Source: Wealth Creator Magazine March/April 2007

James O'Loghlin fact

  • James O'Loghlin is one of the most popular stand-up comedians in Australia.

  • He is a former lawyer and radio broadcaster on 702 ABC Sydney's evening program for the past two years.
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James O’Loughlin: The New Inventors

Source: Wealth Creator Magazine March/April 2007

James's Favorite Invention

“You know when you turn on the hot tap in the kitchen and cold water comes out and you let cold water go down the sink. That probably happens at least once for every Australian every day. The 20 million times this happens and we watch a litre of water go down, that’s 20 million litres. This bloke invented a tank that when you turn on the hot tap the water diverts to the tank so no water comes out until it’s hot.

The next time you turn on the cold tap the water from the tank comes out. I thought that was remarkable because every single Australian at the moment is thinking in some way or another about saving water. And yet none of us have thought of a way to save that water even though we’re looking at it every day.  This epitomises inventors. They look at the same world all of us look at, but instead of assuming the way the world is, is the way it has to be, they ask why.”

The New Inventors airs on the ABC every Wednesday evening at 8pm.

James O’Loughlin: The Mother of All Invention Shows

James O'Loughlin

The Mother Of All Invention Shows

The very likeable James O’Loughlin, host of ABC television hit The New Inventors, talks about invention in the modern age.

If you’ve ever seen the television show The New Inventors, you’d have come to the understanding that Australian industry and innovation is alive and well; not just in corporate boardrooms, but in the backyards of every day Australians trying to make their own difference in the world.

From earthquake protecting mud huts to a myriad of water systems and nursing tools, Australia would seem to be the mother-country of invention. Seeing it all first hand is lawyer, turned comedian, turned television host James O’Loughlin, and he’s impressed with what he’s seen.

James is the host of The New Inventors, a show now in its third year and with no sign of disappearing. Indeed, there seems to be an endless supply of inventions that need a good airing and could keep the show going for years.
Yet James was sceptical at first about just how many innovations the show could sustain. “I only had two expectations when we started the show. One was that we had to find a way to make computer chips interesting. The other was that I didn’t know whether we’d run out of inventions after six months. We’ve been going for three years and there’s no sign of shortage.” 

Pleasantly surprised on both counts, James has not had to worry about finding entertaining ways to illustrate the merits of a computer chip. “Most things in our world, even though we are in the computer age, have nothing to do with computers. We’re in the kitchen, the garden, travelling to work, eating; most of the inventions aren’t to do with computers, they’re real 3D objects we need to use in our everyday chores.” These 3D objects are being created in people’s backyards. And many have been successful, because they’ve offered alternative methods and systems to combat day-to-day problems. “There is a wealth of new, innovative and well-realised ideas that are banging on the market door saying ‘look at me, look at me’,” says James. The show focuses on backyard inventions, but many of them could be corporate goldmines, if corporations took the time to have a look at what is going on in suburban Australia.

As far as James is concerned, corporations should be looking at inventors the same way they view company growth. “I think that every organisation knows, or should know, that to grow and be prosperous they need to innovate. That’s not necessarily inventing something, but refusing to assume the status quo is enough.”

Having spoken at plenty of corporate luncheons and functions, James knows that the more successful companies are those that innovate. “I think corporate Australia has the mindset that recognises the importance of innovation to success. Therefore it’s in their interests to keep an eye out for new inventions and new innovations.”

There are always monetary concerns and corporations have to answer to shareholders and be vigilant with the bottom line. However, James also believes that many are tied to systems, structures and business models.  This doesn’t mean they can’t take a risk, but it does mean they are more wary of investing in someone untried or an invention unproven. As James says, though, “If the idea is good enough, that’s the main thing. It doesn’t matter whether the guy who invented the wheel was difficult to deal with, or whether he was good at meeting with marketing guys. Whether something was developed in a R&D lab or by the guy in the shed, the quality of the idea stands apart.”

And there has been no shortage of quality ideas on The New Inventors. As backyard innovators, they have had to face many obstacles: funding, moral support, false starts, but through it all they have managed to maintain their self-belief and by the time they make it to the show they are either in the black or about to launch. “The only thing I worry about,” says James, “is that they are not all going to be successful. Some are going to lose a lot of money.”

That may be so, but there are those who are more interested in redefining social infrastructure than making a dollar. Yet, a good invention is most likely to make a buck. “There was an invention on the show called the Biolytics Filter (created by Dean Cameron),” says James. “It doesn’t sound very sexy, but it was a way of using worms to turn sewerage into water you can use in your garden. His business has exploded since coming on the show.”

Money was not Cameron’s sole motivation, and James believes making a dollar is only part of the equation.
“I just think if you wanted to make money, you’d invest in a laundromat. Invention is risky, but what drives them is determination to see what happens to their idea.” Not everyone can be successful. Some over commit financially, others have trouble marketing their idea and the show is a sounding board, but nothing can guarantee success.
Support for the show and each season’s winning inventor comes from some very powerful organisations including CSIRO, Aus Industry and Australian IP. The show’s series winners are given access to a support network that many entrepreneurs and innovators would love to be part of. “It’s wonderful to have those organisations on board and it’s wonderful for the Inventor of the Year to gain assistance from those organisations because it gives them things they may not have. Many of them are good at inventing and creating, but don’t have the business experience.”

With no science background, James was invited to host the show because he would ask the everyday ‘stupid’ questions, the questions people would be asking at home. He was brought on to make it entertaining without taking the focus away from the most important people, the inventors. And it has been a fascinating and interesting experience for him. “I enjoy trying to pick apart what it is that makes them different from me; how they have achieved what they have. Most of them are just normal. It’s not like meeting Albert Einstein, they’re a very normal cross-section of people.”

That is the thing about entrepreneurship, innovation or invention: ideas can come from all people of all corners of the globe: rich, poor, educated, uneducated, experienced, inexperienced, when it comes to invention and more to the point successful invention everyone starts on a level playing field. What sets them apart, according to James, is determination. “It must be so tempting to give up at different points, but they have the ability to look at the world a little differently. They are more questioning. They have esoteric curiosity, combined with hard-headed determination.”