Seinfeld on Start-ups: Innovation Comes at the Oddest Times

Morty Seinfeld was always one of my favorites on the show.  He was the number #1 Dad for crying out loud!!  Simple, cheap, a bit slow on the draw, but what a business man!  The Raincoats, episodes 82 and 83 for those keeping track at home, had plenty of ground to cover.   There was plenty of chaos going on, so you may have missed Morty’s moment in the sun when he described the birth of his rain coat idea.

Per Morty, as he is describes his flux capacitor-like:  I tripped over one of Jerry’s toys. So I took out my belt just to threaten him, and I got a glimpse of myself in the mirror…So that night I cut off the loops and the Executive was born.”

Innovation can come when you least expect it.  For one Dr. Emmet Brown, that involved hanging a clock in his bathroom and thumping his head on the toilet.  For Morty, it was wrapped into the process of parenting a young Jerry.  For you, it might be a trip to the grocery store, an encounter with bread crumbs in the butter dish, or your own clock hanging conundrum that turns into the next beltless trench coat.

Remember that innovation isn’t limited to game-changing/life altering ideas.  It can be as simple as taking a fork and a spoon and creating the spork (though some may argue that is a life altering concept)

So be on the lookout, keep your eyes open and turn off Words with Friends once in a while.

Dan Beenken is Director of the UNI Small Business Development Center