Podcasts about mako design

From the archive: This episode was originally recorded and published in 2021. Our interviews on Entrepreneurs On Fire are meant to be evergreen, and we do our best to confirm that all offers and URL's in these archive episodes are still relevant. MAKO Design and Invent, Est 1999, is the first company providing world-class end-to-end physical consumer product development tailored to startups, small manufacturers, & home inventors. Kevin is president, and also the host of The Product Startup Podcast. Top 3 Value Bombs 1. Prioritize energy. Everyday, put in a little bit of effort on the most important things towards getting your product launched, and you'll get tremendous drive and momentum over the coming months. 2. The number one thing when you think about developing your product is FOCUS! In hardware, it is important because it is difficult at the end of the development cycle to make quick adjustments if you haven't focused. 3. Crowdfunding is a phenomenal tool for hardware startups. You are putting your finished product prototype out for people to see, and the people who are interested in pre-purchasing your product will help give you money to fund the production run. Get a FREE product consultation, a design and engineering review, and get personally mentored by Kevin Mako for any hardware startup that hires MakoDesign - One Time Offer for Fire Nation Sponsors HubSpot With HubSpot's customer platform you can spend less time switching between systems, and more time on growing your business. Visit HubSpot.com to learn how HubSpot's customer platform can help you grow your business Airbnb Have you ever considered hosting on Airbnb. Your home might be worth more than you think… Find out how much at Airbnb.com/host

From the archive: This episode was originally recorded and published in 2021. Our interviews on Entrepreneurs On Fire are meant to be evergreen, and we do our best to confirm that all offers and URL's in these archive episodes are still relevant. MAKO Design and Invent, Est 1999, is the first company providing world-class end-to-end physical consumer product development tailored to startups, small manufacturers, & home inventors. Kevin is president, and also the host of The Product Startup Podcast. Top 3 Value Bombs 1. Prioritize energy. Everyday, put in a little bit of effort on the most important things towards getting your product launched, and you'll get tremendous drive and momentum over the coming months. 2. The number one thing when you think about developing your product is FOCUS! In hardware, it is important because it is difficult at the end of the development cycle to make quick adjustments if you haven't focused. 3. Crowdfunding is a phenomenal tool for hardware startups. You are putting your finished product prototype out for people to see, and the people who are interested in pre-purchasing your product will help give you money to fund the production run. Get a FREE product consultation, a design and engineering review, and get personally mentored by Kevin Mako for any hardware startup that hires MakoDesign - One Time Offer for Fire Nation Sponsors HubSpot With HubSpot's customer platform you can spend less time switching between systems, and more time on growing your business. Visit HubSpot.com to learn how HubSpot's customer platform can help you grow your business Airbnb Have you ever considered hosting on Airbnb. Your home might be worth more than you think… Find out how much at Airbnb.com/host

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.

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

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

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

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

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

Mike Morton was an Industrial Design Senior Principal at Dell for many years, and before that similar roles at HP and SunBeam, along with working with many physical consumer product inventors and startups along the way.  He has also been a mentor at Capital Factory and Techstars, in addition to working with Mako Design too.  Today Mike is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can understand the importance and best practices around the different types of prototypes, how important prototyping is to the product development process, and how to use prototypes to ensure a product is successful both in the market and in manufacturing. Today you will hear us talk about: The importance of physical product prototyping for an invention idea to go into production with Rough product prototype Mechanical product prototype Refined product prototype Pre-production prototype or production sample prototype Prototype early and often Test your prototypes out for both problems AND opportunities Some of the best designs and engineering ideations come out of the prototyping phases. Never skip prototyping steps, but rearrange them or do side prototypes to best suit the needs of your product. Bring in manufacturing as you start getting into the more serious mechanical prototypes, especially as you get into pre-production or refined prototypes. Manufacturers want you to be successful, it helps everybody. EPISODE LINKS Mike Morton Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-morton-design/ Past Episode: https://www.makodesign.com/podcast/064-preparing-and-executing-your-products-first-production-run/ The Product Startup Podcast Links: Website: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ProductStartup/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ProductStartup/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ProductStartup/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ProductStartup/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ProductStartup/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProductStartup YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/MakoInvent Mako Design Links: Website: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/MakoInvent Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/MakoInvent/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/MakoDesign/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MakoInvent/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/MakoInvent/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MakoInvent/ Kevin Mako Links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Entrepreneurs/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/KevMako/ Quora: https://www.quora.com/profile/Kevin-Mako Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KevMakoPage/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/KevMako/ About: 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. Also, our founder Kevin Mako hosts The Product Startup Podcast, the industry's leading hardware podcast. Check it out for tips, interviews, and best practices for hardware startups, inventors, and product developers. Click HERE to learn more about Mako Design + Invent! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tom Pupo is the founder and head of Moonlighter Fab Lab Miami, which Mako Design just partnered with on a new 8,000 square foot hardware makerspace right down Miami Beach. Tom has a Masters Degree in architecture, and been running makerspaces for many years. Today Tom is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on what a makerspace is, what makes one great, and how hardware startups can benefit from them in many ways beyond just space and machinery. Today you will hear us talk about: What does a hardware makerspace do What makes a space great What are the benefits Space, tools, people Design, prototype, test, get feedback, and redo Coworking, fabrication lab, and STEAM learning centre Learning design thinking in the design process A makerspace is such a pure experience to get to learn about the product development hourney EPISODE LINKS Tom Pupo / Moonlighter Miami Links: Website: https://moonlighterfablab.org/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tpupo/ The Product Startup Podcast Links: Website: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ProductStartup/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ProductStartup/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ProductStartup/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ProductStartup/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ProductStartup/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProductStartup YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/MakoInvent Mako Design Links: Website: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/MakoInvent Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/MakoInvent/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/MakoDesign/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MakoInvent/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/MakoInvent/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MakoInvent/ Kevin Mako Links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Entrepreneurs/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/KevMako/ Quora: https://www.quora.com/profile/Kevin-Mako Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KevMakoPage/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/KevMako/ About: 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. Also, our founder Kevin Mako hosts The Product Startup Podcast, the industry's leading hardware podcast. Check it out for tips, interviews, and best practices for hardware startups, inventors, and product developers. Click HERE to learn more about Mako Design + Invent!

Magnus Skold is a 20-year industrial designer.  He started in designing ultra-high-end interiors for private jets for international royalty, then worked with commercial airlines, then worked with Dell and a number of other brands, and then for the past few years, is a senior industrial designer with me at Mako Design.  Today Magnus is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers should think about the importance of a minimum viable product when developing their first product for the market.  How MVP is important for cost, simplicity, modern design, production smoothness, and even onto benefits and feedback from end-users. Today you will hear us talk about: MVP design defined Levels of complication Has it been thought through Free vs costly choices Keeping things clean/tidy/elegant Matching the aesthetic of the environment Nothing more, nothing less Purity of purpose The true costs of complexity EPISODE LINKS Magnus Skold Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/permagnusskold/ The Product Startup Podcast Links: Website: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ProductStartup/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ProductStartup/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ProductStartup/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ProductStartup/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ProductStartup/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProductStartup YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/MakoInvent Mako Design Links: Website: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/MakoInvent Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/MakoInvent/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/MakoDesign/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MakoInvent/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/MakoInvent/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MakoInvent/ Kevin Mako Links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Entrepreneurs/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/KevMako/ Quora: https://www.quora.com/profile/Kevin-Mako Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KevMakoPage/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/KevMako/ About: 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. Also, our founder Kevin Mako hosts The Product Startup Podcast, the industry's leading hardware podcast. Check it out for tips, interviews, and best practices for hardware startups, inventors, and product developers. Click HERE to learn more about Mako Design + Invent!

Have you ever had an idea for a great product that you're just SURE would change the world and make you a millionaire? If only you knew where to start! Well on today's episode that's exactly what we're going to discuss with our guest Kevin Mako. Today your host Darren Cabral, sits down with Kevin Mako, the founder and CEO of Mako Design + Invent. Kevin is a pattionate entrepreneur who's built an incredible team and business. Today he shares his story and experience over the past 20+ years building Mako Design + Invent, and helping hundreds of inventors and entrepreneurs bring their products to life and into the hands of consumers. His company is one of the first firms to provide world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, they are the leading one-stop-shop for helping entrepreneurs develop physical products from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. Mako Design + Invent operates as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). Kevin Mako's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevmako/ Website: https://www.makodesign.com/ Also, if you're interested in learning more about product design and development Kevin Mako hosts The Product Startup Podcast, the industry's leading hardware podcast. Check it out for tips, interviews, and best practices for hardware startups, inventors, and product developers. Scroll down to learn more about Mako Design + Invent! Podcast: https://www.makodesign.com/podcast/ MAKO Design + InventMAKO Design + Invent Home Est. 1999. Industrial Design, Mechanical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, & Prototyping for Enterprise and Startups.

Tim Uys has spent 25 years as a senior leader and lecturer in the industrial design and mechanical 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 6 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 the importance of design for manufacturing, 3 big tips on how to succeed in doing it, and where DFM fits into the overall product development process. Today you will hear us talk about: Concept design Engineering Prototyping Design for Manufacturing Keep positive and think nimbly about your project going into production Have a clear idea of what is important to your product, in priority Speed, quality, cost, features Perfection is the enemy of success How to communicate from final engineering and prototyping to the manufacturer Bill of materials Materials specifications CAD Prototype 2D drawings Animations EPISODE LINKS Tim Uys Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-uys-382b934/ The Product Startup Podcast Links: Website: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ProductStartup/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ProductStartup/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ProductStartup/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ProductStartup/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ProductStartup/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProductStartup YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/MakoInvent Mako Design Links: Website: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/MakoInvent Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/MakoInvent/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/MakoDesign/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MakoInvent/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/MakoInvent/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MakoInvent/ Kevin Mako Links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Entrepreneurs/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/KevMako/ Quora: https://www.quora.com/profile/Kevin-Mako Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KevMakoPage/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/KevMako/ About: 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. Also, our founder Kevin Mako hosts The Product Startup Podcast, the industry's leading hardware podcast. Check it out for tips, interviews, and best practices for hardware startups, inventors, and product developers. Click HERE to learn more about Mako Design + Invent!

Alex Dantas is CEO of CircuitLaunch, one of California's top hardware accelerator facilities.  CircuitLaunch is an almost 40,000 square foot hardware innovation space and makerspace for inventors, hardware startups, and hardware companies.  Mako Design is also a long-standing partner in the space.  Today Alex is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can utilize facilities like Circuitlaunch to develop their invention product ideas, then scale them to the big leagues.  He is also going to give his advice on what really works to ensure startup success given the hundreds of startups he has watched come through their doors. Today you will hear us talk about: Alex's background of persistence in the USA The power of hardware incubation facilities for hardware startups Makerspaces are evolving into co-facturing The value of hardware labs for product startups The value of education around hardware communities Short-run manufacturing for North American hardware startups EPISODE LINKS Alex Dantas / CircuitLaunch Links: Website: https://circuitlaunch.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexrfdantas/ The Product Startup Podcast Links: Website: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ProductStartup/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ProductStartup/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ProductStartup/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ProductStartup/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ProductStartup/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProductStartup YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/MakoInvent Mako Design Links: Website: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/MakoInvent Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/MakoInvent/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/MakoDesign/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MakoInvent/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/MakoInvent/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MakoInvent/ Kevin Mako Links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Entrepreneurs/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/KevMako/ Quora: https://www.quora.com/profile/Kevin-Mako Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KevMakoPage/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/KevMako/ About: 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. Also, our founder Kevin Mako hosts The Product Startup Podcast, the industry's leading hardware podcast. Check it out for tips, interviews, and best practices for hardware startups, inventors, and product developers. Click HERE to learn more about Mako Design + Invent!

Nic Beique is the Founder and CEO of Helcim, a North American payment processing company that has over 10,000 small business clients, and processes over four billion dollars of transactions per year. In fact, Mako Design is one of his clients. Today Nic is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers should understand the importance of payment processing, and how to best use it to improve the experience for both your end customers and your business-to-business wholesale transactions. Today you will hear us talk about: High level of what payment processing is Why does payment processing matter to small hardware manufacturers? Tips for small new products and existing manufacturers Direct to consumer online, in-store, and B2B The new wave of wholesale direct sales EPISODE LINKS Nic Beique / Helcim Links: Website: https://www.helcim.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nic-beique-45084424/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/helcim/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/Helcim Twitter: https://twitter.com/Helcim The Product Startup Podcast Links: Website: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ProductStartup/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ProductStartup/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ProductStartup/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ProductStartup/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ProductStartup/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProductStartup YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/MakoInvent Mako Design Links: Website: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/MakoInvent Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/MakoInvent/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/MakoDesign/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MakoInvent/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/MakoInvent/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MakoInvent/ Kevin Mako Links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Entrepreneurs/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/KevMako/ Quora: https://www.quora.com/profile/Kevin-Mako Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KevMakoPage/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/KevMako/ About: 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. Also, our founder Kevin Mako hosts The Product Startup Podcast, the industry's leading hardware podcast. Check it out for tips, interviews, and best practices for hardware startups, inventors, and product developers. Click HERE to learn more about Mako Design + Invent!

If you're a business owner, of thing you are always doing is learning how to scale your business and increase your revenues. In this episode, we touch base on the tools you need and best practices to implement. Joined by Kevin Mako, Founder of Mako Design, winner of 20+ Entrepreneurial Awards, worked with 1,000 product startups, keynote speaker, founder of Mako Design, host of the Product Startup Podcast, Make48 TV Show speaker. Connect With Kevin https://www.makodesign.com/podcast/   Follow the Podcast on Instagram  Join Milestones, Motivation & Money on Clubhouse  Join the Milestones, Motivation & Money Facebook Group Book Angel to speak here Be a guest on the Podcast, Apply here  Order the Ballin On A Budget Workbook Order Upfront: An Entrepreneur's Quick Start Guide Have a podcast? Need to Create Promo Graphics?  Get 2 Weeks FREE of Headliner Looking for Podcast Guests? Or Wanting to be a guest on other podcasts?  Check out this podcast matching service

Today on The Fastest Growing Companies podcast, we're talking to the Founder & President of Mako Design, Kevin Mako. Check out the video version on YouTube. Host: Chris Ronzio Learn more about Trainual, the world's top Business Playbook™ software.

Kevin started Mako Design + Invent in high school, then incorporated in University where Kevin was section class president at the Ivey Business School (Harvard's sister school). He then studied overseas at Hong Kong University for supply chain management & manufacturing. He then went full time at Mako Design + Invent in 2007 after nervously turning down the pick of the litter job offers. Still, to today, Mako Design has no debt, no financing, and no shareholders - a true grassroots organic startup story. Watch the YouTube HERE: https://youtu.be/vWmo1Xxu36A ABOUT OUR GUEST   Kevin Mako is the world's leading expert on hardware startups. Founder of MAKO Design + Invent (makodesign.com), the pioneer firm for providing world-class end-to-end physical consumer product development tailored to inventors, product startups, & small manufacturers. Masters of Engineering lecturer, sits on a number of entrepreneurship & education boards, and holds the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award designation. Host of The Product Startup Podcast, the hardware development industry's leading podcast. Don't forget to subscribe to Educative Sessions on YouTube! ►► https://www.youtube.com/c/EducativeSessions   ABOUT EDUCATIVE   Educative (educative.io) provides interactive and adaptive courses for software developers. Whether it's beginning to learn to code, grokking the next interview, or brushing up on frontend coding, data science, or cybersecurity, Educative is changing how developers continue their education. Stay relevant through our pre-configured learning environments that adapt to match a developer's skill level. Educative provides the best author platform for instructors to create interactive and adaptive content in only a few clicks.   More Videos from Educative Sessions: https://www.youtube.com/c/EducativeSessions/   Episode #74: "'Timing' in Building a Hardware Design Startup" with Kevin Mako | Educative Sessions

Innovation leads to prospects of growth and advancements in all facets of life. Kevin Mako wants to ensure he's doing all he can to ensure innovation remains the mother of all invention. Mako is the Founder and President of MAKO Design + Invent, the pioneer firm for providing world-class end-to-end physical consumer product development tailored to inventors, product startups, and small manufacturers. Est 1999, Mako Design is a 30-person team with offices in Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto, has developed over 1,000 products for clients. Mako joined me this week to tell me how his company is remaining on the cutting edge of Innovation and ingenuity. For more information: https://www.makodesign.com/ Twitter: @MakoInvent Instagram: @makoinvent Twitter: @KevMako LinkedIn: @KevinMako

Kevin Mako is the Founder of MAKO Design + Invent, a product development firm that provides end-to-end physical consumer product development. What really sets Kevin's company apart is that it's tailored to inventors, product startups, and small manufacturers. Mako Design is a 30-person team with offices in Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto, has developed over 1,000 products for clients and has earned over 25 design and business awards including Red Dot, Inc5000, Entrepreneur360, Indigo Gold, Creative Pool Gold, Best Places to Work, Lux Magazine Best Design Firm in North America, and many others. Kevin lectures at the Masters of Engineering program at Ryerson University, sits on a number of entrepreneurship and education boards, and holds the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award designation. He is the host of The Product Startup Podcast, the hardware development industry's leading podcast.The Being An Engineer podcast is brought to you by Pipeline Design & Engineering. Pipeline partners with medical & other device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment such as cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, automation equipment, assembly jigs, inspection stations and more. You can find us on the web at www.teampipeline.us. Books/Resources recommended for hardware inventors:  1)          The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone2)          The Common Path to Uncommon Success: A Roadmap to Financial Freedom and Fulfillment3)          Mako blog: https://www.makodesign.com/blog/Co-Host Rafael Testai

https://www.makodesign.com/podcast/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevmako/

Kevin Mako is a leading expert on hardware startups.  He is the Founder of MAKO Design + Invent, the pioneer firm for providing world-class end-to-end physical consumer product development tailored to inventors, product startups, and small manufacturers.  Est 1999, Mako Design is a 30-person team with offices in Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto, has developed over 1,000 products for clients and has earned over 25 design and business awards including Red Dot, Inc5000, Entrepreneur360, Indigo Gold, Creative Pool Gold, Best Places to Work, Lux Magazine Best Design Firm in North America, and many others.  Kevin lectures at the Masters of Engineering program at Ryerson University, sits on a number of entrepreneurship and education boards and holds the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award designation. He is the host of The Product Startup Podcast, the hardware development industry's leading podcast.

President of MAKO Design and Invent, Est1999, the first company providing world-class end-to-end physical consumer product development tailored to startups, small manufacturers, & home inventors. Host of The Product Startup Podcast. Top 3 Value Bombs: 1. Prioritize energy. Everyday, put in a little bit of effort to the most important things of getting your product launch, and you'll get tremendous drive over the coming months. 2. The number one thing when you think about developing your product is FOCUS! In hardware, it is important because it is difficult at the end of the development cycle to make quick adjustments if you haven't focused. 3. Crowdfunding is a phenomenal tool for hardware startups. You are putting your finished product prototype and have people who are interested in these to pre-purchase your product, then use the money to fund the production run. Get a FREE product consultation, a design and engineering review, and get personally mentored by Kevin Mako for any hardware startup that hires MakoDesign - One Time Offer for Fire Nation Sponsors: HubSpot: Listen, learn, and grow with the HubSpot Podcast Network at HubSpot.com/podcastnetwork! BLUblox: Get 20% off BLUblox blue light blocking glasses at BLUblox.com/fire or enter code FIRE20 at check out!

President of MAKO Design and Invent, Est1999, the first company providing world-class end-to-end physical consumer product development tailored to startups, small manufacturers, & home inventors. Host of The Product Startup Podcast. Top 3 Value Bombs: 1. Prioritize energy. Everyday, put in a little bit of effort to the most important things of getting your product launch, and you’ll get tremendous drive over the coming months. 2. The number one thing when you think about developing your product is FOCUS! In hardware, it is important because it is difficult at the end of the development cycle to make quick adjustments if you haven’t focused. 3. Crowdfunding is a phenomenal tool for hardware startups. You are putting your finished product prototype and have people who are interested in these to pre-purchase your product, then use the money to fund the production run. Get a FREE product consultation, a design and engineering review, and get personally mentored by Kevin Mako for any hardware startup that hires MakoDesign - One Time Offer for Fire Nation Sponsors: HubSpot: Listen, learn, and grow with the HubSpot Podcast Network at HubSpot.com/podcastnetwork! BLUblox: Get 20% off BLUblox blue light blocking glasses at BLUblox.com/fire or enter code FIRE20 at check out!

In part 3 of our Masterclass Series on "Building a Strategic Marketing Plan for Your Business," host Eric Dickmann talks with Kevin Mako, Founder and President of MAKO Design + Invent and host of The Product Startup podcast, about finding product-market fit and competitive differentiation for your products and services.Kevin Mako is the Founder and President of MAKO Design + Invent, the pioneer firm for providing world-class end-to-end physical consumer product development tailored to inventors, product startups, and small manufacturers.  Est 1999, Mako Design is a 30-person team with offices in Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto, has developed over 1,000 products for clients, and has earned over 20 awards including Red Dot, Inc5000, Entrepreneur360, Indigo Gold, Creative Pool Gold, Best Places to Work, Lux Magazine Best Design Firm in North America, and many others.Kevin lectures at the Masters of Engineering program at Ryerson University is the host of the Product Startup podcast and is a keynote for The Make48 TV Show on PBS & Amazon Prime. He sits on a number of entrepreneurship and education boards, invests in small service-based businesses, and holds the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award designation.For additional resources on this episode and from our other episodes in this Masterclass Series, visit https://fiveechelon.com/masterclassFor more information about Eric Dickmann and The Five Echelon Group, visit https://fiveechelon.com/For more information about Kevin Mako and Mako Design + Invent, visit https://https://www.makodesign.com and to listen to The Product Startup Podcast, visit https://www.productstartup.com/Episode #54Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREEMarketing Automation with HubSpot Try HubSpot's all-in-one marketing software to simplify campaign management and drive new leads.Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

SEGMENT 1: A lot of small business owners grapple with the same issue: when does my business outgrow an early accounting solution like Quickbooks? We'll show you when it may be time to put in a new system, such as an ERP system, that can grow with your business exponentially. Here to help is the co-founder and EVP of Oracle NetSuite, Evan Goldberg.SEGMENT 2: One of the biggest risks facing our businesses and our society is health care. It's becoming so expensive that less and less people can afford it, especially those with chronic conditions. How can we use technology to take better care of people? Here to help is one of Chicago's leading entrepreneurs, Glen Tullman, Executive Chairman of Livongo.SEGMENT 3: Let's say you had a great idea for a product, you produced a prototype, you made some changes, you manufactured it… now how do you actually get it out into the world? Kevin Mako, founder of Mako Design and Invent is here to walk us through the process.Sponsored by LinkedIn, Nextiva, Corporate Direct, MAKO and Web.com

SEGMENT 1: If you are going to be an entrepreneur, one of the (many) things you have to get good at is negotiation. But the startup environment is different from other business environments and this impacts the entrepreneur's ability to negotiate. Here to sort it all out and help us succeed is the co-author of the book “Entrepreneurial Negotiation” Samuel Dinnar. He is also an instructor at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School.SEGMENT 2: Let's say you have a great idea for a product and now you have to produce a prototype to see what it is going to look like in real life… Where do you start? Kevin Mako, founder of Mako Design and Invent is here to walk us through the process. Mako Design and Invent is a product development firm that helps inventors and startups bring their invention ideas to life. SEGMENT 3: Collecting payments owed by customers is something that small business owners struggle with all the time. When should they call the customer? Who should do the calls? What do they do with chargebacks? We show small businesses how to set up a process to collect payments from their customers so they can actually get the money they earned. Ohad Samet is the co-founder and CEO of TrueAccord, seeking to put a human face on debt collections using machine learning and behavioral analytics. Ohad headed fraud analytics for FraudSciences, a company that provided eCommerce fraud prevention and was acquired by PayPal in 2008. At PayPal, Ohad incubated and ran the New Ventures Risk team. Sponsored by LinkedIn, Nextiva, Corporate Direct, MAKO and Web.com

Segment 1: What is it really like to succeed as a woman in the toughest business environment in the world – Silicon Valley? We dive into stories of women in Silicon Valley navigating interactions with their predominately male colleagues and the choices they made that paved their way to success. Julian Guthrie spent twenty years at the San Francisco Chronicle, where she won numerous awards and had her writing nominated multiple times for the Pulitzer Prize. She is the author of “ALPHA GIRLS: The Women Upstarts Who Took on Silicon Valley's Male Culture and Made the Deals of a Lifetime”. ALPHA GIRLS is being adapted for television by Academy Award-winning producer Cathy Schulman.Segment 2: Big data has been a buzz word that small business owners have heard about for a long time. But can small business owners actually use it? Our next guest says yes. We show you how small businesses can use machine learning and advanced analytics to help their company. Alex Bordei is the VP of Product and Engineering at Lentiq, a Chicago-based company offering a multi-cloud, production-scale data lake as a service platform. He has over ten years of experience in building cloud products as Head of Product Management at Lentiq.Segment 3: Just about everyone has had an idea for a new product. But how do you go from having an idea to having an actual product that consumers want to buy? We talk to the founder of a product development company about what you need to know to bring your invention to life. Kevin Mako is the founder of Mako Design and Invent, a product development firm that helps inventors and startups bring their invention ideas to life. Kevin's strong sense of community building enabled him to collaborate with Shark Tank's Robert Herjavec, Cobie Smulders, PepsiCo and Frito Lay to develop a nationwide competition called Dreamvention for young inventors. Sponsored by Nextiva, Corporate Direct, MAKO and Web.com

How badly do you want success? For some entrepreneurs, the desire isn't as powerful because when things get hard, excuses and other distractions get in their way and before you know it, their businesses are no more. Our guest today, Kevin Mako, who is the founder of Mako Design + Invent which is a successful service consumer product development firm that has offices in Toronto and Austin, Texas, has seen the cost of not being motivated to achieve. But, through his experiences, he's also witnessed a commonality among all the winners - their willingness to hustle. Without it, you don't create opportunities. You're hoping for them. If you're an achiever like Kevin, that's not an option. During this interview, you'll learn... Why taking action, instead of letting fear paralyze you, will get you farther in business Why procrastination is the ultimate killer of an enterprise The importance of being an expert at what you do and not letting distractions block you To find out more about Kevin and MAKO Design visit https://www.thebusinessofthoughtleadership.com/.