Six years ago, we signed our creative rights away to Disney to create a cool product for a product development competition. We custom made a package that was based on Mike Wazowski’s face and made it a dip tray. The middle had a green dip, and it was surrounded by apple chips. We won “1st place” (technically 2nd place, but the 1st place was labeled “Grand Prize”).
I was walking in Safeway and saw in their refrigerator isle custom made packaging with stuff in them. I shared it with my past teammates and said “……do you think?”
They say great artists steal, so let’s talk about imitation and being imitated.
And how it should be an honor that you should be innovated.
After all, innovation is the finest form of flattery.
Innovation is Imitation with a bow on it
It took me a long time to discover what innovate means until I realized it’s just connecting enough dots until people say your idea is stupid. It can be as simple as combining food science and podcasting or adding plants into meat, or it can be complex like a user-friendly toothbrush or a keto stick breathalyzer. All of these are innovative for the simple fact that there were two ideas that were smashed together.
Of course, now since you have a stupid idea, how do you make it a not-stupid idea? You wordsmith. You talk about your stupid idea to so many people until you’re convinced that your idea isn’t stupid. You gather data by asking not only experts, but also asking your target market and that data should be enough to convince someone that your idea is good.
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Refining this is crucial, and can potentially win you millions of dollars if you craft the need just right. I’m no expert in it, but pitching an idea is hard but it gets much easier the more you do it. People will ask the same questions over and over again and that is valuable data for you to keep on refining.
But there is something else, because talk is cheap. Ideas become a lot easier when you put an achievement behind it. Selling out of your first 100 case batch and saying WE’VE SOLD OUT is a good example of an achievement. A partnership with a major company, an accelerator from a company looking to innovate, a Kickstarter where your rich uncle throws you $10,000 to your campaign is an example of achievement. I’m not saying most achievements are artificial, but some are, and it works at least for the short term.
Basically, people want to see if you can talk the talk and walk the walk. There are ways to craft it, and I wish I could say to be honest about how you walk and how you talk, but it’s not.
But to get back on topic, people say innovation, but it’s really just an old idea looked at in a different angle. It’s always been, and as the word get smaller, it always will be.
Copy Me Please
If you’ve read all 150 articles and all 180 interviews on MY Food Job Rocks, congratulations. You know everything I do. You know more about my life more than me. Please take those teachings and copy me.
People love to keep things secret. There’s a reason for this, but it’s not a good reason. The average person doesn’t know how to make sandwich bread, or how to make a plant-based burger but a handful of experts know the same language.
Yet that doesn’t really matter.
If someone somehow stole Coca Cola and KFC’s secret formula and opened up shop, could they beat Coca Cola and KFC? I don’t think so.
Because the secret formula is one arguably small piece in these giant companies. Coca Cola is one of the most well-known brands in the world. Someone probably did find out what makes it tick. I’m sure an HPLC machine can do just that.
But that doesn’t matter because Coca Cola spent billions on their brand. One can argue it’s more valuable than their formula. They have totally captured the experience of coca cola with a single image. They say if you take generic cola and slap on a coke label, it’ll taste like coke. The opposite is true. Take off the label of coke and drink it, and you think it’s an inferior coca-cola.
The thing is, a food product is more than a series of ratios that makes something taste good, there is a lot to develop in terms of branding.
Like convincing someone about your dumb idea, you have to talk the talk, but your product also has to walk the walk as well.
But Say Thank You
It pains me when people create a podcast and they don’t say thanks to the people who inspired them to take the leap. Yes, I didn’t invent interview-based podcasts specifically for the food industry, but I have a feeling a few people were inspired and innovated/imitated parts of My Food Job Rocks. I love giving shoutouts and I love showcasing really cool podcasts that I’ve helped be a part of. I write about my favorites, I podcast about my favorites, I love encouraging these podcasters to keep on going.
The creative community’s utopia is for everyone to share their work but that is hindered by the businessman who wants to profit. A good example of this is Steve Wozniack, who wanted to open source his stuff, but Steve Jobs said no.
Steve saying no, made them very rich.
It’s fine, it’s the world we live in but from what I’ve noticed working in the field, most scientists don’t care about their ideas being stolen they’ll share for the joy of seeing what they work spread and grow. Just having someone excited on the things you’re working on is enough to get you wide-eyed and excited.
And all they need to say to make them feel complete is “thank you for doing what you’re doing. It matters”.
