The Idea That Started With a Window

More than 25 years ago, my wife and I were flipping houses.

We did most of the work ourselves, which meant I did a lot of painting.

One thing I particularly hated was painting windows.

I could freehand around the glass, which was faster, but the edges weren't always as clean as I wanted.

Or I could mask the glass, which looked better but meant cutting and fitting little pieces of tape into every corner.

It was a pain.

I kept thinking:

There has to be a better way.

So I started experimenting.

First with Post-it Notes. Then with pieces of masking tape cut into different shapes.

Eventually, I Frankensteined together a prototype and a system that worked.

It was simple, faster and solved the problem.

Then came another question:

How do I turn this into an actual product?

I wasn't interested in starting a painter's tape company, so I decided to patent the idea and try to license it.

Eventually, I struck a deal with Henkel, the company behind Duck Brand tape products.

It became Quick Corners® Painter's Tape and has been sold around the world for many years.

I've been thinking about that experience again lately.

The idea didn't come from trying to invent something.

It came from being annoyed.

I noticed a problem, wondered if there was a better way, and started playing around with solutions.

I've filled journals with ideas like that over the years.

Most never made it this far.

Some were probably bad ideas. Some might have been missed opportunities. And some might still be opportunities today.

I'm thinking it might be interesting to start pulling a few of them back out.

Sometimes the best opportunities start with something that just doesn't work as well as it should.

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I help entrepreneurial people think through what’s next in their work, business or ideas. If something here sparks an idea or conversation, I’d love to hear from you.