Miles looked at the investors, who seemed shocked and awed by his many great ideas, which included everything from a mindfulness headband to an AI-powered toothbrush. Miles spent 20 minutes laying out ideas to innovate eight different consumer industries.
Miles couldn’t stand the silence, “So, are you ready to buy into the Miles game?”
“What are we buying?” Vic, the head of the investment group, asked.
“Did you not listen to the pitch?”
“That wasn’t a pitch, that was a drumroll,” Vic said.
“What are you talking about? I was giving you golden ideas. A car subscription service where you get a new car every week. We’re talking about changing giant industries,” Miles said.
Vic turned to one of his partners, “Rich, what’s your big idea?”
“We need to make Roombas that don’t just clean the floor but can clean all aspects of kitchens, bathrooms and laundry rooms.”
“Lisa, what’s your idea?” Vic asked.
“We develop a new kind of review service. Companies stake a claim—this is what we’re trying to do—and customers rate how close they get to their mission.”
“Larry, what idea does your eight-year-old have right now?”
“Dog comedians. We train dogs to tell jokes in the style of comedians.”
“That’s not even a good idea,” Miles said, still standing in front of the room after his pitch.
“Yeah, but Larry’s eight-year-old is great at executing. He has a solid business plan. He’s not just trying to sell an idea.”