Ex Happy Soldiers founders John Kane and Benjamin Sampson form London-based Idea Gallery, billed as “an idea to help all ideas”
John Kane and Benjamin Sampson, the original founders of Sydney-based Happy Soldiers, which ceased trading in May last year, has formed Idea Gallery, billed as “an idea to help all ideas.”
Kane, who’s currently in Australia to launch the company, explains the concept: “Most creative people have that one big idea in their lives. And if they’re really lucky, maybe even two. It could be for a brand, a product, or a new way to solve old problems.
“But what do they do with them? It’s likely their big idea doesn’t fit into the relatively small plans their employer or society may have in store. But now there’s a new start-up that gives these people and their ideas a real chance.
“Idea Gallery collects the most powerful ideas in the world and exhibits them to the most powerful people in the world, the people who can make them happen.
“Creative people everywhere finally have a place to submit their best ideas. The rare few that are chosen by Idea Gallery will be made into comprehensive case studies and shown only to the most respected brands and entrepreneurs by special invite to galleries in Sydney, New York, Tokyo, London and Stockholm.
“If a client or entrepreneur does not buy a great idea it is still open to their competitors to buy, so refusing an idea becomes much harder to do, at last ensuring that these ideas don’t die easily.
“Idea Gallery also ensures that the idea creators, get rewarded properly, sometimes indefinitely.
“Idea Gallery flips the traditional idea generation process on its head. Currently it is mainly re-active to a predetermined brief, so by the time great thinkers come into contact with it – the result has ultimately been defined. Idea Gallery puts the idea first without obstacle. Then they find a home for it.”
The pair’s ideas have changed categories like pillows, theatre, travel and banking with work that has been awarded all over the world, receiving Creative Magazine’s ‘Idea of the Year’ for the last two years.
Their most recent idea to stamp every Tontine pillow with an expiry date won the highest accolade for idea effectiveness.
However, they believe that any past accomplishments may be child’s play compared to the problem solving ideas that will make up Idea Gallery.
“The ideas should be so powerful that people will question why they don’t already exist,” said Kane.
They now lead a team of the best idea makers and curators around the world whose collective mission is to make sure great ideas have a better chance of getting made.
14 Comments
Good luck Johnno. Great project. Have fun!
great idea from 2 of the best
Done it again, I reckon. Go boys.
What if two people submit the same idea? Does the curator, who presumably wants a slice of the pie bring those two people together, or does he go with whoever came to him first?
Best of luck guys but I reckon you don’t need it when you’ve got the combined brains and talent you two have. Ben, I’m still waiting to be introduced and John, ‘mad as a box of frogs’!
Ok. Be very interested to see how this goes. Terrific concept.
Nice work guys! This could potentially shake things up in a BIG way.
You could call it Kickstarter and people everywhere could …. Oh ….
On ya boys! Knew you wouldn’t disappoint.
@Ben – will you ever forgive me?
How will they protect themselves from theft of the IP they’ll be showcasing?
I’d like to know what makes them think creative people have 1 or 2 big ideas in their lives. Stephen King has written 49 books. Picasso produced between 20,000 and 50,000 artworks. Sure they didn’t invent the potato peeler but I would rather have their back catalogue of work.
…. I agree with Creative Person. First Tontine (which was a stroke of genius) and now this, does that mean they’ve tapped out their one or two ideas already? Somewhere in Canada, a bartender just asked Alanis Morrisette, ‘Why the long face?’
How very Dragons Den.
You two will need a lot of help to get this thing off the ground. What you need is some kind of service that will take your idea and get it in front of the best people to help.