THE INVENTORS

The Inventors We know that life as an entrepreneur is often not as straightforward as many successful entrepreneurs make it out to be. There are a lot of mistakes made along the way, a lot of struggles and a lot of work/life juggle. So how do these entrepreneurs do what they do, why do they do what they do and what really goes through their minds?

We all love inventors, but in many ways coming up with a new idea is the easy part. In order to be commercially viable, new products need to be patented and trademarked, funding channels sourced, manufacturers contacted and shipping and distribution channels found. If that's not enough, there's the marketing and public relations, determining the right price points, considering design and development iterations and, if successful, facing issues of scalability. In this series, we talk to three inventors who have either invented their own product or been a part of the experience of bringing an invention to market.

Shane Thatcher
After discovering an academic interest in emissions trading at university fifteen years ago, Shane also discovered that at that time mere academic interest didn’t translate into a paying job. So after fifteen years waylaid in trading and executive management in the electricity business he has come full circle and found a use for his early dabblings in emissions trading as founder, chairman and CEO of Illumination.

Illumination Solar produces the world's most affordable solar powered light called Mandarin to replace kerosene lamps in developing countries. Since launching, the small team at Illumination Solar has sold and distributed almost 1 million Mandarins all around the world and won several awards including a B3000 (Melbourne's Most Innovative Companies) and StartupSmart Award.

Ashley Newland
A man of many hats, Ashley holds a PhD in Biotechnology, was a patent and trademark attorney before becoming the inventor and sole director of his company, Calibre8. Ashley was faced with the problem of economising on equipment and clothes to carry while preparing to climb Mt Kilimanjaro. He came up with a solution - Scrubba Wash Bag- the world's smallest washing machine.

Scrubba's innovative design, such as the unique and highly flexible washboard, compact and lightweight, has earned this year's highest honour in the Anthill SMART 100, and raised over ten times its initial crowdfunding goal.

Adam Saraceno
Adam is one of the team member of Peak Design, the company that invented the innovative camera clip system, Capture. The idea came about Peter Dering, a former engineer, was looking for a solution to his own camera handling pain points. Adam, a good friend of Peter, was called in to help after the idea received over $350,000 (the goal was $10,000) on crowdfunding platform Kickstarter.

Capture has since expanded all around the world and been featured in Gizmodo and the New York Times. It has even been counterfeited!