Don’t Be A Schmeckle

Most inventors, especially newbies, haven’t got a clue when it comes to business etiquette and salesmanship. Even those that do often forget when they prepare for a crucial presentation. So it is no wonder that so few of us graduate to the big leagues. If a potential buyer sees a weak subject line or even worse, nothing in the subject line, they’re going to think, What A Schmeckle! You don’t want to kill your chances before you even begin but who can teach you this priceless knowledge.

Bruce Borenstein, author of “Don’t Be A Schmeckle” “A Road Warriors’ Perspective On Sales In The Fast Lane”. After 30+ years of a stellar career in sales and sale management, Bruce has become not only a true expert on the subject matter but an excellent teacher. He has a common sense approach to some very complicated issues that just makes everything seem so simple.
Mr. Borenstein is also an entrepreneur having founded a number of successful startups in the high tech sales arena and is currently the Principal at PH Advisors which is a business accelerator helping startup companies establish themselves in retail.

To learn more about his background go to his Linked In page here http://bit.ly/2KFaS6r .
If he sounds like the perfect fit for this group, that’s because he is! Whether you are bringing your product to market yourself, planning to license it or sell it outright, you Will need to sell it to a corporate buyer. So you will need to know how to act, what to say and most importantly how to prepare or they will perceive you as just another Schmeckle.

One of the most rewarding experiences an inventor can have, after months or years of developing their product in their mind or on paper, is to hold that first prototype in their hand. The next even more rewarding experience, after getting their first short production run made, is getting that first then continued sales. However, that doesn’t just happen on its’ own. You must Make It Happen and to make it happen you may need help.

Manufacturefy  www.manufacturefy.com is a brand new site that was built to guide inventors and other entrepreneurs. Described as “eHarmony” for the manufacturing industry. Manufacturefy uses its intelligently algorithms to intelligently connect manufacturers directly with products from prototype to mass production across all industries, around the world.
More importantly, for no cost to inventors!

The founder, Michael G. Lizanich II is no stranger to Making It Happen. He graduated from Tulane University with a degree in business management and a minor in legal studies where he was a scholarship athlete for their Division-1 Football team. While juggling his student – athlete schedule, he was able to develop his first business concept.

Mr. Lizanich created a specialty real estate business with around $15,000,000 worth of assets all under his care, custody, and control. He was able to raise the needed capital privately and launched the business in late 2015 and successfully sold in 2017 before graduation from Tulane University.

Mr. Lizanich relocated to to South Florida to headquarter Manufacturefy in Palm Beach. He is visiting us from his summer home in Nantucket.

You will be impressed with his knowledge as well as his make it happen attitude. You will be even more impressed with his latest venture and how it can help you with your future success.

The title of this month’s meeting may sound like a Zombie Apocalypse movie, but I will assure you, it is not. However, I can tell you that it may contain some equally exciting materials for some of us, shroud in mystery until the final plot is revealed. No … I haven’t finally fallen off the deep end. Please, let me explain.

The Fischlschweigers are the Dynamic Duo of the research world. Each is an expert in their individual fields. Together, they are a force built from so much knowledge, with cunning strategies that can find the answer to any question and they are going to share some of that knowledge with us.

Eileen has been a US Patent and Trademark (USPTO) Resource Center Librarian for some 24 years. Nobody knows the history and development of the programs that they offer for the Independent Inventors better than her because not only did she live through it, she was and still is involved in their development. Unfortunately, she will not attend this year’s big conference but she will be there in spirit. Well … to be precise, online. She will be returning to us like Marco Polo with wondrous tales of the adventures that await us with this year’s new programs from the USPTO.

Tom, on the other hand, has always been a sort of free spirit. We would go over a number of topics together that might be relevant and yet he would always surprise me with a completely different issue that held me riveted to my seat. His presentation on government grants, a few years back, was exceptional and last year’s talk on Third Party Testing blew me away because I have some serious experience with this field, yet, he brought up issues that I was unaware of that would have a profound effect on the viability of a product. Intrigued ? You should be.

He is the Federal Depository Librarian as such he not only covers all of the information generated by Federal programs such as the Census, Bureau Of Labor Statistics, etc., but related information as well. If you need it and it is out there, Tom can find it or show you how to do it yourself.

The Ace Of Apps

Your Missing Link To Success

(How To Impress Investors)

Maxine Pierson is a Successful investor, startup mentor and much, much more. I purposely wanted to bring attention to the word Successful because anybody can be an investor, anybody can create a startup but it takes a person with vision, talent and knowledge to be a success.

Maxine IS that type of person. She knows what she is looking for when she is looking at a proposal. Within a blink of an eye, she can tell if the proposition has value or if the person is trying to elaborate beyond reasonable expectations. On top of that, she is a master of due diligence drawing on a lifetime of impressive achievements which you can see here http://bit.ly/2SkfkHU

When I met her a few years ago, she already had everything in place for a number of startups in the medical marijuana field when the other people I knew interested in the industry were still in the talking stage. They are still talking. She is making money.
Inventors are just people who see things a little differently than your average person. When an average person runs into a problem they look for the simplest way to get past it and get on with their lives. When an inventor runs into that same problem the gears start turning in their head and they start looking for a new ingenious way to solve the problem but just like average people, inventors are individuals, each with their own set of skills as well as deficiencies.

Some may be more artistic while others may be more realistic. Some may be able to sketch an incredible likeness while others will slap together a prototype in no time. Some may find research as exciting as a mystery novel while others would rather have their flesh torn from their bodies with a device made up of dull rusty nails.

However, we all Must have a working knowledge of the entire process and Must do our own preliminary due diligence to determine the value of a project early on. The more knowledge you have, the quicker you can make better decisions and develop stronger strategies towards success.

An obstinate, know-it-all who firmly believes that everyone can see their vision is a true amateur that no professional wants to waste their time on. I have personally experienced top notch professionals who are willing to help a hard working individual with an open mind that is eager to learn. Be the latter, so you can learn how to climb the ladder to your success.

The Almighty Pitch

Download Presentation Here:  Pitch!

What is the single most important thing that determines the probability of success for a new Rock or Snuggy for that matter? You can have the best product the world has ever seen but without a convincing pitch who will believe you? More importantly, if you can’t convince an investor how will it ever see the light of day?

Dan Gudema is an expert on the subject. Not only has he created and secured funding for several successful high tech start ups, including a dating site, he founded StartupPOP www.startuppop.com which is an incredible resource for inventors and entrepreneurs. They hold events where up to 10 people get to give a 3 minute pitch to a panel of experts and investors in order to get funding or valuable advice to make their offering more enticing the next time.

I have personally seen investors I know in the audience and have heard stories of them making contact with some of the presenters.

In just 4 years, StartupPOP has grown from its’ original chapter here in Boca Raton to over 3600 members in 45 cities including New York and Orlando. Of course, they have chapters in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and other locations in Florida. They have also been instrumental with a number of other pitch events in the area and nationwide. They mainly focus on the tech industry but are open to just about any type of professionally structured start up. Dreamers need not apply.

Mr. Gudema is also a prolific author on the subject having written 5 books (which are sold on Amazon) and has appeared in articles for several magazines including Forbes and regularly writes blog articles about tech startups on Medium and Linkedin. His Journal on StartupPOP contains a wealth of knowledge, suggestions, opportunities and observations. I’ve gotten lost there for hours just absorbing everything.
If you are serious about moving your project forward towards success, you will need to learn how to pitch. It is just that simple. It doesn’t have to be in front of a huge auditorium. It may be one on one. It could be in an office or a lunch meeting or with a video.

One of my friends was waiting in a buffet line at a conference for stationary products when the man in front of her turned and said, ” I see you at all these events. Should I know you?” to which she enthusiastically replied as she reached out to shake his hand, ” YES YOU SHOULD!” She gave him her pitch and her product was in Office Depot for years after that.
Formulating and delivering a professional, well researched pitch containing all the elements of interest to your target audience is the key to success. Without this crucial skill is like jumping off a ship without ever learning how to swim.