How To Become A Successful Inventor In Nigeria — Modeling, Prototyping, Steps For Patent Filing & How To Raise Capital

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By Kenneth Nwachinemelu David-Okafor           Last updated August 23, 2016

Welcome to the eleventh installment of this serialized post.

Thank you for all the comments, suggestions, Facebook “likes” and such feedback.  IT IS GREAT FUEL FOR MY MOTIVATION. Because of your support this serialized work has given rise to a bigger dimension of the work.

As always I would not stop enthusing how much I am thrilled to put requisite information about inventing and inventive undertaking in Nigeria at your disposal which I did not have access to when I really needed it.

What Is A Model Or A Prototype?

A prototype is an early sample, model, of a product built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from. A prototype is designed to test and try a new design to enhance precision by system analysts and users. Prototyping serves to provide specifications for a real, working system rather than a theoretical one. In some workflow models, creating a prototype (a process sometimes called materialization) is the step between the formalization and the evaluation of an idea.

The authors of the e-book The Ultimate guide to PROTOTYPING write:

“A prototype is a powerful weapon to bring to any presentation. David and Tom Kelley, Founder and Partner at IDEO, ascribe to what they call “Boyle’s Law” (named after one of IDEO’s master prototypers, Dennis Boyle). 

Boyle’s Law is simple but effective: never go to a meeting without a prototype. In terms of its communicative and persuasive abilities, this presentational aid often makes the difference between a “yes” or a “no.”

Before spending a small fortune on patenting an ingenious idea, consider several market issues. Does your invention offer a unique and better solution to a real problem? Can it be easily manufactured or integrated into an existing product? Is there a market for the product? How big is the market? Will it grow? What is the competition? Will the product be obsolete by the time the patent is issued? How much will it cost and how long will it take to bring the invention to market? How will it be sold?

The answers to these questions rely on market research.

Professional firms provide this service for a fee. (NB: before the conclusion of this serialization, information about such services and contacts may be provided for blog readers.)

Nigeria is yet to develop the support of a network of national and local inventors clubs which in several other countries are a rich source of information and advice on invention making and the invention activities. While working on the research which underpinned this work I discovered there were some clubs and associations of inventors at individual and institutional levels; I found these to be mostly ad hoc, tentative and more often than not inaccessible and not completely democratized. Work remains to be done in this regards.

The authors of the e-book The Ultimate guide to PROTOTYPING write five reasons why you need to prototype:

5 Reasons Why You Need to Prototype

While skipping prototyping might save some time during design, that surplus can be lost many times over in development. If people try on jeans before buying them and test-drive cars before signing the check, then it only makes sense to test your designs interactively before they go into development. Interaction, after all, is how use access the design solutions to their problems.

To better understand why you should prototype, let’s look to Todd Zaki Warfel, the designer who wrote the book on prototyping... literally.

Warfel summarizes his book’s points in a slideshow presentation, where we can see all the relevant reasons to embrace prototyping. While these vary depending on designers and their needs, some universal benefits include:

• Communication & collaboration – It’s one thing to discuss requirements documentation, but it’s a whole other level of imaginative collaboration when both parties can play with a prototype and explore limitations and possibilities. Documentation can be misinterpreted, but experiences are shared.

• Gauge feasibility while reducing waste – Wireframes, mockups, and requirement documents live in paper, not reality. Prototyping allows teams to experiment, giving them the freedom to fail cheaply while learning more. Just take a look at how prototypes helped increase estimate accuracy by 50% while reducing requests for clarification by 80%.

• Sell your idea – Prototypes can be great for pitching if you’re working with skeptical clients. Experiencing the real-life website or app proves your vision more than a wordy description or mockup bogged down with notes.

• Test usability earlier – By user-testing a prototype, you’re able to find problems and fix them earlier in the process, saving yourself a huge hassle of dealing with them when they’re cemented in code. The same case study cited above saw 25% reduction in post-release bugs thanks to prototyping.

• Set your design priorities – We recommend prototyping early and often because prioritizing interaction design will keep you grounded in reality when you make static design decisions. The visuals must fulfill the experience, not the other way around.

Not every prototype needs to be elaborate and consuming – in fact, some schools of thought believe in a rapid, low-investment form of prototyping. The point is that it’s almost always beneficial to devote some resources to prototyping, how many depends on your specific needs.

WHEN DR SEYI OYESOLA INVENTOR OF “HOSPITAL IN A BOX” AND DR DAYO OLAKULEHIN INVENTOR OF THE D-BOX PORTABLE VENTILATOR NEEDED HELP AND THEY WENT BEYOND NIGERIA TO GET ASSISTANCE!

Here is the story about Dr Seyi Oyesola and his "HOSPITAL IN A BOX" invention:

In 2005, Dr Seyi Oyesola collaborated with Alexander Bushell, an English engineer and co-developed CompactOR, a “hospital in a box,” that had the ability to bring surgical care to every part of Africa.

By all accounts, the Oyesola-Bushell team was a natural one. Bushell’s experiences in rural Kenya were akin to Dr. Oyesola’s in Nigeria; emergencies that could have been handled readily were not, due to a lack of access to basic equipment.

Since the CompactOR portable operating theater was launched in 2007, it has transformed the medical care that is available in rural areas, including those that are inaccessible by road, because the “hospital in a box” can be delivered by Truck or Sport Utility Vehicle or by helicopter and set up in ten minutes.

The portable hospital is a complete operating room with all the tools necessary including defibrillators, EKG monitoring, anesthesia, and surgical lighting. It, like the products supplied through Practice Ventures (Dr. Oyesola the company Practice Ventures), is versatile; it can be powered through standard means, but also by a solar panel, a car’s 12 volt plug, or a foot pedal. It can be customized for oral surgeries, such as the removal of wisdom teeth or used for routine operations to remove cataracts, gall bladders, or appendices. It has been used successfully for hysterectomies and even heart surgeries. The basic hospital in a box costs less than £50,000 (around US$77,350) which is one fifth the cost of what had been available to provide the same services.

Dr Dayo Olakulehin worked with firms such as LigandCorp and Inertia which helped him in his battery operated D-Box invention with prototype development and engineering & design respectively.

Steps For Patent Filing

In his online book Chris Woodford, a British science writer and the author of many popular science books for adults and children, including Atoms Under the Floorboards: The Surprising Science Hidden in Your Home, writes:

Imitation may be the "sincerest form of flattery." But if you spend years developing a great invention and plow all your life savings into getting it manufactured, you're unlikely to be "flattered" when someone tries to copy it and make money on the back of it. That's why the world has patents. A patent is a legal document that records, in great detail, how an invention works, what makes it original, when it was first invented, and who owns the rights to it. Society moves forward through the development of great ideas but, for that to happen, the people who come up with those ideas have to be able to make at least some money out of them (even if they don't get rich). Patents make it possible for inventors to earn money from their inventions for a limited amount of time before the rights expire. At that point, society as a whole benefits because the idea behind the invention effectively becomes public property (we say it enters the "public domain").

Filing a patent can be lengthy, complex, difficult, and expensive; typically, it takes about two years from the date when you apply for a patent to the time when it is formally granted to you (largely because there are so many patents being applied for—several hundred thousand a year in the United States alone). Another problem is that patents apply only in certain territories so, if you want to protect an invention throughout the world, you have to take out patents simultaneously in multiple countries through agencies such as the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the European Patent Office (EPO). One more difficulty is that not everything can be patented. Ideas and scientific discoveries are not covered, for example.

Despite all these difficulties, taking out a patent is still an essential step to protecting an invention.

NAIJAGRAPHITTI BLOG has a separate project dealing with filing patents in Nigeria in the works. Thus for this post, I would rather share the example of a United States citizen who thought himself all about filing patents. 

How One Inventor Taught Himself Everything There Is to Know About Patents

Because there are absolutely no black and whites when it comes to intellectual property, self-education is critical. Merely obtaining a patent is easy enough. If you pay a lawyer to help you, he will. Beyond that, things get trickier. The reality is, your intellectual property is only as strong as your ability to defend it. How far are you willing to go to enforce your rights? More importantly, how are you going to make your patent profitable? How does filing intellectual property fit into your overall go-to-market strategy? These are extremely important questions for which there are no simple, straightforward answers.

For these reasons and more, the value of teaching yourself about intellectual property before diving in cannot be overstated. Is there a learning curve? Yes. It will feel steep! But empowering yourself with knowledge is essential unless you’ve got money to burn, because filing a non-provisional patent application can easily cost upwards of US$15,000. Shortly after I had my big idea, I hastily asked my attorney to file two non-provisional patent applications out of fear. Later, those patents turned out to be of no use. I began educating myself about intellectual property after learning just how worthless patents can be.

With a little insight, today I think product developers can and should file their own provisional patent applications. I published a book explaining how to just last year, in fact.

But filing your own non-provisional patent applications? That seems insane, even to me. They’re written in their own language! I do not recommend writing your own non-provisional patent application. Still, some people do. My guess is most prose filings are not written well and rarely get issued.

So when I met an independent product developer who has written, obtained, and licensed his own utility patents, I was floored. Needless to say, that’s extremely unusual. For George Burkhardt, whose unique pull-through marketing strategies I wrote about here a few weeks ago, D-I-Y is more of a credo than a lifestyle choice.

I interviewed him to find out how he did it.

What motivated you to teach yourself how to write your own provisional patent applications, patent perspective drawings, and utility patent applications?

I had two choices. I could hire a patent attorney to develop a utility patent application for me at a high cost. If the invention turned out not to be marketable, I was done. Or, I could learn the patent process myself. If my invention failed marketability, I’d have spent relatively little — just the cost of filing — and could pursue patents on additional inventions. Growing up on a farm taught me how to be creative and innovative in order to make ends meet. I had to learn to do everything myself because it was too expensive to hire people. Right now as we speak, I’m repairing window screens.

What was your mindset like in the beginning? How familiar were you with the patent process?

Initially I was not familiar with the process, only that hiring a patent attorney would be expensive. I thought having an engineering background would help me understand technical aspects, like perspective patent drawings and terms, and the small machine shop I use to keep the farm running would help me develop prototypes. The patent and licensing processes were the missing aspects. I have not had any professional legal training.

What resources were the most valuable to you?

What initially helped me the most was regularly attending monthly inventor meetings in San Antonio, Texas, USA. After attending four or five meetings, I got a sense of who would be able to help me and had the key information I needed to progress. Each meeting, I made a point of always having at least a couple of questions I wanted to ask of someone — usually a patent attorney or other technical person. I wrote down their answers, which led to more questions, and also became my homework for the month, because they often recommended books to read, websites to visit, and other experts to contact. I repeated this process month after month until I learned how to patent and license my inventions.

You can’t invent in a vacuum. You’ve got to trust someone somewhere along the line, or you’ll never get anywhere. On the other hand, I like to tell newbies that just because they’re at an inventors’ meeting doesn’t mean they should provide details to other inventors about their invention.

How extensively did you study?

I studied probably at least two nights a week. Other nights I spent inventing, prototyping, writing patent applications, responding to office actions, developing sell sheets, contacting potential licensees, etc. The books I found most important were: Patent It Yourself by David Pressman, which I read over and over again to make sure I understood the vast amount of information correctly, especially claim drafting; Patent Searching Made Easy by David Hitchcock; Patent Pending in 24 Hours by Richard Stim and David Pressman, which I used to prepare my initial provisional patent applications; How to Make Patent Drawings by Jack Lo and David Pressman; Invention Analysis and Claiming by Ronald Slusky, which I also used for claim drafting; Profit From Your Idea by Richard Stim, which helped me with my licensing agreements; and of course, One Simple Idea and the wealth of information on the inventRight website.

Talk to me about how you prepared to handle office actions. Did you consult with an attorney?

I initially received information from patent attorneys about how to respond to office actions at inventor meetings. Patent It Yourself was also useful. Making use of the USPTO’s Public Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system was key in helping me prepare my patent applications and respond to office actions. You can search through the prosecution history of every issued patent via PAIR. I searched through the prosecution history of lawyers who I knew were exceptional, like David Pressman, to determine their method of responding to office actions. Most patent attorneys have their own unique style. I also used information provided by the USPTO following the America Invents Act of 2013 on responding to obviousness patent application rejections.

How simple are the ideas you patented?

The inventions I have patented so far are relatively simple — simple meaning easier to prototype, easier to prepare patent applications and drawings for, and cheaper for a company to manufacture and hence, easier to license. The patent process can get time-consuming and involved, so motivation is key. Being creative and having a technical background also helps. Answering office actions was the most challenging.

When you licensed your ideas, were they patented? Or were they patent-pending?

My first two licensed inventions were patented and the third one was patent pending. Usually a patented invention will bring larger licensing rates, as opposed to patent pending inventions, because the risk to the licensee is typically less.

What advice do you have for independent inventors who want to bring their ideas to market?

If you think your invention has mass-market appeal over a long period of time and/or is very technical in nature, I would file a provisional patent application initially to establish a priority date and then seek out a patent attorney or agent to file and prosecute a utility patent application. If your invention is simple and has limited or possibly even significant mass-market appeal but over a short time period, I recommend filing a PPA and then licensing the invention, as the licensee may pay for the related patent. As far as PPAs are concerned, I suggest using Patent Pending in 24 Hours as a guide and possibly using available PPA drafting software.

To put it mildly, Burkhardt was highly motivated to teach himself how to file and secure his own patents. Innovation is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration, he reminded me.

“I just had the drive,” Burkhardt said. “That’s what is most important.”

How To Raise Capital

Funding is one of the most important aspects of your inventive activities undertaking. In every sense of the phrase, funding is make or break. What’s more there is no one-size-fits-all solution to funding; different funding options and mechanisms exist for different types and categories of inventions.

Funding is for many would-be inventors a conundrum though not impossible. However remember the example of the innovators Messrs Femi Adeyemo and Kunle Odebunmi who founded Arnergy.

The Arnergy's line of Solar Rental Systems presents potentials capable of transforming Nigeria's electricity sector, given its extreme versatile application and ease of management.  In July 2015 - the duo of Femi Adeyemo and Kunle Odebunmi emerged the final winners of the Bank of Industry (BoI)'s Request for low-cost rural solar energy proposals, with their innovative and out of the box ideas for confronting the hydra-headed energy problems bedeviling the country. Their presentations secured long-term financing for the installation of off-grid solar home systems in six (6) Nigerian communities with financing from BoI/UNDP programme that has seen 2000 people in Osun and Edo State enjoy uninterrupted electricity in the last seven months. In December 2015, the Solar Nigeria Programme an Initiative of the United Kingdom's Government Department For International Development (DfID/UKAID) implemented by Adam Smith International (ASI) awarded Arnergy, a £100,000 (US$146,000) grant to expand operations in Northern Nigeria.

In this post, I wish to excerpt the treatise from MyTopBusinessideas.com:

How To Raise Capital from Venture Capitalists

What is Venture Capital?

Venture capital refers to funds provided to high-risk, high potential, startup companies. These funds may be required to start a new business from scratch (seed capital), expand an existing business (expansion capital), or acquire another business with huge profit potential (buyout funding).

Venture capital comes from the input of many investors who are willing to support business ideas that are likely to succeed. The institutions charged with the task of handling the funds and issuing them out to support deserving entrepreneurs are known as Venture Capital Firms or Venture Capitalists (VCs).

In return for their investment in a business, Venture Capitalists hold a certain percentage of shares in the company. Therefore, venture capital is a subset of private equity. Venture capital funds are issued primarily to support businesses that are not yet eligible to take up bank loans or adopt other advanced financing options.

1. Be in the Right Mindset

If you are not in the right mindset, forget about trying to raise capital from VCs. Why? The reason I say this is because VCs are tough and their rules are stringent. They are professional investors who have kicked the butts of so many entrepreneurs with solid business ideas; so why the heck should they give a damn about your business proposal.

I repeat, VCs are tough. They have no time for storytelling and they are very good at airing their views bluntly; which sometimes hurt the emotions of the entrepreneur seeking capital. So before trying to raise capital from VCs; you must be prepared to face rejection and expect some harsh words. You may end up been lambasted by the VCs but don’t take the rejection personal; it’s the norm in the business world.

VCs just want you to feel the harsh reality of the business world; they want you to develop a tough skin because they know that their harsh response to you will be nothing compared to what your potential competitors will do to your business.

2. Are you prepared to give up control?

“I’d rather own 10% of a billion dollar company than 100% of a million dollar company.” – J. Paul Getty

If your answer to the above question is no; then forget about raising startup capital from Venture capitalist. Venture capitalist cut a tough deal; they are private equity investors, so they are definitely going to take a stake in your business. Venture capitalists usually demand a stake of 25% – 60% depending on the situation at hand or their terms and conditions.

Most entrepreneurs are not comfortable giving up control or opening up the ownership structure of their company. So it’s advisable you ponder over the issue of control carefully before making up your mind on the source of capital to pursue.

3. Build up your Credibility

Now since the odds of raising venture capital for your startup company increases when going the “VC funding” way; how do you increase your chances of getting the capital you need since VCs are tougher with their rules? The answer to that question is “credibility.”

Have you run a business in the past? What experience do you have with respect to raising capital? How do you handle your personal finances? Have you had any transaction or deal with a notable business personality before? Have you built a successful business before?

The above are real questions that VCs throw at startup entrepreneurs seeking venture capital. One of my mentors “Robert Kiyosaki” said that “the more successful you become; the easier it is to raise capital and the easier the process becomes.” I think he said the truth in its entirety.

Venture capitalists want to see a proven track record; they want to see experience and above all; they want to see credibility and competence in the entrepreneur. If you lack these characteristics as an entrepreneur; never knock on the door of VCs.

3. Find a business mentor

If you want to become good at the game of raising capital from Venture capitalists; then find a business mentor that has successfully done it several times. Or better still, you can seek to be mentored by a VC. Your chosen business coach may be retired or still active in the game but either ways; you will learn tremendously and your wealth of experience will be immeasurable.

4. Who is on your team?

“Money always follow management.” – Anonymous

The problem with most startup entrepreneurs that fail to raise capital for their business ideas is that they are trying to raise capital as an individual. Business is a team sport; so also is investing. How can you get the attention of a VC when those competing with you for the startup capital have smart teams on their side?

Having a business team is crucial to successfully raising venture capital from VCs. Who on your team has built a company and taken it public? Who on your team is experienced in business management? Who is on your team? These are questions VCs usually ask entrepreneurs seeking capital.

Let me tell you a secret to getting the fund from Venture capitalists. VCs love name dropping; it gets them excited. They want to know who is also investing in your deal. If you have a competent management team or you secured an angel investment from a reputable investor; it will increase your chance of getting the VC funds.

A business mentor of mine once said that venture capitalists prefer an average product with an excellent business team than an excellent product with an average business team. If you should consider this statement; you will come to acknowledge that it’s the truth in its entirety.

A business team is vital to the process of raising capital for your business; in fact, it increases your chances of securing the capital. Show me an entrepreneur that raised billions of dollars in capital and I will show you an entrepreneur backed by a strong business management team. Just like said in the investment world; money always follow management.

5. Have a Good Plan

Business plans don’t impress venture capitalists. Yes, business plans don’t get them excited because they come across tons of business ideas and plans everyday. It’s their business; it’s what they do to stay in the game. VCs scrutinize business plans and ideas day in day out so what makes your plan stand out?

The worst mistake you will commit is to approach a Venture capitalist with a pre-made business plan or a business plan written by a consultant. VCs are savvy in the game of startup funding so they can tell if your business plan is worth the onions in less than three minutes. I am not saying that a business plan written by a consultant is useless; all I am saying is that you should be involved with the process of the business planning.

Never take your business plan to a VC unprepared. You should make sure that you know your business idea and plan like the palm of your hand. You should also make sure the budgets and financial issues are comprehensive and your numbers do not contradict each other. Above all; you need to keep your business plan simple and comprehensive using more of tables, graphics and charts.

To further increase your chances of raising capital from VCs, I will suggest you give your business plan to a VC friend or a savvy investor for scrutiny because he or she might pick out some flaws and this will save your neck. I am saying this because VCs are strict with their time and sometimes, it’s difficult to get the attention of a VC twice. You just have one chance to make it or break it and if you misuse such opportunity; you may never get it again.

6. Get Social

One of the best ways of finding a VC is by getting social. Sometimes in the business world; it’s not how much you have or what you know that matters. It’s who you know. Venture capitalists are social networkers. Are you surprised? Well, don’t be.

To schedule or pitch a VC for a chance to sell him/her on your business plan; you have to meet them where they hang out. Now where do VCs hang out? You can catch them at business parties, annual general meetings, entrepreneurial summits and conferences, etc.

Getting social will enable you meet and rub minds with other entrepreneurs who are also seeking startup capital. Getting social might even earn you a referral to a Venture capitalist. You can never tell what’s out there until you move.

7. Have a Good Story to Tell

Do you have a good story backing your business plan and intentions? If your answer is no; then you better reconsider your approach because your proposal and request may be thrown back at you.

Those experienced in the game of raising capital knows that the way you pitch angel investors is different from the way you pitch Venture capitalists. You are trying to achieve a single aim; which is to raise capital but your approach will be different because your sources are different. VCs are more impatient than angels; they are strict with their time so don’t bore them with unnecessary story lines. Keep your message simple; yet detailed.

If the Venture capitalist you are pitching is more interested in the profit potential of the business; focus on that. If the VC is more interested in the management structure or those in the deal; provide them information on that. Above all, focus on what the Venture capitalists want to know; not what you feel they should know.

8. Select your Targets

A good rule of thumb when raising startup capital from VCs is this; “don’t go knocking on every VC’s door with your plan.” It will just be a waste of time and effort. There are a lot of things to put into consideration before selecting potential Venture capitalists to approach.

Some VCs prefer to invest in established businesses while others prefer to invest in young startups. Some Venture capitalists prefer to invest in firms to the tune of US$100million and above while others are comfortable investing US$100k – US$10million. Venture capitalists are also specialized; with respect to their choice industry of investment.

So before approaching a VC, make sure you understand the VC’s areas of interest. Some Venture capitalists focus on investing in technology startups; some in green companies and the rest biotech or industrial companies. It is useless approaching a technology focused VC with a music based business plan because you will never arouse the interest of such VC.

9. Sell Yourself

The next key to successfully raising startup capital from Venture capitalists is your ability to sell yourself. Why should VCs give you their hard earned money? How are they sure the money will be used judiciously? How can you prove your competence? You must have had a business failure in the past, why should they trust you on this one?

This is where selling yourself comes in. This is where you sell your potentials and competence to the Venture capitalists; this is where you prove that you know your onions. If you successfully carry out step one to five and you miss it here; all your effort will be in vain. You will never get the needed capital.

Getting an opportunity to pitch a Venture capitalist is like being given a gun loaded with just a bullet. It’s either you hit or miss and most often; there’s no second chance. So you got to adequately prepare yourself.

Even if it means getting some training or coaching; do it. Warren Buffett once admitted that he took a Dale Carnegie’s public speaking course and that has helped him in his relationship with associates, employees and investors. Sometimes, your personal skills may turn out to be an edge in the process of raising capital, so it’s advisable you develop it.

10. Ask for the Money

If step one to six goes successfully; then you have to take the next action step which is asking for the money. Before asking for the money; you must be definite on your plans, you must know how much you need and the terms involved. Nothing annoys me more than an entrepreneur pitching me with his business plan and when I ask how much in capital he wants to raise; he or she becomes speechless or uncertain.

Before trying to raise startup capital; whether from a venture capitalist or angel investor, you must make sure that you know your aim and objectives. Indecisiveness is one of the silent reasons why most start up entrepreneurs don’t get the venture capital.

So when raising capital from Venture capitalists; it’s advisable you know your business plan like the palm of your hands, be precise with your numbers, sell yourself excellently and ask for the money.

As a final note, these are my ten strategic action step plan to successfully raising seed capital from Venture capitalists. Remember, the key secret to raising startup capital from any source is creativity; thorough understanding of the business fundamentals and a good presentation. Once these three keys are locked in synergy with the ten action steps listed above; you will be able to raise any amount of startup capital you need.

TO BE CONTINUED