?? So the clever chappie loses his company and a few years later wins a million with a fantastic and highly marketable product that clearly competes with his old company but with additional world-beating innovation!!

Maybe they should have kept him on?

Real dragon's den stuff, but with some super tech.

More references:

https://www.carbonblacksystem.com/

https://www.phoenix-i-wheelchair.com/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/disability-55315442

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/article-9064243/Scot-vowed-revolutionise-wheelchair-wins-one-million-dollar-backing.html

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/pioneering-wheelchair-designer-wins-1m-prize-c226kdcsn

Perhaps i misread the original 2 articles but my intepretation was that the guy came up with a better wheelchair, started a company to make them and then got locked out of it. That's not uncommon.

The reality for most folk with a good idea and a wish to make/market it is that they need entrepreneurial finance and those guys aren't in the game to do you any favours – you do all the work setting up the business and unless you're essential for further developments or hold all the patents then businessmen will lock you out of the board and take over – altruism doesn't come into it.

At least the innovation prize went where it should doubtless with the investors kicking themselves that they hadn't got that possibility locked down in the original contracts.

I experienced the same thing when i came up with a unique way of dealing with my own profession. I made heaps of calls and had all the guys needed for the scheme lined up and keen on this new model but when it came to hunting up the loot to get the thing off the ground ( several million) it became abundantly clear that I'd be doing all the work setting it up but no way of guaranteeing I'd remain a part of it. To a degree you can understand it – these guys are risking their speculative cash.

pgk

Indeed. But you can bet future investors will have contracts that any such prize goes to company not individual…

(I once worked for a chap and part of the contract was that if any customer should happen to leave me a bequest it would go to him – talk about tight and long shots..)

pgk