Radio Stations |
Weed Eater WEEL11 11-Inch 3.6 Amp Electric String Trimmer
For sometime now, we’ve had a special project in the works. We wanted to give our listeners and readers a chance to hear a new Why Didn’t I Think of That?® feature every day, even if they’re away from the radio. And that’s exactly what we’ve done. Today marks the beginning phases of a plan [...]
Nobody thought about putting paint in an aerosol can until Ed Seymour. In 1949, Seymour was looking for a novel way to demonstrate a new aluminum paint. His wife suggested putting it in an aerosol can, like ones recently introduced for insecticides. To his surprise, the sprayer — not the paint — became the star of his demonstration.
While in Hawaii in the 1800′s, James Dole discovered a fruit most people had never seen or heard of before: The pineapple. He began importing the fruit to the mainland and introduced the country to this exotic, sweet treat. The pineapple became a national favorite, and the Dole Food Company became the largest supplier of fruits and vegetables in the world.
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.
Today it’s as synonymous with sports as cheerleaders or sweatbands. But not too long ago, Gatorade was just a nameless concoction, cooked up to revitalize the University of Florida’s football team: the Gators. The Gators were losing. A lot. One reason for that was the hot Florida weather dehydrating the players. The “Gator-Aid” not only saved the team, but it has been hydrating and refreshing some of the world’s greatest athletes ever since.
Today’s Hall of Fame Spotlight: The Story of Gatorade.
What they do:
Make weed eaters and other landscaping equipment
Inspiration:
George Ballas was a man who loved his 2 acres of land. But about 100 trees made it difficult for him to get his much desired, perfect manicured lawn. One day while driving through an automatic car wash, he watched the stringy, soapy brushes clean his car with no harm to the paint. It made him wonder if something similar could be used to trim safely around his trees and house.
About the business:
Ballas rigged up a popcorn can punched full of holes, threaded fishing line through the holes and attached the whole thing to an old lawn edger. The weed wacker was born. Branded the WEED EATER, homeowners and professional landscapers loved it. Sales grew like a weed, and in 1977, Ballas sold the company to Emerson Electric for $26 million.
Searching for comfort from the heat, Steven Villegas altered a pair of army surplus pants into a legless skirt, optimized for the working man. He called it the “Utilikilt.” His utilitarian man-skirt quickly became a surprise hit with construction workers, bikers, and other unlikely customers. On the latest episode of The Why Didn’t I Think of That? ® Podcast, we put the spotlight on this up-and-coming entrepreneur.
The Why Guys speak with Villegas about his unique product on this week’s Why Didn’t I Think of That? Podcast.
New Audio Story: How two men “rethought” the home improvement industry and made billions.
Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank both worked for a Southern California home-improvement chain called “Handy Dan” in the 1970′s.
While there, they experimented with heavily discounting products in one of Handy Dan’s locations. The experiment was a success in every sense of the word, and it was their intention to expand it to more stores. But they never got the chance.
While Burns isn’t the first person to try and improve the tape measurer, this is one of the most intuitive, practical inventions I’ve seen in a long time.
They say necessity is the mother of invention. But sometimes… it’s really not. That’s why I love this story. Ehud Nagler was an Israeli engineer, and he could invent some pretty impressive stuff, no question. But finding a purpose or application for what he was inventing? Not necessarily his strong suit. See, in 2001, Nagler [...]
