How to find your big idea, w/Spanx's Sara Blakely

Shielding Ideas

Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx, emphasizes the importance of shielding early ideas from criticism and competition. She chose to keep her idea a secret from friends and family to avoid ego and unhelpful input, instead seeking advice from manufacturers and patent lawyers who could help her move forward 1. This approach allowed her to focus on pursuing her idea without having to constantly defend it.

An idea is its most vulnerable in its infancy. And that's also the moment human nature. We want to immediately turn to our right or left and tell our coworker, our friend, our boyfriend, our boss, you know, I have this idea, and out of love and concern, we hear a lot of things that stops us right in our tracks.

--- Sara Blakely

By protecting her idea in its early stages, Sara was able to develop Spanx into a successful business without being deterred by naysayers.

   

Legal Protections

Legal protections, such as patents, play a crucial role in safeguarding business innovations. Michelle Lee, former director of the US Patent and Trademark Office, highlights the importance of protecting intangible assets like algorithms and brands 2. She assures that the intellectual property system is designed to be accessible to everyone, regardless of funding.

People would ask me, do I ever think that all the great ideas have been invented, and that at some point, the patent office might run out of ideas to patent. I say absolutely not.

--- Michelle Lee

Sara's proactive approach to patenting her idea at the Georgia Tech Library exemplifies how entrepreneurs can secure their innovations early on.