Petrological innovation for short term gain

More often than not, entrepreneurs are encouraged to develop long-term strategies for growth. Sometimes, however, it is possible to develop a short-term strategy for a short-term gain--without risking large up-front capital investment. Ten years ago, very few Internet users had ever heard of the Pet Rock. I enjoyed referring to it in courses as an example of a product innovation using one of the world's oldest resources which was "re-saleable" via a simple, inexpensive, but highly pathos-loaded marketing campaign. Today, one can find references to the rock on pop-sites, inventor sites, and on wikipedia.

The Pet Rock (which I bought for my father for Christmas in 1975 when I was the ripe age of 18)serves as a reminder that nearly anything is marketable--giving the right time, place, and message. The entrepreneur must have a sixth sense (empathy) for customer needs (perceived or real) and be able to identify the seize the moment when time, place, and message can converge or be converged.

Gary Dahl, innovator and seller of the Pet Rock, was interviewed by National Public Radio (NPR) in the United States in 2000. Listen.

Today, 35 years on, the Pet Rock is making a comeback--relying on the nostalgia market. Martin Abrams, formerly an executive of Mega Corporation (no longer in existence), bought the rights to "Pet Rock" and has relaunched them via his company I-Star Entertainment.

Library of Economics and Liberty

A resource for entrepreneurship students seeking books, articles and other resources can be found at the Library of Economics and Liberty based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The site is supported by a private organisation called the Liberty Fund, started in 1960 by Pierre F. Goodrich (1894-1973) which is an objective, open, and non-political forum for exchange of ideas.

Idea Competition 2010 Winners

"The ninth annual MIT IDEAS Competition celebrated student achievement on Monday evening, May 3, at MIT's Raymond and Maria Stata Center. Seven student teams received IDEAS awards to implement their projects over the next year. IDEAS — which stands for Innovation, Development, Enterprise, Action and Service — recognizes student teams that have developed outstanding projects that apply invention as a public service. Each award, funded by a corporate or individual sponsor, will enable a team to develop their prototype into a working solution in collaboration with community partners around the world."

All of the winners are described on the MIT Public Service Center, but here is one of the business ideas posted there:

"PerfectSight was awarded the $5,000 Award sponsored by the Lemelson-MIT Program. Team members Chika Ekeji, Margaret McKenna, Ankit Mohan, and Vitor Pamplona designed an innovative, mobile system for diagnosing refractive eye conditions for under $1 using cell phones."