In 1873, Colgate toothpaste was powder and came in a jar.
Innovate now, improve later.
Category: Innovation
American Chopper
I love to see people who are passionate about what they’re doing. American Chopper is a classic example. There’s so much belief, it shows in their product output. It’s also a fantasy brand.
Definition – Fantasy Brand: Brand which people can also consume vicariously, through media or secondary branded offers such as merchandising.
Football teams are also often fantasy brands. Think Manchester United and the ‘Theatre of dreams’
American chopper has it all, a single minded proposition, theatre, emotion, craftsmanship, autheticity, artistic integrity, and premium pricing. Put simply you’d seek them out to build your chopper, because it’s them. Very cool.
1984 – update
Seems George Orwell was about 23 years out…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91wuBqlny50]
No doubt it will be handy, in fact it’s quite brilliant. There’ll be opportunities for entrepreneurs to leverage the service too. But I’m not sure if Google is losing focus on it’s core business or is about to take over the world? Does the world want this?
Maybe the next search champion will be one that isn’t so pervasive.
Trophy ideas
Trophy Ideas shouldn’t be your first attempt at a start up.
Definition: Highly original and ‘expensive’ business concept which could change the behaviour of consumers, business or the world and make you rich in the process.
Trophy ideas are typically capital intensive and have long lead times to get up. They usually involve external capital. They’re often the domain of inventors.
The reason that trophy ideas are onerous is that they don’t succeed very often and they take up the two most valuable tools we have, time and money, and lots of it. Sometimes people dedicate large portions of their life to trophy ideas. But we only ever here about the successful ones. An example might be the Dyson vacuum.
Here’s my advice if you want to go for a trophy idea. Do it after you’ve had some smaller successes first. Do it when you already have passive cash flow from another startup, business or investments.
We should all pursue things that are worth doing, the trick is knowing the right time to chase them.
Events
The number 8 restaurant in the Crown Casino Melbourne has done something special.
88 guests at $888 per ticket to sample a 1907 vintage Heidsieck & Co Monopole champagne. (Which was found at the bottom of the ocean!) Apparently the perfect temperature & storage conditions. At $13,200 a bottle, it puts new meaning into premium pricing.
Who says a start up needs to be a going concern?
Maybe it’s an event to remember.
Leadership
Leadership: Here’s the Start Up Blog definition:
Being prepared to do anything that you ask of your team. Being inspiring enough that you team knows and believes this.
Stressed?
Here’s a new product which demands eyeball time. 
A stress remedy in an everyday format.
It’s everything an energy drink isn’t. It’s the opposite in fact.
Further inspection will reveal:
A single minded proposition (100mls – not about hydration just the remedy), first to market, wildcard ingredient (jujube), targeted yet limited distribution (only available on the net & they deliver right to your cubicle) and many other startup strategies espoused on this blog.
With no lack of stress in the world there seems to be a lot of potential in this launch.
Maybe there are overseas distribution opportunities for entrepreneurs?