Someone my wife was associated with through the mortgage business ... had a US Patent application for a particular product ... and for the most part had the market to himself for this particular idea ... He brought up that another business had once offered him over $1,000,000 for the rights to this patent ... but that he turned them down as he wanted to control this "product" ... this business idea ... himself. Fast forward several years of struggling along in an unrelated business later ... and he still has not done anything with this idea. His great idea was to start his own mortgage company ... and bank enough money to launch his business. With the way the mortgage industry has been the last couple of years ... you can probably guess how well that plan has gone. He talked about getting a small business loan or grant at one point ... but said when he looked into it that the paperwork involved was a nightmare ... (his words ... so take that with a HUGE grain of salt as I have no idea personally how easy or difficult it would be to obtain such a loan or grant) ... So the question is ... what would YOU have done ... and why?? Would you give up rights ... for a set sum ... whether it be $100,000 or $1,000,000 ... or because it is something you personally "created" out of thin air ... an idea you truly gave "birth" to ... would you want to keep 100% control of it for yourself ...?? I'm not sure there truly is a "right" answer in this case ... giving up control of something you created I imagine could be very difficult ...
If it were me i would sell it but if that someone believes he can make something out of it he should run with it and hope for the best
You really have to look honestly at yourself and your situation (financial, etc). Do you REALLY have the skills and resources to turn it into a business that will make more than the amount offered? Really? If someone offers a million for an idea, and they have vetted it themselves, and really determined that is what it is worth, then you would know you could make more than that, IF you could do it. I have many million dollar ideas, but lack the capital to do much of anything with them. If SBA loan paperwork is too much for him to handle, how does he expect to manage daily paperwork to run his business? Also, is it a patent, or just a patent application - big difference. He probably should have sold, as he didnt and still doesnt have the money to make it happen. Now it is probably too late, and the idea is either useless, or someone else is doing it, or similar.
That is what I told him all along ... that he had neither the time ... nor the skills ... or more importantly ... the resources ... to turn that idea into a business. Although he got far enough that he had detailed business plans ... etc., etc. ... but NO follow through ... and no capital to get the idea past the patent stage ... Yes ... he actually holds the patent for this particular product ... not just a patent application ... which makes it more of a shame that he will probably never do anything with it ...
well, he should shop it around, and see what he can get for it. In 13 years he will have nothing when the patent expires...
Here's a formula: IDEA + WASTED YEARS = NO USE But on the other hand: IDEA + MILLION DOLLAR BUYER = MILLION DOLLARS It's now proved that nothing happens... so, would be a good idea to take the million dollar.
I wonder if he is afraid to go back to that company and offer the patent again ... in fears that they would turn him down ... If he doesn't ask ... they can't tell him no ... and he has this residual idea in his head that he is sitting on a virtual "gold mine" ... If he does ask ... and they tell him no ... where does he go from there ...?? Either way ... I agree wholeheartedly ... a great idea with no follow through equals nothing but wasted time ... I would have taken the million and laughed all the way to the bank ...
Interesting case. You gotta put yourself in this guys shoes. Meaning, it's impossible to know what the right choice is. Things change all the time in business.
I would personally take this story with a grain of salt as well. I cannot tell you how many times I hear individuals claiming they were offered "a million+ dollars" for an idea, product. There must be tons of companies running around with open checkbooks then, waiving money at "ideas." Ideas are of very little value. It's what is done with an idea, or how it is evolved that counts. (A friend of mine owns a rather large and well known toy company. Would you like to know how many peices of mail he is sent every day with "ideas" attached? I'll give you a hint... It's 3 digits long... Haha) The fact is, for a company to make an offer on a product/idea, involves countless hours of meetings, and negotiating. If this individual thought that applying for a business loan was a nightmare (It's not. It involves the right amount of paperwork you would expect - as anyone with a serious shot at making money with a product, and starting a successful business will have already done the necessary market research to assemble most of what is asked for), then he would have been scared away by the process of negotiation and paperwork required long before he was offered "over a million dollars." Anyhow, regardless, I agree with most who have posted here, that most individuals underestimate the work required to bring viable products to the market, and overestimate their ability to keep going when things get tight. 1,000,000 + is a lot of money to fund another project with, so why not take it?
Personally I'd take the one million dollars. It is just an "idea", without any execution (yet). If your friend is "afraid" to ask the company, you may act as his broker and approach the company. Tell them that your friend is now considering letting go of his "idea". This way, even if the company turns him down, he doesn't need to know and will not suffer.
So... let's do some MATH again: NOT VISITING THERE = NO MONEY So... what he has to lose? If he offers patent again, the worst thing that can happen is that he won't get money... Yeh, there seems to be lots of companies running around with open checkbooks