The first I heard of this company called Quirky was through a friend who'd posted an article - "Quirky: The Solution to the Innovator's Dilemma". She'd posted Entrepreneur Magazine's profile of the company and it's owner on FB. It's an amazing article for people who dream big dreams, but have no idea how to make them a reality.
Quirky was founded by Ben Kaufman, a young man who had invented a set of headphones in college and worked his way through the process of getting them produced and sold. Having gone through the pain - and the investment - of getting an invention into the market, he saw an opportunity for a business. Quirky helps other inventors get their products to market. You have the idea, bring it to the Quirky masses, they vote on their favorites and the top pick gets put into production once a certain number of people pledge that they'll buy the product. The catch? Since Quirky is investing the money in the design and production phases, they take a cut in the profits. The good thing for inventors, though, is that you see your product come to life and you too get a cut in the profits.
To learn a little more, you can see the Sundance Channel's new show about the company on Hulu or you can wait for the premiere on the 30th. This first episode follows the design and production of two products. One of those products - Pivot Power - is estimated to pull in roughly $125,000 this year for the inventor. He's a recently-graduated design student who thought $10,000 was a lot of money! I'm hoping this is the first of many of these shows.
So what about you? Do you have a great idea whose time has come? Well, get submitting already!
**Photo is from Quirky.com - check it out!!
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