Your Crazy Ideas Might Be Your Biggest Business Advantage
The world needs people who see what doesn’t exist yet – but turning vision into viable business requires more than just brilliant ideas.
The Conversation That Happens in College Dorms
Dan Barnes and Wes LaPorte were cousins and roommates at Brigham Young University when they watched a shocking TV report claiming that cell phones were contaminated with fecal matter. Most people would have said “gross” and moved on with their day.
But Dan and Wes couldn’t let it go.
Wes was working in a cancer research lab at the time, so they decided to test their own phones. Their results proved the average phone is 18 times dirtier than a public bathroom. They discovered that at least one in six phones actually had fecal matter on their surfaces, and the potential health hazards were completely unknown by the general public.
“We knew we had to make a safe way to sanitize our phones, but it couldn’t add to our busy routines or take away from our screen time,” Dan explained later. “Labs and hospitals use UV-C light to disinfect, so we launched a Kickstarter campaign to put that same power inside the first PhoneSoap.”
Most people saw a problem with no obvious solution. Dan and Wes saw an opportunity to create something that had never existed before. They designed a prototype sanitizer that had the dual benefit of being able to charge any phone as it sanitized it. They launched a Kickstarter campaign in May 2012, hoping to raise $18,000 to develop a working prototype. The campaign was a great success – one month later 1,200 backers had pledged over $63,000.
If Dan and Wes’s story sounds familiar – if you’ve ever seen a problem that everyone else accepts and thought “there has to be a better way” – you might be an Innovator Entrepreneur.
The Burden and Gift of Seeing What Others Can’t
Innovator Entrepreneurs live in tomorrow. While others work with what exists, Innovators are compelled to create what should exist. They possess a unique combination of:
- Visionary thinking that sees solutions before problems are widely recognized
- Creative problem-solving that connects dots others can’t see
- Passionate conviction about ideas that seem impossible to everyone else
- High tolerance for uncertainty and the unknown
But here’s what most people don’t understand about Innovators: Your biggest strength can also be your biggest challenge.
Why Being an Innovator Is Both a Superpower and a Struggle
The Visionary Advantage
Innovators create entirely new markets, solve problems people didn’t know they had, and build solutions that change how the world works. When you succeed, you don’t just build a business – you build an empire.
Think about:
- James Dyson seeing the problem with traditional vacuum cleaners and revolutionizing home cleaning
- Sara Blakely cutting the feet off pantyhose and creating the shapewear industry
- Dan Barnes and Wes LaPorte realizing phones were bacterial breeding grounds and creating the first consumer UV phone sanitizer
These weren’t incremental improvements – they were fundamental reimaginings of entire categories or the creation of completely new solutions.
The Innovation Tax
But innovation comes with costs that other entrepreneur types don’t face:
The Explanation Burden: You have to educate everyone – customers, investors, team members – about why your “crazy” idea makes sense.
The Patience Requirement: Markets take time to understand and adopt breakthrough innovations. You need runway while the world catches up to your vision.
The Isolation Factor: You’re often the only person who truly believes in your idea until it starts working.
The Resource Challenge: Creating something new typically requires more time, money, and talent than improving what exists.
Signs You Might Be an Innovator Entrepreneur
Does this describe your entrepreneurial journey?
✅ You see obvious solutions to problems that others don’t even recognize as problems yet
✅ Your best ideas sound “crazy” or “impossible” to most people when you first explain them
✅ You’re energized by uncertainty and the challenge of creating something from nothing
✅ You often think “Why doesn’t this exist?” followed by “I could build that”
✅ You’re comfortable with long development timelines and patient capital
✅ You feel frustrated by incremental improvements when breakthrough solutions are possible
✅ You naturally think in systems and see how changing one thing could transform everything
✅ You’d rather create a new market than compete in an existing one
The Innovation Paradox Every Innovator Faces
Here’s what Dan and Wes discovered as they developed PhoneSoap: Being right too early can feel exactly like being wrong.
When they appeared on Shark Tank in 2015, some of the Sharks were skeptical about needing an electronic device for phone sanitization. Mark Cuban suggested that standard sanitizing liquid would work just as effectively, but Dan had to explain that alcohol would damage phones by removing their protective coating.
The challenge wasn’t just building the solution – it was educating the market about a problem most people didn’t know they had, then convincing them that UV sanitization was superior to existing methods.
The questions every Innovator must answer:
- Is this the right idea at the right time?
- Do I have the resources to educate the market while building the solution?
- Am I prepared for the long timeline that breakthrough innovation requires?
- How do I stay passionate and funded while others catch up to my vision?
The Strategic Reality Check
If you’re reading this thinking “This is definitely me,” here’s what you need to understand: Not everyone who loves innovation should be an Innovator Entrepreneur.
Some visionary thinkers thrive better as Technopreneurs (innovation through technology), others as Intrapreneurs (innovation within established companies), and still others discover they’re actually Disruptors (changing how existing markets work rather than creating new ones).
The path you choose depends on more than just your love of innovation. It depends on your risk tolerance, resource access, timeline expectations, and how you handle the unique pressures of pioneering breakthrough solutions.
Beyond the Vision: What It Really Takes
PhoneSoap eventually became one of the most successful Shark Tank products ever, with over $187 million in sales by 2023. But success didn’t happen overnight – it took nearly three years from initial concept to market launch, multiple prototype iterations, and constant education of potential customers about why UV sanitization mattered.
The breakthrough came when Dan and Wes stopped asking “Are we innovative enough?” and started asking “What type of innovative entrepreneur are we, and what path gives us the best chance of turning our vision into reality?”
Their success wasn’t just about having a great idea – it was about their specific approach to innovation, their tolerance for uncertainty, and their ability to persist through skepticism until the market caught up to their vision.
Discover Your True Entrepreneurial Path
If you recognize yourself in Dan and Wes’s story, you’re likely an innovative thinker – but the question isn’t whether you’re innovative. The question is: What’s your optimal path for turning innovation into sustainable business success?
Our entrepreneurial assessment looks beyond your current situation to analyze your approach to innovation, your tolerance for different types of uncertainty, and what it will take to accomplish your bigger entrepreneurial goals.
In just 10 minutes, you’ll discover:
✅ Your exact entrepreneurial type and how it relates to innovation
✅ Your top 3 natural strengths as an innovative entrepreneur
✅ Your top 2 challenges and what to expect on your journey
✅ Your strategic advantage in the innovation landscape
✅ Hidden investment opportunities specific to your type (often $185K+ annually) ✅ Your competitive vulnerabilities and how to protect against them
✅ A relevant framework to guide your innovative entrepreneurial decisions
Take the Assessment Now – Discover Your Exact Entrepreneurial Type →
Remember: The world needs innovators, but not every innovator needs to follow the same path. Your crazy ideas might indeed be your biggest business advantage – if you’re on the right entrepreneurial path to develop them.
Ready to discover whether you’re wired for pure innovation or better suited for another breakthrough approach? Your assessment results are waiting.