Wells Fargo Speaker Series
Louis Foreman
CEO, Edison Nation
Thursday, April 19 at 4 p.m.
BMW Classroom at the George
Tickets: Call (864) 503-5235 or email Bea Walters Smith at bwsmith@uscupstate.edu.
Tickets are free but must be reserved in advance. Limited quantity.
Presentation followed by
Business After Hours, presented by
the Spartanburg Chamber of Commerce and USC Upstate
5:30 p.m., Zimmerli Plaza at the George
Mister Steamy. Gyro Bowl. Emery Cat. What do they all have in common? They all started as innovative ideas with regular everyday people, were developed into products by Edison Nation, and then marketed across the country with tremendous success.
Edison Nation (www.edisonnation.com) says that often companies search for innovative new ideas for products beyond their own R&D departments. Proctor & Gamble, Clorox, General Mills, Wal-Mart, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Colgate and Home Depot have turned to Edison Nation and its community of entrepreneur inventors for ideas for “game-changing products.”
“We all have great ideas,” says Foreman, but often lack the time, financial resources and knowledge of the process involved in getting an idea from the “eureka moment” to store shelves. When inventors submit their idea to Edison Nation, the company bears the cost of obtaining patents and licenses, and Edison Nation markets the inventions to companies for their shelves. The inventor and Edison Nation evenly split the royalties.
“Louis Foreman’s TV production ‘Everyday Edisons’ highlights great examples that anyone can come up with innovative and creative ideas that feed entrepreneurship. His talk will help our students recognize their potential for creativity and innovation,” says Darrell Parker, dean of the Johnson College of Business. Now in its fifth season, ‘Everyday Edisons’ is the Emmy-award winning television show where Mister Steamy, Gyro Bowl, and Emery Cat got their start.