What they do:
Market footwear that lets you navigate in the dark.
Inspiration:
When inventor Doug Vick got up in the middle of the night and bumped into the bedpost, he wondered, “How many other people do this every night?”
About the business:
Make and sell high-quality double-lined fleece slippers with a weight sensor in the sole, a light sensor on the side, and an LED light in the toe. When a person steps into them, they light their way – up to 25 foot ahead of them. The slipper run on replacable lithium batteries. The slippers have been a hit with J.C. Penney, Amazon.com and other retailers.
He started his first business in college. He sold his second business to Clear Channel. He came within four minutes of winning CBS’s the Amazing Race. He’s led an interesting life, but what Blake Mycoskie is best known for is starting TOMS Shoes, the company that has donated well over a million shoes to needy men, women, and children.
Here’s a mom-turned-entrepreneur who solved a common frustration that most of us just take for granted: Matching Socks.
Can you imagine ordering a book and having to wait while it was printed and bound? Of course not. But some small businesses across the country are starting to realize that having well-stocked inventories isn’t necessary for their business.
Every year there are hundreds of new inventions that make you want to scream, “Why didn’t I think of that?!” But the truth of the matter is, most of these inventions will never see the light of day.
Johnson, a former stock broker, took a $50,000 investment and turned “Big Feet Pajama Company” into a 2 million dollar a year company.