Product Startup

Collin Mitchell has been in the sales space for over 15 years, including selling over 5,000 SKUs of product through his first of many companies he founded.  He is currently the Managing Director of Leadium, a full-service selling agency for helping companies scale up their sales efforts.  Today Collin will share valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on how to figure out what types of wholesale buyers there are, which ones are ideal for your particular product, and how to build and manage a list of these buyers so that you can grow your wholesale selling efforts quickly. Here are the key takeaways from the episode: Selling direct to wholesale buyers Your ideal customer profile Find the buyers who are best suited to your specific product. Ranking your potential buyers from most important to least important First identify the companies, then identify the specific contacts within your industry Go one step further on your buyer is finding more information about your buyer so that you can set yourself above everyone else reaching out to these high value buyers. The more information you find about your buyers the better. It is competitive to try and get the attention of these buyers. Use one or two sets of databases to find this information. The phone is one of the most powerful tools that you have to reach out. Before you pick up the phone to reach someone, be prepared. Don't limit yourself to one channel in approaching product buyers. Reach out many times, be persistent. It takes 15 to 20 touch points before a buyer. Don't take it personally. A no should be looked at as a positive thing, as you are refining your list to put more effort into the best and tightest list of people that could potentially carry your product. As you start to get traction with some buyers, you can use that success to Collin Mitchell Links: LinkedIn | Leadium The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories.

Paul Davis is a senior industrial designer at our very own Mako Design for almost 10 years.  He achieved Honors status in his degree in Product Design Engineering and Industrial Design at Edinburgh University.  Today Paul will share valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on the difference between basic CAD and design for manufacturing, why design for manufacturing is so important early in the design process, and best practices for designing a product for manufacturing success. Here are the key takeaways from the episode: Designing products for manufacturing Cost effective, good looking, and high quality.  Concept design needs to bake in planning, parts, and logic for how the product will eventually be manufactured. Simplicity of design leads to quality manufacturing. Using manufacturing CAD software to build original CAD models heavily improves the process and reduces cost in both prototyping and manufacturing. Considering how you manufacture your product while building your first full CAD design There are many manufacturing methods that go into a new hardware product. Manufacturing draft angles, tool design, part integration, OEM parts, materials data sets, etc. Industrial design and conceptual mechanical engineering together. Simple products succeed more often than complex products for new hardware startups developing a new invention idea for the first time for manufacturing. Paul Davis Links: LinkedIn | MAKO Design The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories.

Nikki Lindgren is the Founder and Managing Partner of Pennock, a PPC digital advertising agency specifically for consumer product brands.  She has managed hundreds of product sales campaigns online with over twenty million dollars in ad spend per year.  Today Nikki is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on the types of content ads to use on TikTok for selling hardware products, how to use the new TikTok store, best practices in the effectiveness of ads, and the structure of specific content in those ads so that you can sell big. Here are the key takeaways from the episode: TikTok is a platform that can be leveraged TikTok shops in the United States User-generated content is valuable on TikTok Low-fi and less fancy assets actually perform well on TikTok It is easy to start a shop on TikTok for your product Most of the effort is on the creative. How many seconds of someone's TikTok ad are the audience watching Think about remarketing based on how people interacted with your original product TikTok ads. $20 per day is the minimum ad spend on TikTok The bigger players are trying a bunch of different hooks. 4 to 7 different types of assets to try selling, to find out which TikTok ad works best for your hardware product The structure of a good TikTok ad for an invention are the hook, the message, then the offer. Ad rules on TikTok TikTok has a creator platform. Spark ads on organic first, then use the ads to push over to that long organic content. Nikki Lindgren Links: LinkedIn | Pennock The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories.

Robb Green is the founder of Solving Alpha, a company with dozens of products and multiple product brands on Amazon, that also acquires other Amazon brands.  He also hosts the I'm The One Podcast to help people migrate to the world of entrepreneurship.  Today Robb is going to share valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on the importance of properly planning for an Amazon product launch, the technical aspects of an Amazon listing, and how to succeed in launching and growing your product sales on the Amazon marketplace platform Here are the key takeaways from the episode: Preparing your listing to have success Amazon wants new products, and they want successful new consumer products. Amazon is just a marketplace / catalogue Prepare for your Amazon listing in advance How do you capture eyeballs. Main image is the most important thing, then title, then a decision to make a click into your listing. Stack images on Amazon, then reviews, then story. Write for the algorithm, but also write for the story to sell the customer. Indexing on Amazon.  Does Amazon find you relevant for a particular keyword. Ranking on Amazon.  This is how to get  Sell-through (conversion rate) and click-through rate. The better you perform than your competitors, the Amazon ads buys you visibility on the platform but it also gives you data. You just need to be slightly better than an alternative product on Amazon. These improvements on your ads will stack onto each other. Search query performance data. Constantly improve your keywords by doing research Product opportunity explorer.  The product matters a lot, especially for reviews, but also quality matters in the long term matter for ratings. There are a lot of garbage products on Amazon, so it is easy to compete quickly. Robb Green Links: LinkedIn | Solving Alpha | Podcast The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories.

Chris Peer is the author of The Great 8 Pillars of ROI-Driven Marketing. He is also the founder of SyncShow, a 20-year-old marketing company specifically for manufacturers and supply chain. Today Chris is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on the 8 required pillars of building a great marketing strategy for your product, the importance of those pillars, and best practices on how to build a successful marketing machine for your new hardware brand. Here are the key takeaways from the episode: Return on Investment for marketing is critical Investing on marketing early saves you a lot of money down the road. Drive more sales than you spend in marketing. Track and measure. 8 pillars of marketing, in order of importance Goals, KPIs and industry benchmarks. An ROI driven goal for marketing. Value proposition. Nail that ideal customer profile and what pain points you are solving for them. Your marketing strategy. Very few people have it. Where is your target market, channels that your buyers shop,  Your marketing team. Your website Your analytics and reporting. Your technology stack. CRM and marketing automation. Templates and guides. Not a single pillar is a marketing tactic, this is a marketing infrastructure. Build marketing and sales infrastructure early in your hardware startup. Make sure to track first point of contact with your brand all the way through to a sale. Website, marketing, and sales are all linked together. Chris Peer Links: LinkedIn | SyncShow | Book The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories.

Welcome back, everyone. Today, I'm very excited to introduce Tim Angel to the show.  Tim Angel is the founder of Zugu, an Amazon eCommerce iPad case that sold millions of units online.  They have been perfecting the craft of direct-to-consumer selling on Amazon over the past 13 years, achieving over $30 Million Dollars in sales per year.  Today Tim is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on the power of Amazon, how to get started in selling a new consumer product on Amazon, and best practices for growing sales quickly and effectively soon after launch. Here are the key takeaways from the episode: When he got the opportunity to build an invention business, he went all in. The only way you can fail is if you stop trying Amazon is an amazing platform for getting the best products a good chance in the market If you're coming up with one product, it is hard to succeed on your own website, but it is much easier to utilize the Amazon platform Scale, conversion rates, and marketing in general  There are a lot of 4-star products on Amazon, so if you can be a 5-star product, you get a major advantage. Buy products of your competitors and see how to make the best version of the product. Look at competitor reviews, and find out what people dislike about competitors and what they do like. Slowly make more and more progress. Place a small order on the early. On Amazon if you are competing on price, there is a lot of competition, if you are competing on quality, there is little competition right now. Post your personal story is a huge differentiator. Don't do advertising until you have reviews. There are lots of ways to get early reviews, use those methods. Use your ads to let people know that you have a premium product. Learn the advertising system yourself in Amazon. A low cost product is harder to sell because of shipping, advertising, etc. Focus on one product category and do it well.  Don't do a bunch of things okay, do one or a few great. Will Haire Links: LinkedIn | Zugu Case The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories.

Will Haire serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Bellavix, a marketing agency dedicated to the strategic growth of emerging hardware brands on Amazon and Walmart.com. With a background in military technology and supply chain management, Will has honed his expertise over a decade in the digital marketing realm. In this presentation, Will will impart invaluable insights tailored for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers. He will elucidate the nuances of the Walmart.com Marketplace, guide you through the product listing process, and illuminate best practices for effectively launching and expanding your hardware product in this competitive space. Here are the key takeaways from the episode: Walmart online differs from Walmart Retail Stores. Not all products on the website are available in physical stores. Online sales can demonstrate a product's value effectively. Many Walmart online products catch the attention of retail store buyers. Walmart is aggressively expanding into the e-commerce sector. Walmart possesses a vast infrastructure. There's a substantial opportunity for brands to join Walmart, especially as it's still in its early stages. Getting a new product on Walmart.com is now surprisingly straightforward. Previously, it was challenging to access the platform, but it's now more friendly to emerging product brands. It takes less than a week to list your product on the Walmart marketplace. Avoid simply mirroring listings from other marketplaces; tailor your approach to Walmart's platform. How Walmart presents and promotes your product is crucial. Different online marketplaces have varying sales metrics for the same consumer products. Maintain control over your product brand on Walmart. Walmart Fulfillment Services is akin to Amazon Prime Fulfillment. Transfer reviews from Shopify, if available, to your Walmart listing. Advertising is essential for brand scaling, especially after garnering positive reviews. Carefully design and engineer titles, keywords, descriptions, and bullets to match buyer intent. Experiment with software to find the most effective keywords for traffic and conversions. Utilize Pay Per Click ads and the DSP Programmatic Platform in both on and off-platform advertising on Walmart.com. Will Haire Links: LinkedIn BellaVix The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories.

Roland Siebelink, with a background in scaling companies from 10 to over 1000 employees, started his journey in the 90s with internet hardware. With over 30 years of experience, he's aided numerous hardware startups and tech firms in transitioning from startup to scale-up. As the CEO of Midstage Institute for almost 8 years, he specializes in helping startups grow. Today, Roland will share insights for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on the timing of transitioning from startup to scale-up, navigating high-growth transformations, and ensuring success in scale-up hardware companies. Here are the key takeaways from the episode: Transitioning from a startup to a hardware scale-up The growth journey of a new product development company Identifying the right time to stop acting like a startup Shifting focus from exploration to exploitation when traction is visible The potency of a small proof of market for new hardware brands Prioritizing growth and exploitation in scale-ups, not just exploration Recognizing that gaining traction as an inventor is just the beginning of the scaling process Emphasizing the building of a business, not just a product Consider involving someone with a scaling mindset for technical or inventor-focused roles Transition from being the smartest person in the room to hiring even smarter people Acknowledging the non-binary transition from startup to full-scale corporation with a middle stage Implementing processes as a means to scale efficiently Utilizing the 80/20 principle to achieve optimal results Maintaining the entrepreneurial spirit during mid-stage growth Leveraging the competitive advantage of being a lean startup with a strong vision Avoid launching a second business prematurely Identifying opportunities within a small niche in a larger market Initial focus on visionaries and early adopters within the market segment. Roland Siebelink Links: LinkedIn Midstage Institute The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories.

Laura is the President of FORGE, a non-for-profit organization that helps specifically hardware startups in scaling from prototyping to manufacturing growth. They have worked with over 700 physical product startups to ensure that those companies are a commercial success by ensuring new product manufacturing is done right. Today, Laura is going to share valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on how to ensure your product is designed properly and correctly for manufacturing, how to ensure your documentation is complete, and how to best approach contract manufacturers to transition your developed product into a successful first manufacturing run.  Here are the key takeaways from the episode: The importance of building a simplified design for manufacturing Design for manufacturing is required to ensure the product is ready for production, and does not need any more design to complete to what is needed for market or for reliability or for certifications. What to do when you haven't tested enough the design There is a false assumption that manufacturers are going to fix your design problems. Use design firms to do design for manufacturing specifically The effects of a lack of manufacturing documentation Reaching out to partners too soon Laura Teicher Links: LinkedIn The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories.

Tyler Jefcoat is the founder of Seller Accountant, which helps Amazon sellers achieve maximum profitability through bookkeeping and CFO services.  He has been behind 9 figures in Amazon sales and 9 figures in exits, and that's after he founded a company himself that grew to 120 employees before being acquired.  Today, Tyler is going to share valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on what direct-to-consumer selling online is, the pros and cons of Shopify vs Amazon and eBay, and the keys to success when scaling sales through direct-to-consumer selling online.  Here are the key takeaways from the episode: What is Direct to Consumer selling? Funneling your customers from various platforms Marketplace strategy to get customers to your shopping cart Shopify vs Amazon/Ebay Well designed, differentiated product sells very well on Shopify A direct connection to many customers that have a number of problem solved. Have your own website and drive Shopify to your website Tips to Amazon profit Staple products typically are better suited to Amazon Product design strategy to ensure success of product sales Which community is important for a customer buying something online. It's okay to be the type of product that fits your brand Amazon fees are high, they take a lot of fees for each sale. Amazon logistics (pick, pack, delivery), also have fees Marketing on Amazon also has fees. COGS is the leading indicator to how well you can market your product The more margin, the more freedom you have to build an audience through advertising. The less margin the more you have to be efficient for getting product to move. 20% to 25% net margin is a very viable product.  30% is big for scaling.  15% is dead. Know that your accounting is giving you real-time information on profitability of your hardware product sales. Each of your sales channels needs to be profitable Each product you have needs to be profitable. Tyler Jefcoat Links: LinkedIn The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories.

Magnus Skold, a seasoned industrial designer with two decades of experience under his belt, has traversed a remarkable journey in the world of design. His career commenced by crafting opulent interiors for private jets exclusively reserved for international royalty. From there, he transitioned to collaborating with major commercial airlines before further honing his skills with renowned brands, including Dell and several others. For the past few years, Magnus has held the distinguished role of senior industrial designer at Mako Design. Today, we are fortunate to have Magnus join us to delve into the art of product sketching, elucidate its profound significance, and explore the diverse realms of ideation sketching crucial for shaping innovative hardware inventions. Here are the key takeaways from this episode: The importance of sketch design for new hardware products Types of sketches: 1) Written hand sketches, 2) Digital sketches, 3) CAD sketches Product Evolution: Progression through different product elements, emphasizing significant changes at the outset, and refining with smaller changes as the process advances Design Approach: Pyramid funneled approach for efficiency and cost-effectiveness and consideration of the minimum viable product for inventions Magnus Skold Links: LinkedIn The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andre Tiemann holds the position of Director of Production at Hot Pop Factory, a renowned company specializing in 3D printing, laser cutting, etching, and small-scale consumer product manufacturing. In this episode, Andre will impart invaluable insights aimed at inventors, startups, and small manufacturers, He will cover topics such as the fundamentals of 3D printing, its various types, the diverse materials used in 3D printing, and its significance at three critical stages in the product development journy of hardware startups. Here are the key takeaways from this episode: 3D printing is a layering additive method. The majority of 3D printing involves plastic printing, with Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) being a common technique. Stereolithography (SLA) is a resin-based 3D printing process. Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) uses lasers to sinter powder, creating 3D printed parts. Multi-material printing allows for versatility in materials. Initially, ABS was the primary material, but now there are numerous material options available. Three key phases in utilizing 3D printing for new hardware product development: 1) Rough ideation of design, 2) Engineering prototyping and, 3) Short-run low-volume hardware manufacturing for new inventions. Short-run manufacturing provides an opportunity to alleviate uncertainty and ensure project success through customer feedback. Andre Tiemann Links: LinkedIn | Hot Pop Factory The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lloyed Lobo is the co-founder of Boast.ai & Traction, boasting an impressive $100 million in funding, and the esteemed author of "From Grassroots To Greatness: 13 Rules to Forge Iconic Brands through Community-Led Growth". He is here to impart invaluable insights to inventors, startups, and small-scale manufacturers. In this episode, Lloyed unveils the crucial stages of audience engagement, their profound impact on hardware product sales, and actionable tools to initiate immediate community-building efforts. Here are the key takeaways from this episode: Every obscure concept that evolves into a global sensation traverses four distinct phases. Understand the progression from an audience to a cohesive community and eventually into a dedicated cult brand following. Discover how to transform an obscure idea into a devoted cult brand by focusing on communication, creation, and unwavering consistency. Embrace inbound marketing strategies to educate and engage your audience effectively. Recognize that your audience evolves into a community when they come together around a shared purpose that transcends your product. Foster an unyielding belief in your mission, as yesterday's innovation can quickly become today's commonplace, as seen by Nike, Harley, and Apple. Cultivate a feedback loop that transforms customers into brand evangelists, driving organic growth. Build a thriving community by adhering to six core values that unleash happy "CAMPERs" – Connection, Autonomy, Management, Purpose, Energy, and Recognition. Identify your ideal customer profile to effectively target your community-building efforts. Map out your circle of influence to discover the platforms where your potential community members congregate. Choose the type of community you wish to create, be it a community of practice, product enthusiasts, or playful engagement. Focus initially on building your audience, subsequently nurturing them into a thriving community. Concentrate on acquiring email addresses as a key step in your journey to interact and engage with your audience effectively. Lloyed Lobo Links: LinkedIn | Boast.AI | Book The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mark Pecota is the Co-Founder of LaunchBoom, the original and largest crowdfunding agency globally. He's also the author of the top-selling Amazon book "Crowdfunded," a guide covering the end-to-end crowdfunding process, which has held its top spot for over 3 years. Additionally, Mark co-hosts the Crowdfunded Summit, an event I've had the honor of keynoting several times and will be speaking at again from September 12th to 14th. Mark shares some invaluable insights tailored for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers. He delves into the mechanics of sales growth before and during a crowdfunding campaign for new hardware products. Mark also sheds light on the online advertising tools instrumental in driving sales, while highlighting the best practices to optimize your return on advertising investment when selling your novel invention through platforms like Kickstarter or Indiegogo. Here are some key points from the discussion: Crowdfunding serves as a potent avenue to bring hardware products to fruition. The beauty of crowdfunding lies in generating pre-orders, with the funds earmarked for manufacturing. A crucial misconception is assuming that products on crowdfunding platforms will naturally gain immense traction. Establishing a robust pre-launch strategy is pivotal to leverage crowdfunding algorithms. Harness advertising to cultivate email subscriber lists. Facebook stands out as the primary platform for launching new products, both in pre-launch and during crowdfunding. The cornerstone is consistent, scalable, and high-quality traffic. In the pre-launch phase, the focus is on constructing a meticulously curated email list. During the live campaign, the goal shifts to driving actual sales. Accurate targeting is vital, with Facebook audiences revolving around user interests. Utilize Facebook's suggestions to build a comprehensive list of user interests. The visual content of ads holds paramount importance, with the creative element (photo or video) being particularly critical. Crafting scroll-stopping ads is a key strategy. When choosing Facebook objectives, prioritize those yielding tangible ad results over awareness campaigns. Mark Pecota Links: LinkedIn | LaunchBoom | Book The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thomas Ask is a Professor of Industrial Design at Penn College, which stands as a sibling institution to Penn State. With extensive experience spanning over three decades in the realm of hardware product development, he has also played pivotal roles in nurturing two hardware startups. Thomas's academic journey culminated in the acquisition of a PhD in Industrial Design, further enhancing his expertise. Today, Thomas is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on what ethnocentric design is, why it is valuable for a hardware startup, and the process to ensure you do a great job at getting inside the mind of your customer so that you can best achieve both design and sales success for your invention product. Today you will hear us talk about: Defining what ethnocentric design Different cultures Different demographics Subject matter expert Inventing something and inventing something for someone A lot of design and invention has ego, but you should take out the ego. Instead, look at data. Identify the problem. Develop empathy for the user. What is going on in their life. Interview your customer, or prospective customer types. Formal ethnographic techniques. Processes, understand the user, ideation, feedback. Ideation is where you create ideas to match and infuse them to what you have learned from your customer. Cultural consensus questionnaire First, ensure your end customers are the correct people. A structured questionnaire. Human observation. Many people don't want radical change from traditional methods, even if it is better. If it doesn't work well and it is not intuitive, people will not use it. A dynamic feedback loop ensures success. Thomas Ask Links: LinkedIn | Penn College The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Paul McEnroe is the creator, developer, and leader behind UPC barcodes for IBM. The work he did is still the standard over 50 years later on almost all products worldwide. Since then he has been the head of engineering and eventually President for hardware companies, and sits on a number of boards and educational institutions. Today Paul is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on the type of team you need to build for your hardware product, how to manage that team, and how to ensure smooth communication so that your team can make sure your new hardware product is a big success. Today you will hear us talk about: When you see someone that has a huge part of the market, and they aren't doing it well, you know there is lots of opportunity for new innovation. Innovation and execution does not happen overnight, it can take years to get it built, then to market, then to scale. The power of team in building a new hardware product Ensure you have a great technical team in building a hardware product, especially as a hardware. Have experience in fields that you do not have yourself. What do you want to do with your product, and how does that bring about a team? Each team member can not be focusing just on themselves, they need to recognize the power of the whole. What do you want others to do? Communicate openly, in both directions Individual Skills, Whole goal, and communication. You have your people, the designers and engineers in the shop, Explain it in simple terms to people that have the money, or are buying the product. To improve your business communication among your team, learn some of the skills of a college debate team. Put your mind in the place of the person you are communicating with, not just your own perspective. Ensure that everyone on your team is in full understanding. Help out the quieter people in the room, as their insight is potentially just as important. Make yourself, as the leader, as available as can be. If someone comes up with an issue, do not let it bubble up, especially interpersonal issues. Paul McEnroe Links: LinkedIn | Book The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Suresh Sethi is a Professor in Industrial Design at the University of Illinois. Prior to that he ran a product design studio for 15 years, and before that, was a VP and Design Director at Whirlpool, among other high-level design roles at various companies. Today Suresh is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on why customer storytelling is so important in the early development phases of designing a new physical consumer product invention, and how to best maximize the success of your product through the findings from his Ph.D. thesis on this very subject. Today you will hear us talk about: Creating products is about connecting to the business world. Feasible in terms of cost and the ability to sell in the market. Optimized material for least waste in designing the product. Remove ego from design. Understand the client's story and meaning for the product. No product designers work in isolation, so you create an ecosystem that works together. Ability to understand and to communicate. What lead a designer to loving the form of their design? By focusing on the story and making a better product to fulfil that story, you will inadvertently create a more profitable and marketable product. It is the connection between people and the opportunity of the product. Evoke emotions Building a connection with your product People remember stories, not products People remember experiences, not products Creating a product that people want. Communicating clearly If your product doesn't make profit, your story doesn't work either. Products come out of your own life experiences. Use narratives to design and build a product to  Think about the business, not just the product. Connect emotionally with your customers. Create a name that is memorable. Design simple and timeless forms. Suresh Sethi Links: LinkedIn The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lamees Butt is the Senior Vice President of Zoovu, a 250-person e-commerce data platform company that works with hardware startups all the way through to some of the leading hardware brands in the world. She has spent over 15 years in the world of e-commerce tools, working with brands such as Mercedes Benz, 3M, Microsoft, and more. Today Lamees is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on what product discovery is for e-commerce products, how to get potential customers to find your product, and how to maximize the success of return on ad spend for scaling up e-commerce sales for your new hardware product invention. Today you will hear us talk about: Bridging the gap between retail stores and e-commerce How to understand Product discovery (potential buyers finding your product) The human factor behind product discovery for a new hardware product online The power of having a connected customer experience online via e-commerce Different demographics of potential customers use different mediums and techniques to discover new products that can solve their pain points or help them with their opportunities. Websites are just indexes, you need to branch past that Enhancing the e-commerce experience to increase conversions Understand your product data Product information management platform There are many formats for humanizing the technical specifications Developing trust with your customers Time is precious, so if you can save time to help your potential customers find your product, so you increase the retention rate of those customers Understanding your customer, even post-purchase is quite important to figure out how to sell to your future customers. Use AI to identify common threads with your paying customers. What is applied AI to find the answer. Customer-first methodology. Over time segment your customers so that you really understand your different groups of people, so that you can best advertise to those groups of people. Once you capture the views of potential customers, how do you capture them into paying customers. Lamees Butt Links: LinkedIn | Zoovu The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Brown is a design engineer at Mako Design.  He has both a product engineering and an industrial design background.  Today David is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on what photo-realistic product renderings are, how they are designed and produced for hardware products, and why they are so valuable for hardware startups whether you are using them to raise money or using them to capture new hardware product sales. Today you will hear us talk about: There are many different types of hardware invention renderings Low fidelity renders CAD renders Great renders first require the foundation of great computer-aided design. Rendering is a whole art, and is no simple. Renders determine the materials, finishes, lighting, reflections, background, etc. Video can be quite exciting, especially for investors. Hero shots, zooming in and out, fading, exploded view. Exploded view is very powerful. David Brown Links: LinkedIn | Mako Design The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rich Walsh is the CEO of CorVent Medical, which is the eighth company Rich has helped build.  Prior to CorVent, Rich was a part of many different companies building them from early phases right to exiting through either acquisition or going public.  He has been in the space for over 25 years.   Today Rich is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on how rewarding building a hardware startup is, how to move fast to accomplish big goals much faster than big companies, and how to be a repeat serial hardware startup entrepreneur. Today you will hear us talk about: Hardware startups are leading the pack for innovation in 2023 The hardware world is extremely rewarding when done right. Startups are very nimble, they can develop far faster than a big company, even though big companies have so much more money. Company vision is key to bringing on many different stakeholders. Build a quality product and sales and financing will come. The culture of your startup and the stakeholders you work with will be important. The sooner you start, the better.  Even young people can have multiple exits before they even hit mid-career. Rich Walsh Links: LinkedIn | CorVent Medical The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ethan Escowitz is the founder of Arris Composites, a company that makes advanced manufacturing processes and materials. He also sits on a number of boards in the hardware space, given his 20-year history in the industry working with many Fortune 500 companies and hardware startups. Today Ethan is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on what short-run manufacturing is, why iterative manufacturing is so important to hardware startups, and how to scale through feedback on low-volume production runs of your new hardware product invention. Today you will hear us talk about: New manufacturing capabilities that unlocks opportunities for product developers How do you produce product as quickly as possible. Low volume parts that don't require the up front tooling cost How do you use technology to enable low volume production Consumer-facing products vs non-consumer-facing products. Consumers want beautiful parts that look very close to high-quality manufactured products Technology that enables beautiful parts, with unique surfaces, that are different from conventional molding methods. The manufacturing world traditionally does not accommodate Use a first production run to learn how the customers will buy more units, and how the engineering will be improved. Product engineering is hard enough as it is. So as soon as you start to introduce new capabilities and technologies, it becomes more difficult, but also that's where the rewards are too as you can figure out amazing technology. Both an innovation, and a new technology, lead to extremely high equity valuations for your product invention and the technology behind that invention. Hardware startups have a huge advantage of being more agile and innovative. Don't feature creep on your first version, used your customers. Steve Jobs pushed the idea of knowing that there is an unmet need, so also consider your own path and communicate your idea on a product which is new and never been really seen in this way before. Ethan Escowitz Links: LinkedIn | Arris Composites The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yohan Jacob is the Founder and President of RetailBound, an agency that helps emerging hardware brands get into major retail stores and sales channels.  RetailBound has been around for 14 years and has worked with over 4,000 product companies.  Yohan himself has spent 30 years in the industry, including being a major buyer for Sears and Office Max.  The last episode we talked about scaling up when in retail stores. Today Yohan is going to explain to inventors, startups, and small manufacturers why retail is a huge sales opportunity in 2023, how to overcome objections to going the retail store route, and how to smartly begin your relationship with a retail store chain. Today you will hear us talk about: Retail stores are not dead Retail stores have got better at being omni-channel, where they also sell online and in collaboration with their physical stores There are many elements of value of selling an invention through retail stores. Leverage the presence of your product in retail stores to use that media to increase the value of your product online and with various stakeholders of your product and product business. Think about selling to distributors who then sell to retailers A basic marketing plan Start small when going into the retailers, then grow. Profitability Leveraging online sales to sell more product Dont overcomplicate things, and don't have fear. Yohan Jacob Links: LinkedIn | RetailBound The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brian Thompson is the head of CREO CAD software at PTC.  He spent the first 16 years of his career doing CAD design engineering for hundreds of products, many of which are still in production today, then the last 14 years building CAD software solutions to allow designers to make better hardware products.  Today Brian is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on what the leading trends are right now for design for manufacturing so that products can be designed, engineered, prototyped, and manufactured faster, more efficiently, and at better quality. Today you will hear us talk about: Customers are re-engaging in using new technologies in design. Simulation integrated into design tools. Additive manufacturing. The markets are more competitive than ever Hardware products can't afford to have manufacturing issues, to have quality issues, to take long to get to market, etc. Design for manufacturing in additive tools in CREO. Significant increase in model-based product development. Design is an iterative process The standard definition of model-based. Simulation, NC toolpaths, tool design, manufacturing fixture assembly, marketing. brochure development, etc. Pushing manufacturers to utilize the 3D CAD data. Brian Thompson Links: LinkedIn | CREO | PTC | Onshape The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Neha is Project Manager Lead at Meta for Ads Manager Reporting. Before this, she spent 5 years with Google in a number of roles including Google Analytics manager and Head of Merchant Growth. She also invests in a number of startups. Today Neha is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on what direct-to-consumer digital marketing is, best practices for leveraging organic content to prepare for paid ads, and how to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of paid digital advertising for amplifying your new hardware product's growth. Today you will hear us talk about: What is direct to consumer digital advertising Direct to customer allows you to preserve your margins As a hardware startup, how t Focus on organic content to start selling units, this helps you establish product market fit. Generative AI has made the cost of organic content much less, faster, and easier. Interview experts in your area that surround your product, and that will drive organic content. Blogs are helpful, but people have changed the way they interact with them. Use both audio, video, and written blogs. Find out which customers are your fan, and get them to tell your story, get lots of reviews. Think about experimentation when you start to run ads. Most people start with one type of ad. Instead, try multiple different ads, and try different types of advertising. You can again use AI to create a lot of options for testing your ads. Customer segmentation and target audience Customer needs, preferences, and pain points. Build personas based on the job to be done or the skill level of your customer, and target that audience Branding and positioning. You don't need a lot of money to build a brand. Word of mouth is powerful for brand building Data driven decision making. Measure the effectiveness of your spend. Influencer marketing can be much cheaper than traditional marketing. Be creative on how to drive customers to your hardware product. Ensure you set up digital tracking early on. Every customer touch point needs to be monitored. Run A/B tests, then block time in your calendar to identify the insights. Three key things for hardware sales on digital platforms are campaign objectives, audience targeting, and ad performance analysis. EPISODE LINKS: Neha Bansal Links: LinkedIn The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Greame Whitehead is a client of our very own Mako Design who invented the CNCT Cooler, an ultra high-end cooler that has won 3 international product awards including Indigogo, CreativePool and the NY Product Design Awards. He is a corporate Vice President that invented, designed, manufactured, and sold his product as a side-gig, still to today.  Today Graeme is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on how to design a quality consumer product, tips for getting to manufacturing and working with manufacturers, and how to leverage influencers to gain early product exposure and traction in the marketplace for your invention idea. Today you will hear us talk about: Identify what you don't know. Focus on quality Know that you are a customer yourself Ask the right questions from your design team Manufacturing is a key stakeholder as we get into production Manufacturers push back because they don't want to do things. Talk to multiple different manufacturers Focus on getting to production Multiple awards Manufacturing in the USA Leveraging influencers Shipped product for free to influencers and got free coverage EPISODE LINKS: Graeme Whitehead Links: LinkedIn | CNCT Coolers The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nick Allen is an industrial design at Mako Design. Nick has been designing products for 15 years, working with over 100 products and earning multiple design awards including the coveted Red Dot award. Today Nick is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on how to start working on a project with your hardware product development partner so that you can maximize the value of the relationship, thus leading to creating a top notch product and even more important, a successful hardware startup business Today you will hear us talk about: Focus on your vision. Know what you know, don't worry about what you don't know. Leverage your experience. What the product needs to do and what it needs to do. Write it down. Have a basic sketch of your idea Bullet point notes on your customer Must have, must not have. Design intent Accept pushback from the design engineers. Must have vs want to have features / MVP Work with your design team to reign in the feature creep. Team effort in original features You can always release version 2.0 EPISODE LINKS: Nick Allen Links: LinkedIn | Mako Design The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Toph Day is the CEO of Elevate Ventures, a Venture Capital firm that has many hardware companies in its portfolio of over $220 million of investments under management. He has founded 8 companies with over $600 million in transactions over the past 30 years. Today Toph is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on what venture capital funding is, if VC funding is right for you, and some advice on how to plan for and pitch your hardware startup to VC firms. Today you will hear us talk about: Venture capital is later stage, more sophisticated, and usually beyond  Make your pitch and plan to be very tight. It is important understand what your venture capital firm invests. Make sure the venture capital firm invests in hardware technology. Relationship build with your investors about a year in advance. Keep your pitch to the pitch, don't embellish Structure of Venture Capital funding When you start your company, start with a very clean legal structure. Use a convertible note for your investors When raising capital, check out all the programs and grants available Don't include grants as revenue Hardware startups can grow to be successful slowly You can also grow hardware companies much quicker  Surround yourself with partners, rely more on partners than hiring. Prototypes require multiple iterations Narrow and deep plays into hard tech, keep the product's first version simple EPISODE LINKS: Toph Day Links: LinkedIn | Elevate Ventures | Rally Conference The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Justin Chen is the Co-Founder of PickFu, a platform that helps businesses survey real people about their key visual decisions.  They have administered over 5 million queries over the last 12 years.  Today Justin is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on why hardware product packaging is so important, how to design great packaging, and how to use real feedback to iteratively improve and perfect your package design. Today you will hear us talk about: Friends and family feedback is okay, but  Look at the competition to understand what the standards are for packaging Packaging as an afterthought is a mistake, as packaging is a big part of your  Eye catching.  Make sure you stand out from the competition Put badges on the packaging to attract customer Informative packaging is about what the important selling points are of a product Have people rank selling points. What are the questions that a buyer may have? Hardware packaging is essentially a digital billboard. Include your physical packaging in your digital marketing materials The more attention to detail you put on your product packaging, the more confident you are on the product. Make a few variations of your packaging design, then start with big picture creative options, then show them to people for them to pick their favorite. Then keep iterating and narrowing down the packaging over and over. Then test that package design on competitors. This method de-risks packaging. A big question to ask customers is to say, what does your new hardware product do? Hardware startups should factor in high quality packaging and more informative packaging. EPISODE LINKS: Justin Chen Links: LinkedIn | PickFu The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike Fata has done over $500M in physical product sales, launching over 25 products to over 16,000 retail stores, which thus lead to three different 9-figure exits. He is also the author of the book Grow:12 Unconventional Lessons for Becoming an Unstoppable Entrepreneur. Today Mike is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on the importance of showcasing your passion in your invention idea to be able to best maximize success. Today you will hear us talk about: How important the founder product market fit is. People want to know why the founder behind a hardware product made this hardware product You can compete  Other people like you is one of the easiest ways to sell product Be authentic, that is the foundation, everything grows from there. Tell the story of the challenges you faced along the development path Trade shows are a great way to get in front of like-minded people in a community. Non-profit organizations are a place to build communities around the problems. Don't forget to give back. Reach out to other hardware founders on LinkedIn Be loud and proud of your story. EPISODE LINKS: Mike Fata Links: LinkedIn | Book: Grow The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Larry Richenstein has been in the hardware sales, development, and investment world for over 40 years.  He is an angel investor in the New York Angels network and is currently the CEO of WePower Technologies, his latest hardware venture.  Today Larry is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on what angel investing is, what stages of development you need to get your product to in order to pitch to a professional angel investor, and how to do a good pitch once you are in the door. Today you will hear us talk about: An angel investor is usually an independent investor or a group of investors that invest in startup businesses. Angel investing are considers  Angel investment is the first round, then venture capital. When it comes to products, there is a lot more that goes into them from a product development standpoint. Measure twice, cut once. You have to have all the development People that have ideas, get no funding. People that come up with a rough prototype or a rough prototype, it's interesting but generally still too early. What investors really want to see, is a working prototype. De-risking the investment occurs the further you push the product down the road. First, find angels that invest in hardware. Angel investors for hardware are out there. Come in with a pitch that proves that you have a strong likelihood of success Hardware and software are starting to come together. Crowdfunding is a powerful way to prove market validity. You no longer have to build for the masses, you can build for niche industries. Avoid feature creep, especially for your first version. Crowdfunding is a way to avoid outside investors. EPISODE LINKS: Larry Richenstein Links: LinkedIn | WePower Technologies The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jon Hirschtick is the co-founder of both Solidworks and OnShape. In his 42 years of building these platforms, his software has been used to design more physical consumer products than anything else on earth. OnShape alone has over 3 million designers on the CAD software platform. Today Jon is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on why agile product development is so important for hardware startups, what additive manufacturing can do to facilitate agile development, and how modern tools are making it easier than ever to get to market faster, at higher quality, and iteratively. Today you will hear us talk about: The Story of Solidworks and Onshape Learned at an early age on how to treat customers right Agile design Build hardware the way you build software a little bit, using an agile process for produce development. Work in a series of design sprints, with the end of each sprint developing a product. Daily stand up meetings. Agile Manifesto online. Jon is publishing a whitepaper on Agile development May 15-18 is the liveworks conference. Why agile now, 4 reasons. Software is joining with hardware. The upcoming workforce is naturally agile thinkers. The world is changing constantly. The tools are now here for agile. The great products are now being made by startups, or big companies want to work like startups. Real time collaboration. Additive manufacturing is changing rapidly every year 3d Printing conventions are powerful for seeing what is possible. Software now is innovative, fast, reliable. The issue of version history and files. Cloud native is the key to modern CAD design tools. Collaboration can now happen in real time, with edit history, on any device, anywhere. Software can now have clear traceable rigor and feature logging which is very important when you are going from prototyping, to short run manufacturing, to full scale manufacturing. EPISODE LINKS: Jon Hirschtick Links: LinkedIn | LiveWorx 2023 | Onshape The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonathan Bohun is the founder of Action Ship VR and Weedar, companies which are integrating the digital and physical world via augmented reality. Today Jonathan is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on what augmented reality is, what opportunities are coming in the near future for augmented reality hardware, and different ways hardware startups can think of augmented reality integration with their physical products. Today you will hear us talk about: Virtual reality is when you are fully immersed in a digital world Augmented reality is when you are partially immersed in the digital world, and partially in the real world. Wearable devices like augmented reality devices are going to be the first version of AR. We see mass adoption of 5G and satellite internet, so now there are reliable connections to the web that are fast enough to integrate your startup hardware products in a connected way. Processing power is very heavy for AR devices, and now computing is getting strong enough either on the device or on the cloud to be able to handle complex AR calculations. Power capacity of the device, aka battery power, is now getting strong enough to handle the complex computing power Right now the average AR device is 2 hours of experience Biggest companies in the world are working hard on this AR technology AR is starting to move beyond just glasses. AR to enhance user experience with products People want to use products together with other people, AR may be able to start bringing that together in the future. You can make packaging come to life, interact with the product, learn more information about the product on display Customization to different users in selling products on physical display. Companies today can start with learning about AR technology integration to their packaging Encourage everyone to look into the augmented reality and virtual reality space to see what it can do for your hardware EPISODE LINKS: Jonathan Bohun Links: LinkedIn The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rob Colgan has worked for Mako Design for almost 10 years, working with well over 100 physical product startups on developing an invention idea into a real consumer product. He went to school for both mechanical design and industrial design, along with building many custom cars and motorcycles as a hobby. Today Rob is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can understand the key initial steps to developing a new invention idea, the product guidelines that start it all off right through to concept sketches, Computer Aided Design work, and visual renderings. Today you will hear us talk about: Features that function well Sketch products out Break down the components There are multiple different ways of sketching Quick doodles to get some ideas onto paper The problem with sketching is you lose the 3D element Start a new product on the skeletal level Figure out how that system of components works Skinning the product Ergonomics and user interaction Form follows function Don't stress the aesthetics too much early on Think about use case. The initial view sparks a lot of questions Collaboration is core Fine-tune the initial components Transition from concept sketches into  Modern design is clean and timeless Better not to follow trends, and think about cleanliness It's not just you to appreciate the design, it's the entire market. After concept ideation, get into serious CAD software EPISODE LINKS: Rob Colgan Links: Website The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tony Ulwick is the CEO of Strategyn, a company that has been in business since 1991 doing strategy consulting for high-growth innovative hardware companies. He is the author of two books, and has had his articles published twice in the Harvard Business Review. He started out in the early days of his career as a design for manufacturing engineer at IBM. Today Tony is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on how to create hardware products that people want, why people buy your consumer product, and how to validate your invention idea through additive manufacturing in the market. Today you will hear us talk about: How do you create products that people want. Figure out what your customer wants. What is the reason that someone is buying your hardware product. Define the market as a group of people that have a job that needs done via a hardware product. Define the needs of the customer to figure out what they need to complete the job. Desired outcome statements that your hardware product. Dimensions to design something better are faster, more predictably, or great result. You should learn this about your customer. You want to address the most unmet need. An outcome of a job that is highly underserved. This is the most efficient path to growth. What are the fewest number of features that we could have to hit the largest segment of customers. Features come in all over the place as a hardware startup, so you need to be very clear on what features you need. Start with the feature that you want, then figure it out with the customer. How important is the feature to the customer, and how satisfied are you with the current solutions. If you validate the opportunity, ensure that you design a great product offering to match that. Short-run manufacturing is very helpful to validate the idea, at a low cost, and learn from your customers on what will fit the market in scale. He talks about only one feature. If you can have someone improve by 15% or more, you will have an amazing product. What is that one need that is underserved in the market. EPISODE LINKS: Tony Ulwick Links: LinkedIn | Website The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Paul Sagar is the Vice President of Product Management for the CREO software line at PTC. Paul started as a design engineer, then spent the last 25 years building CAD software for PTC to best match the needs of hardware design teams. Today Paul is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on the latest trends in new product development for hardware startups, including best practices in composite materials, the electrification of products, and additive manufacturing for first manufacturing runs. Today you will hear us talk about: Composite design. Composite materials in the design. This is stuff from aerospace and racing. More consumer product brands are starting to incorporate high-cost and high-quality composite materials into a relatively simple product Composites can allow you more design flexibility while ensuring strength and quality with lightweight properties. Composites can lead to more sustainability in hardware product design. Composites have been historically very expensive to buy and manufacture; however, it is becoming more accessible. Low-volume production capital cost is low, so you can focus on quality at low volume for a new product startup brand. Electrification of everything is already happening. Fundamentally design is needing to incorporate more electronics and more electrification. Electronics need to collaborate more with mechanical engineering than ever before. Collaboration more than linear design. Production design, especially in additive manufacturing, is evolving extremely quickly. Additive manufacturing used to just be for rapid prototyping, but now additive manufacturing is being used for final part design, especially for first manufacturing runs. Short-run additive manufacturing is far cheaper in regards to up-front capital costs (tooling costs). There are some advantages to what you can actually design with additive manufacturing. Additive manufacturing gets you to production faster. Speed, quality, up front cost reduction, and increased design options. EPISODE LINKS: Paul Sagar Links: LinkedIn | Creo | PTC | OnShape The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ryan Margolin is the CEO of Professional Hair Labs, a cosmetic company with dozens of products with tens of millions of dollars in sales all over the world. He has spent 25 years in the consumer product sales and marketing industry, and is also a TEDx speaker. Today Ryan is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on what the foundation of smart consumer product testing is, what the different types of product testing are and at which stages in the development process, and how to leverage a pilot manufacturing run to ensure a strong brand alignment with your customers. Today you will hear us talk about: Marketing Brief is the scope of the product. Most products aren't going to speak to everybody on the market, so figure out exactly what your solution is and to what specific types of people. What types of testing are required for your product. Compliance tests. These are tests the ensure your product meets the regulatory requirements. Compliance testing is generally a base line Reliability of those tests You never get a second chance to make a first impression Reliability is what the client will expect, which will be compared to best in class, which is a lot higher quality than compliant or regulatory testing. Global sales is easier than ever to achieve, so if you put yourself to a high global calibre, you can sell worldwide. The global marketplace is more accessible now than it has ever been. Pilot production, which is customer testing Get the product to be as reliable as can be, then do a pilot production run to test the customers. This is a critical phase of ensuring that a few potential customers are tested. Get paying customers to pay for the product if you can, even just a few, so that you can learn as much as possible. This is the key separator between the companies that go big and the companies that constantly struggle is those that put the effort up front to test and validate their products as opposed to going to big production runs out of the gate. The more testing you do earlier, the exponentially less expenses and headaches you have down the road. EPISODE LINKS: Paul Rowan Links: LinkedIn | Company The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube PTC Links: https://www.ptc.com/ OnShape | Creo Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Paul Rowan is the Co-Founder of Umbra, a household product company that designs, manufactures, and sells hundreds of consumer products all over the world. You likely have at least one of their products in your home right now. Paul ran Umbra for for 37 years, starting the entire company with just one product. Today Paul is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can use both strategic purpose and higher purpose to create a great first product and your first product business. From there, how do you leverage those principles to scale into a global product brand as he did with Umbra. Today you will hear us talk about: Sales can drive hardware ideas, what a great way to sell when you already know what your big buyers want. The culture of work in hardware product design in the future. Hardware designers are going to have a lot of options for developing work-from-home products, mental health issues, more collaborative office space environments and products, and many other emerging opportunities for the changing landscape of design. Artificial Intelligence (AI) AI cannot compete with human intelligence. AI is not a threat, it is the next tool. If you embrace the tools, this will exponentially improve the caliber of your hardware startup. Humanistic direction or robotic direction Purposeful, sustainable, human. This leads to long term. Short term vs long-term value How can you differentiate yourself by adding humanistic values to your company. If you don't set the bar on good design, you won't even get to market. Bad design cannot even be put on the shelves. To increase beyond great design, add humanistic values You can compete with big corporate easily on humanistic values as a startup. Sustainability, carbon footprint, sourcing, labor practices. Put your name on a product Don't be afraid to put your name behind your brand. When you're in the decision tree of short-term problem solve or long-term value, go for the long term value as that has become more important than ever for modern businesses. Long-term thinking will encourage significantly more success Test and test until you get it right in prototyping, use design thinking. The human behind the design EPISODE LINKS: Paul Rowan Links: LinkedIn | Umbra | PaulRowan.ca The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube PTC Links: https://www.ptc.com/ OnShape | Creo Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jackson Wightman is the co-author of The Tech PR Playbook, a book that synthesizes 20 years of PR knowledge into a single resource. He is also the co-founder of Proper Propaganda, a public relations firm that primarily works with hardware startups and scale-ups. He is also an instructor at McGill University with an MBA, Masters in Poli Sci, and a BA. Today Jackson is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on what earned media is, specifically for hardware companies, why earned media and press is so valuable, and what are the best practices for getting free coverage from major hardware journalists and publications. Today you will hear us talk about: Hardware startups generally don't understand what earned media is, and especially how to best utilize it for your product Defining what is earned media is for a hardware startup Editorial media coverage. Why earned media can be so valuable to a hardware startup You are not paying for it, and thus it is heavily trusted by readers. Earned media is far more trusted than advertisements. Earned media can be repurposed to help sell your product or increase the visibility to your various stakeholders, not just customers and investors, but also partners, and prospective employees. There is a huge amount of power in brand equity. Articles that are earned are evergreen, meaning that they last forever. Things to stand out and differentiate to get great earned media To get in, first understand that it is competitive to get into a journalist and media outlet Then think then about how you can differentiate your product and product story from what is already out there. The second thing is to target the correct media. Pitch the correct journalist, reporters, and the correct media outlet for your specific type of hardware. Have good assets, make sure the prototype works and make sure the instructions work. Try and get someone who is new to the product to test out your samples. Feature-creeped products are the hardest to get earned media. The Tech PR Playbook EPISODE LINKS: Jackson Wightman Links: LinkedIn | Book | Agency The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube PTC Links: https://www.ptc.com/ OnShape | Creo Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steve Multer is the author of Nothing Gets Sold Until The Story Gets Told which can be found on Amazon and all major book retailers.  He has done over 20,000 presentations and worked with major hardware brands such as Cisco, Panasonic, Siemens, HP, Philips, Xerox, and over 100 more, all on crafting product and brand messaging. Today Steve is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can understand what corporate storytelling is, what the main components of a well-crafted sales or brand story has, and best practices around both launching a new hardware product but also maintaining the brand connection for long-term customer loyalty. Today you will hear us talk about: What is corporate storytelling Metrics of a product (what investors want to hear) vs corporate storytelling (what the public wants). Don't tell the customer what you want to tell them, tell them what they want to hear. This requires knowing your audience. The platform / pillars of a great story: Value, passion, and connection. How do you change people's lives, for the better, with their product. Make sure to maintain your personal passion in advertising. How connect with people by telling them a story that they recognize and that they become a part of. You can be the best advocate to your own hardware product, you are the story. Investors invest in you as a human being. Combine your product with your story. Trust yourself to sell your own story, and bring the human passion in. Stakeholders, buyers, investors will be more lenient when they believe in the story and the passion behind that story. Build a community first. How do you sell How do you keep customers What is going to sustain and grow your hardware product and thus product brand for 10 years or more. EPISODE LINKS: Steve Multer Links: LinkedIn | Book The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube PTC Links: https://www.ptc.com/ OnShape | Creo Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kyle Dumont spent many years as a hardware developer for iRobot, then got a Masters of Science and an MBA dual degree at Harvard, then spun out AllSpice which is a software platform for managing electronic engineering feedback and revision tracking amongst other things. Today Kyle is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on what iterative hardware product development is between manufacturing runs, who the feedback loop stakeholders are, and how to collect, organize, prioritize, and execute on that iterative feedback information to ensure the best improvements to your physical consumer product design. Today you will hear us talk about: What iterative design in hardware is between manufacturing runs Legacy design is based on a waterfall model of design Software has done a great job of iterating very quickly. Get designs in the hands of engineers, or even better, users. Iterative design can sometimes be forced on you if you need to make changes, so better to have the processes Who are the stakeholders: Customers, the most important stakeholders (both current and potential customers) Cost reduction Engineering design, multiple different disciplines (hardware, software, firmware, PCB, visual, industrial design, etc.) Procurement, product managers, Manufacturers Get hardware product engineers in front of customers What tools can be used to collect, organize, prioritize, and implement Version control is a great way to organize version control / revision control.  This is the foundation. Start to consider comparing versions. Do you have the channels and tools to be able to have the various product stakeholders to provide input on the product. Integrating tools together so that the most information Avoid silos of different departments, ideally, you have all information together. Use priority flagging to tag the importance of issues or opportunities. EPISODE LINKS: Kyle Dumont Links: LinkedIn | AllSpice The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube PTC Links: https://www.ptc.com/ OnShape | Creo Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tim Uys has spent 25 years as a senior design, leader, and lecturer in the industrial design and mechanical design engineering world. He has worked for Nike Golf, Dell, Qualcomm, Ironman and many others while the director of design for IDOne, which was one of the top Austin design firms back in the early days before it was acquired. For the past 8 years, Tim has been the head of design for our very own Mako Design out of our Austin, Texas office. Today Tim is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can understand what each of the key 3 types of prototypes are, the order of those prototypes, and the importance of each of those phases of new product prototyping in order to manufacture a great and successful hardware product. Today you will hear us talk about: Mock Prototype / Rough Prototype Costs are relatively low to iterate and for parts Focus on big picture items, not the details, is key in a first prototype You can even have a series of rough prototypes or prototype parts to test a number of different things Mechanical / Functional Prototype You can do pieces of a prototype either in tandem, or linear,  Mechanical test prototypes use more complex parts, so it requires more advanced prototyping parts so that you can much closer mimic the final production mechanics parts. Even if costly, in the end, you are solving the problem. You cannot go to production without going into proper prototyping. There is a tremendous amount of value in building mechanical features that closely represent the manufactured product, so that you can perfect those mechanical design elements. Refined / Presentation Prototype A final prototype is usually used by hardware startups for selling, but also for manufacturing. Manufacturers need to have the product fully vetted out in order to get a reliable manufacturer to take on the project. Iteration in produce development is very important EPISODE LINKS: Tim Uys Links: LinkedIn | MAKO Design The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube PTC Links: https://www.ptc.com/ OnShape | Creo Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brian Thompson is head of CREO CAD software for PTC.  He spent the first 16 years of his career doing CAD design engineering for hundreds of products, many of which are still in production today, then the last 14 years building CAD software solutions to allow designers to make better hardware products.  Today Brian is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on what the 3 main product development trends are in 2023 which include using design simulations, designing earlier for manufacturing, and using additive manufacturing for a first short or medium term production run. Today you will hear us talk about: Using simulation more in the design process Advances in technology to make digital simulation in CAD Design You no longer need to be an expert to do some tests in simulations The earlier you use CAD simulations, the quicker you discover problems. You can explore more design alternatives if you can apply simulation to your designs More investment in manufacturing in the design process CAD software can be used to evaluate design and prototyping, but now there are more tools to actually evaluate in CAD. Three key design steps are idea design, prototype and functional design, and design for manufacturing, in that order. Software is now making it easier to move to the next steps and improve the quality  More additive manufacturing, especially in short run Feedback from those first parts is a huge opportunity. Focus on equity. As a startup, plan on leveraging additive manufacturing to do a first production run to reduce risk. Design for additive, but with a plan to migrate those additive designs into full scale manufacturing when you scale. EPISODE LINKS: Brian Thompson Links: LinkedIn | LiveWorx 2023 | Try OnShape for Free | Creo | PTC The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube PTC Links: https://www.ptc.com/ OnShape | Creo Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Will Ford is the Co-Founder of LaunchBoom, the world's largest crowdfunding platform. He also runs the Crowdfunded Summit, a virtual crowdfunding event which I am also a keynote at again, and that's coming up in May 2023, and as a quick heads up, Will is offering free tickets for limited time to listeners of this podcast. Today, Will is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can use small trial marketing and sales techniques to gauge how successful a crowdfunding campaign will be, other tips and tricks along the way to a successful launch, and the story of how crowdfunding has changed over the years. Today you will hear us talk about: Get the project funded on crowdfunding on the first day Sell the world from a prototype, and then validate that idea with real users, then use that money to fund the manufacturing Prelaunch is the single most important thing to think about when launching any product on crowdfunding. Offer a better deal to your early backers, before you even launch on Kickstarter or Indiegogo. People who put a deposit down, even just a dollar, have a 30 times higher probability of converting to a paying customer on Day 1 of your crowdfunding campaign. Set a reasonable campaign goal that is much smaller, so that you hit the campaign goal quickly. Doing crowdfunding yourself, it's far less expensive than hiring agencies for crowdfunding. Crowdfunding is just the launch, most people want to then scale the product business after that. Crowdfunding is stronger than ever. Learn from your crowdfunding sales to  The LaunchBoom community. Messaging, positioning, pricing for planning a crowdfunding campaign Build lead funnels and reservation funnels A/B split testing for advertising messaging and lead offers Using data to analyze your offer options Figure out what is converting best on crowdfunding You can't fool consumers these days, there is too much information online, so make sure you have a great product. Give the backers a discount on crowdfunding vs what your retail price will be. EPISODE LINKS: Will Ford Links: LinkedIn | Website | CrowdFunded Summit The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube PTC Links: https://www.ptc.com/ OnShape | Creo Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Noah is a Vice President at Graff Pinkert, an 80-year-old manufacturing machinery dealer that buys and sells used equipment all over the world, with a central warehouse in the USA. Noah is also the host of the Swarfcast Podcast, a show all about manufacturing machinery and tool machining. Today, Noah will share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can consider starting your own product facility locally to produce your product, and what to think about when buying used equipment for your production facility. Today you will hear us talk about: Manufacturing equipment for products More hardware startups have called about buying machinery than ever before. You can use machinery to manufacture other products to help reduce the cost of buying the machinery yourself, so you can use it partly for your own product, but also for  Use the machine to learn how to improve both your manufacturing and the quality of your product. It's important to know the caliber of machine that you need based on the part that you need. Look for the best support on the machinery you are buying, that is the priority when it comes to machinery suppliers Re-shoring is happening, product startups are trying to bring more products at home than ever before You have a lot of control of your product when you manufacture it yourself. EPISODE LINKS: Noah Graff Links: LinkedIn | Website | Swarfcast Podcast The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube PTC Links: https://www.ptc.com/ OnShape | Creo Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Daniel Bischoff to the show. Daniel Bischoff is the former Head of Growth at Purple  Mattresses. He took Purple from startup to over two hundred million dollars in sales in just its first two years on the market.  He then spun out as co-founder of his own direct-to-consumer marketing agency called StoicYeti which works with both hardware startups and Fortune500 product brands.  Today Daniel is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on what direct-to-consumer advertising is, what you can learn from the Purple Mattress story about scaling a hardware brand, and how to create inexpensive yet powerful video ads to sell your new invention to the market. Today you will hear us talk about: Direct-to-consumer selling for a new hardware product in paid advertising Telling a story is key in digital marketing The Purple Story, inventors that wanted to create a mattress Copied another company's model, just with a better product Sometimes all you need to sell a product is to be different, let alone better. Demonstrate, in video form, the value of your product, so that you can sell it online. Kickstarter was used to validate sales of Purple, and the way they wanted to sell it. You want to hook people in the first 3 seconds of the video. Try a number of hooks to see which one attracted the most people. Then make people problem-aware and then solution-aware. After someone saw their ad, they also reinforced those ads by having good reviews on Google. Get as many users as possible, in the beginning, talk to all of your customers to find out who are raving fans, and get those fans to review your product. Ask customers to send in reviews from their own cell phones using the product. List down all of the objections to buying your product, and have those responses on your website. Problem, solution, reasons to believe in the product, reduction of objections You can get videos done for cheap, but use those to test your messaging.  Sometimes those videos go further. User-generated content is the most powerful advertising right now. It is cheaper today to advertise a new product, and that is contradictory to what a lot of people think. EPISODE LINKS: Daniel Bischoff Links: LinkedIn | Website The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube PTC Links: https://www.ptc.com/ OnShape | Creo Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ashley Black is the founder of FasciaBlaster and many other related products.  Her company sells millions of dollars of products per month directly to her customers all over the world, and has built a community of over 8 million followers on social media. She is also a two-time best-selling author.  Her most recent book is titled From Passion and Purpose to Product and Prosperity.  Today Ashley is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can build customer communities around your new hardware product, how to be the personal brand behind your product, and how to ensure successful brand growth so that you can be the next hardware startup unicorn. Today you will hear us talk about: Building a brand for a hardware product startup Focused on ads that sold the products, but also getting them engaged in the actual community. Get to that point in ads where you are breakeven. Get out there and give deals to people for them to go out there and promote your product. Advocate for yourself There is magic as an inventor, the inventor themselves. Let the audience know who you are as a person, not just the product You don't need to be pretty, you don't need to be polished, you just need to be yourself. You don't need to do a ton of research when you re just promoting yourself Be authentic Sell to yourself Self-funding You have to be all-in Lowering your CTA (customer acquisition cost).  The bigger the community, the lower the cost per acquisition. What is Plan B, there is no Plan B. If you're an inventor out there, and you know your product can help, then it's only up to you and your commitment. If you want it to be a hobby, it's just that, but if you want a legacy business. People have a lot of societal safety nets The world is huge, find the others out there that resonate with you and your product EPISODE LINKS: Ashley Black Links: LinkedIn | Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube PTC Links: https://www.ptc.com/ OnShape | Creo Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dave Duncan is the Vice President Sustainability at PTC Corp, the company behind multiple product design software solutions including OnShape and CREO. He has spent over 20 years in the product design software world, and has his Bachelor of Engineering from Princeton University. Today Dave is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on what it means to develop a sustainable product, what the 3 different types of product sustainability are, and how to use modern best practices in ensuring your product is most marketable by including sustainability as one of your key product development priorities. Today you will hear us talk about: Designing for sustainability Manufacturing for sustainability Servicing and Lifecycle management of the product Design for sustainability early The main impacts are around carbon emissions Products can be designed for sustainability What do you have to do to adhere to sustainability, and what can you do to improve sustainability beyond what the regulations are. Don't wait too late in the product design lifecycle to start building sustainability into the product design. Software can help analyze the options. Build in sustainability to your early design. Even in B2B product sales, now there are metrics to promote the purchasing of sustainable products. It gives your product an edge. This is an advantage as a startup 80% of a product's carbon and waste footprint is determined at design time. 20% can be done in the factory to reduce that further. Bottleneck analysis Energy management The circular economy / circular product In design, simply put, think about how your product will end, and how it can be re-used, recycled, or re-configured. Think about your commercial relationships with your customers regarding end of useful life. Generative design in OnShape can actually remove materials through AI. This is called lightweighting. With Arena, you can manage the bill of materials, and analyze EPISODE LINKS: Dave Duncan Links: LinkedIn | Try OnShape for Free | Creo The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube PTC Links: https://www.ptc.com/ OnShape | Creo Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike Stemple is the Author of Innovating Innovation, a #1 Bestseller. He has also founded multiple consumer product startups, including Skinit wraps, and since then, Original Wraps which sold to 3M. In addition to his own hardware ventures, he also consults a number of Fortune 500 product companies on how to be more entrepreneurial. Today Mike is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can beat the big corporations when developing a new product by being faster, more nimble, listening to customer feedback, and much more. Today you will hear us talk about: There is so much democratization of tools and techniques There are more firms, especially in product design, helping reduce risk and increase success for a new physical product startup. Innovation is being cut, doubling down on existing things that work. Time, talent, and treasure to succeed in a new hardware product. It's faster than ever to develop a product and get to market than ever before. The next billion-dollar idea is created in a recession Smart big corporate people are leaving to create startups Focus on the primary goal of the acquisition Move from fear-based to opportunity based. Scarcity bring innovation, and recessions fuel that. Get big ideas developed well. Professionally build the idea. Licensing or white labeling can allow you to scale, once you have a product in production that at least a few customers love. Don't be paralyzed on pitching your product to a big company. Minimum viable product is so important, and the only way of ensuring quality on your first run. The product should evolve over time, and via feedback. Don't rob your customer of your relationship over time with your brand and product. Intellectual property creation is the only proven investment strategy that an entrepreneur can be successful at, it is within your control. Now is the time. EPISODE LINKS: Mike Stemple Links: LinkedIn | Book The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube PTC Links: https://www.ptc.com/ OnShape | Creo Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ben Drury is the Founder of Yoto Play, a connected hardware toy product for kids. Yoto has sold almost 500,000 units worldwide in just a few years of explosive growth. Today Ben is going to share some valuable knowledge to inventors, hardware startups, small manufacturers, and e-commerce brands on the 5 different sales channels, and how a hardware startup evolves through those channels to maximize their sales growth just like Ben did with Yoto. Today you will hear us talk about: Crowdfunding. It takes you down a great path of figuring out all the elements needed to build a successful product business. Direct via Website. The website gives you a lot more information that you can sell Amazon sales It's easy to set up sales with Amazon. Wholesale / Retailers, Micro retailers, independent retailers, mass retailers If you go to a retailer with a buggy product, you will get hurt at retail badly There are lots of regulations with retailers, and a lot of requirements. Retailers want to see success before they bring on a new product Retailers operate on long cycles, they are looking years ahead You have to be very well prepared for dealing with big retailers. Specialty Channels Demand fuels specialty channels which are unique partnerships that want to buy your product The feedback loop from customers is very active. EPISODE LINKS: Ben Drury Links: LinkedIn | Yoto Play The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube PTC Links: https://www.ptc.com/ OnShape | Creo Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Forde Aley is the Co-Founder of Shining Way Sourcing, an agency that has sourced manufacturing for over 1,000 products, with both founders having over 25 years of experience in the space.   Today Forde is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can source their first manufacturer for their new hardware invention idea overseas, how to ensure quality control for that production, and why it is important to consider how that factory can scale as you grow into larger sales over time. Today you will hear us talk about: Choosing a factory.  How to find the right factory. 3 key things for sourcing: Choosing a factory, quality control, and retail ready-to-scale. Find out how the factory is managed, who the players are, and how it operates as a management team. This is overlooked but very important to know. Ensure you or your factory sourcing agent has visited the factory and the factory management team. Quality control processes must ensure the output product matches all required criteria. Standard operating procedures manual of a factory. Retail logistics.  Packaging, UPCs, pallets, import, export. Factory selection. The sourcing company's in-house team.  Both local and offshore. Experience. Make sure 10 years or more, the more experience, the more factories the team will have worked with and knowledge of. Why sourcing agents/sourcing companies are important to new consumer product startups and inventors. EPISODE LINKS: Forde Aley Links: LinkedIn | Shining Way Sourcing The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube PTC Links: https://www.ptc.com/ OnShape | Creo Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonas Rinde is the founder of his latest product Nomono, a portable podcasting device.  Prior to that, he had 3 major product exits totaling billions of dollars in acquisitions, in addition to working on over 50 hardware products over the last 20 years.  Today Jonas is going to share valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on the three key elements to building a great new physical consumer product device, and how each of those has led him to achieve billion-dollar success with many hardware products. Today you will hear us talk about: 1st wow: How you get to know the product as a new potential customer Approachable design 2nd wow: What happens when you use the product 3rd wow: After you use the product, have you developed a fan Listen to your customers, but also find focus. Focus and MVP are key, limit feature creep. Don't throw the feature creep ideas away, just store them, structure them, and prioritize them for possible future versions in the future. Nail the first product, then start building more versions of your product to make a portfolio of related products Take your product to the street. Simple design means also easy to sell, but also easy for the customers to use. EPISODE LINKS: Jonas Rinde Links: LinkedIn | Nomono The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube PTC Links: https://www.ptc.com/ OnShape | Creo Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices