Building Clusters, For the Community or Individual, a Key to Inventor Success

Clustering of technologies into an area, within a community, enables serial inventors to thrive.  The saying is that “Success Breeds Further Success.” For an inventor, getting into the right community, professional circumstances, enables you to become a more prolific and higher quality inventor. For a local community the clustering of numerous technologist and inventors can serve as an economic engine spawning new companies and economic growth.  The good SBDCs and Chambers realize this and are constantly working on the clustering of technologies in their areas.

As an inventor is you are able to associate with the right groups, building networks that can nurture your ideas becomes easier.  Instead of searching for feedback about your ideas, it is offered naturally within the community that you are inventing in. Your ideas become more robust and have a better potential for success.  Clustering around your circumstance helps you meet the same people who are interested in the same technologies and markets for development.  Face to face communication is the most effective. This was proved out by Thomas Edison in the first Industrial R&D labs that he created in Menlo Park and Orange New Jersey. 

But in the 21^st Century you have increased resources for clustering that are available to you. If you wish to cluster today, with like-minded inventors you can tap into the Web. There are numerous intrest and support groups waiting for you to join.  There are Web Sites dedicated to nurturing particular technologies with highly skilled professionals just waiting to support you.  But if you are clustering and building your network on the Web you also have to be proactive about analyzing and developing your ideas. You need to be the first to file with that good idea so that you will get credit for your work.  While the resources are readily available you also have to be very careful how you manage sharing and working with others on the Web who might not be sympathetic or working toward the goals that sponsor your efforts.

Richard Arnold