Secrets from an Inventor’s Notebook: Advice on Inventing Success – from the creator of SKYY Vodka, the D-Fuzz-It sweater comb, and scores of innovative products

Secrets from an Inventor’s Notebook: Advice on Inventing Success – from the creator of SKYY Vodka, the D-Fuzz-It sweater comb, and scores of innovative products Hardcover – Illustrated

by Maurice Kanbar  (Author) , Phil Baechler (Author)

When the fuzz from his sweater was pulled off by a brick wall he was leaning against, Maurice Kanbar had a brainstorm. Soon he had patented, produced and successfully promoted the D-Fuzz-It sweater comb, and made his first fortune at the age of twenty-two. In this engaging “master class” Kanbar’s real world hits and misses illustrate the concrete steps every inventor must follow to successfully take his product to market.Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Told with verve, this delightful tale of a restless, curious inventor and entrepreneur is packed with practical advice for creative endeavors. Kanbar’s 36 successful inventions (from various medical devices to Skyy vodka and the D-Fuzz-It Sweater and Fabric CombR) all started with difficulties anyone might encounter: hangovers, accidents with hypodermic needles, fuzzballs on sweaters. In each case, Kanbar knew nothing about the problem he set out to solve. Unlike many inventors, who hand off their ideas at an early stage through licensing agreements, Kanbar has often set up businesses to market his products and stayed involved in every detail along the way. He takes the reader on engaging journeys from initial conception to research, implementation, testing, refinement, legal protection, packaging, distribution and marketing. General readers will enjoy these unaffected stories of a straightforward, successful guy. Would-be inventors and anyone engaged in independent creative activity will benefit from the distilled aphorisms (“Thou Shalt Not Bullshit Thyself”) and no-nonsense information. It’s a rare author who can end his foreword with “I look forward to reveling in your success” and make the reader believe it. With the help of a $50,000 marketing campaign, Kanbar (the publisher of Council Oaks books) is supporting this book with the same care that he’s brought to marketing his other products. While none of his inventions, except for Skyy vodka, are household names, would-be inventors will find both inspiration and beneficial tips in his affable guide. (Jan.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

“…of great help to everyone who has ever wanted to invent. It’s a thoughtful, extremely well written book…Fascinating reading.” — Richard Nelson Bolles, Author of What Color Is Your Parachute?

“Every inventor or hopeful entrepreneur should read this insightful and fascinating book by one of our generation’s true inventive entrepreneurs.” — Leonard Stern, Chairman and CEO of The Hartz Group

“I wish I’d had this book when I first invented the Baby Jogger!…closer to an action-adventure movie than a dry how-to manual.” — Phil Baechler, Inventor of the Baby Jogger