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American Inventor Simon Cowell

Article Overview: American Idol fans throughout the country know him as the ruthless judge on the hugely popular televised nation-wide singing competition. But, there is more to this Sony/BMG music producer than meets the eye. From American Idol to American Inventor, Simon Cowell has demonstrated his knack for producing hit shows and has confirmed his declaration of being “a serial entrepreneur.”

American Inventor Simon Cowell

American Idol fans throughout the country know him as the ruthless judge on the hugely popular televised nation-wide singing competition. But, there is more to this Sony/BMG music producer than meets the eye. From American Idol to American Inventor, Simon Cowell has demonstrated his knack for producing hit shows and has confirmed his declaration of being “a serial entrepreneur.”

First launched on ABC in March 2006, this show is the latest in a string of reality television series and is based exactly on what its title says – finding the best inventor in America. Whereas American Idol was focused on finding the best singer in the country, the producers of this show wanted to focus more on product creation.

The show is comprised of twelve contestants who are broken down into groups of three, each of which produces one semi-finalist. The semi-finalists then receive $50,000 to improve their invention and bring it to the live final. Here, home viewers watch a 30-second commercial for each product and vote by phone for the winner. The grand prize is $1 million worth of business support, resources and money. Unlike American Idol, here, Cowell does not act as one of the four judges. Instead, his role is an off-screen one, serving as one of the show’s producer.

In the first season of American Inventor, Simon Cowell and his partners awarded the $1 million prize to Janusz Liberkowski, a native of Poland who won for his invention of the Anecia Safety Capsule. A mechanical engineer who now lives in San Jose, California, Liberkowski created a unique safety seat for children following the death of his own daughter, Anecia. In addition to the $1 million, Evenflo gave Liberkowski an offer to manufacture and distribute his product. Liberkowski has eight other patents for previous inventions.

Despite receiving high ratings and being renewed by the television networks for a second season, producers came under much criticism after launching the series. The show and its creator were accused of taking the idea from a previous show called Million Dollar Idea. However, nothing would ever come of the accusations.

Following the success of his second television series, Simon Cowell decided to find out if the third time was also a charm. He created America’s Got Talent, a search for the next best amateur talent act in the U.S. Whereas his two previous shows were talent-specific – singing or inventing – this show is open to a broader base of contestants. Anybody who thinks they have any talent whatsoever, be it singing, dancing, magic, or comedy, can audition for the $1 million prize.

Many viewers of the show argue that with America Inventor, Simon Cowell has done little more than clone the success of his previous venture. It is perhaps the shows biggest irony that in searching for a great invention, it has done little more than copy a formula for success that has worked in the past. Nevertheless, imitator or not, original or not, the show brought in the ratings, proving that this serial entrepreneur’s keen eye for what television audiences want is not far off.

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Article Tags: american idol, american inventor simon cowell, anecia safety capsule, business support, home viewers, mechanical engineer, music producer, product creation, reality television, safety seat, san jose california, second season, semi finalist, semi finalists, serial entrepreneur, simon cowell, singing competition, sony bmg music, television networks, television series



Related Forum Posts
When do you give up on an idea? - I was watching American Inventor last night and amongst the few gems in the crowd there were a flurry of inventors who did not have anything close to a marketable product. Some of them had spent up to 20 years tinkering on their invention and have put their life savings into creating it. When do you know if you should give up on your business idea? Many of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world failed in a number of businesses before making it big. Milton Hershey, founder of the well known chocolate company, failed in 3 different cities and had to move in with a former employee to get back on his feet before starting what would be Hersheys Chocolate. How do you know that what you are doing is going to be successful and when do you pull the plug? I would love to hear your thoughts on this one.
Re: A New Innovative Website Concept – What direction to take? - Dear Simon Congratulations on your business idea. I'm a little confused. Is your invention hardware or software?
You Can Start From Some Where! - I have always found stories like these interesting. When you can see and understand that many famous, successful people like these usually start off in places worse than we're at. It think they brings our goals a little closer and makes them more tangible... * Dan Akroyd was a mail sorter for Canada's national postal service. * Jennifer Aniston was both a telemarketer and waitress before hitting it big. * Halle Berry worked at Higbee's Department store in the children's department. * Sandra Bullock worked as a bartender. * Before his big break, country singer Kenny Chesney worked as a valet attendant, telemarketer and mail sorter. * Chubby Checker plucked chickens at a poultry market named Henry Colt's. * Before Nirvana, the late Kurt Cobain worked as a janitor for Lemons Janitorial Service. * Diddy was an intern at Uptown Records where he did grunt work like washing cars & fetching coffee. * Bill Cosby shined shoes and sold produce when he was young. * Simon Cowell started out as a mail room clerk for EMI Music Publishing where his father worked. * Michael Dell washed dishes at a Chinese restaurant for $2.30 per hour. * Danny DeVito was a formally trained hair stylist before his break on Taxi. * Michael Douglas once worked as a gas station attendant. * Tom Hanks once worked as a hotel bellman and carried bags for a number of celebs. Sometimes it can be easy to forget that everyone starts at the bottom... * So what does this have to do with your business? You can add to the list!
Re: Article on Profiting from you invention - Thanks to Mississippi Inventor for updating the article and bringing some important points to the fore. IdeasU I am pleased that you found some benefit from the article. MichelleJ
New from UK - Hi Simon, There are only a few active members from the UK. It would be good, if you share this forum site with some of your contacts to come online too. I wish you well in your new venture. If you believe it is a gap in the market, I encourage you NOT to give up. All the obstacles will be worth it all. Regards! Beat "Unlock People's Potentials!"


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