| Mar 27, 2006 - Meetings with Innovators
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 | | show all 15 | | This innovator applies a Teflon coating to clay cooking plates. He has sold 10,000 units and increased his income by 50X. | | Close-up of Teflon-plate innovator | | This man developed a machine to separate cotton shells from cotton. Previously this was done by hand by 1,500 people. | | |
| We spent Friday and Saturday meeting with innovators in Ahmedabad and the surrounding areas. In talking with these people, we focused on learning more about two key areas:
1) What made these people innovate?
This question gets broken down into a bunch of sub-questions like "How old were you when you made your first invention?", "What gave you the idea to invent this?", "Do any of your friends or family develop new products?", "What else have you invented?", etc. With these questions, we are trying to understand what drives people here to develop new things.
Our professor seems to think there is something unique that makes people here great innovators. On the other hand, I'm amazed at how many common threads I see with creative people at home. I see a shared drive to produce something superior to what is currently available, to solve a problem, or to make existing products better. Another commonality is the skill these innovators have in utilizing concepts they have been exposed to in earlier experiences and applying them to solve new problems in very different areas.
2) What resources/help did these innovators need during the process of taking a product from an idea to a product available for sale?
With this question, we are trying to zero in on what resources are available to Indian entrepreneurs and what is missing that would help more of them succeed. We hope to be able to recommend relationships with organizations outside of India that might help fill in some of the holes.
For example, many inventors here develop working prototypes that are hardly usable and not aesthetically pleasing. Could a relationship be developed between the organizations we are working with here and design schools in the U.S. where class projects could focus on improving the design of an Indian innovation?
We covered over 200 Km to meet with 5 innovators. The National Innovation Foundation (NIF) set us up with a car and driver and had a representative accompany us on all of the interviews. We met with people in factories, at their homes, and at the NIF. All of the entrepreneurs were very generous with their time and had fascinating stories to tell. Some develop new products in hopes of achieving financial reward, some simply want to better society.
We will be doing more of these types of visits in the coming days. Stay tuned. |
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