خطةالتسويق خطة

المالية الخطةاألعمال جدول

التنفيذ

التمويلالتأسيس

التصنيعالتسويق

النمو

Conclusion• You can innovate• Protect your innovation (patent)• Persist and follow-up on your ideas• Make a thoughtful execution plan • Diligently execute your plan• Never delay or give-up