Ep. 3139 - Q&A: “Can I sell my ideas for inventions?”
Side Hustle School
Chris Guillebeau / Onward Project
4.8 • 3.3K Ratings
🗓️ 5 August 2025
⏱️ 7 minutes
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Summary
Have a bunch of invention ideas but don’t want to start a business for each one? In this episode, we look at the reality of licensing product concepts—and why execution matters more than creativity.
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Transcript
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| 0:45.2 | Lemonada. |
| 0:49.8 | Lots of people have great ideas. |
| 0:56.4 | Far fewer take the next steps to test, validate, and bring those ideas into the world. |
| 1:02.2 | Here at Sidesville School, we're all about encouraging people to not just come up with ideas, |
| 1:06.9 | but actually do something about them. |
| 1:08.5 | That's why sometimes I say inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is better. |
| 1:12.5 | So today we got a question from a guy who is an inventor, or at least he's an inventor of ideas. |
| 1:18.5 | He has a bunch of invention ideas, but doesn't want to start a business for each one. |
| 1:23.1 | So let's consider the reality of licensing product concepts. |
| 1:27.2 | Can you actually go out and license your product ideas without going all in on patents, |
| 1:31.3 | prototyping, or high-risk invention platforms, perhaps? |
| 1:35.1 | Or is it just the case that execution matters more than creativity? |
| 1:40.1 | Let's talk about how this process really works and where the opportunities lie if you're willing to go just a little bit further than most people do. |
| 1:47.3 | And I know our listeners are self-starters, motivated people, eager to do something for themselves to hopefully advance their position in the world or at least create some economic freedom for themselves. |
| 1:58.0 | So how does this look? Can you come up with ideas and license them without |
| 2:00.9 | doing much more work? Detailed question. And my answer coming right up. As an e-commerce business, |
... |
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