Just Say ‘No’ to Rejection

By Ron Komorowski

caveman fireHow long should we really push an invention before giving up and moving on to the next idea?

I guess this is the age-old question dating back to when we started making fire. I can only imagine how many ways our hairy ancestors thought of ways to create fire. Who was it, then, who never quit rubbing two sticks together for half the day to ignite some sparks? Who was that thick-headed, crazy nut who didn’t give up, didn’t accept “no” for an answer and kept rubbing the sticks together?

Good man, I say.

In my 25-years in the inventing field, I’ve seen many people abandon really good ideas too quickly.

But I believe if you really have researched your idea and you like it, there will be others out there who will too – probably more than you think.

History offers a bit of optimistic insight on this.

Manufacturers and consumers initially rejected Velcro, believing it was useless and weak – that is until NASA astronauts and later skiers and others started using it. The zipper had faced a similar fate earlier. And, of course, the president of the Michigan Savings Bank in 1903 advised Henry Ford’s lawyer not to invest in Ford Motor Company, saying, “The horse is here to stay, but the automobile is only a novelty, a fad.”

I saw recently on CNN the great contemporary inventor Dean Kamen sarcastically chuckle when asked about some of his “failed” inventions. It wasn’t too long ago that Johnson & Johnson stopped making his robotic, stair-climbing wheelchair. He’s perhaps best known for his Segway personal transporter, which remains a niche product. He said it can take a generation before people accept an invention. He thought the Segway would have caught on much quicker by now – a ubiquitous fix to solving urban congestion. Kamen, however, doesn’t give up. He’s likely ahead of his time.

Other slow starters include cat litter, Post-it Notes, Scrabble and the line of Dyson vacuum cleaners.

You like hotdogs? Me too. Nathan’s Famous helped introduce hotdogs to the American palate. But it wasn’t easy. Many Americans distrusted hotdogs, which were lampooned as nasty, cheap food made from dog meat. To counter that perception, Nathan’s Famous founder Nathan Handwerker hired people to dress as doctors, complete with lab coats and stethoscopes, and eat hotdogs at his restaurant. He figured if people saw doctors eating hotdogs, then the public would believe they were safe to eat. The marketing scheme worked.

Similarly, Band-Aids were slow sellers for Johnson & Johnson at first, so the company gave away surplus bandages to the Boy Scouts as a publicity stunt.

Typically, there’s not much money in giving stuff away. You gotta wonder how many companies would be willing to do that to make your product a success?

Ah, but sometimes success is as simple as bubble gum, an instant invention hit. Same thing with Hula Hoops. Wham-O sold 20 million units at $1.98 a pop in the first six months of their release in 1958.

Of course, not all toys have it so good. Mr. Potato Head was almost dead after its market debut. It was another invention given for free, this time as a prize in cereal boxes. But it required a real potato – not included, as you can imagine. Mr. Potato Head almost didn’t make it until a plastic body was added to the toy and Hasbro took over some years later.

Etch A Sketch, same story. Years of rejection until it was finally picked up by a manufacturer. Which manufacturer? Ohio Art Co. The same Ohio Art Co. that passed on it after seeing it at a toy fair in 1959, only to take a chance on it with a huge U.S. holiday launch in 1960. Good thing, ‘cause where would my favorite movie Toy Story be without Mr. Potato Head and Etch A Sketch!

I’m not saying every idea is a good one. Market research and realism factor into the equation here. You have to do the math. If there is no perceived demand and you don’t have the financial resources to create that demand, you may have to adjust your expectations.

But like the discovery of fire, the history of inventing has shown that time, perseverance, creative thinking and a little luck can help spark an initial reject into a raging blockbuster.