China doesn't seem to appreciate innovative entrepreneurship.
A Chinese entrepreneur is suing a Beijing trade bureau for denying him a permit to sell bags of "World Cup air" and for scotching his plans to bottle and sell "2008 Olympic air," a newspaper said on Thursday.
Li Jie, who describes himself as chief executive of the Lunar Embassy to China and once tried to sell land on the moon, sought a permit to sell "World Cup air" for 50 yuan ($6.30) a bag to soccer enthusiasts unable to make the trip to Germany this year.
His idea was that fans could hang the green plastic bag around their necks and breathe in the air while watching World Cup matches on television, local media reported.
If he was more Web 2.0 he could just build an online marketplace where people could trade air from one city/event to another. They could tag the air based on where it came from, network to find people who like similar types of air, and let people vote on what air they like the best. The real value though, would be the ability to mashup some air from one event with air from another event, give the new combo away for free, but put Google ads around the air. Then he could get VC funding. Does anyone own AirTradr.com?
Didn’t Enron try something like this…?
Entrepreneurs like Li Jie exist because also exist buyers for their ideas.