Whether it’s improving the Swiffer or packaging mouthwash, innovation firm Nottingham Spirk is behind some of the products we use every day. Father and son team John and Bill Nottingham explore the process of developing billion dollar ideas.

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John Nottingham and Bill Nottingham are two of the principals of Nottingham Spirk, a leading business innovation firm with nearly 1,000 commercialized patents. The Nottingham Spirk “Vertical InnovationTM” process has helped client / partner companies earn over $50 billion in combined sales.

Their NS innovation team has co-created such award winning innovations as SpinBrush, the largest selling powered toothbrush line; Swiffer SweeperVac; Scott’s Snap Spreader System; dozens of Dirt Devil / Hoover products; Sherwin-Williams Twist & Pour paint container platform, named one of the Top 10 Package Innovations of the Decade; MTD Troy-Bilt FLEX, the first modular outdoor power equipment system; CardioInsight EC Vue, the first non-invasive electrocardiographic mapping system (a technology originally created at Case Western Reserve University and acquired by Medtronic); ViewRay, the first MRI guided radiation therapy device; and HeathSpot, the world’s first retail telemedicine / medical device system.

Bill Nottingham serves as an advisor to CWRU think[box], The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Cleveland Institute of Art and several private equity companies. Bill was a keynote speaker for the Consumer Electronics Association, Forbes Reinventing America Summit, The City Club of Cleveland, the RPM Global Leadership Summit and National Association of Medical Illustration Conference.

Nottingham Spirk has been featured on the Today Show, CNN, NBC Nightly News, Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Forbes, Japan Forbes, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, New York Times, Wired and Fast Company.