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Product Startup (Kevin Mako of MAKO Design + Invent)

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02 Feb 2021061: 5 Sales Channels a Home Inventor Mom Used to Launch Her Invention00:20:03

Alison is the inventor and founder of Clasp Magic, a consumer product to help users with putting on bracelets one-handed. Alison came up with the invention idea, got it developed, and then hit the ground running by using 5 different product sales channels and strategies to really make sure her product succeeded.  We explore what those channels were, and how to win in them.  Clasp Magic is now sold all over the world.  Today’s episode is about how to succeed in launching your new product, from the perspective of a home inventor, loving wife, and mother of 4.

You’ll hear Kevin and Alison talk about:

  • Being your brand - Take your product everywhere.
  • The 5 sales channels Alison used to ensure her product invention launch was a big success.
  • Best practices for successfully executing in each of those 5 sales channels.
  • Crowdfunding through platforms such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo.


Episode Links

The Product Startup Podcast Links:


 

Alison Brett / Clasp Magic Links:


 

Mako Design Links:


 

Kevin Mako’s Links:

17 Nov 2021102: How Students Start Successful Hardware Businesses00:26:31

Scott Evans is the Director of Inventionworks at the University of Texas, just a few blocks away from our Mako Design Austin office. Inventionworks is a 23,000 square foot product design and development facility with lots of fun machines and a team of 40 experts to help get student inventions off the ground. In addition, Scott has spent 25 years in the prototyping and product manufacturing industry. Today Scott is going to share some valuable knowledge on how student inventors and startups can start their invention idea journey, and how to maximize the value of what colleges and universities have to offer. And today isn’t just about students, but also how anyone in the industry can get involved with their local schools both to help and to learn from them.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • Look around campus (student to student, faculty, entrepreneurial programs)
  • Product development in combination with an entrepreneurial mindset
  • How can people in the community be helpful for universities hardware incubators
  • Continuous learning, regress back to the role of a student to learn
  • Blur the lines between education and professional practice


EPISODE LINKS

Scott Evans / Inventionworks Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:



Kevin Mako Links:

21 Jul 2021085: Scaling Your Product Up After Crowdfunding00:32:29

Ben Drury is the Founder of Yoto Play, a connected hardware toy product for kids.  Yoto just recently raised $17 million in Series A financing.  Before that, Yoto launched their physical product via a successful crowdfunding campaign.  Today Ben is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers grow and scale their products after they finish their crowdfunding campaign in order to get to big time worldwide sales.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • Going from 750 units to 50,000 units.
  • Launching via crowdfunding.
  • Start with a starter product as a stepping stone scaling.
  • Using crowdfunding success to scale after a campaign.
  • Use crowdfunding to learn, it’s far better than traditional test marketing.
  • Think about leveraging your hardware to sell secondary add-ons.
  • Be connected with your first customers, get a few units out there, then use this traction to raise funding.
  • Using the crowdfunding success and feedback to create a better product for your next version, and figure out how to make it cheaper now that you can produce at scale.
  • Give a big discount to your Version 1 customers to get them to Version 2.


EPISODE LINKS

Ben Drury / Yoto Play Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:


 

Mako Design Links:

16 Feb 2023163: 2023 Trends in Product Development for Hardware Products00:26:25

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 |

07 Sep 2023192: The Importance of Building a Community for Your Hardware Startup00:19:48

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 |

01 Sep 2023191: How to Grow Your Crowdfunding Sales00:18:46

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 | 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 |

20 Jun 2024231: Selling Your Invention on Your Own Website Starting from Zero00:23:24

Hamdy Albana is the founder of Push Analytics, a sustainable growth-centred marketing agency focused on leveraging data to propel brands from inception to millions in sales. Additionally, bolstered by a robust education in electrical engineering at NYU, he possesses a wealth of knowledge salient to hardware startup business owners. Today, Hamdy will share the benefits and nuances of selling products directly on one's own website as opposed to through online marketplaces like Amazon with today's inventors, startups, and small manufacturers. He will also highlight the two most critical aspects of launching a new social media marketing campaign to attract potential customers to your site and divulge best practices for optimizing return on ad spend, enabling you to swiftly and successfully scale your new product business.

Click this link for This Episode's Full Info Page: https://www.makodesign.com/podcast/231-selling-your-invention-on-your-own-website-starting-from-zero/

Key Takeaways in This Episode:

  • How to scale your brand from securing your first few sales to millions of dollars in revenue using your own website to sell directly to end customers.

  • Squarespace, Shopify, and other popular website building and hosting platforms are great options for building your D2C site.

  • The biggest advantage of selling through your own website is that you own all of the customer contact and relationship info.

  • Social media ads are great for getting new prospective customers to your custom website.

  • Interest is the key part to identify when pinpointing your target audience.

  • The second most important part of your campaign is your content. It provides different types of messaging that explain your product’s value proposition.

  • Look for clear signs by analyzing the metrics on each type of ad to know if you’re moving in the right direction.

  • Use your ad dollars in the early stages to learn what is working and not working to ensure you are continually improving.

  • 50 orders is a notable learning point! You can feed the customer info into Meta's system, and the algorithm will help you find new customers.

  • Scale, troubleshoot, repeat! This strategy will allow for continuous growth.

  • Start with $50 per day in ad spend and increase the amount after your first few orders come in.

  • Focus on a large geography rather than a small region to let the algorithm find where the most efficient and aligned sales are for you.

MAKO Design + Invent: www.makodesign.com

 

Kevin Mako: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevmako

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 

01 Apr 2021069: PhD & Harvard Grad on the 4 Ps of Product Marketing00:33:09

James is the author of the book Ramping Your Brand, which helps high-growth consumer product companies accelerate their growth.  He also has his Ph.D. in Anthropology aka Human Behaviour from the University of Wisconsin, and was a Harvard Grad before that.  Today James is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can use best practices in marketing to rapidly scale their product business - Specifically, we are going through the four Ps of marketing for hardware startups.


EPISODE LINKS

The Product Startup Podcast Links:


 

James Richardson:


 

Mako Design Links:


 

Kevin Mako’s Links:


 

Thanks for tuning in! See you next time.

28 Mar 2024219: Hiring Your First Team Members at a Hardware Startup00:19:24

Kevin Lavelle, the Co-Founder and CEO of Mizzen + Main, a renowned men's apparel company that has its products distributed in hundreds of outlets and boasts 10 thriving retail stores, has embarked on a new venture: Harbor. Harbor is a pioneering pediatric device startup that recently secured $3.7 million in seed funding. Today, Kevin shares the insight he gained while successfully scaling his product business by imparting modern inventors, startups, and small-scale manufacturers with tips for hiring your very first team members and expounding upon the quintessential attributes to seek in inaugural hires in the hardware startup realm. He delves into discerning characteristics that hold significance, dispelling common misconceptions, and underscores the paramount importance of never sacrificing quality within the consumer product domain.

Click this link for This Episode's Full Info Page: https://www.makodesign.com/podcast/219-hiring-your-first-team-members-at-a-hardware-startup/

Key Takeaways in This Episode:

  • What foremost principles are the most important to prioritize when hiring?

  • Can your potential hire survive in a fast-paced entrepreneurial environment?

  • People from large organizations are not typically great fits for very early-stage hardware startup businesses.

  • Can this hire operate without a team and spearhead decision-making on their own?

  • Get to know a potential hire beyond just one interview.

  • Does your potential hire fundamentally understand what they are getting into in joining a hardware startup?

  • Knowledge gained on the job is an intangible benefit of working for a startup that can also outweigh the compensation.

  • Never sacrifice your quality when developing a hardware product!

  • Avoid feature creep in early-stage startups!

MAKO Design + Invent: www.makodesign.com

 

Kevin Mako: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevmako

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 

12 Oct 2023197: Go From Hardware Startup to Scale Up00:23:48

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...

08 Apr 2021070: Financing & Acquisition for Product Companies00:32:02

Joe is both a CPA and a lawyer from the manufacturing sector.  He has worked with many emerging and established manufacturing operations, including a major turnaround of Jefferson Electric, which went on to go public.  Since then, Joe has spent the past 10 years research how to financially scale hardware companies and is now working to launch Dream Exchange, a way for small companies to go public.   Today Joe is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers think ahead to how they will finance and scale their product, but also what an acquisition or go-to-public exit looks like, and why it’s always good to think about that soon in the product startup journey.


EPISODE LINKS

The Product Startup Podcast Links:


 

Joe Cecala / Dream Exchange Links:


 

Mako Design Links:


 

Kevin Mako’s Links:


 

Thanks for tuning in! See you next time.

23 Feb 2021064: Preparing and Executing Your Product's First Production Run00:26:06

Mike ran a design firm in Hong Kong back in the 90s, then was a Senior Industrial Design Lead at Sunbeam, before contributing as a Design Manager at Hewlett Packard and, subsequently, spending 10 years with Dell running their entire business desktops design division. He has made over 50 trips to China for manufacturing sourcing and has consulted dozens of hardware startups on overseas production. He is also a mentor at Techstars and Capital Factory. Today, Mike is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can best plan for and optimally execute their first overseas manufacturing run. 

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • Great manufacturing starts with great design.
  • Don’t try and do it all as a hardware startup.
  • Have a boots-on-the-ground relationship with your factory overseas.
  • You may be able to work with good factories when you have strong connections.
  • What to think about in regards to financing your product development and manufacturing.


Episode Links

The Product Startup Podcast Links:


 

Mike Morton Links:


 

Mako Design Links:


 

Kevin Mako’s Links:


 

Thanks for tuning in! See you next time.

01 Dec 2021104: Medical Device Certification vs Wellness Device00:23:42

Bryon Bhagwandin is a 20-year medical device entrepreneur with over a half dozen products in the market. He has won a number of awards, including the Top100 in R&D Magazine. He also has a PhD from the University of Washington in Medical Devices and Hardware. Today Bryon is going to share some valuable knowledge for hardware startups, inventors, and small manufacturers on the difference between a medical device and a wellness device, and if going the medical device route, what are the steps and best practices to get certified.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • The difference between medical devices and a wellness device
  • What are the benefits of a medical device (you can’t market into the clinical space without FDA approval)
  • Benefits of a wellness device over a medical device
  • What are the steps to get cleared as a medical device
  • Safety
  • Efficacy processes / user data of the prototypes
  • Manufacturing process
  • If you are already in the market with a wellness device, create a new improved medical version of the device.


EPISODE LINKS

Bryon Bhagwandin Link:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:



Kevin Mako Links:

02 Mar 2023165: Iterative Design Processes & Tools for Hardware Development00:23:10

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:

09 Feb 2022113: How Founders Develop Complex Hardware Products00:20:17

Bob Christopher is the founder of Pleo, a massively successful robot dinosaur kids toy with hundreds of parts. This is one of his many products and product companies over a long and successful history in the product innovation world. He was also the director of innovation at Panasonic, and sits on a number of advisory boards at hardware accelerators. Today Bob is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can understand what it takes to design and develop complicated mechanical and/or electronic consumer products, with many development lessons he has learned along the way.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • Being close with your design and development team
  • Engineering for half full, not half empty
  • Define what the end experience should be
  • Test and refine
  • Prove your worth to the manufacturers
  • Ensure your different types of designers work together
  • Be willing to learn, both the founder, and the designers
  • Build and break your prototypes
  • Listen to your stakeholders, especially further down the development process before you go to market.
  • The journey is part of the fun


EPISODE LINKS

Bob Christopher / Pleo Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:



Kevin Mako Links:

09 Mar 2022117: Successful Equity Crowdfunding for Hardware Startups00:26:29

Peter-Paul Van Hoeken is the Founder of FrontFundr, one of North America’s top platforms for equity crowdfunding for startups and small scaling businesses. He is a TEDx speaker on Investment Crowdfunding, is a member of the Securities Commission, and is an advisor to both the Private Capital Markets Association and the National Crowdfunding and Fintech Association. Simply put, Peter-Paul is the person to talk to when it comes to crowdfunding capital for a hardware startup. Today, he is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can use crowdfunded equity platforms to raise capital to grow a hardware product business.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • The difference between equity crowdfunding and product crowdfunding
  • Equity funding requires work, which starts with prep.
  • Throughout the campaign, continue to talk to your potential updates via updates.
  • Ideally you have a great product to show, but even better, show some sales.
  • Post campaign, it is important to keep your community excited by keeping them up to date with what is going on.
  • Create trust with your audience by being honest with your progress.
  • Reach as many people as possible through a platform
  • Build and leverage your community, be clear on your key messages with your product, choose the right media to amplify your message, organize events, identify influencers within your industry.


EPISODE LINKS

Peter-Paul Van Hoeken / FrontFundr Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:

24 May 2024227: How to Sell Your Invention Direct to Companies as a Promotional Product00:22:17

Jeff Lerner is the CEO of Misnomer, a Fractional Chief Marketing Officer and Brand Development Agency. He boasts an impressive career, having collectively raised $400 million through venture capitalists and formerly served as a marketing lead at Google for several years. Today, Jeff will draw on his extensive experience to afford insight to inventors, startups, and small manufacturers looking to sell their inventions directly to larger corporations for promotional use. He will detail effective strategies for identifying how your product can impactfully enhance a corporation's value or improve operations, as well as the various types of promotional products that new product startups and inventors often overlook and their varied applications.

Click this link for This Episode's Full Info Page: https://www.makodesign.com/podcast/227-how-to-sell-your-invention-direct-to-companies-as-a-promotional-product/

Key Takeaways in This Episode:

  • How does selling your product to companies as a promotional product differ from D2C sales?

  • There are multiple avenues you can take to get your promotional product sold to larger companies. 

  • Find the one person in your target organization that encounters the problem your product solves. Make this person look like a hero by bringing that solution to their team.

  • Reach out to various members within the company to gain an understanding of the overarching organizational situation and evaluate how your product or service can solve large issues.

  • How does your product improve the value of the organization?

  • How does your product add value to their sales process? Every company wants more business and greater revenue.

  • There are a number of creative ways to determine how your product fits into the promotional products landscape of a corporation.

  • If your product is new, you have an advantage in that it is unique and has never been seen before. However, the disadvantage is that you will need to educate the customer as to why they need it.

  • If your product is an improved version of an existing product, it will likely be easier to educate potential customers and thus sell.

  • Start by selling locally through networking groups or local trade shows; you will be surprised at how many you find.

MAKO Design + Invent: www.makodesign.com

 

Kevin Mako: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevmako

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, 

27 Jul 2022134: How to Sell Your Hardware Product B2B00:34:16

Bill Dickinson has spent over 35 years selling business to business, building sales teams, and working with CEOs on optimizing their sales processes for many hardware suppliers. From building access machines to communication equipment to IT components, Bill has helped build a number of companies to multi-millions in new sales. Today Bill is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers should apply sales to getting your product going, start with your first sales hire or sales partner, and scale your product business through sales teams, especially when selling to other business like retailers, distributors, and wholesalers.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • Sales is critical to any hardware start-up or scale-up, from selling yourself, selling the business, selling 
  • Hiring for personality is better than hiring for product or industry knowledge
  • What type of product are you selling
  • What methods are you going to use to sell
  • Sellers need a quality product, at a fair price, that has great service and/or support.
  • Before you start selling, first ensure you have a need.
  • Timing, luck, and skill, in that order, when doing cold calling.
  • Make sure you have a product that is at least a little bit different, and unique.
  • Spend time and effort finding detailed lists.
  • Relationship selling. Build credibility and trust early, and in a small way.
  • If you can make the purchaser’s life simpler, they will buy a lot more, and more new products
  • 3 sales streams - Straight sales, existing customer sales, and business development
  • Some new, existing, and future.
  • More connections to a buyer, the higher the probability of an eventual sale.


EPISODE LINKS

Bill Dickinson Link:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:

02 May 2024224: Expanding Your Product Into New Verticals00:16:52

Danny Angers, one of the pioneering Co-Founders of VOSKER cameras, uncovered something fascinating regarding how users were employing their products and used it to his advantage to expand his brand substantially. In just 5 years, VOSKER has grown to achieve an astounding $150 million in annual sales across 45 countries and boasts the distribution of over 2 million devices worldwide. Today, Danny graciously affords budding inventors, startups, and small-scale manufacturers insight into his experience scaling VOSKER. He will delve into the efficacy of listening to your customers to inform the product iteration phase in order to boost the satisfaction of existing clients and identify verticals that you may not have explored without external insight.

Click this link for This Episode's Full Info Page: https://www.makodesign.com/podcast/224-expanding-your-product-into-new-verticals/

Key Takeaways in This Episode:

  • Listen to your existing and prospective customers! Oftentimes, your clients will tell you what they need from your product.

  • Innovation starts coming in from the client.

  • The way you help your customers help you is by asking them how they are using your product.

  • As a new hardware startup, you have the liberty to aggressively reach out to your initial customers.

  • When your customer base increases, you can start sampling a portion of it to get a better idea of who the customers are.

  • Send customers who send you positive feedback the next version of your product that is designed to help a specific customer persona.

  • Around half of your customers will respond to outreach, which is more than enough.

  • Ensure that you listen to customers when customizing the product for each new vertical that you have identified as an opportunity.

  • You don’t necessarily need to create a product for every vertical.

  • Focus on an MVP at every stage, and ensure each level is successful so that you can piggyback off that success.

  • Failure is a key part of the process to success as well!

MAKO Design + Invent: www.makodesign.com

 

Kevin Mako: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevmako

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, 

10 Aug 2022136: Selling a New Physical Product with Google Ads00:32:05

Jem Bourouh is a Partner at Accelerated, one of Europe’s leading direct-to-consumer e-commerce advertising agencies. Jem has won many awards, and has had 7 products hit 7 figures in sales in just the first 30 days of their campaigns. Today Jem is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on the different types of Google advertising for a new hardware product, the structure and tools needed to launch your first campaign, and tips for maximizing the success and growth of your Google ads campaigns to sell directly to end customers.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • The many types of Google ads channels
  • How can people sell things via Google ads
  • Transactional campaign
  • Navigational campaign
  • Informational campaign
  • Why Google Ads
  • Start with keyword recommendations
  • What do you need to sell on Google Ads
  • Google Quality Score for hardware products
  • Landing Page Experience
  • Expected Click-Through Rate
  • Ad rank for your ad
  • Top of funnel, middle of funnel, bottom of funnel
  • What are some trends happening today with Google adwords for physical hardware products
  • Once you figure out these tools, you have a huge competitive advantage.
  • Start with a low budget, experiment, and continue refining.


EPISODE LINKS

Jem Bourouh / Accelerated Agency Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:



Kevin Mako Links:

  • ...
16 Nov 2022150: Building Product Prototypes with Your Design Team00:17:26

Robert Irwin is currently the lead industrial designer for Origyn LLC, an external R&D partner of the multinational company Haier. He was the past Senior INdusdtrial Designer at Amazon for their shopping cart products. He is also a fellow lecturer in the design industry. Today Robert is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can first understand how to manage your product design and prototyping team, then work with them to develop physical prototypes to perfect your product for both manufacturing and the end-customer.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • Empathy in the design process with various stakeholders
  • Listening to your potential customer, but also to your design team and other product development stakeholders.
  • Be careful about compartmentalizing features, they need to all come together via a hardware product prototype.
  • Iterative loop in design, engineering, and prototyping your hardware product
  • Good prototyping relies on great design, and design that is done right to start with.
  • After a professionally built CAD design is done as far as you can push it, then build a physical prototype of the invention, but keep that first prototype relatively rough and simple, such as through 3D printing.
  • You don’t need to make a fully functional prototype to start getting feedback
  • Never skip the iterative process in developing the product, and ensure to use multiple prototypes that increase in complexity and quality as you get closer to manufacturing.
  • You are de-risking the failure of the product by properly developing your product.
  • Fail early and fail often


EPISODE LINKS

Robert Irwin Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:

23 Mar 2021068: Partnership & Funding Legal Considerations for Product Startups00:38:47

Brett is the President of Goodlawyer, a law firm tailored specifically to startups.  Today Brett is going to share some valuable knowledge on business law considerations for when starting and scaling a hardware startup.  There’s two main fields of law for a hardware startup, one, is the intellectual property protection, aka patent law, and the second is business legal issues, things such as partner agreements, Non-disclosures, financing agreements - Today, we’re talking about the latter, legal considerations of your product business itself.  What legal considerations should you be making, but almost more importantly, what legal things should you not be spending big bucks on.

EPISODE LINKS

The Product Startup Podcast Links:


 

Brett Colvin / Goodlawyer Links:


 

Mako Design Links:


 

Kevin Mako’s Links:

24 Nov 2021103: How to Get a New Product’s First B2B Sales00:27:11

Patrick Daly is the author of the book Just Start Up. He has built over 20 products from invention idea to market over the past 25 years. Today Patrick is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can get their first products sold by selling directly to other businesses such as wholesalers, retailers, distributors, or other brands, and then how to accelerate your ongoing product development and sales through those channels.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • How do you start selling B2B (Networks and referrals)
  • Watch out for exclusive deals, they are great, but there are ways to protect yourself
  • Speed is critical (startups should be speed boats) Speed boats vs Super Tankers
  • Retain your identity, even with licensing or white label sales
  • Only then, switch to reaching out to cold prospects, but do it via phone
  • Think of innovation at all levels (Different Selling Point)
  • Listening to your buyers
  • Planning forward
  • Connecting engineering with sales


EPISODE LINKS

Patrick Daly / Just Start Up Book Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:



Kevin Mako Links:

09 Feb 2021062: Smoothing the Buying Process When Marketing Your New Product00:35:08

Eric is the President of The Five Echelon Group, a full-stack marketing agency.  He is also the host of the Virtual CMO Podcast which educates businesses on how to maximize their marketing and messaging efforts.  With 30 years as a marketing executive, Eric today is going to tell us how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers should market their new product, and how to cut out all potential resistance points along your potential customer’s buying process.

You’ll hear Kevin and Eric talk about:

  • How to market your new product in the modern world.
  • How to perfect your product's marketing message.
  • Best practices for smoothing out the buying process for product purchasers.
  • And more.


Episode Links

The Product Startup Podcast Links:


 

Eric Dickmann / Virtual CMO Podcast / Five Echelon Links:


 

Mako Design Links:


 

Kevin Mako’s Links:

18 May 2023176: How Hardware Founders Should Represent Their Product00:14:25

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

23 Feb 2023164: The 3 Prototyping Phases for New Product Development00:38:00

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:

12 Jan 2024209: Materials Research for Consumer Product Design00:15:33

Ori Yudilevich is the CTO of Materials Zone, a materials information platform for hardware product development. He has a Ph.D. in Mathematics in the field of differential geometry and served as a Lecturer in the realm of higher education for over 15 years before transitioning into the industry. Today, Ori will share valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on why materials research is so important to the hardware product design process, burgeoning trends in materials science, and how to ensure you select the right materials to streamline manufacturing and maximize the efficacy of product marketing.

Here are the key takeaways from the episode:

  • Materials are in everything!
  • The product development process for all products requires a lot of research into materials.
  • Materials research is core to achieving progress with your invention idea.
  • Materials selection is an integral component of hardware development and is often overlooked by non-designers.
  • Materials selection is much like selecting ingredients when cooking. You can cut corners to minimize cost, but it will ultimately be noticeable to the consumers!
  • How to choose materials that best align with your product's purpose and the process of making those materials.
  • Materials are evolving, so it is important to remain up-to-date on the best materials available today.
  • Sustainable materials selection is a big trend right now!
  • Your customers are looking at what your product is made of, so carefully thought-out materials selection will boost its success beyond the manufacturing process.
  • The supply chain is a critical consideration, so it is best to choose materials that have supply flexibility.
  • Researching materials regulations according to your location is key, as certain rules need to be adhered to depending on the country you are selling in.
  • Think of materials selection from a manufacturing perspective and a product sales (customer) perspective.


Ori Yudilevich Links:

LinkedIn | Materials Zone


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...

11 May 2023175: Raising Hardware Funding via an Angel Investor00:20:52

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

30 May 2024228: How to Build a Digital Community Before Launching Your Invention00:15:23

Jon Davids, acclaimed for his book "Marketing Superpowers: Build a Brand So Good That Your Marketing Feels Like Magic," is the driving force behind Influicity. Having stood at the helm as Founder and CEO for over a decade, he has expertly guided hundreds of brands in fostering vibrant digital communities. Today, Jon will generously afford insight into the key pillars of developing a digital community for your new product venture to inform modern inventors, startups, and small manufacturers. He will share when is the best time to begin community-building efforts and effective strategies for generating momentum even before your product's official launch.

Click this link for This Episode's Full Info Page: https://www.makodesign.com/podcast/228-how-to-build-a-digital-community-before-launching-your-invention/

Key Takeaways in This Episode:

  • What aspect of your product do you believe in? Is it the solution it offers or the way it improves your life? You need to establish Faith in this with your customers.

  • Action is the next step after Faith. Use what you believe and the experts who support this belief to establish trust when promoting your product.

  • You don't need to become a content creator. Create content in the form that you are best suited for.

  • Authenticity is the most important thing, and it’s very easy to do as an inventor.

  • Consistency in your messaging is important! Keep repeating the message over and over.

  • Show customers where the payoff is from following your single belief.

  • If you don’t have anything to sell just yet, then encourage consumers to follow along your journey through a blog, newsletter or social media channel.

  • Become an undeniable authority in your specific space.

  • Celebrities don’t just sell products because they are famous, they are successful with their hardware products because they build loyal communities.

MAKO Design + Invent: www.makodesign.com

 

Kevin Mako: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevmako

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, 

28 Jan 2024211: Establishing Product Manufacturing Operations00:21:20

Nikhil Joshi is the founder of SNic Solutions, a company he has run for 17 years helping scale product manufacturing operations.  He has worked with almost 150 factories across 12 countries.  Today Nikhil will share valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on how manufacturing has changed, the opportunities that exist, and how to ensure you properly plan for complex manufacturing as a hardware startup.

Here are the key takeaways from the episode:

  • The manufacturing process is drastically different now than it was even 30 years ago.
  • Modern consumers seek custom-tailored products that are designed very specifically for them.
  • The goal is to try to produce a smaller variety of items in the manufacturing process, but it is integral to be more efficient in order to accomplish this.
  • Try not to customize and scale at the same time unless you can adopt a business model that can support that level of customization.
  • Talk directly to your end customers, even if you are selling through middle players!
  • Be agile and flexible, and give the end customer what they want, but at a good price.
  • Agility, speed, and efficiency are key! Smaller companies will often push these demands to contract manufacturing.
  • Go from working in silos to developing your own web of information and technology - from ideation through to industrial product design - then begin manufacturing, and then place your focus back on the customer.
  • You can reduce the time it takes to get to the manufacturing stage when you start considering manufacturing at the design level.
  • Spearheading comprehensive design, then engineering, then manufacturing is the most logical progression!


Nikhil Joshi Links:

LinkedIn | SNic Solutions


The Product Startup Podcast Links:

https://www.ProductStartup.com/

Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube


MAKO Design + Invent 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....

19 Jan 2024210: Using Ad Funnels for D2C Product Sales00:17:42

Taylor Frame is the Co-Founder of Focus Funnels, a direct-to-consumer marketing agency that has been around for over 8 years and successfully collaborated with hundreds of businesses. Prior to this venture, he drove direct-to-consumer product sales for prominent brands, including The Gap, J.Crew, and Adobe. Today, Taylor will share the extensive knowledge he has amassed throughout his time in the product sales space integral to inventors, startups, and small manufacturers. In particular, he will detail the four core pillars of a direct-to-consumer funnel, how to ensure a sales funnel is built correctly, and the best practices physical product startups seeking to launch their first consumer product online should employ to maximize their success. 

Here are the key takeaways from the episode:

  • What are the frameworks for bringing new hardware to market?
  • Positioning is how your product is differentiated in the market.
  • Placement is key! Put time into researching where your audience is spending their time online.
  • Have a good understanding of what your audience cares about.
  • A focused acquisition funnel is always best!
  • Strive to achieve a customer journey that persuades someone to buy something.
  • What are the three critical aspects of delivery for ads?
  • Content is about your core pillars; build content that aligns with them to effectively sell the value of your product.
  • Once you have content developed, get it out there fast!
  • Paid ads versus organic ads.
  • The barrier to entry on sales has been lower than ever recently, making it easy to get in front of eyeballs.
  • A key step is to ensure that when someone clicks on your content, you have a product landing page that promotes the product's value.
  • Keep your advertising simple, as if you’re talking to a friend about their problem and your solution.
  • Keep your ads simple at the beginning, and then begin to test more complex pieces of content.
  • Test 3 or 4 different types of ads every week or two.
  • It is better to have more information on your website to ensure your page tells a whole story.
  • Startups have a sizeable competitive advantage over big box retailers, as they have authenticity behind their product!


Taylor Frame Links:

LinkedIn | Focus Funnels


The Product Startup Podcast Links:

https://www.ProductStartup.com/

Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube


MAKO Design + Invent Links:

https://www.makodesign.com/

YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter


Kevin Mako Links:

Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora |

13 Jul 2023184: The Value of Low-Volume Invention Manufacturing00:23:04

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...

27 Jul 2023186: Product Renderings for a New Invention00:18:30

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...

02 Feb 2022112: Designing & Commercializing Robotics Inventions00:38:44

Andra Keay is the Managing Director of Silicon Valley Robotics which supports the innovation and commercialization of robotics technologies. She has headed up Venture Capital rounds, is a fellow lecturer, TedX speaker, and an XPrize judge. Her office is also just down the hall from our Mako Design California office at CircuitLaunch. Today Andra is going to share some valuable knowledge to help inventors, startups, and small manufacturers understand how robotics is becoming a mainstream part of new electronic mechanical products, the future of the consumer robotics industry, and tips for anyone thinking about a robotic product or even incorporating basic robotics into their new hardware product.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • Robotics industry today
  • Robotics 2.0
  • A lot of hardware development is included in this topic
  • Commercialization of robotics
  • Robotics founders are slow to commercialize because they spend too much time researching, but then slow to execute
  • Three stools of robotics hardware companies going to market
  • Funding, product-market fit, manufacturing
  • People underestimate the value of spreading hardware to the world
  • Hardware is long-lasting, takes a while, but has profound value when done well


EPISODE LINKS

Andra Keay / Silicon Valley Robotics Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:

28 Sep 2023195: Ensuring Profitability on Shopify and Amazon00:17:21

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

21 Sep 2023194: The Importance of Sketch Design for New Hardware Products00:22:30

Magnus Sköld, 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 + Invent. 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 Sköld 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

15 Dec 2021106: Building Your Hardware Product Team Early00:38:35

EA Csolkovits has founded multiple product businesses, which in total, brought 75 new products to the market in the health and wellness space. He has been in the business of building hardware teams for 40 years, is the founder of GIVERS University, is a radio host, is an author, and is even a fellow plane private pilot. Today EA is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, product startups, and small manufacturers on the importance of building great product business teams early on, and how specifically to choose great product team members for building and scaling your hardware business.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • Categories of team members
  • The importance of mentorship
  • The importance of the inner circle
  • Get a mentor that has been successful
  • Relationships are the most important in a fast-moving world
  • The single most important thing you can do to succeed is to develop a great team
  • Don’t listen to what people say, see what they do.
  • There are 3 different categories of team members
  • Key points to develop your inner team
  • Decide, Invite, Seed, Convene, Establish, Rotate, and Numbers


EPISODE LINKS

EA Csolkovits / GIVERS University Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:



Kevin Mako Links:

  • Instagram:
21 Apr 2021072: Why New Consumer Products Need to be Premium00:26:08

Chrystal Clifton is the Founder of Chrystalize, a company that helps luxury consumer product brands grow and monetize their marketing and brand authority.  She also led the charge on growing a wine brand from nothing to the number eight wine in the world, which is just one accomplishment among 20 years in the premium and luxury product industries.  Today Chrystal is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers should think about their new product as a premium product, even if it is not in a typical luxury industry.  She explains why this is so important to a new and growing brand, then explains best practices on how to pull it off the right way to ensure your product leads your industry in both reputation and success.


EPISODE LINKS

Chrystal Clifton / Chrystalize Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:


 

Mako Design Links:


 

Kevin Mako Links:


...

31 Aug 2022139: How to Scale Your Physical Product in Retail Stores00:23:36

Marc Inkol is the President of Explorer Research, a North American shopper research consulting firm that works with emerging physical product brands and massive product companies like Walmart, Kraft, Google, Pepsi, Uniliver, and many others. Mark has spent 30 years in the retail industry including leading divisions at Kraft and Maple Leaf. Today Marc is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can develop and position your product for big success at retail stores, how to captivate buyers while on the shelf, and how to scale your brand via retail stores.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • Consumers have the power now
  • A consumer buys 200 to 300 products out of a food store per year
  • You have to be very clear on what your selling proposition is.
  • Products should be both unique and meaningful
  • Features are not primary
  • Simple design is better
  • 15% of a shelf is viewed, package is seen for only 2 seconds
  • 5 or 6 words max is what they see
  • Constantly innovate on fewer than broader and more
  • Packaging, supply chain,
  • You only can say three things on your packaging: Who you are, what you sell, and why better
  • Color, Shape, and Size for packaging.
  • How do you engage people in the product.
  • 10-15 seconds once they have actually picked up your product
  • Clear seller proposition


EPISODE LINKS

Marc Inkol / Explorer Research Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:

16 Nov 2023202: Paid Advertising for Hardware Products on TikTok00:15:59

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 immensely.
  • There are tons of 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 should be focused on the creative aspects.
  • 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.
  • Try selling 4 to 7 different types of assets to find out which form of paid advertising for hardware products on TikTok works best for you.
  • The structure of a good TikTok ad for an invention are the hook, the message, then the offer.
  • It is imperative to follow Ad rules on TikTok.
  • TikTok has an extensive 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...

15 Jun 2023180: Hardware Startup Tips for Non-Technical Founders00:21:03

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

08 Jun 2022128: Creating an App for Your Hardware Device00:20:44

Piotr Zajac is the CEO of Untitled Kingdom, a 55-person mobile app development company that focuses on apps for physical hardware connected devices. They have built and launched over 75 full-scale apps for hardware products. Today Piotr is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can understand how to best manage the design and development of your hardware device’s app, and what are the best practices for making a connected device’s app great.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • IoT, MedTech, and FemTech
  • Building an app for your hardware product
  • Think about your end-users
  • Onboarding new users with your application
  • Intution takes time to develop to your user base
  • Create a habit in your user
  • Buy their hands, their hearts, and their brains
  • Feedback is key
  • Quality of apps, FDA Certification, ISO Certfication
  • Quality is much more valuable, and far less expensive, in the long term
  • Security
  • Technology protocols
  • Simplicity in your features
  • You can change the world with your product ideas


EPISODE LINKS

Piotr Zajac / Untitled Kingdom Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:



Kevin Mako Links:

05 May 2021074: Medical Device Product Development Best Practices00:29:05

Rob Crowder is the Head of Product at Nutromics, a high-growth medical sensor device company. Rob has over 20 years in the product development field. He has worked for General Electric, PWC, and more. Today Rob is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can learn from the best practices on user journey mapping for medical devices - How to apply these MedTech best practices to your next product, whether it’s a medical device or any other physical product invention.


EPISODE LINKS

Rob Crowder / Nutromics Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:


 

Mako Design Links:


 

Kevin Mako Links:


 

Thanks for tuning in! See you next time.

05 Jan 2021059: Best Practices for Quality Control on Overseas Production of Your Product00:35:34

Today Sajag Agarwal talks about how he went from $0 to $2 Million in eCommerce sales for his products, then back down to $0, all because of failed quality control in manufacturing. Now, Sajag runs a quality control company that ensures overseas production runs smoothly from raw materials all the way through to final product loaded onto a container.

Sajag joins Kevin Mako to share valuable insights about how inventors, product startups, small manufacturers, and product developers can ensure their products are manufactured overseas without defects.

You’ll hear them talk about:

  • The different stages in a production run where quality control is required.
  • How costly failed product quality can be.
  • Tips for ensuring your quality control personnel will do a good job.
  • How to ensure quality control matches your interests as the buyer.


Episode Links

The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:



Kevin Mako Links:



Sajag Agarwal Links:



Thanks for tuning in! See you next time.

12 Oct 2022145: Expanding Your Startup Hardware Product Line00:25:50

Hussain Almossawi has worked as a senior hardware director or designer at Ford, Adidas, and Apple for many of their hardware brands. He is also the author of The Innovator’s Handbook, and the Founder of the creative agency Mossawi Studios. Today Hussain is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can develop new hardware products beyond their first innovation, how to scale your brand beyond being a one-hit wonder, and how to best figure out what your next hardware innovation should be.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • What options are there beyond your first invention
  • Expand your existing innovation
  • Create an evolution of your product
  • Create accessories for your product
  • Pros and cons of each category
  • How do you decide which way to expand your hardware product
  • Look at semi-related industries to see how they expand, this is the very realistic ways that other industries have expanded. What can you use from this?
  • Always ask what-if questions (blue sky). These are the crazy ideas.
  • Tips and tricks for innovating a hardware brand
  • Intersect ideas and technology to innovate your hardware product
  • Be a curious sponge
  • Feedback, in combination with blue sky ideas and similar industry ideas.
  • You don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time you evolve.
  • Be laser-focused on your development, focus on the one key feature.
  • First principles method of product development.
  • Keep your product simple, and keep the next innovation of your product simple.


EPISODE LINKS

Hussain Almossawi Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:

01 Jun 2022127: Benefits of Makerspaces to Product Startups00:19:17

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
  • Co-working, fabrication lab, and STEAM learning center
  • Learning design thinking in the design process
  • A makerspace is such a pure experience to get to learn about the product development journey


EPISODE LINKS

Tom Pupo / Moonlighter Miami Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:



Kevin Mako Links:

29 Sep 2021095: Solve End-User Pain for Consumer Product Success00:31:49

Dan Soviero is the Founder of Signature Athletics, a highly successful sports gear company selling products all over the world. Dan is also a Forbes 30 Under 30 recipient, and like me, started his business while back in school. Today Dan is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can use the power of truly understanding a customer’s pain point, and using that understanding to create and sell highly successful products.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • A popular concept vs a problem-solving concept.
  • Used the process of creating value to create more products
  • Tried whitelabelling to other brands, but couldn’t best solve the end-client’s pain points.
  • Used innovation from the end-client.
  • Use one sentence to solve a pain point for your end-customer.
  • You can come up with an invention idea by focusing on a problem and thinking hard about how to solve it.


EPISODE LINKS

Dan Soviero / Signature Athletics Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:



Kevin Mako Links:

05 Oct 2023196: Common Gaps Being Ready for Manufacturing00:24:44

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

01 Mar 2024215: Launching a New Product on Walmart Marketplace00:16:01

Michael Lebhar is the visionary behind SellCord, one of the world's foremost Walmart Marketplace agencies that boasts a remarkable track record for facilitating sales exceeding a billion dollars for hardware startups and renowned brands on the esteemed Walmart.com platform. In this episode, Michael is poised to impart his vast insight into the power of Walmart Marketplace and its salience to modern inventors, burgeoning startups, and small-scale manufacturers. The guidance he affords encompasses a detailed exposé on the intricacies of Walmart Marketplace, essential tips for seamlessly launching debut products on the platform, irrespective of prior experience, and proven strategies for achieving sustained growth in product sales.

Click this link for This Episode's Full Info Page: https://www.makodesign.com/podcast/215-launching-a-new-product-on-walmart-marketplace/

Key Takeaways in This Episode:

  • What is Walmart Marketplace, and how does it differ from Walmart Retail Stores?

  • It is more difficult to get your product onto Walmart.com than Amazon, but that presents an increased opportunity.

  • Having a website already set up that sells or promotes your product is a huge asset when applying to Walmart.com.

  • Walmart.com uses a listing quality score to judge the quality of your invention listing on their platform. This affects what page your product will be listed on.

  • There are Walmart style guides you can access that tell you how to properly structure your product ad. Make sure to follow it!

  • Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) is an important feature to subscribe to that is similar to Amazon Prime.

MAKO Design + Invent: www.makodesign.com

 

Kevin Mako: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevmako

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. We also help our clients with business and product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories.

12 May 2021075: Launch a Product Big, with Host of QVC & ShopHQ00:45:06

Victoria Wieck started from nothing and grew her jewelry business to over $500 Million in sales. She has over 30 years of experience in retail sales, and 20 years in selling on TV. She was a weekly host on the HSN and QVC for many years, and now a monthly host on the ShopHQ TV show. She is also host of the Million Dollar Hobbies podcast. Today, Victoria is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can turn their hobbies or invention ideas into multi-million dollar international businesses, including best practices for ideating an invention, getting it to market, scaling it into a brand, and conquering the market.


EPISODE LINKS

Victoria Wieck Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:


 

Mako Design Links:


 

Kevin Mako Links:


 

Thanks for tuning in! See you next...

19 Oct 2022146: Transparency in the Design For Manufacturing Process00:23:17

Michael Corr is the Co-Founder of Duro PLM, a product lifecycle management tool for centralizing the entire communication process of development to production. They have thousands of users improving their design for manufacturing process. Today Michael is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can understand what Design For Manufacturing is, what is required to fill the gap between product development and your first production run, and how to communicate effectively with all manufacturing stakeholders, especially on a first production run.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • What is DFM Design for Manufacturing
  • How do you efficiently and effectively manufacture
  • Hand-based manufacturing vs automatic manufacturing in PCB / electronics parts
  • Design both for functionality AND for manufacturing
  • Think about manufacturing at the early phases of development
  • Increase the amount of DFM work as you get closer to production
  • The further along the manufacturing process, the more it will cost to fix the problem.
  • Each product has its own nuances and unique elements that should be ironed out
  • Manufacturers have your best interest in mind, but they don’t know the product nearly as well as you do.
  • Incorporate your manufacturers into your processes, especially as you get closer to manufacturing.
  • Make sure that communication channels are into your manufacturing process.
  • Be sure you have transparency and trust in the failures that are occurring in manufacturing.
  • This can be done in a social contract, or a technical contract.
  • Communication for DFM should be in real time, and also fully disclosed.


EPISODE LINKS

Michael Corr Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:

26 Jan 2022111: Selling & Growing Your Product at Retail Stores00:26:52

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 how to get into retail store chains, and today Yohan is going to give best practices on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can scale up their product sales once they land a retailer by building a buyer relationship, enhancing product exposure, reviewing your placements, and more.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • Buyers want three main KPIs:
  • 1. Drive sales
  • 2. Improve profits
  • 3. Turn more times in the store
  • Three ways to increase sales:
  • 1. Marketing / PR / Influencers
  • 2. Training
  • 3. Ensure the product is on the shelf
  • Marketing calendar of the retailers
  • Tools the retailers have to help drive sales
  • Adding value as you grow
  • Push hard for sales in the early days, worry less about cash flow or profit
  • How profits grow as you scale your product


EPISODE LINKS

Yohan Jacob / RetailBound Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:

16 Mar 2021067: Modern Funding Tools for Hardware Product Startups00:35:31

Peter-Paul is the Founder of FrontFundr, one of North America’s top platforms for equity crowdfunding for startups and small scaling businesses.  He is a TedX speaker on Investment Crowdfunding, is a member of the Securities Commission, and is an advisor to both the Private Capital Markets Association and the National Crowdfunding and Fintech Association.  Simply put, Peter-Paul is the person to talk to when it comes to crowdfunding capital for a hardware startup.  Today, he is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can raise funding to scale their product businesses, especially in modern times as there are a lot more funding opportunities than ever before.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • Alternative forms of capital for consumer product startups
  • What has happened in hardware startup funding over the last 5 years
  • What technology you can leverage to raise capital
  • How to best finance an invention idea through modern fundraising options


EPISODE LINKS

The Product Startup Podcast Links:


 

Peter-Paul Van Hoeken / FrontFundr Links:


 

Mako Design Links:

13 Jul 2022132: Invention Success in the Construction Industry00:21:56

Todd Drouillard is the Science and Technology Business leader at HED, which is one of the world’s leading architecture firms for manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution center buildings. Todd has been in architecture for 25 years, has his Masters in Architecture, is an AIA director, and is on the Construction Code Commission Board of Directors in Michigan. Today Todd is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers are changing the way they move products to their end customers, and what inventors with construction-related inventions can do to succeed in getting their innovations to market.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • Warehousing innovation is becoming increasingly more important to the success of a scaling hardware product business
  • Construction inventions and innovations are happening very quickly in new building design, fabrication, and maintenance.
  • How do you get your construction product into the market to get into new or renovated buildings.
  • Less labour, more product. This is prefabrication, and there is a lot of room for new construction inventions in this space.
  • Product manufacturing and architecture are merging
  • To pitch your construction innovation, show that it reduces risk, increases quality, is more reliable, is easy to install.
  • A big advantage when designing your product, is to either make it easy to work with other products, or include what used to be multiple products into one
  • There are lots of problems on a construction site, solve them with your construction inventions.


EPISODE LINKS

Todd Drouillard / HED Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:

20 Jul 2022133: Using Email Marketing to Sell Physical Products00:20:37

Jacob Anson is the CoFounder of AgencyJR, a firm that has helped sell tens of millions of dollars worth of product for product companies. Today Jacob is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can understand email marketing, learn the different types within, and know how to use email marketing effectively.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • What is email marketing
  • How does it fit into overall digital advertising
  • Email lists from buyers, email lists from almost buyers, and email lists from cold lead generation
  • How do you do email marketing well
  • Cold leads need to be advertised harder and more aggressively
  • Warm leads need to be nurtured as a community
  • Paid ads are the key to generating leads and their emails
  • For products that are repeat purchases, keep the profit low
  • For one-time buy products, add more value
  • Simplicity is key to promoting value
  • Think of 3 tips to solve a problem, then promote the product
  • There are a variety of offers you can provide
  • The "Value-value-sale" system
  • List segmentation
  • Focus on paid ads to get those emails, then ensure to use automation.
  • The two easiest automation programs are checkout abandonment and a popup on your online sales channel.


EPISODE LINKS

Jacob Anson / Agency JR Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:

06 Oct 2021096: How To Launch a Consumer Product at Trade Shows00:38:10

Jim Cermak is the Founder of Trade Show University, an organization that educates and consults small businesses on winning at trade shows. He has been both in the trade show industry for 30 years, but also in the consumer product development and marketing business for many years. He also is the host of the Trade Show University Podcast. Today Jim is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can first choose a great show to exhibit at, then how to do a great job at landing big sales at the show itself.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • So many big products had their first big hit at a trade show.
  • What is a trade show and how do they work?
  • Figure out which is the right show you should be at.
  • CES, National Hardware Show, etc.
  • The people who are there are really wanting to be there.
  • Trade Show Roadmap


EPISODE LINKS

Jim Cermak / Trade Show University Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:



Kevin Mako Links:

16 Mar 2022118: Behavioral Science of Subtraction in Product Design00:30:30

Leidy Klotz has his PhD in Behavioral Science and is a professor at the University of Virginia. He is the Author of the New York Times bestselling design book called Subtract. His research has been featured in many publications including the front cover of Nature magazine. Today Leidy is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can both understand what it means to think about subtraction in your product development process, and also learn what the best practices are for ensuring world-class subtraction thinking for your product.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • Science explains why we don’t think of subtraction
  • This is a problem baked in evolution
  • Simple is hard, and requires improved cognition
  • Balance Bike / Construction Cinder Blocks
  • How do you do Subtraction better
  • Give yourself Reminders
  • Next time you have a design decision to make, try and think just as much about subtraction as you do about addition
  • Build subtraction into your design process
  • Put design rules into play for being great at subtraction
  • First you have to think of it, then you have to choose it.
  • Highlight in your design what is not there


EPISODE LINKS

Leidy Klotz / Subract Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:



Kevin Mako Links:

  • ...
21 Dec 2022155: Identifying a Sourcing Partner for Overseas Manufacturing00:17:26

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

07 Dec 2022153: The Evolution of CAD Product Development Software00:18:47

Joe Dunne is the Director of Partnerships at PTC, the firm behind Onshape and Creo. Before this, he worked for SolidWorks since the early days of the software starting with them back in 1995, and before that, a Mechanical Engineer. Today Joe is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on how CAD software has evolved since the 1980s, what the best-in-class software is doing today, and how the software is evolving in real-time to best support getting new hardware products to market faster, cheaper, and better than ever.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • History of Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software
  • 3d parametric modeling in the 1990s
  • Going to 3D was also a huge change due to the ability to start iterative design
  • Find guys that you want to hook your wagon to
  • Modern CAD software has evolved by becoming based in the cloud
  • The future of CAD is in the integrations, all allowable by being architected via the cloud hosting of the core software.
  • This allows for products to be developed more complete, faster, with less people, and all the way through to and including production.
  • Design software is now a community of integrated app builders to layer on top of core CAD design host technology
  • You have to get your product to market, and you have to test it.
  • There is a lot more flexibility in design options today than ever before.


EPISODE LINKS:


Joe Dunne Links:

LinkedIn | Onshape


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 |

22 Dec 2021107: Using Hardware Incubators for Product Startups00:28:00

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:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:



Kevin Mako Links:

11 Mar 2024216: 5 Key Tips For Starting Your Product Development Journey00:27:30

Wade Harmidy, an esteemed project manager at MAKO Design + Invent, dedicates his meticulously cultivated expertise to guiding inventors and hardware startups through their product development journeys. Armed with an impressive academic background that includes an Honours Bachelor of Science degree and a Post Graduate Certificate in Quality Assurance, in addition to a prestigious Six Sigma Black Belt certification in Project Management, Wade is a beacon of knowledge in his field. Today, he graciously shares key tips for modern inventors, startups, and small-scale manufacturers. He expounds upon how to best navigate the beginning of your product development journey by revealing 5 indispensable strategies that will ensure you succeed in your product venture.

Click this link for This Episode's Full Info Page: https://www.makodesign.com/podcast/216-5-key-tips-for-starting-your-product-development-journey/

Key Takeaways in This Episode:

  • What are the core factors that dictate how your product journey will go?

  • Having a definitive vision for what your invention will achieve or what problem it is solving is integral.

  • The clearer your vision is in the initial stages, the more likely it is that an experienced team will be able to help you realize your vision.

  • Write down your product vision! Shoot for fewer words than more words.

  • Have something tangible to bring to the product engineering firm. You don’t need to be an artist! Just get the idea down.

  • Make sure to consider the end user and what your product accomplishes for them.

  • MVP design is a key tenet.

  • Setting realistic deadlines is incredibly important!

  • Cutting corners often leads to failure!

  • Plan for the big picture and all of the key milestones you need to hit.

MAKO Design + Invent: www.makodesign.com

 

Kevin Mako: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevmako

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 

02 Nov 2022148: Grow Your Hardware Product Sales Via Trade Shows00:29:53

Jim Cermak has spent over 30 years helping hardware companies educate, navigate, and conquer selling their products at hardware tradeshows. He is also the Founder of Trade Show University, an organization that educates and consults small businesses on winning at trade shows, including his new video series which answers 7 key questions on how to tackle a trade show. Today Jim is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can plan for launching or scaling your hardware product at a hardware trade show, and how to maximize success when it comes to managing your tradeshow booth at the show.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • Trade shows are one of the most efficient and effective ways to get your product exposure.
  • Figure out why you want to go to a trade show
  • Pick the right trade show to launch or scale your product
  • Understand what you have to sell.
  • Be clear in your messaging at the Trade Show
  • Be big and bold
  • Speak the hardware buyers’ language
  • Plenty of pre-show marketing for your invention idea at the trade show
  • Get appointments or stop-ins ahead of time
  • Reach out to the show and see what extra showcase placements they have available. Sometimes they are even free.
  • Ask people at the show to give a quick testimonial about your product.
  • Tips for being on the floor of the show
  • Have your qualifying questions ready, be very specific.
  • As a team, find out what the top questions you are getting asked are, have your top 20 tradeshow questions for your invention idea.
  • Do not work the tradeshow by yourself, even if you’re just an inventor.
  • Take a video of yourself after a great tradeshow conversation


EPISODE LINKS

Jim Cermak Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:

12 Jan 2022109: Landing Page Sales Funnels for Consumer Products00:27:46

Marco Torres has been selling online for clients for 25 years and has sold over a billion dollars through direct-to-consumer internet marketing. He has 75,000 followers on his two Facebook Groups dedicated to online selling and affiliate marketing, and is the owner of Marketing Boost, a company which helps thousands of clients with free upsell coupons to their customers. Today Marco is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can use a single landing page sales funnel to launch a new invention product or to improve an existing product’s online sales, and some tips and tricks to best optimize conversions.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • Landing page / sales funnel
  • Different sections
  • Remove navigation and unnecessary stuff
  • Adding credibility to the page
  • Sell benefits, not features. How does it solve the customer’s problem?
  • Testimonials
  • Overcome their objections
  • Add a guarantee to remove risk
  • Don’t have too much to get them distracted
  • FAQs - Frequently asked questions
  • Affiliate marketing
  • Putting an incentive in addition


EPISODE LINKS

Marco Torres / Marketing Boost Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:

08 Jun 2023179: Maximize the Value of your Design Agency Partner00:18:08

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

07 Jul 2023183: Getting a New Hardware Product into Retail Stores00:21:56

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 in 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
  • Don't 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,...

09 Nov 2022149: How to Professionally Prototype your Invention Idea00:25:39

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:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:

25 May 2022126: What Makes a Consumer Product Invention Great00:23:54

Mark Maybury is the Chief Technology Officer at Stanley Black and Decker. He is also a member of the Defense Science Board and was a Chief Scientist of the United States Air Force. Today Mark is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on what makes a consumer product great in 2022, and how to consider these things from the design phase, through to production, then onto scaling up.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • What makes a great new product in your industry
  • Innovative, valuable, and scalable
  • Environmentally and socially
  • Big companies look at innovators and inventors to be the change master
  • Scaling a hardware startup business
  • There are many parts to scaling, not just sales.
  • Pitching to Stanley black and decker
  • Genuine need, real value created, and a great team (humility)
  • Secrets of innovation
  • Observe carefully, listen deeply, think outside of the box, experiment with purpose, and collaborate.


EPISODE LINKS

Mark Maybury / Stanley Black and Decker Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:

17 Feb 2021063: Hardware Startup Tips from a 22 Year Apple Exec00:47:11

Michael spent 22 years with Apple from 1988 to 2010. He is the author of Live from Cupertino, a book about how Apple created their winning messaging. Michael also was the Managing Director of LittleBits, a great hardware startup success story. He is now the Executive Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at Indian River State College. Today Michael is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can learn from the best practices of Apple - Lessons you can apply to your product business, from one of the biggest product companies of all time.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  1. How Apple used strong product focus, even to sell to literally everyone.
  2. How to create messaging around your product like Apple did
  3. What the future for the startup hardware industry looks like over the next 20 years.


Episode Links

The Product Startup Podcast Links:


 

Michael Hageloh Links:


 

Mako Design Links:


 

Kevin Mako’s Links:


 

Thanks for tuning in! See you next time.

13 Apr 2023171: Choosing Features and Validating Your Invention00:18:57

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 |

02 Mar 2021065: Hardware Funding from Seed Financing to Millions00:54:14

Jefferey is the Founder and President of The Open People Network, an organization that invests in early stage companies, including many hardware startups. OPN simultaneously runs pitch nights, entrepreneurship communities, and expert panels for startup funding education. Jeffery also has been an Angel Investor for many years. Today he is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can fund the growth of their product business - From invention development all the way to raising millions of dollars of growth capital, and all the funding stages in between.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • Pre-Seed and Seed Financing for hardware startups
  • Best practices for considering outside or professional funding
  • Professional Angel Funding for Consumer Product Startups
  • Venture Funding, Series A, Series B, and Series C Funding


Episode Links

The Product Startup Podcast Links:


 

Jeffery Potvin / Open People Network Links:


 

Mako Design Links:


 

Kevin Mako’s Links:


 

Thanks for tuning in! See you next time.

06 Apr 2022121: Disrupt an Industry with your Hardware Invention00:25:43

Alexander Manu is the author of many design thinking books, and is a lecturer at OCAD University, where I’ve also had the chance to lecture a few times. He was also the head of a big design studio called Axis for 25 years starting in 1980. Today Alexander is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers should attempt to disrupt and capture an industry, all done by identifying, transitioning, and defining the category for yourself so that your product can be unbeatable.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • The iPhone changed everything, but most people misunderstood what the iPhone really was.
  • When you want to be competitive in hardware, you want to define the market yourself.
  • Be courageous, trust your gut, think about the long term.
  • You want to be the first, the best, or the only.
  • Understand what it is
  • You are not designing hardware, you are designing behavior enablers
  • Is it inside out, or outside in.
  • The first step in disruption is Transition
  • You cannot judge disruptors by existing lenses, as it’s new.
  • Every product is a cultural transformation
  • What is the nature of transformation
  • Define the category for yourself
  • As a hardware startup you need to overcome the natural industry baises
  • Think far down the road, what will your disruption change in the future?
  • Makes it very hard to compete (WD-40, Kleenex)
  • When you disrupt, you need to unlearn.
  • Always aspire to be the best, especially these days.
  • Don’t compromise on quality. Price is no longer an issue, both in the product, but also in the cost of designing it right.


EPISODE LINKS

Alexander Manu Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:

14 Jul 2021084: How To Raise Big Money for Your Hardware Startup00:27:39

Brett Fox has a long history of raising millions of dollars for both his own startup and for many other founders.   Brett also sat as an entrepreneur in residence for a major Silicon Valley Venture Capital firm.   Today Brett is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can raise seed funding and venture capital funding - How to eventually raise millions of dollars to grow and scale your product after you have first got to market.


EPISODE LINKS

Brett Fox Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:


 

Mako Design Links:


 

Kevin Mako Links:


 

Thanks for tuning in! See you next time.


About: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put,...

11 Aug 2023188: Use Inventor Narrative to Design Great Hardware Products00:19:11

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 the least waste in designing the product.
  • Remove ego from design.
  • Understand the client’s story and the meaning of the product.
  • No product designers work in isolation, so you create an ecosystem that works together.
  • Ability to understand and communicate.
  • What leads a designer to love the form of their design?
  • By focusing on the story and making a better product to fulfill 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 a 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

03 Nov 2023200: 8 Pillars of Product Marketing Success00:19:00

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...

24 Aug 2022138: Using Audio Ads to Sell New Hardware Products00:27:29

Stew Redwine is Vice President Creative Services at Oxford Road, one of the leading audio advertising agencies in the world. They ran the ads behind unicorn physical product success stories such as Quip Toothbrushes, Theragun, Tommy John, and many more. Today Stew is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on what audio platforms are out there to advertise your product on, how to get started in the audio advertising space for hardware products, and how to make a great audio ad to make your product invention the next big success.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • What are audio ads for hardware products?
  • The different platforms for audio: Podcasts, radio, XM radio
  • Crisp, clear, and clever messaging
  • Self serve audio advertising programs (Gumball and Podcorn)
  • True Native Media for a more concierge service
  • The key things to have in an audio ad
  • A person is not fully convinced until they can feelthe product has been demonstrated
  • 9 key things for a highly successful audio ad for a new physical product invention
  • You don’t have to stress about being perfectly clever.
  • 180 word max for a 60 second ad.
  • Most podcast consumption happens around the episode drop.


EPISODE LINKS

Stew Redwine / Oxford Road Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:

25 Jul 2024233: Raising Money For Scaling Via a Crowdfunding Campaign00:18:23

Will Ford is one of the world's top crowdfunding experts. As President and Co-Founder of LaunchBoom, the leading crowdfunding agency for hardware startups, he has helped thousands of inventors and entrepreneurs leverage platforms like Kickstarter or Indiegogo to establish and scale their product empires. Today, he explains in great detail why a successful crowdfunding campaign can lead to significantly higher post-campaign investments and increased sales across multiple channels to enlighten inventors, startups, and small manufacturers. Will also details best practices for raising funds and optimizing crowdfunding efforts, emphasizing the importance of strategic planning, storytelling, and social proof.

Click this link for This Episode's Full Info Page: https://www.makodesign.com/podcast/233-raising-money-for-scaling-via-a-crowdfunding-campaign/

Key Takeaways in This Episode:

  • Don’t give away too much equity too early in your entrepreneurial journey!

  • Although it's great to have more money at the start, if you give away equity early, you will erode much of your future potential earnings.

  • Convertible debt is a great pathway for raising money for your future valuation.

  • You can take a prototype and pre-sell it to thousands of people worldwide through a crowdfunding platform.

  • Raise growth capital after you complete your crowdfunding campaign.

  • You will raise far more money if you bootstrap for as long as possible before crowdfunding, and you will give out far less equity.

  • Buyers always want the coolest new products in the market as early as possible. This is why crowdfunding platforms are so powerful for inventors.

  • You can turn backers who support your campaigns on Kickstarter and Indiegogo into investors once the campaign is over.

  • Dr. Squatch is an example of a hundred-thousand-dollar crowdfunding campaign.

  • Prelaunch, test, and then validate the return on ad spend.

MAKO Design + Invent: www.makodesign.com

 

Kevin Mako: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevmako

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, 

30 Jun 2023182: Consumer Product Hardware Trends in Mid 202300:19:18

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

14 Sep 2023193: 3D Printing Overview for New Inventions00:18:23

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...

06 Apr 2023170: Current Trends of Modern Product Development00:28:49

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:

01 Jun 2023178: Venture Capital Funding for Hardware Startups00:20:31

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

16 Feb 2022114: Designing an MVP for a New Consumer Product00:28:10

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:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:



Kevin Mako Links:

05 Feb 2024212: The Customer Experience for New Hardware Products00:18:02

Jason Friedman serves as CEO at CXFormula, a firm that assists entrepreneurs with elevating the customer experience. With almost 3 decades of experience, he has collaborated with a wide range of budding and established companies, achieving multiple successful business exits along the way. In today's discussion, Jason will share his insight into how modern inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can enhance their offerings and marketing approaches to drive organic growth. He will delve into the significance of understanding the customer journey and share strategies for ensuring customers engage with, purchase, and become passionate advocates for your innovative product.

Click this link for This Episode's Full Info Page: https://www.makodesign.com/podcast/212-the-customer-experience-for-new-hardware-products/

Key Takeaways in This Episode:

  • Customer experience is key to scaling a new hardware product.

  • The customer experience refers to the journey they go on with your physical consumer product.

  • Refine the touch points your customers have with your product and brand to improve their journey.

  • Pretend to be a customer! Think about method acting as an informative research process to better understand your prospective customer.

  • Search Amazon for reviews of similar products to collect feedback on what features, or lack thereof, are frustrating people.

  • Talk to potential customers to identify the exact words they use to describe their wants, needs, and frustrations.

  • Craft the perfect customer testimonial using impactful words and a lot of detail. Then, reverse engineer the customer journey so their feedback mirrors the testimonial you wrote.

 

MAKO Design + Invent: www.makodesign.com

 

Kevin Mako: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevmako

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 

14 Sep 2022141: Product Sales Process for Hardware Startups00:29:31

Scott Brogan is the founder of Company Expert, a sales process consultancy that has worked with over 100 emerging brands. He has spent over 30 years in sales, including working for 7 Fortune500 companies in sales capacities. Today Scott is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can start to build a process around identifying partner companies to sell to, preparing how to give your pitch, and how to improve your sales process over time to rinse and repeat.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • How do you start selling a first product to 
  • A system and a process for sales
  • Sales is solving problems for your end-customer
  • Leveraged sales partner play
  • Start with a goal
  • Figure out who specifically you want to call, then how to position yourself to that buyer.
  • Write down your sales process and strategy
  • Competitors are, distribution, strengths, weaknesses, threats
  • Who within a prospective buyer company should you be calling
  • What are the buyer’s pain points and opportunities
  • 7 people are usually involved in a purchasing process
  • The multiple stages of competency in sales
  • Start the sales process by learning at the beginning
  • Feedback loop in sales.
  • Always write down objections that are asked, and how you respond.
  • Enthusiasm is powerful and can help you overcome mistakes as a new seller
  • Have the personal story of why you made this product ready
  • Bringing the science into sales.
  • The sales industry is not mature, there are lots of improvements you can capitalize on.


EPISODE LINKS

Scott Brogan / Company Expert Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:

07 Jul 2021083: Benefits of Additive Manufacturing for New Inventions00:30:31

Steve Grundahl founded Midwest Prototyping back in 2001. Today, they are one of the biggest private facilities in the United States for additive manufacturing of new physical products. Steve also just hosted the Kansas version of Make48 at their Wichita shop. In this session, Steve is poised to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can use 3D printing and additive manufacturing to streamline their first production runs and the advantages of manufacturing this way.


EPISODE LINKS

Steve Grundahl / Midwest Prototyping Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:


 

Mako Design Links:


 

Kevin Mako Links:

10 Nov 2023201: Product Listing Success on Amazon Marketplace00:18:50

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 your Amazon listing in advance.
  • How to capture eyeballs.
  • The main image is the most important thing, then the title, then a decision to make a click into your listing.
  • Stack images on Amazon, then reviews, then add your 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 over your competitors, the higher your product will rank.
  • Amazon ads buy you visibility on the platform but it also gives you data.
  • You just need to be slightly better than an alternative product to achieve listing success on Amazon Marketplace.
  • 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 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

25 May 2023177: Package Design Tips for New Hardware Products00:18:35

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...

15 Dec 2022154: 3 Key Parts to Developing a Great New Product00:21:19

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 |

23 Mar 2023168: The Future of Hardware Product Design Thinking00:23:38

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 |

16 Jun 2021080: How to Maximize Your Product's Sales in Retail Stores00:27:10

Blair Severn worked for 4 years as the national manager for Sony Stores.  He managed not just marketing, but also how to best drive product sales in those stores.  Before that he worked for years doing a similar thing at Consumer Gas Appliance stores.  He really knows in-store product sales.  Today Blair is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can think about how to best design and promote your product to be able to beat the competition and sell more units after successfully getting a deal into a retail store chain, and a lot of this is applicable to online sales too.


EPISODE LINKS

Blair Severn / Enabling Ideas Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:


 

Mako Design Links:


 

Kevin Mako Links:


 

Thanks for tuning in! See you next time.

07 Jul 2024232: Video Product Renderings for Your Invention00:20:11

David Brown, one of our talented industrial designers at MAKO Design, is a true expert in hardware product video renderings. With a rich background in industrial design and design engineering, David has honed his product design skills to an exceptionally refined degree. Today, he's excited to share his expertise with inventors, startups, and small manufacturers. Imagine being able to visualize your product idea in stunning detail before it even exists – like a trailer for a new captivating horror movie. That's the magic of 3D CAD video renderings, and David is here to demystify the process. He'll take you through the creation process of video renderings and how they can be a game-changer at every stage of your product's journey. From the initial spark of inventing to the thrill of making your first sale, David will reveal how these renderings can bring your vision to life for investors or potential consumers and set you on the path to success.

Click this link for This Episode's Full Info Page: https://www.makodesign.com/podcast/232-video-product-renderings-for-your-invention/

Key Takeaways in This Episode:

  • Using video renderings is like bringing Hollywood to your product design!

  • Video rendering is essentially taking 3D CAD designs and making a video with that series of images and data.

  • It is like setting up a virtual camera that provides a full-scope view of the product in the setting where you would naturally find it.

  • You must also take into account the environment and lighting!

  • You can create things with video renderings that cannot be done in real life; this is one of its primary advantages.

  • Exploded view renderings show how the product comes apart and all of its pieces.

  • You can use these tools to explain a lot about a product and inform potential consumers.

  • Product demos and tutorials are other uses for video renderings.

  • How can you direct your designers to build a great hardware product rendering video for what you need?

  • The core requirement for making the video is creating a storyboard and ordering the elements to effectively tell the story.

  • Video renderings are standard these days for a great product, but you also need to develop a prototype!

  • There is post-processing of the video as well to refine the story being told and how it is presented.

MAKO Design + Invent: www.makodesign.com

 

Kevin Mako: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevmako

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, 

21 Sep 2022142: Preparing Your Product for Manufacturing Overseas00:27:28

Mike Deigan is Vice President at Global Link Sourcing.  He has been working for 10 years on sourcing products and consulting on products for 15 years before that. Global Link has helped with manufacturing well over 100 products for hardware companies, leading to tens of millions of their sourced products selling around the world.  Today Mike is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can understand how to prepare your product’s development to get it ready to present to overseas manufacturing partners and the pros and cons of sourcing through an agency and sourcing direct with manufacturers in China and elsewhere.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • Preparing your product to work with overseas manufacturing
  • Concept design vs design for manufacturing
  • A design that you can truly use to go to production with
  • Going direct vs through a sourcing company
  • Logistics, time, finding a real factory, financial benefits
  • The problems with finding a manufacturing partner through Alibaba or similar
  • Rectifying issues with a manufacturer.


EPISODE LINKS

Mike Deigan / Global Link Sourcing Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:



Kevin Mako Links:

07 Sep 2022140: Local Manufacturing for a New Hardware Invention Idea00:22:54

Nigel Southway is the author of two books, the most recent is called Take Back Manufacturing, and his original was called Lean Manufacturing. He has spent 55 years in the manufacturing space. He was the chair of a chapter of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, which I was also a part of starting over 10 years ago. Today Nigel en is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can decide between offshore and onshore manufacturing, what the pros and cons are for each choice, explain short-run manufacturing for new products, and how we can bring back manufacturing to local communities.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • Look at local vs offshore carefully
  • Run the numbers of manufacturing
  • Benefits of on-shore manufacturing
  • Technology that is enabling local manufacturing for new physical products
  • Short run manufacturing
  • Take back manufacturing: Political, Educational, and Technology
  • The difference, on average, is only about 10%


EPISODE LINKS

Nigel Southway / Take Back Manufacturing Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:



Kevin Mako Links:

05 Apr 2024220: How Storytelling Drives Consumer Product Sales00:18:01

Akeem Shannon is the mastermind behind Flipstik, a consumer product startup that started with a crowdfunding campaign and has achieved resounding success leveraging the immense power of authentic storytelling. In addition to achieving over a million units sold and robust partnerships with over 3,000 resellers, Flipstik has garnered substantial attention from millions of consumers across various social media platforms, including the legendary Snoop Dogg. Today, Akeem will take listeners through his journey in the hardware startup space and impart valuable anecdotes for inventors, startups, and small-scale manufacturers. He will delve into the significance of storytelling in consumer product promotion, emphasizing its dual utility: leveraging personal narrative as a founder and harnessing customer experiences. Moreover, Akeem will elaborate on how to strategically implement these storytelling techniques to propel the growth of your product business.

Click this link for This Episode's Full Info Page: https://www.makodesign.com/podcast/220-how-storytelling-drives-consumer-product-sales/

Key Takeaways in This Episode:

  • It always helps to have a genuine love for sales as you are always selling something as a hardware founder.

  • You can recover from failure if you don’t give up!

  • Self-belief will take you further than anything!

  • Most people don’t have big imaginations, so your biggest obstacle is convincing them to buy something they were previously content with living without.

  • Show consumers how your customer's lives were changed by using your product.

  • Sometimes, you are not the right messenger for a specific audience, so utilize the stories of others to get your message across.

  • Find people who love your product and work with them to amplify your message!

  • Authenticity is the most important thing when telling your own story.

  • Your story will get you into rooms and meetings that you may think you are too small for.

MAKO Design + Invent: www.makodesign.com

 

Kevin Mako: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevmako

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, 

21 Mar 2024218: Best Sales Processes for Selling Hardware Products00:22:46

Wesleyne Whittaker is the CEO of Transformed Sales, an esteemed organization dedicated to architecting sales methodologies that foster rapid and maximal growth with an impressive track record of collaborations with over 150 distinguished manufacturers and product brands. Today, Wesleyne will share the extensive knowledge she has accumulated on developing and effectively employing uniquely tailored sales processes pivotal to inventors, startups, and small manufacturers. She will elucidate the three overarching phases of a sales process – outlining the role and salient components of each stage – and afford astute guidance on adeptly executing said process to proliferate sales, client trust and retention, and expansion opportunities for your hardware product business.

Click this link for This Episode's Full Info Page: https://www.makodesign.com/podcast/218-best-sales-processes-for-selling-hardware-products/

Key Takeaways in This Episode:

  • What is a sales process?

  • There are three core stages: Prospect, Nurture, and Close.

  • Prospect involves figuring out how to attract customers.

  • Nurture is all about taking someone who is interested in your product and transforming them into a buyer.

  • Close entails getting that pen to paper so you can then work on developing loyalty to turn that customer into a repeat customer.

  • Educating potential customers is an incredibly important part of prospecting!

  • The biggest challenge for hardware entrepreneurs is getting the abundance of knowledge they have acquired out of their heads to inform customers.

  • Have a variety of information prepared for your customer and disseminate it using a variety of mediums.

  • It’s okay to lose a sale, but not in the same way twice.

  • Communicate the value of the product, how it solves a key problem, and the risk of not buying your product.

MAKO Design + Invent: www.makodesign.com

 

Kevin Mako: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevmako

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,...

02 Mar 2022116: How to Turn an Invention into a Product Business00:37:05

Tom Gray is the Founder and Executive Producer of the Make48 TV Show, a show where contestants have 48 hours to come up with an invention idea and build a prototype to showcase it to the judges. The show is on PBS, Amazon Prime, and many other networks around the world. I will actually be one of the judges on the upcoming season, so stay tuned for that release date in coming months! Today Tom is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can grow from being an inventor, maker, tinkerer, or product ideator into being a real product business success via either product licensing or starting a product manufacturing business.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • Two choices: License or build a startup
  • Licensing still requires you to move down the
  • 4 things to present an invention idea
  • Your first prototype is never the final one, do a few to get it right
  • Make sure to have a quick and clean video
  • Sales sheet, just one page
  • Some IP protection, done well
  • Small stepping stones in developing the product


EPISODE LINKS

Tom Gray / Make48 Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:

28 Sep 2022143: Build Your Own Manufacturing for Your Invention00:25:39

Don Skaggs founded the manufacturer US Biotex Corporation, which he started on a farm back in 1991 and grew to over 150 products in production over 22 years before being bought out.  Don has also been the President of the Inventors Network Kentucky for nearly 20 years now.  Today Don is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can start their own manufacturing facility locally for their invention idea, then how to grow and scale, and what benefits there are for taking this production path.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • See if customers would buy samples, and learn from them.
  • Bootstrap to find out what works.
  • Start with a small batch so that you can test the market.
  • It’s easier to manufacture locally than you think, just start with a basic part of the manufacturing process.
  • Design using as many Original Equipment Manufactured parts as possible.
  • As you scale production, there are a number of benefits from running your own manufacturing operation.
  • Your own manufacturing gives you a lot of solutions.
  • Find an innovation where it’s common in one industry, but not discovered in another.
  • Stay close to R&D and close to marketing and sales, so that you can put the two together.
  • Time, money, and wisdom.
  • Learn from your mistakes, and from your customers.
  • When you’re small, you can connect marketing, sales, R&D, and production.
  • Find the intersection of what you are passionate about, and what you are good at.


EPISODE LINKS

Don Skaggs / KY Inventors Network Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:

03 Aug 2023187: e-Commerce Strategies for New Hardware Products00:20:00

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 |

22 Sep 2021094: How New Startup Products Get Into Big Retailers00:21:20

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. Today Yohan is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers get into the big retailers, including the 3 major tips on what retailers are looking for these days, and furthermore, how to succeed and scale once you are on the shelves with your invention.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • The difference between retail and marketplaces
  • Three traits retailers look for: Unique, capitalized, nice people.
  • Three metrics retailers look for:
  • 1. Revenue, profitability, inventory turns
  • 2. Past sales history
  • 3. What are you going to do to build awareness
  • It’s not just about sell-in, but it is about sell-through.


EPISODE LINKS

Yohan Jacob / Retail Bound Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links:



Kevin Mako Links:

01 Dec 2022152: Three Main Problems When Scaling a Hardware Startup00:22:44

Brad Pedersen is a founder of the hardware product Lomi which raised almost ten million dollars in crowdfunding as his most recent hit success of many. In his earlier years, he developed many new products and also distributed thousands of other hardware products all over the world, mostly in the toy and sports product fields. Today Brad is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can learn what the 3 most important elements of an emerging hardware startup are, how to avoid key pitfalls around each of those 3 areas, and how to scale your product to become the next big hit invention success.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • People, Systems, and Cash
  • Growth is a double-edged sword
  • You must constantly re-invent each of the main 3 primary scaling failure areas
  • When you find product market fit, how do you ensure that will go the distance, and people is the biggest lever
  • You start with generalist and move to specialist
  • Single-digit growth is annually, double-digit is quarterly, and 
  • Don’t become the bottleneck of everything.
  • Systems allow you to best utilize your people
  • 4 key things to a hardware startup: Smart founder and a great idea, marketing plan that is different not better, a team (your people), and execution (the systems).
  • Hire people that are smarter than you, even pay them more than you, especially in the early days.
  • Get the cash you need to get to your MVP
  • Perfection is the enemy of progress
  • Build, measure, learn.
  • Consider selling direct to customers


EPISODE LINKS:


Brad Pedersen Links:

Personal Website | Lomi | LinkedIn


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...

21 Dec 2020058: How to Pitch Your Product to Retail Stores00:42:05

Today’s guest on the Product Startup Podcast is Mark Shanahan, a top expert in consumer product distribution and retailers. Previously, Mark had a successful 25 year career at Staples, where he started as a junior product buyer, moved up to running entire product categories, eventually becoming a Vice President.

Mark joins Kevin Mako to share valuable insights about how inventors, product startups, and manufacturers can get in the door with buyers at major retail stores, and how they can sell their product once they’ve crossed that threshold.

You’ll hear them talk about:

  • What entrepreneurs can do with their physical products to get the best chance of success with major retailers. Mark shares tips and tricks from an insider’s view as a long-time Staples buyer.
  • Questions that buyers often ask entrepreneurs. They will want to know your target market, what your value proposition is, and why you’re legitimate. 
  • The components of a well-done pitch. Always remember to be concise, clear, and transparent.
  • The importance of being honest with a potential retailer. The buyer needs to know that you are reliable and can be trusted.
  • Things to consider when meeting buyers: maintain eye contact, don’t get too personal, take notes, and be as brief as possible.

 

Resources

Mark Shanahan on LinkedIn | Twitter

Kevin Mako on LinkedIn | Twitter

MakoDesign.com

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