Alamo Inventors

On Keeping It Super Simple

Guest Speaker:
Sean Michael Ragan

In an age saturated with whiz-bang technology, split-second marketing, and limitless crowdfunding hype, it’s all too easy for inventors with big ideas to get in over their heads.  Sean Ragan’s presentation will focus on how to avoid the twin pitfalls of overreach and over commitment by retraining your brain to focus on ideas with substantive market value rather than superficial “marketability.”

Mr. Ragan will present several instructive case studies of both successes and failures from the world of crowdfunded product development, as well as a two-question decision matrix that will help evaluate the feasibility of your ideas quickly, without any math.  He will discuss the “dark forest” that stands between prototyping and mass production and demonstrate why it is the mathematics of manufacturing design that ultimately separates winners from losers in the hardware marketplace.  Finally, he will explain the “one-part” principle and provide a gallery of inspirational minimalist inventions to illustrate his point.

Sean is a noted popular writer on science, technology, and entrepreneurship.  As a longtime editor and contributor for MAKE Magazine and its online outlets, he has been a leading voice in the Maker Movement since its earliest days.  In 2014, Sean launched Foundry Heavy Industries, FHI, a consultancy and media company dedicated to collecting, preserving and analyzing the experiences of independent hardware entrepreneurs and capitalizing on that knowledge base to educate inventors and investors alike.  After FHI’s sale in 2015, Sean started writing his first book, The Total Inventor’s Manual, which was published by Weldon-Owen in 2016.  His second book, the educational comic and kit How to Use a Breadboard, was published in 2017.  His third book, Breadboard ‘Bots , will be available in 2020.  For more information on Mr. Ragan, click HERE.

First Featured Article
Why do you want a Patent?

Second Featured Article
Sell Sheets

Third Featured Article
Don’t Say ‘There’s Nothing Like My Idea!’ Here’s Why

Fourth Featured Article
Inventing Terms Inventors Should Know…. Written in Plain English

NOTE
The New Patent Law Has Problems For Inventors
Independent inventors and start-up’s depend on strong patents to defend their inventions, however recent changes to the patent law have significantly weakened inventor’s intellectual property rights to the point that they can no longer depend on their patents to protect their innovations.  For information on the intellectual property problems, please see the movie, Invalidated: The Shredding Of The US Patent System.  Click the below image for a trailer of the movie/documentary.   You can also see the documentary on Amazon and iTunes , free with Amazon Prime subscription, or $2 otherwise.

For additional information on the patent problems, click Here.

Join Inventors Groups Of America  You’ll be amazed at the inventor resources available and inventor unity you can provide!

Question & Answer Session w/ Alan Beckley
During the inventors visiting hour from 6:00 PM – 6:30 PM in the meeting room, Alan Beckley will be available, via Skype, to answer your invention questions.  For more information on Alan Beckley, see the information provided in the Licensing section below.

About Alamo Inventors

Founded in 2000, the Alamo Inventors organization holds monthly meetings for the inventor community and provides access to resources supporting the inventing, entrepreneurship, and patent protection process. Monthly programs include a network hour prior to the meeting.  Member meetings include a notable guest speaker who typically shares their experience and advice about their journey of taking their idea to market.

Alamo Inventors, Inc is a not for profit 501(c)3

More information about Alamo Inventors is online at www.alamoinventors.org

Send inquiries to : [email protected]