On the latest episode of Understanding IP Matters (UIPM), inventor Akeem Shannon discusses how to generate success and push through low times with the momentum to reach new heights. Episode 2 of Season 4 of UIPM, features Shannon describing his path from college dropout to clinical depression and successful business owner.
Shannon is the creator of Flipstik, a gravity defying cell phone attachment he invented and successfully appeared on Shark Tank with after his idea was recognized by Snoop Dogg. Shannon was featured in Inc. Magazine’s top 50 fastest growing consumer product companies of 2023. He is also a motivational speaker who has overcome bullies and mental illness to achieve success and find his way to help others.
In this episode, Shannon and host Bruce Berman discuss:
– How the sales process is based on helping consumers make a decision that benefits both them and you
– It’s about your energy in the room, the way you say it is almost more important than what you say
– An early fail doesn’t make you a failure; failure is only when you give up
Taking one first step, then taking the next one, is critical, says Shannon. Ask yourself each day, “what’s something that I can start and finish today to get me closer to the end goal?” Don’t underestimate the value of protecting your intellectual property – “and not just for patents either, for trademarks, because your name is one of the most powerful things that you own.”
Key Responses
You suffered from anxiety and depression, how have you battled mental health struggles to become the successful business owner you have become?
Akeem Shannon: “All these different ups and downs and terminals that I faced building Flipstik. If it hadn’t have been for me going through all of that and really feeling very low and recovering from it, I probably would have given up. Because I had come out of that deep depression and anxiety state, I knew that I have the tools within me to do it again. I don’t have to let that stop me or paralyze me from moving forward for the rest of my life.”
How did the success of Flipstik begin, how did you start to get noticed?
Akeem Shannon: “AT& T was a sponsor of the event. I ended up meeting those guys and they ended up buying a ton of Flipstiks, having me come out to LA to their next event. And at that event, I knew Snoop was going to be there. So, I made a Flipstik with his face on it.”
Snoop sees the Flipstik and says “That invention could change the world. And he invites me up to the stage, he’s like, ‘This man’s a branding genius’.”
Are you still inventing? And what areas interest you these days?
Akeem Shannon: “Some of the things I’m working on right now include developing a framework for people who aren’t great at storytelling; who may be great practitioners, inventors, business owners, service providers, but aren’t great at telling their own story. How can I take that special sauce that I’ve created and, and transfer it, make it easily transferable to other people.”
“How can we use AI to help people tell their story when they may not be able to formulate it in those ways, which is, I think that’s going to be really exciting.”
More Highlights
Ultimately, Shannon says that “people want to be a part of a great story,” so if you are not as successful as you want to be, change the narrative.
Listen to the entire episode to learn about:
- How to “level up” your success by not giving up despite challenges
- Being an entrepreneur is difficult but rewarding since when selling for other people, the equation always favors them more than it does you
- How important patents are for commercial products, especially when filling orders for large, reputable companies
