Welcome to the SeeMeCNC Community

Just to show you the impact that 3D printed parts have; I just submitted my latest invention to a large Travel Goods company, and they were super impressed with the prototype. And if things go well, we may be starting negotiations for licensing the idea soon.

Now, its not that i haven't licensed a product before - but never this cheaply! Getting parts for prototypes used to cost me tons! They would come back, and after assembly I would test the parts and discover I needed to make an improvement, etc... and the next version would cost me more cash.

I only got my Max V2 a month ago, and I made over 6 versions of this latest prototype, with all its many parts, for less than 25 bucks worth of filament. What a deal! Best investment I ever made! There is no doubt in my mind that using an actual prototype in my submission video truly caught the interest of the manufacturer. Proof of concept is powerful.

I've accomplished the licensing process with just CAD renderings, but it is much harder. Having an actual working prototype has always made a product concept an easier sell. But they have been expensive. And now I can do it without spending thousands on 3D parts. Can you tell I'm excited?

I love my job!

That sounds awesome, congrats on the (likely) pending deal!

After things are official, can you show us your prototypes? I love seeing the design process in action!

Indeed things are much simpler nowadays, however now you have to have a solid idea as the same tech is becoming more and more abundant.

I am curious aswell please do share.

All I can say at this time is that it was a travel accessory - and as you can imagine, the company will keep it under wraps until it is shown at the first Travel Goods show. And naturally, their design team will make tweaks and improvements before it is finished (which is typical).

But I will indeed show the prototype once permission is given. Unfortunately that will be months away - the licensing, manufacturing, and marketing process is far slower than most people imagine. Inventors don't see royalty results right away - its a time consuming endeavor that rarely produces riches (there are exceptions) and causes many first time inventors to get discouraged. I tell my students who take my inventor classes that they should never quite their day jobs! lol

There are 6 ways to get a product concept up "The Mountain of Invention" - checkout my website if you are interested in the options for beginning Inventors:TheCenacleProject.com

As to the creative process; there are some people just born with the creative gene that makes them serial inventors. But everyone, at one time or another, has an occasional light-bulb go off in terms of a product idea. What I have discovered over the years is that the vast majority of people never act upon it. Then several years later, there's their idea on the market shelf and they say "Hey, that's MY idea!" Have you ever done that? It's a very common experience.

The difference between the two people who had a similar idea is that one took ACTION. The other either ignored the "ah-ha" moment, or didn't know how to proceed with it, so they forget about it. There are some who try to act upon it, but they leap before they look, and end up wasting time, talent, and treasure (the 3 "T's). They fail because they didn't do their due-diligence first.

Inventing is not hard - coming up with an idea is the easy part. Getting it to the marketplace is the real challenge. And it usually requires a set of skills and abilities most inventors don't have. The key then is to find the right resources, or partners, or professional help,(not the Invention Scammers that advertise on TV).

Back to the creative process: there are lots of good books that help would-be inventors train their minds to be more creative - let me know if you want further info and I'll send you the titles and authors. But the key is to listen to the problems and challenges that people deal with on a daily basis. When someone complains about something, most people try to avoid that person - whereas, inventor's radars focus in on them, because problems are potential opportunities for product solutions. Recognizing and solving problems comes natural to some folks, but all of us can learn to be more creative if we are intentional about it.