Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Collegiate
Case
Study www.usatodaycollege.com
© Copyright 2006 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co., Inc. All rights reser ved.
AS SEEN IN USA TODAY’S MONEY SECTION, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2005
stayed at a Hyatt. Every bathroom had an Doug and Julie on Days of Our Lives for
electronic toilet. He did some research the past 30 years.
and found that in Japan, most business
hotels, many public restrooms and just Maybe Samuel is right and it really is
about every high-income household had the right time for electronic toilets in the
an electronic toilet. USA. It seems that Americans who try
electronic toilets absolutely love them.
"I believed it was time to introduce this
to America," Samuel says. "I thought it was a joke when I
installed it," says James Hong, founder of
So he started a company, naming it website Hot or Not. "I had no idea I
after J.F. Brondel, who — according to the would like it so much. When I travel, I
Sulabh International Museum of Toilets, often think in the hotel bathroom how
which I swear I did not make up — much I wish I had the Brondell there."
invented the valve-type flush toilet in
1738. Samuel added a second "l" to make Then there is the ultimate
the company name Brondell. "It was a endorsement: Google has electronic
stronger name," Samuel says. toilets — though not Brondell's — in the
restrooms at its headquarters.
Samuel is an ambitious guy, to say the
least. Around this same time, Felser came Businesses will do anything to get a
back from Burning Man, an arts festival little piece of that Google magic. I can
in the desert that attracts a lot of techies see management consultants coming
who run around naked there. Felser had Brondell into companies and saying, "What's with
taken tons of digital photos, and his this toilet paper in the restrooms? Get
friends really wanted to see them. Who Brondell founder: Dave Samuel with the Swash rid of it. Get electronic toilets. Google
wouldn't? electronic toilet. doesn't use toilet paper. From now on,
you don't use toilet paper."
Felser figured out an interesting way to Now, here's the problem: Americans
do this: create the equivalent of a virtual have so far failed to buy into the idea of Could ignite a craze, as when managers
private network among a group of having their private parts go through the star ted firing the bottom 5% of
friends over the Internet, so they could equivalent of a mini car wash. A performers because Jack Welch did it at
easily see each other's large files such as competing company, Toto, has been General Electric.
photos, music or video. selling an electronic toilet for a while
now with only modest results. "I liken it to TiVo," Samuel says,
Felser and Samuel thought other drawing a parallel between electronic
people would buy the technology. It Marketing is a challenge. There aren't a toilets and a video machine that ignites
became the basis for Grouper, a company lot of good options for getting people to viewer passion. "Once you experience
Samuel and Felser started that has so far try it. Do you set up a demo unit at Home pausing television, there's no going back.
had moderate success. In December, Depot? Once you experience sitting on a warm
Grouper will launch a major push into toilet and having a warm water wash,
video sharing — kind of a video Flickr. Ads have to walk a thin line. Maybe the there's no going back."
company needs to hire a spokesman like
Samuel is busy as both president of Bob Dole and come up with a Samuel looks at the opportunity like a
Grouper and chairman of Brondell. euphemism as sterile as "erectile technologist. He notes that toilets have
(Felser is not part of Brondell.) dysfunction." Brondell made a three- not changed in the 250 years since
minute infomercial that's full of normal- Brondell's invention. "It's one of the few
Brondell started selling its toilets in looking people earnestly saying things areas that has seen little technological
January. The high-end model, the Swash like, "We're perfectly satisfied and improvement," he says. "We're excited
600, costs about $500. It has a heated perfectly clean all day long." about changing that."
seat, computer-chip smarts, touch-pad
controls and — yes — a wand that sprays By the way, the older couple in the It's early yet, but it will be interesting to
you clean. Just make sure you're sitting. A infomercial is Samuel's grandparents, Bill see if he can
little dryer follows with warm air. Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes — aka
known until recently as Camp Kazoo, has annual sales of $15 Brown also is dabbling in the advice business herself. She's
million to $25 million through such retailers as Babies R Us, self-published a book, Start Your Own Baby Products Business,
Pottery Barn Kids and Burlington Coat Factory. Brown says Wal- in which she advises prospective entrepreneurs to focus and
Mart has approached her about selling the product in its stores, resist the urge to underprice. The book is dotted with pictures
but she wants to keep a more upscale feel to it and is trying to of happy moms, dads and babies with their Boppies.
resist selling the $25 to $35 pillows at bargain prices.
Pat Edson, a consultant who sits on the Boppy board, says
Prinster says one of Brown's strengths is "being able to know Brown "has zero ego, and that is just a beautiful thing to see in
where her weaknesses are, and shoring that up with other today's world. That gives her a competitive advantage. ... Her
people." lack of ego allows her to surround herself with really strong
thinkers and makes sure she gets the best information."
She also has solicited advice from people who have been
through the business-development process. "The most Brown says one of her weaknesses is picking fabrics: "It
common piece of advice you get is to diversify," Brown says. seems like every one I like sells poorly." So Brown listens to her
"That advice isn't always good." creative director, advisers and customers. The company's
newest materials include soft pastel velvet, gingham and
To diversify, the company started selling TransferMations, an vintage alphabet patterns.
iron-on stencil that would allow parents to paint murals on
nursery walls by simply coloring between the lines. Parents While Brown has developed a loyal following for her product,
liked it, but it became a logistical mess. The company was she's also developed a loyal following among her employees. At
suddenly dealing with an entirely new distribution chain, Boppy, 20 of 23 employees are women, and more than half are
selling to craft stores rather than to baby-product retailers. And moms. Brown gives them flexibility to work when their
customers began asking if the company was going to start children are in school, skipping lunch to make the day shorter. A
selling paint to go along with the patterns, which would have room in the colorful office space is set aside for mothers to
posed a new set of problems. nurse or pump breast milk during their day.
"When I look back, that energy may have been much better "The people who work with her and around her are brutally
spent on the core product," Brown says. "You have to analyze loyal," Edson says. "That helps her retain talent and helps her
the advice you get." attract high talent as well."
Boppy now has expanded its product line by making other Creating an office that people love to come to was one of
kinds of pillows, ones that have toys attached that babies can Brown's goals.
play with and others that help pregnant moms sleep and sit
more comfortably. "No matter how hard I am working, I can still go to soccer,"
Brown says. "That made my life so much more livable. I've
The company is in the early stages of licensing the Boppy gotten so much outside validation that this is the kind of place
brand name to other products, such as baby clothes or toys. people want to be."
4. George Spector, New York, 723. Hey, here's a guy who 9. Heinze Focke, Verden, Germany, 508. Focke's patents
really did invent a better mousetrap! It's patent No. 5,528,853, mostly center on packaging — both on types of packages and
"Magnetic computerized mouse trap," issued in 1996. Spector processes for packaging assembly lines.
10. Joseph Straeter, Highland, Ill., 477. Once again, we're back around the USPTO's database, it seems likely that she is indeed
to flowers. Like a hockey player lucky enough to skate on the most-prolific female inventor.
Wayne Gretzky's line, you can pick up a lot of points just by
being there. Straeter works for No. 2 patent holder Weder, and And then there's one other oddity, pointed out by reader
most of Straeter's patents are shared with Weder. Michael Ravnitzky. This would be the Invention Secrecy Act of
1951.
Now, 1790 Analytics came up with basically the same list, but
it also ran a different version that separated out utility patents It's possible that any patent list results are skewed because
from design patents. The latter are more about changing the various government agencies have the ability to classify any
appearance of an existing invention. If you do that, the names patent as secret and make it invisible to the public.
on the list stay the same, except Straeter drops off — replaced,
remarkably, by yet another Micron researcher, Leonard Forbes. The USPTO even keeps a chart of "invention secrecy activity."
It shows that so far in 2005, there have been 106 "new secrecy
What else have I gleaned from the patent e-mail onslaught? orders imposed." There are 4,915 "total secrecy orders in
effect."
Well, I got an e-mail from Esther Takeuchi, who works on
battery research for Greatbatch, a maker of power sources for a So if among all those florist patents Weder and Straeter
lot of medical devices. She says that she's been told she has invented the quantum computing secret decoder ring, we'd
more patents — 126 — than any other living woman and never know about it.
wonders if it's true. From the lists I've seen and from poking
the market. 3DO hung around as a game maker but never took
Tech guru dials off, eventually filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in
2003.
gaming
very low-fidelity activity based on statistics from real football
games -- outnumber video game football players 3 to 1.
anywhere in the world. You answer The mobile games industr y has
questions to predict outcomes in About Trip Hawkins momentum. Mobile gaming will grow
upcoming sports events. The system sixfold from 2004 to $8 billion in 2008,
keeps score and ranks you against your Born: Dec. 28, 1953. says research firm Strategy Analytics. In
friends. 2006, nearly 1 billion cellphones will be
sold, almost all with gaming capability,
Age: 51.
Another new game, AvaFlirting, lets say analysts. Meanwhile, venture capital
users create characters who go out on is flowing into mobile game companies,
the network and try to date characters Education: Harvard, designed his which now number more than 200. In
created by other people. Depending on own major in strategy and applied November, Microsoft said it plans a
their success, characters climb popularity game theory; MBA, Stanford. major push into mobile games in 2006.
rankings.
First major position: Director of In this nascent segment, Digital
Neither game tries to use all of a strategy and marketing, Apple Chocolate ranks in the top 10
cellphone's processing power. The Computer, early 1980s. gamemakers, according to research firm
graphics are minimal. The allure is in the M:Metrics. The company has sold about
social connection, Hawkins says, not the 8 million of its early games. Prices vary,
on-screen experience. Companies founded: Electronic Arts, but subscription games can cost $2.99 a
1982; 3DO, 1991; Digital Chocolate, month.
Though few reviews are out yet for the 2003.
newer games, Digital Chocolate is Yet Hawkins' big bet is on the low-fi
generally winning raves. Awards: Inducted this year into the social games, and that's just beginning.
Academy of Interactive Arts & MLSN only launched on Cingular and
"They're doing a ver y good job of Sciences Hall of Fame. Sprint Nextel subsidiary Boost Mobile
working within the confines of the this fall. This month, MLSN will launch on
platform," says Carrie Gouskos, an editor Verizon and Sprint. AvaFlirting and a
Family: Wife, Lisa; four children.
at respected gaming website GameSpot. sibling game, AvaCars, won't come out
She notes that some of Digital until 2006.
Chocolate's earlier games have gotten instance, Nokia in November said it was
some of GameSpot's highest ratings ever giving up on its N-Gage phone, which Clearly, Hawkins isn't out to run a
for mobile games. tried to be a combination phone and middling mobile games company. He's
high-fidelity video game machine. Few out to change the industry and create
Digital Chocolate already sells dozens were sold. games with Super-Bowl-size audiences -
of games, from WordKing Poker to Sumo - and prove he's right where for years
Smash. Some are graphics-rich, single- Still, conventional wisdom puts he'd been wrong.
player games. But since Hawkins' Hawkins in the minority, fighting
epiphany, he has pushed Digital upstream — just like the early days of "Trip is a ver y opinionated, ver y
Chocolate to make MLSN-type social 3DO. teachable guy," says pal Evans. "He's
games. totally about the better idea. The way
A big, early bet he's going with Digital Chocolate is a
Just about every other mobile game good example of his teachability."
company is trying to re-create video Hawkins launched Digital Chocolate in
game titles such as Tiger Woods PGA 2003 with his own money and one other "Eventually, the industry will have to go
Tour or Harry Potter games so they look investor: Bob Pittman, founder of MTV more in (Hawkins') direction," says
and play much like a PlayStation or Xbox and later an executive at AOL. In 2004, GameSpot's Gouskos. "It's the best future
game. the company raised an additional $13 for mobile gaming."
million, largely from four venture-capital
Some wireless industry developments firms. The next few years will show whether
suggest those attempts are mistaken. For Hawkins' epiphany pays off.
NCR got creamed in court. A guilty verdict was reached on Residents scampered to safety at NCR, where a couple
Feb. 13, 1913, and each NCR official faced up to three years in thousand took refuge. In the boats they made, NCR employees
plucked others from trees and roofs. But this worked out pretty well for Watson Sr. In May 1914,
he took a job running a wheezing little agglomeration of assets
Watson was in New York on business. In NCR's archives are a called Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co., or C-T-R. Almost a
series of telegrams between Watson and Patterson as Watson year later, an appeals court set aside NCR's antitrust verdict and
swung into action to send help to Dayton. "Am arranging for granted a new trial. Unwilling to retry the flood heroes,
relief train. Wire what you need most," Watson wrote in one. In Woodrow Wilson's administration dropped the case.
two days, Watson pulled together donations and sent two
trains packed with food, water, tents — and newspaper Over the next decade, Watson focused C-T-R on information
reporters. processing and in 1924 renamed it the ambitious-sounding
International Business Machines. During the boom of the late
The reporters were key. While NCR's acts were sincere, 1920s, IBM was essentially like Cisco Systems during the dot-
Patterson also sensed an opportunity. The Dayton flood made com bubble — a young company with a sizzling stock and
worldwide headlines. So, too, did NCR's heroics. The Chicago important new technology that hardly anyone understood.
Evening Post wrote: "Patterson was revered by Dayton people
before the catastrophe but is now an idol for whom thousands IBM — entirely built in Watson's image — grew like crazy
would lay down their lives." through the Depression. Watson became as famous as Gates or
Steve Jobs today. And IBM just kept growing.
It was one of the great public relations turnarounds of all
time — from convicted business demon to media darling. And The Dayton flood made that possible, though of course no
you thought only Martha Stewart could do that. one could've seen that at the time.
Then, in the fall of 1913, Patterson bizarrely pushed almost So it's fascinating to wonder if some seed is being planted
every convicted executive out of NCR, including Watson. amid Katrina's mess. It's not much consolation for the lives and
Imagine how Watson must have felt: He was 40, was driven homes lost, but maybe a career is being shaped or an idea
away by his mentor, had a jail term hanging over his head — formed that wouldn't have been possible had the disaster not
and his wife was pregnant with their first child, who would happened. And maybe that person or concept will later emerge
become IBM's other famous CEO, Thomas Watson Jr. to create something great. It's a small flicker of solace.
1. What factors make the difference between a creative idea Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
that becomes a successful company and an idea that never
moves forward?
www.emkf.org
FUTURE IMPLICATIONS
1. Read several features in USA TODAY’s Money section about new entrepreneurs and successful business leaders. What can
you learn from their experiences that would enhance your ability to start your own business? How did they learn from the
successes and failures?
2. What state and federal laws and funding sources encourage entrepreneurs to develop and launch new businesses? How
could the laws be changed to encourage new entrepreneurs even more so?
3. Which of your strengths and abilities would make you a successful entrepreneur? What knowledge or skills do you lack that
you need to develop?
Notes:
© Copyright 2006 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. All rights reser ved. Page 11