How can I sell my inventions?

I am a 56 yr old who was laid off a great job (kind of) around 4 yrs ago because I was a egotistical person thinking they will not ever lay me off being the most important person there besides the owner! I was their main product designer / INVENTOR / engineer / problem solver. I gave that company so many ideas/inventions I lost count. I gave them at least 12 patent ideas, maybe more I lost count of those also!

The problem might had started when the owner/ex-president of the company, took the CEO’s and most of the office people out to lunch after I had gave them enough ideas/inventions for the company to move in to a bigger building (around 3 yrs in to that employment). He told every one there in front of me that it was because of all my new ideas we were moving in to a bigger facility, so that gave me a big ego! From that point on maybe not noticing it but that ego stop my career as becoming a much better product designer.

I thought I didn’t need any more education other then my god given talent to invent/create new ideas/inventions! So all those years there instead of improving my education (thinking I would retire from there) I screwed up because now after trying for the last 4 yrs to get back in to the same field of the only thing I have ever been good at, I need this that and the other thing as far as new programs needed to land such a job! I can still invent / design new ideas all day long but just can’t talk any one/company in to giving me a chance like that last employer did!

I have found a toy/novelty/invention broker lately to try and sell some of many ideas, he has taken on 88 out of 120 ideas/inventions I presented to him, but how long that will take who knows? In mean time I can’t afford go back to school, I can’t afford patents and I can’t find the same type of  work that is my passion and know I can do it for any company if given the chance, but they will not;(

I have been a single dad the whole time I was at that last employment for over 20 yrs, raised two boys the best I could, one is in a junior college and WE can barely afford that! Meaning my son and I do any type of work we can. Him mostly part time and me full time at temporary positions I hate!

Physical jobs at my age are very hard since I have arthritis and bad knees from many years of racing motocross since I was a kid! I raced high school motocross and turned pro right out of high school, while some friends were pursuing college or starting good careers as longshoremen or firemen, I was traveling around the country pureeing a very limited career as a professional motocross racer! Well I got injured way too much to go on and came home to start working driving cement trucks, cement pumps etc for my family / uncles. Which was okay money but was not my passion and even though I knew that it was the 1970’s/80’s and was just the thing to do if you could. Going to college was not a thing to do for most back then as I remember it.

So now how many years later I have no career any more, no retirement in site, no way to support my family, living in complete stress and depression:( Maybe yes one of my ideas / inventions will sell but until then I am wearing knee braces and taking tons of Aleve to try and get a job as a truck drive again at 56 yrs old, and all the while my friends who keep at it are retiring, it sucks lol!(and I remember them all saying”you,ll be rich some day Rodney with all those ideas”). They still say that while I worry stress about my rent and bills!

I really just want to have the chance again to do my passion or god give talent (my only god given talent since the two wheel talent didn’t pan out!) . I have no business savvy to try and do any of my ideas/inventions on my own. I have written some short stories and people who have read them like them allot and said I should pursue that! But again I would need some education to be a writer which is nearly impossible right now. I would love to write since I have many ideas for stories reality or fiction.

My son has a talent for writing also and he is pursuing that right now even though his complete family and friends are against it, except me! He wrote and directed a few movies / short stories in high school and two of them won at the high school film festivals (one got a standing ovation!). So he has talent and I want him to pursue it, in fact I want to join him in some short story writing.

But it all comes down to paying the rent, I do just about any thing and have for the last few years to try and keep him going at what he loves and myself also, but off and on we almost ended up on the street! I have sold just about every thing, used up my complete life savings and 401k is gone! we live month to month with stuff pre-pack just in case but no where to actually go but the street, and I know there are lots of people in the same boat:(

I have many ideas / inventions ready to go as far as having working prototypes etc, but no way to do them myself.  And I have gone out on my own to try and sell/license them off, with no luck. In fact I have been RIP OFF which has add to my depression knowing we could had been doing okay right now, if these different companies(assholes) had not rip me off, or if I could had afforded to have patents on those ideas!

Last year my son and I work really hard on one of my ideas, with videos, drawings and good working prototypes we tested late at night in secluded / private areas.  We brought that idea to a company who signed all the correct/proper NDA contracts etc, but a few months later it/my invention was on the market and they had no intentions of reimbursing me for it;( So even more depression/stress set in for not only me but my son). We tried to get legal help but can’t afford it so now one of my potential ideas is on the market making these assholes money! And that was not the first time, so I have found a guy who has taken on my ideas/inventions as a broker to hopefully sell them and not rip me off!

But at this point I would hire any one or let any one try and sell any of my many inventions/ideas in many different industries for profit to share! So if you know any one trustworthy enough to help please let me know?

But how can any one know which way it will go? You don’t and can’t, but just pray it will some day pan out before we are out on the street or before I am too old to enjoy it! I am working three temporary part time/full time jobs that pay shit and are very hard at my age just wishing/praying it all pans out for my family/son!

Well that’s part of my story I guess, one depressed/broken/stressed/rip off inventor dad looking for some thing?

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Am I wasting my Harvard degree if I stay home with kids?

I am an attorney, an ENTJ, and a new mom. I went to Harvard (twice) and worked in intellectually challenging, selective jobs since then. I’m currently in what was my dream job before I had a baby, but I’m miserable.

I miss my daughter. I like her daycare and I’m militant about seeing her as much as possible (every morning and night for dinner/bed), but I long for a richer family life. I also hate feeling bad at my job because I’m no longer single-minded about it. Every day is a blur of demands that I’m unable or unwilling to meet, which is torture for someone driven by achievement and deadlines. (Nearly 100% J on the MBTI.) After she goes to bed I work, eventually give up and pass out, then repeat. I also resent making very little money after turning down well-paying jobs for this more meaningful job.

We could afford for me to stay home if we budget very carefully, are planning more children soon, and would love to have a big family. But I worry that staying home now is is a waste of my education/training/past work, a failure to realize earning potential for my family, and a mistake given that I’m an ENTJ.

Part-time would be great, but, as you’ve noted, part-time versions of my kind of job don’t exist. Running a business would be an option (I love running things and budgeting), but I’m not creative and too risk-averse to be a good entrepreneur. I’m much better at ploughing through via hard work than coming up with an innovative way to make life easier.

Switching legal jobs would likely mean the same schedule and violating a four-year commitment to my current job. I’ve done a lot of research and have no idea what I would do beyond law, although I’m willing to try anything at this point. Including driving a city bus and/or being with my daughter and reading long-form articles.

I also thought I might not actually be an ENTJ given my emotional reaction to becoming a mother, lack of interest (before I began hating my job and paying for quality daycare) in making lots of money, and longstanding desire to do something “meaningful” as well as prestigious. But my ENTJ results have been consistent over ten years. Should I be another mom lawyer who quits? Work for more money? Or is there some third way I haven’t thought of?

Any advice you can offer is greatly appreciated!

P.S. If your son actually wants advice on going to Harvard, I’m happy to help however I can.

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How can I build a strong network?

I am 24 years old. My field is data analytics. I understand that building a network will eventually pay off, in one capacity or another. Can you tell me the most effective things I can do to grow my network now? I want to get the highest possible return on my time investment.

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How can someone with Asperger’s stop getting fired?

I live in São Paulo, Brazil. I came across your site researching social skills, interpersonal relations at work, etc.

The reason I was researching those items is because I am 41 years old and am stuck in a cycle of losing my jobs every one to two years.

In my most recent job I was a finance treasury manager in charge of a team of 15-20 people (I had to layoff some of them along the way – it was a family-owned, not-so-efficient company before a private equity firm took over).

I found myself overwhelmed by the amount of analysis I had to perform to my boss and could not take time to relate to the team. As time went on I felt that they disliked me, felt insecure, analyzed every word I spoke to other people in the company,  and events led to my discharge.

Nonetheless, I am very competent in finance, but the reason I am always discharged is for interpersonal reasons. My ex-bosses always say what my most recent ex-boss said, “It is not that you raise your voice, but the way you say it, the form.”

It took being fired seven times for me to realize that I have a problem. I have a good heart and I do care for others, so that makes the problem harder to understand.

Now that I am out of my paycheck, I found out that my wife is pregnant. I have other issues in my family currently that make this a very hard time for me, but I am talking to a total stranger oversees.

What could you advise me? I know you do not have much material to work on your response, but in your career you might have come across similar cases.

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