In 2010, I submitted several ideas to my employer, a TCCG and Analog Pen and Paper Roleplay company:
- Cross-over sets for the TCCG with market favorites in books and gaming (specifically: LoTR, FFXIV, WoW, Star Trek, Star Wars, and WoT),
- Customization, print-on-demand personal character book, campaigns, and other combinations of existing concepts.
- An MMO based on their TCCG in which all the realms of the TCCG were experienced and explored by players.
They laughed me out of the meeting and laid me off later that year.
In June of 2023, thirteen years after I and all my suggestions got laughed out of the company, they finally released the LoTR cross over set.
It is the #1 selling set of all time as I write this.
To date, they have yet to manage print on demand, but it remains most likely to save their PnP brand.
They didn’t go all in on their MMO, which means it failed horribly, and likely for them, won’t be tried again. Pity – it has the same world-changing potential as the collaborative sets; they just need someone who can understand the vision to help bring it to life. (I would have, but they clearly couldn’t take it from me unless they were permitted to TAKE IT from me.)
I sit and think about how many times companies took my ideas and cast me aside. It’s happened numerous times in my career. Companies stole my methods and frameworks regularly for well over thirty years (1988 forward) and I swallowed it because I didn’t have the money to pursue recourse. Hell, I didn’t even keep track of it as a concept until almost 2005 and updated that to 2008 when I realized how much I gave away between ’88 and ’00 during the consulting years.
Another feature of this is how often I contributed visioneering and future-casting analysis and was under-appreciated, noncredited, un-thanked, and of course, unpaid. For example, I wrote a paper in 2012 that one of my (then) co-workers took with them to several companies thereafter and told me on LinkedIn (before I left there) that ‘I still use this thing at least once a quarter and the information in it has saved me countless times.’ The paper was on the shift to video for support and marketing goals (loosely; it was a multi-channel analysis of needs and market competitive considerations).
My analysis turns out to be highly insightful, often predictive, and eerie in its capacity to see trends ahead of most of the business world.
Other examples — Several of my frameworks stolen in the 80’s are now registered (and in one case, patented) by other people and I’ll never regain them because I wasn’t able to get the documentation and emails that prove it. These days, I document everything as I go. Then again, no one wants to hire me now that I’m over 55, so it turns out my dedication to this going forward is rather moot.
But I think a lot about the fact that had I credit and reward for my unique, innovating product skills, I wouldn’t be broke and living in weekly stay at this point in my life.
But I also think about how these companies insisted on exploiting my talent for literal pennies on their profit dollar and how reluctant they were, are, and seemingly remain on ever crediting me or rewarding me.
I need funds to live and without a classic trade-skill, I’m remanded to a life of attempting to sell my talents for well under actual market value to companies who make their money by exploiting their workers.
It is difficult to demonstrate myself and prove my talents as most of this business culture and society only accept third-party verification.
I do not have third-party verification, but I have the preceding examples, a portfolio, and samples of work from companies who now own my ideas as their own.
Naturally, companies are less interested in me now that I understand and want proper remuneration for my ability, skills, and talents. Less interested as well now that I’m almost 60 and cannot be exploited physically and mentally anymore.
It is a sickening thought that the only way I am attractive in this economy is as fodder, the only reason I’m not is that I’m considered ‘used up’ fodder, and my resistance to future treatment as fodder is considered ‘inappropriate’ by pretty much all business.
It is a struggle not to be bitter, but channeling my anger to the proper targets is helping. The work continues…