Inovent Inventor Allegedly Responds Badly to Criticism

By Rico, 9:09 am Mon Jun 29 2009 - Featured, Rumors - 3 Opinions

Remember the Inovent Ilumina, the planned gadget billed as the Philippines’ first “LCD interactive television”? No updates have been forthcoming, but apparently inventor Brian Quebengco not only doesn’t take criticism well, he missed an opportunity to address valid criticism! Here’s why.

A couple of weeks ago, Rom Sedona of smoke.ph criticized Inovent for misrepresenting its product, while asserting that the promised functionality of the Ilumina is already possible through a PC TV tuner card—at a price much less than the planned P80,000 launch price.

So what was the alleged reply of Mr. Quebengco?

My dear friend, i am the founder of Inovent and the champion of the ilumina LCD iTV.

The dream of the ilumina LCD iTV is to launch our countries first Consumer Electronic Brand. This will have a Halo effect to the whole country and hopefully reverse the brain drain. And the only way to penetrate the market is to find a category that is upcoming. Hence, the LCD iTV.

We have so many supporting us now. But it is sad that you, a Filipino, is seeing this as just a “mass-up.” [sic]

I will focus all my energy in finding who you are, let all the media and press know about you, and make you famous as the Filipino who is talking crap about our only chance to have our own Consumer Electronic Brand.

There is so much you don’t know about the next wave of Interactive TV. You certainly haven’t done your research with Vizio, Sony, and Samsungs Interactive TV coming out in 2010.

I will make you famous! [emphasis mine]

I already started cringing when I read “champion”. Previously, I hoped that Inovent would come out with more substance and rely on less fluff as they develop their product for the market. If it was really Brian Quebengco behind the comment, he should listen to thegreatest’s advice:

Brian, if that truly is you (http://smoke.ph/?p=1192) you may be working too hard.

I’m sure your future customers and wholesale distributors will be happy to know that you are over-sensitive and tend to over react to a little criticism. You’re missing out on an opportunity to engage your critics directly and reach out to those people who are still on the fence, and trust me, there’s a lot of us. The problem sometimes with a single-minded vision such as yours is the tendency to believe your own hype.

Masyado ka bilib sa sarili mo.

Don’t get me wrong, confidence is a wonderful thing, when taken in moderation. You have to be able to back that up with skill and output. In the ocean you foresee yourself swimming in, you will encounter many critics and detractors (as I’m sure you already have, judging from this reaction) and this blogger’s words will seem kind compared to what you’ll deal with in the future, esp. when you seem to be rushing your vision to market/press.

Might you be relying a bit too much on the support of Filipinos who defend one of their own, regardless of its quality and promise? Let me draw your attention to one such product who thought the same:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmIB2Wb-TA0

I wonder where it is now.

I know you guys have your vision, and it is a lofty one. While one could say we Filipinos should just leave you alone to perfect your product and just support you, never let the fact that just because we are not experts who haven’t ‘done our research’ convince you that as potential customers, WE KNOW WHAT WE’D LIKE TO SEE IN WHAT WE WILL PAY A HUNDRED GRAND FOR.

Cyberspace is dominated by the market you are trying to reach out to, the middle class who can afford your price tag. Don’t underestimate the value in reaching out properly to US, your future potential customers. You may need a little help in that department and I suggest you bring someone on the team who can address this better than you have. You seem tired and cranky, and that’s not what your future customers want to see leading a company that might potentially go bust and leave us in the lurch with a 100 thousand peso investment and no company to service it.

Suggest you start here:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/16217149/The-State-of-PRMarketing-by-Brian-Solis

Oh, and yes, I do know what I’m talking about. I myself started a company with an innovative product that I marketed well enough to get exported to the USA with orders in 3 other countries. Where did we fail? Quality. The filipino mentality of “pwede na yan” killed it. Also, a partner reacted to criticism much like you are doing now. Bad move brother. [emphasis mine]

There will always be people who criticize and demean your efforts, out of a good reason or simply because they can. You may never silence your critics, but there are better things to do than responding badly.

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