I always liked the Gary Klein story, where he made a bike for his MIT thesis, patented the idea, collected lots in patents, then lost when his idea was NOT really new at all.

I got to test ride one of his bikes in 1975. I was convinced right then that was the future of Criterium and Sprint bikes. When out of the saddle, it DID NOT MOVE fronm side to side at all. A bike I would NOT want to ride the cobbles on though.