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The $9.7B idea hiding in plain sight
(Sometimes the best ideas come from the weirdest places)
The Journey Newsletter
June 15, 2025
THE SIGNAL
“Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open” — here are a couple “top secret” methods to help you deal with any problem you’ll face in business (or in life).
Austin Kleon's masterful work shows how many of the world’s biggest breakthroughs often come from "stealing" ideas from completely unrelated fields. Check out this interview so you can “steal” his framework for creative theft.
The physical environment in which you work & live will have a significant impact on your thoughts, behaviors, and creative output. Use these quick tips to design a space that helps you do your best work and live your best life.
The Toolbox
Your brain is constantly making connections... but most of those insights get lost in the shuffle.
Miro's infinite canvas lets you capture ideas visually so you map out connections and collaborate on them with others in real-time.
It's like having a giant wall of post-its that never runs out of space... and helps you spot patterns you would've missed otherwise.
The Journey
Ever wonder why James Dyson is worth $14.7 billion...
All for inventing a vacuum cleaner?
You may know that he made 5,127 prototypes before getting it right….
But honestly?
That's not even the interesting part of the story.
The REAL lesson is about what happened BEFORE all that trial and error...
See, Dyson didn’t start out trying to build a better vacuum.
At all…
He was actually working at a ball bearing factory.
And the factory had a massive industrial cyclone tower to separate paint particles from the air.
One day, while staring at this giant tower...
Dyson had a thought that would change his life:
"What if we could use the same principle... but for cleaning homes?"
THIS is the million-dollar lesson.
Because Dyson's breakthrough would NEVER have come from studying vacuum cleaners...
It came from a completely different industry.
He connected dots that nobody else was even LOOKING at.
While all the competition in the industry was trying to make better vacuum bags...
(You know, the "obvious" solution)
Dyson was drawing inspiration from industrial cyclone towers.
(The "weird" solution that actually worked)
But here's where it gets really interesting...
When he tried to license his technology to the major vacuum brands...
They ALL rejected him.
Why?
Because they made most of their profit from selling replacement bags!
Dyson's bagless design would destroy their business model….
So they laughed him out of every meeting.
But instead of giving up...
He decided to build his own company.
And all those "rejections" turned into his biggest advantage.
Because he wasn't just selling a better vacuum...
He was exposing the “dirty little secret” of an entire industry
His marketing basically said:
"Big vacuum companies WANT you to keep buying bags... but we have a better way."
The rest is history.
Today, the Dyson company does $9B+ in annual revenue...
All because he was able to look for inspiration & solutions in unexpected places.
The Next Step
Have you been stuck for a while trying to solve a problem?
Ask yourself:
"What OTHER industries or fields might have already solved this?"
Get outside of the existing context(s) that you’ve been in while trying to solve the problem.
Don’t look for answers in the "obvious" places.
If nothing else, James Dyson’s story teaches us this:
Sometimes the best solutions come from connecting dots that seem totally unrelated.
And doing that just might be your unfair advantage.