The Flip-n-Notes review will take you through the idea that was meant to revolutionize the use of sticky notes. Let’s see how that went.
What is Flip-n-Notes?
Flip-n-Notes were previously known as Attached Notes. This is a different way to organize sticky notes – on your computer monitor, or to be exact, just next to it. You simply attach this board to the side of your monitor where it provides space for sticky notes.
The inventor of Attached Notes believed that this idea will transform how people organize their notes. It’s different, certainly. But will the Sharks buy into it?
Are They Still an Active Company?
No, the brand behind Flip-n-Notes is no longer active.
How Did the Shark Tank Pitch Go?
The Shark Tank Pitch resulted in no offers from any one of the Sharks. In fact, considering the less-than-friendly response of the unimpressed Sharks, this can be considered to be one of the worst Shark Tank pitches of all time. The founder’s lack of market research, sales, and planning did not help matters.
Mary Ellen Simonsen went on stage requesting $100,000 in exchange for a 20 percent stake in the business.
The inventor looked quite confident about how well her product would sell. The only problem was that she did not have any sales to back that up. Nevertheless, she demonstrated how the device could attach to the back of the laptop whereupon you could attach notes on the sides of the monitor. She also showed how the device could close easily when the laptop lid was shut.
However, the Sharks were not swayed. Robert Herjavec dubbed it a “sticky pad for sticky pads.” This drew laughter from the other Sharks. It was obvious for all to see that the pitch had failed. The Sharks simply could not see what problem it would solve and how it was supposed to be an improvement over ordinary sticky pads. Unsurprisingly, things went downhill fast.
Upon further inquiry, the inventor revealed that she had invested just $1,000 in product development. Robert Herjavec was pleased with this reply saying that she need not spend anything extra on it and should curtail her losses before they got any worse. The Sharks were out and there was no deal.
Our Review of Flip-n-Notes
When used right, Flip-n-Notes can bring about a noticeable boost to your productivity.
If you really want to be productive, you need to find a slick way to organize your thoughts, ideas, and outstanding tasks. There are many different ways to do it including spreadsheets, journals, planners, and so on. And don’t even get us started on apps. There are a plethora of apps that abound on the App Store and Play all of them claiming to provide an optimal way of organizing your thoughts and bolstering your productivity. They do work to be sure. However, not all of these tools are equal. Some are just better than others, way better.
Sticky notes are a time-tested hot favorite owing to diverse reasons. You can stick them on a wall in front of you where they stand out. Unlike apps and spreadsheets, they are tangible. Hence, you will feel more motivated to come back to your hand-written notes and fulfill them. They work well quite simply due to their palpable nature.
However, sticky notes do have a sticky problem. Sticky notes are well, not very sticky. That is, they lose their stickiness too quickly. A lot also depends on the quality of the adhesive used and the type of paint on the wall. As a result of these issues, they don’t stay on the wall for too long.
Another key problem is that you can’t shift these sticky notes. If you want to rearrange your sticky notes and change their order, then you are out of luck. Once you pull it off the wall, it doesn’t quite stick with the same tenacity.
Since Flip-n-Notes are no longer in production, we could not try them out. But we did find something else that may interest sticky note users – magnetic notes.
Magnetic notes may be a better choice that actually works. They function on a clever premise – instead of using old-fashioned adhesive, they rely on static charge to stay put. They are designed so that they can stick with ease on just about any kind of surface.
Other very desirable benefits are that they don’t fall off for no reason nor do they deposit sticky adhesive on the wall or any surface that you attach them to. We wrote a few quotes on these notes a few weeks back and still found them intact. They will stay in good shape and be just as tenacious even if you reshuffle them. We tried rearranging them and found that there was no effect on their ability to cling to the base surface.
Pros
- Makes the monitor capable of holding notes (without screen obstruction)
Cons
- No longer in production
Who is Flip-n-Notes for?
Flip-n-Notes is for those who are looking for a novel way to attach sticky notes. But apparently not many appeared to be sold out on this idea.
Flip-n-Notes sought to reinvent the use of computer monitors so that they could become capable of holding notes (without obstructing the screen view). However, this idea did not take off. Apparently, there aren’t many takers for this novel concept.
Are There Any Alternatives?
Since Flip-n-Notes is no longer in production, you will need alternatives. If you don’t want to go along with magnetic notes as described above, then you can always fall back on ordinary sticky notes.
You can try out the following sticky notes that have worked well for countless others.
- Post-it Super Sticky Recycled Notes
- Highland Sticky Notes, 3 x 3 Inches, Yellow, 24 Pack
Our Final Thoughts
The Flip-n-Notes review took you through an invention that looked good on paper but could not quite take off. This shows the importance of doing market research and taking feedback from your target users.
There is no point in pressing ahead with something that no one wants. No matter how good it looks to you, if others aren’t impressed, your invention will get you nowhere. This is the hard lesson that Flip-n-Notes teaches us.
