Meet Lisa V. LLoyd

Lisa’s success began with her idea for a barrette. While working for the CBS affiliate in Tucson, AZ she often wore her hair up in a French Twist. Friends and co-workers regularly asked how she fashioned the professional up-do so she began to scour stores to find a barrette that would help. When she discovered there was nothing on the market she decided to invent one. A short thirteen months later she had patented, manufactured, sold to stores and ultimately licensed the patent to Scunci® for 20 years of regular income. The product is now sold in stores around the world and has generated over $20M globally!

Since then Lisa has licensed 6 more products to major distributors including Goody Products®, Scunci® and Helen of Troy®. In 2007 Lisa in-licensed a patent from an inventor and took on the challenge to further develop, patent, manufacture, and launch a new line of plush products called TC Pets for which she has won numerous awards and been featured on the ABC reality show Shark Tank where she won the coveted investment of “Shark” Daymond John of FUBU.

Lisa is the co-founder of the Inventor’s Association of Arizona, has been the Entrepreneur-in-Residence for several Accelerators serving hundreds of start-ups, is Academic Advisor for the Venture Devil Program at ASU, and has a Podcast on all major platforms called InvenTank. She has also been contracted by major corporations like InventHelp®, Scunci® and Newell Rubbermaid® to help develop their innovation infrastructure and licensing best practices.

Lisa has spent three decades as a speaker and trainer on the subjects of innovation, licensing and business development. She has been a featured lecturer at Universities including the U of A Eller School of Business and Entrepreneurship, ASU College of Engineering, and the Arizona Intellectual Property Association's continuing education program. She’s also won numerous awards for pitch competitions including Rice University’s “Alliance Business Plan Pitch Competition” and “Pitch it to the Pros” with Discovery Channel’s Billy Mayes.

Lisa is a forward thinker, voracious learner, and always looking for new ways to add value for entrepreneurs and innovators. Her program, The Invention Accelerator helps independent inventors build successful licensing businesses.