Episode 1: Solve YOUR Problem

Solve YOUR Problem > Solve YOUR Problem (Episode 1) > Solve YOUR Problem

• Innovation often starts with real people solving their own problems, innovating for their own use.
• How do you become a user innovator? How do you get your idea out into the world?
• User innovation is when you create something to use it.
• Any time anybody runs into a big problem, and there’s no commercial solution, you’re going to get user innovation.
• Almost any innovation you could think of is user developed.
• From things like wheels on suitcases to the heart lung machine to the world wide web.
• The reason that companies don’t get involved more in innovation is because they only want well-established big markets.
• User innovation is a great way to start companies.
• Research has shown that 50% of the innovative companies founded are founded by user innovators.
• When you think as a user innovator that you’re just making something for yourself, you really misunderstand.
• Well now, I want to continue my journey and look at user innovation through the eyes of an innovator.
• Emily Lagasse on Fedwell:
  • Fedwell is a pet food based on home-cooked recipes made with real meat, fruits, and vegetables.
  • When I started talking to pet stores, I realized that they had a lot of customers who were also looking for better products.
  • That’s when I realized that there was just a really big opportunity to bring a home-cooked recipe to the market.
  • In order to bring that to them, I really had to partner with a manufacturer and form my own company to do it on a larger scale.
  • Who better to start a company than someone who lived through those challenges firsthand and really understands what the problems are? I was able to work through a solution, and I really am my own customer.
• User innovation is huge.
• Others may have these needs as well, and because users understand these needs better than producers, they are in a great position to start innovative companies.