Explore every episode of the podcast Product Startup

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, 

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, 

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 

Elizabeth Corbett has served as a reliable expert in the packaging industry for a remarkable 30 years. She is currently the President of Enterprise Sales at AE Global, a company known worldwide for its inventive packaging design and manufacturing. With three decades of experience developing creative product packaging and supply chain solutions, she has collaborated with numerous major brands, including Tiffany, Starbucks, and Estée Lauder. Today, Elizabeth will share the wealth of knowledge she has gained throughout her career with inventors, startups, and small manufacturers. Her advice will cover the significance of innovative product packaging design, essential strategies for creating outstanding packaging, and ways to use packaging effectively to enhance the growth of your new hardware product brand.

Click this link for This Episode's Full Info Page: https://www.makodesign.com/podcast/230-product-packaging-advice-for-your-new-hardware-invention/

Key Takeaways in This Episode:

• The primary role of packaging is to protect the product.

• Excellent packaging can provide an entire experience to the consumer.

• Another important consideration for packaging is that it needs to aptly represent the brand.

• Packaging needs to be budget-conscious! Consider if the cost of the packaging itself makes sense for the product you are selling.

• You need to take into account how the product will be sold. Different packaging presents different opportunities.

• Sustainability is a big part of packaging, particularly in today's society!

• The size of the packaging is an important ESG consideration.

• Influencer kits and investor kits are very similar – you are essentially creating something special to make the experience of opening the product interesting.

• Don't make your packaging too enticing! This could result in stolen packages.

• The outside of the box should be fairly utilitarian and basic, but when you open it up, it should be visually stunning and provide an experience.

• Product packaging is free real estate to connect with your customers, especially as a founder.

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, 

Are you looking to secure a patent or curious about what kind of intellectual property protection will best protect your brilliant ideas? Tom Dunlap has all the answers you're looking for and more. For 22 years, Tom has been the driving force behind Dunlap Bennett & Ludwig. He also imparts his expertise in patent law at Lafayette College and has developed numerous books on the frameworks of IP protection. Today, Tom is set to share his insight into this important topic with inventors, startups, and small manufacturers. He will detail the distinctions between provisional patents, utility patents, design patents, copyrights, and trademarks, as well as best practices for ensuring optimal IP protection for your new physical product invention.

Click this link for This Episode's Full Info Page: https://www.makodesign.com/podcast/229-overview-of-patenting-for-hardware-startups/

Key Takeaways in This Episode:

• Securing patent protection for your invention product is absolutely critical!

• A utility patent protects the product's function, essentially how it works.

• A design patent protects the physical design of a product, essentially how it looks.

• Trademarks are another form of intellectual property protection that protects your brand, for example, McDonald's and its gold arches.

• Copyright protection protects a range of supportive items, such as code, instruction manuals, and text pertinent to the product.

• Trade Secrets refer to pieces of information you want to keep private about your product or brand.

• A provisional patent is not really a patent. It is more like a temporary bookmark you have to file within a year of developing your novel product.

• One patent application can be submitted for protection in several countries through certain platforms.

• What is the difference between independent claims and dependent claims?

• All you own by securing a patent is what you have claimed.

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, 

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, 

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, 

Valentin Radu, CEO and Founder of Omniconvert, wrote the book on Customer Lifetime Value – literally. He has collaborated with an extensive range of direct-to-consumer eCommerce brands to elevate their marketing strategies, which informed his development of "The CLV Revolution," a guidebook dedicated to revolutionizing customer value optimization for eCommerce businesses. Today, Valentin will divulge the core frameworks of his guidebook salient to today's inventors, startups, and small manufacturers. He will detail how to differentiate between profit and perceived value – emphasizing the importance of centring your marketing efforts on the solution your product offers – and share strategies for boosting the price customers are prepared to pay for your latest invention.

Click this link for This Episode's Full Info Page: https://www.makodesign.com/podcast/226-maximizing-your-inventions-perceived-value-through-marketing/

Key Takeaways in This Episode:

• Nail down the unit economics before you begin developing marketing approaches.

• The core formula to use is customer lifetime value divided by customer acquisition cost.

• Customer research is a vital step to take before spending money on marketing.

• Try to maximize the sales up front! This requires great brand and product messaging.

• People don’t buy products for the features; they buy them for the solutions they provide.

• It is better to focus on the pain point, as people are more inclined to shell out money to solve these issues.

• Based on your marketing approach, you can increase the price people are willing to pay for your product without changing any features.

• Harvard Business Review states that most buying decisions are based on emotional decisions, not logic.

• Use features and technology to validate your claims regarding how you are improving your customer's life.

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,...

John Conafay entered the manufacturing sector in 2014 after contributing to the United States Air Force for years as a communications and systems specialist. Following a wide array of collaborations with hardware startups and aerospace companies, he noticed a lack of refined communication tools, which culminated in the creation of Integrate – a unique software designed to streamline communication in the hardware development realm. Today, John will share how he made this discovery and how critical segregating communication channels is for modern inventors, startups, and small-scale manufacturers. John will identify the primary stakeholders in product development and elucidate the advantages of a meticulously constructed information framework for hardware product businesses.

Click this link for This Episode's Full Info Page: https://www.makodesign.com/podcast/225-communication-silos-for-product-design-stakeholders/

Key Takeaways in This Episode:

• Hardware development requires extensive communication between internal designers, internal engineers, customers, manufacturers, and investors. All of them need the right information at the right time.

• It’s important to have a system that controls how information is disseminated to ensure the right information is available for the right stakeholders.

• Firewalls are incredibly important for information security in consumer product development.

• Make sure you maintain your source of truth!

• Ensure that changes that occur in documents are tracked in real time so that all team members are on the same page.

• Intellectual property should be protected to a high degree!

• You heavily reduce the need for meetings, overhead, and unnecessary administrative work when integrating communication silos.

• Risk is reduced if you have teams spread across a variety of places and even a variety of countries.

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 

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, 

For nearly a decade, Tim Uys has spearheaded a diverse myriad of design initiatives as the Director of Design at MAKO Design + Invent. During his 25 years in the industrial design and mechanical engineering domains, he has made impactful contributions in senior design leadership and education roles, as well as to renowned companies such as Dell, Nike Golf, Qualcomm, and Ironman. Today, Tim draws from his abundant experience to enlighten modern inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on the disparities between mechanical and pre-production prototypes for plastic components. He will divulge the essential design for manufacturing prerequisites and offer insight into optimizing the plastic product design, engineering, and prototyping journey for maximum efficiency.

Click this link for This Episode's Full Info Page: https://www.makodesign.com/podcast/223-mechanical-prototype-parts-vs-pre-production-parts-for-plastic-inventions/

Key Takeaways in This Episode:

• What are the key differences between a mechanical prototype and a pre-production prototype?

• Most hardware inventions are either entirely or mainly made of plastic or have some plastic components.

• The mechanical prototype helps validate the primary mechanism of the design and the overall invention idea.

• The pre-production prototype is the phase in which you put the product design into its intended final format, suitable for mass production, and work on shaping the components to optimize for that format.

• There is a wide variety of different types of plastic, and they all have different uses.

• Once you finalize the materials selection, the next step is to choose which processes you will use, such as injection moulding.

• A lot of hardware startups skip this entire step and choose to proceed to manufacturing with concept CAD. They are missing 3 key prototyping stages: the Rough Prototype, the Mechanical Prototype, and the Pre-Production Prototype.

• Skipping these stages could cost you money and time down the line if something is missed.

• The fewer features you have for your starter product as a startup, the easier it is to go through all these steps and the more refined each feature will be. 

• Keep your feature creep to a minimum. You can add additional features later on!

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, 

In addition to amassing 25 years of experience in the manufacturing industry, Micki Vandeloo has dedicated nearly 15 years to assisting manufacturers with securing government grants to propel the growth of their product ventures. Impressively, as the President of Lakeview Consulting, she has collectively secured over $250 million for clients. Today, Micki will offer invaluable guidance for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers by systematically breaking down the requisite steps and nuances of applying for and successfully securing government grants in the USA. She will delineate the various levels as well as categories of grants available for hardware startups and impart essential advice on preparing for and composing the application to maximize your chances of success.

Click this link for This Episode's Full Info Page: https://www.makodesign.com/podcast/222-securing-grants-for-scaling-up-a-hardware-startup/

Key Takeaways in This Episode:

• What are government grants?

• You have to plan very far ahead before applying for a government grant.

• What is the difference between state grants and federal grants?

• Scaling-stage funding is when you are able to prove that you can scale. Most government grants require clear market proof to receive the funding.

• There are a wide variety of different grant purposes.

• Project design is key to successfully applying for a government grant.

• There are 3 core elements to a grant: What are the activities you have to do to make the product business grow? What do you need in order to make the scaling project work? How much money is your product going to cost?

• Identify the grant you think you can get, develop a compelling project plan in your application, and then ensure you follow the grant requirements after receiving funding.

• There are a variety of grant requirements you must meet after you get the funding, so be conservative with your estimates.

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, 

With more than two decades of experience in manufacturing, Keenan Wyrobek stands as a highly knowledgeable figure in the industry. He is the Co-Founder and CTO of Zipline, an autonomous drone delivery enterprise boasting a workforce of 1,100 individuals that has secured funding in the hundreds of millions. Today, Keenan will divulge his extensive expertise salient to inventors, startups, and small-scale manufacturers. He will share how to best navigate the intricacies of the design for manufacturing phase, strategies for optimizing the product development and prototyping stages for seamless integration with manufacturing processes, and how to smoothly transition from finalizing your pre-production prototype to your first manufacturing run, thereby laying the groundwork for a triumphant launch.

Click this link for This Episode's Full Info Page: https://www.makodesign.com/podcast/221-how-to-go-from-prototype-to-first-manufacturing-run/

Key Takeaways in This Episode:

• Ensure your product is well-designed and has been prototyped numerous times before going into the production stage.

• Design for manufacturing is all about hitting optimizations and maximizing manufacturability for each individual component.

• Don’t change aspects of the product design once you have begun DFM, the design is done at that point!

• Create at least more than 3 prototypes to make sure you have industriously iterated on everything that matters.

• You are not done prototyping until you are perfectly happy with your design, and it perfectly aligns with your vision for your product.

• Manufacturing design is the stage where you start working closely with your manufacturing vendors.

• Make sure you have a strong manufacturing design package to provide your vendors with.

• Product reliability is critical, so make sure you have a strong relationship with your manufacturing vendors!

• Include the customer in the DFM process, as they will identify reliability issues you may have never identified.

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...

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, 

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 

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,...

Yuri Dvoinos is the visionary behind an illustrious portfolio of 15 enterprises that have collectively amassed tens of millions of dollars in revenue. Among his ventures lies the portable Jammy Guitar, a resounding success story that garnered $250,000 in initial funding during its inaugural crowdfunding endeavor, swiftly followed by a staggering $500,000 in its subsequent campaign. Today, Yuri shares how he accomplished these commendable feats and his insight into crowdfunding to inform modern innovators, burgeoning startups, and niche manufacturers. He elucidates the profound significance of customer feedback and delves into how to optimally harness such feedback to drive subsequent product iteration and development.

Click this link for This Episode's Full Info Page: https://www.makodesign.com/podcast/217-using-crowdfunding-for-real-customer-feedback-on-your-invention/

Key Takeaways in This Episode:

• Crowdfunding provides instant, high-quality feedback from real customers!

• A large factor in their success was that they identified a gap in a market with lackluster products and filled the gap with their product.

• The primary reason they wanted to do a crowdfunding campaign was not to secure funding, but rather to get real customer feedback from backers who had pre-purchased the product.

• Make sure you celebrate your campaign's successes once it has finished!

• After that, leverage your campaign to get interest from important people in the industry.

• Customer segmentation can be very valuable when striving to find your ideal target audience, as you can develop a product exactly for them.

• Version 2.0 comes after launching an MVP.

• Consider leveraging both Kickstarter and Indiegogo!

• As you evolve, you will figure out how to reduce costs associated with hardware development.

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 

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 

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.

Alex Back, the innovative force behind Couch.com and the previous founder of Apt2B, solidified both enterprises as influential figures in the domain of affiliate marketing for physical consumer product brands targeting end-consumers directly. In this episode, Alex will provide comprehensive guidance to inventors, startups, and small-scale manufacturers seeking to understand the fundamental principles of affiliate marketing and how it can impactfully boost the success of hardware products. He will elaborate on effective strategies for successfully introducing new products to the market and achieving early sales through this exceptionally useful and rapidly expanding sales channel.

Click this link for This Episode's Full Info Page: https://www.makodesign.com/podcast/214-affiliate-marketing-for-d2c-sales-of-inventions/

Key Takeaways in This Episode:

• What is affiliate marketing?

• Social media influencers are the most common type of affiliate marketing; however, they represent only a small part of the affiliate marketing landscape.

• Sellers know how to sell, inventors know how to invent, and together they can form a mutually beneficial partnership.

• Influencers, bloggers, Youtubers, and online stores are affiliate marketing organizations.

• The differences between commission-based, traffic-based, display or impression-based, and pay-per-click affiliate marketing.

• Your affiliate marketer only sends traffic to your website! You still need to sell your product.

• Research the different affiliate platforms that are commonly used and see which ones resonate best with you.

• All product review sites are based on affiliate marketing!

• To start, be very generous with your commission payout amount.

• Affiliate marketing is the Wild West of opportunity.

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 

Lesley Hensell, renowned for her 14 years of experience in Amazon sales, is the mastermind behind the revolutionary book The Amazon Incubator. Lesley also serves as Co-Founder at Riverbend Consulting, where she has directly assisted numerous Amazon sellers that achieve annual revenue ranging from $500,000 to $500 million by solving pressing issues, optimizing workflows, and maximizing business growth. In today's episode, Lesley shares her extensive insight into the intricacies of Amazon's sales platform and how to improve your chances of sales success as an inventor, startup, or small manufacturer. She delves into the benefits of leveraging Amazon as a product startup, provides strategies for conducting effective keyword and competitor research, and outlines best practices for overseeing a product launch to ensure enduring success as an Amazon seller.

Click this link for This Episode's Full Info Page: https://www.makodesign.com/podcast/213-researching-how-your-product-fits-on-amazon/

Key Takeaways in This Episode:

• Two-thirds of the products sold on Amazon are sold by 3rd party resellers.

• There are 150 million Prime members just in the US alone.

• Amazon has surpassed Google for product research!

• The first questions to consider as a hardware startup are; Is your product suited for Amazon, and is there a niche for your product on Amazon?

• Find your product description keywords! Build out long-tail keywords by writing out the direct definition and primary descriptors of your product.

• The keywords that you use to research your product should dictate how you build your actual listing page, as well as your pay-per-click advertising.

• Brand registry on Amazon is important for brand protection!

• Have a comprehensive plan prepared prior to your product's launch, including your advertising strategies and materials.

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 

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 

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....

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 |

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...

Kelley Thornton is the CEO of Tiege Hanley, a direct-to-consumer skincare product brand for men that has sold more than 16 million products in over 100 countries. Today, Kelley will share valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on the importance of materials selection for your new hardware product, how to ensure the use of the best quality materials when working with manufacturers, and why materials are important to both your customers and your product business.

Here are the key takeaways from the episode:

• What are hardware product materials, and why are they important?
• Make a decision about the level of quality you want to achieve with your product up front, as that will guide your materials decision-making.
• Intuitive materials decision-making is salient to having great products.
• Understanding the chemistry of ingredients is important to delivering product results.
• Calling out the ingredients at the manufacturing level will critically ensure quality.
• All manufacturers have strengths and weaknesses, so make sure everyone is on board with the way the product is formed.
• Be clear about intellectual property, especially if the manufacturer makes changes that you agree with!
• Another key reason you should push for high-quality materials is that you can use the quality as a reason your customers should choose your product brand over others.
• You can also use the quality of your ingredients in your marketing efforts!
• Always start with higher quality materials and, over time, figure out how to value engineer that into cost savings through scale, innovation, etc., to bring your costs down.
• Ensure that your margins are high enough to afford quality, and that should be the case when you’ve got a new proprietary product.

Kelley Thornton Links:

LinkedIn | Tiege Hanley, Inc.

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...

Steven Weigler is a seasoned attorney and successful entrepreneur who has worked for a number of large corporations in the intellectual property arena. Presently a Founding Attorney at EmergeCounsel, Steven is poised to share immensely valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers. Today, he will delve into the four types of intellectual property protection, how to use these protections to increase the value of your hardware product business, and how these protections work collaboratively. 

Here are the key takeaways from the episode:

• What are the 4 key elements of intellectual property for a physical product startup?
• Growing for an exit or growing to build a market has many similarities.
• Intellectual property means intangible assets created by the mind.
• Intellectual property carries on the balance sheet as an asset.
• Intellectual property can be hard to quantify.
• Patents can be either a design patent on the unique design of a product and/or the utility, meaning the functionality of the product.
• Patent exclusivity is for the country you file for.
• You must have a year in the market before you can patent the product.
• Design patents are easier to get than utility patents.
• You can improve on your own product and get a patent later.
• Sometimes, a patent doesn’t add value to a particular product.
• Trademarks protect the brand image, and these types of intellectual property protections can be a very valuable yet understated form of value for a hardware startup.
• Brand is identity, and brand is trust!
• Your brand is going to grow, even though it starts at zero.
• Trademark protection is quite inexpensive.
• Copyright protects all works of art; code, product packaging, and many other things can have certain protections under copyright.
• The Berlin Convention ensures that many countries honour the copyrights of other countries.
• Trade Secrets are not thought of as IP; however, those secrets can be a large part of the intellectual property of a product business.
• All of these strategies employed together help prevent other entities from copying your product.
• If you enact all of these intellectual property tactics, it will also grow the value of your product business significantly!

Steven Weigler Links:

LinkedIn | EmergeCounsel

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 |

Dan Shea is the Managing Director of Objective, Investment Banking and Valuation. He has been spearheading mergers and acquisition deals as an investment banker in the manufacturing sector for over 30 years. Today, Dan will share valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on the salience of thinking about the value of your product and product business well before the sale, focusing on a quality product and customer needs, and adding innovation to increase the valuation of your product for an eventual exit sale. 

Here are the key takeaways from the episode:

• Value to the customer is value for the customer.
• Start with the end in mind.
• Big companies are spending less money on R&D and more money on acquisition.
• There are a lot of advantages to creating a hardware startup, and corporate teams are looking for startups that are finding those opportunities that they missed.
• Most innovation is happening at small companies despite large companies getting most of the press.
• Innovating every year based on changing customer needs is critical!
• Use quality product design and a family of products as a core foundation.
• Businesses typically start with one product.
• Innovation doesn’t stop when your first product is built.
• Create your first product properly, and you create massive institutional value.
• Think about what the company has done throughout its history and what that likely means it can do in the future.
• Build a culture of innovation from the moment you conceive your hardware startup to maximize the valuation of a future sale.
• Charge more for your product as you are innovating, this ensures profitability, and margin is critical to product business buyers.
• Overnight successes are usually backed by 10 years in the making.
• Reflect on what buyers of hardware product businesses get excited about.
• Focus on building great, high-quality products, that is the most important part of a hardware business.
• Find ways to get the word out about your product using modest methods to drive early sales.
• With a global marketplace, there are lots of ways to sell to multiple pools of people, even with a very niche hardware product.

Dan Shea Links:

LinkedIn | Objective, Investment Banking & Valuation

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 |

Tomide Adesanmi is the Founder of Circuit Mind, an electronics engineering platform that supports heavily improved EE design and development. Today Tomide will share his wealth of knowledge salient to today's inventors, startups, and small manufacturers regarding how electronics product startups are leading the charge, best practices in the realm of electronics engineering regarding consumer product development, and tools for improving the electronics design process.

Here are the key takeaways from the episode:

• Electronics products are becoming more ubiquitous, electronics are in everything.
• Hardware innovation is happening from startups more than large corporations.
• Big corporations are slow, it is harder for them to compete with hardware startups on electronics products.
• Smart makers and inventors in their garages are iterating ideas quickly and effectively.
• If inventors are not in the hardware industry, they are surprised at how archaic a lot of the hardware technology is compared to software.
• Supply chain, agility, quality product.
• The high-level design process requires 1 to 6 weeks of iterations, prototypes, testing, and 3 to 10 prototype iterations to get to a manufactured product.
• Start with top-level requirements, then major components, then breadboard, then circuit design, then PCB design, then firmware, then many testing rounds to get the product ready for manufacturing.
• You have different levels of fidelity, and you need to do them in order.
• Extremely experienced engineers have been working for decades to make the process robust and done right.
• Tools are constantly being released to improve speed, improve the optimization of your hardware, and also to reduce the number of iterations in the design process.

Tomide Adesanmi Links:

LinkedIn | Circuit Mind | Enterprise Hub

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...

Collin Mitchell has been in the sales space for over 15 years, and his expertise is evidenced by his success in selling over 5,000 SKUs of product through the first of the many companies he has founded. He is currently a Managing Partner at Leadium, a full-service selling agency that helps companies scale up their sales efforts. Today, Collin will share valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on how to figure out what types of wholesale buyers there are, which ones are ideal for your particular product, and how to build and manage a list of these buyers so that you can grow your wholesale selling efforts quickly.

Here are the key takeaways from the episode:

• How to successfully sell directly to wholesale buyers by forming the ideal customer profile.
• Find the buyers who are best suited to your specific product.
• Rank your potential buyers from most important to least important.
• First, identify companies within your industry, then identify the specific contacts.
• There will be vast competition when trying to get the attention of these buyers.
• Go one step further by comprehensively researching your buyer so that you can position yourself above everyone else reaching out to these high-value buyers.
• The more information you find about your buyers, the better!
• Use multiple sets of databases to find this information.
• Your phone is one of the most powerful tools that you have to reach out.
• Before you pick up the phone to reach someone, be prepared.
• Don’t limit yourself to one channel in approaching product buyers.
• Reach out many times, be persistent!
• It typically takes 15 to 20 touchpoints before a buyer commits.
• Don’t take anything personally when forming a list of wholesale buyers for your new invention.
• A no should be looked at as a positive thing, as you are refining your list to put more effort into the best people that could potentially carry your product.
• As you start to get traction with some buyers, you can use that success to persuade others.

Collin Mitchell Links:

LinkedIn | Leadium

The Product Startup Podcast Links:

https://www.ProductStartup.com/

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

Mako Design Links:

https://www.makodesign.com/

YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter

Kevin Mako Links:

Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter

Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing

Paul Davis is a senior industrial designer at our very own Mako Design for almost 10 years. He achieved Honors status in his degree in Product Design Engineering and Industrial Design at Edinburgh University. Today Paul will share valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on the difference between basic CAD and design for manufacturing, why design for manufacturing is so important early in the design process, and best practices for designing a product for manufacturing success.

Here are the key takeaways from the episode:

• 
  
• Designing products for manufacturing.
• 
  
• 
  
• Cost-effective, good-looking, and high-quality is best!
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• Concept design needs to take into account planning, parts, and logic for how the product will eventually be manufactured.
• 
  
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• Simplicity in design leads to quality manufacturing.
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• 
  
• Using manufacturing CAD software to build original CAD models heavily improves the process and reduces cost in both prototyping and manufacturing.
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• Considering how you manufacture your product while building your first full CAD design is integral.
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• There are many manufacturing methods that go into developing a new hardware product.
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• Manufacturing draft angles, tool design, part integration, OEM parts, materials data sets, etc.
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• Industrial design and conceptual mechanical engineering are interconnected.
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• Simple products succeed more often than complex products for new hardware startups developing a new invention idea for the first time for manufacturing.
• 
  

Paul Davis Links:

LinkedIn | MAKO Design

The Product Startup Podcast Links:

https://www.ProductStartup.com/

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

Mako Design Links:

https://www.makodesign.com/

YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter

Kevin Mako Links:

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...

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

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...

Tim Angel is the founder of Zugu, an Amazon eCommerce iPad case that sold millions of units online. They have been perfecting the craft of direct-to-consumer selling on Amazon over the past 13 years, achieving over $30 Million Dollars in sales per year. Today Tim is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on the power of Amazon, how to get started in selling a new consumer product on Amazon, and best practices for growing sales quickly and effectively soon after launch.

Here are the key takeaways from the episode:

• When he got the opportunity to build an invention business, he went all in.
• The only way you can fail is if you stop trying
• Amazon is an amazing platform for getting the best products a good chance in the market
• If you’re coming up with one product, it is hard to succeed on your own website, but it is much easier to utilize the Amazon platform
• Scale, conversion rates, and marketing in general 
• There are a lot of 4-star products on Amazon, so if you can be a 5-star product, you get a major advantage.
• Buy products of your competitors and see how to make the best version of the product.
• Look at competitor reviews, and find out what people dislike about competitors and what they do like.
• Slowly make more and more progress.
• Place a small order on the early.
• On Amazon if you are competing on price, there is a lot of competition, if you are competing on quality, there is little competition right now.
• Post your personal story is a huge differentiator.
• Don’t do advertising until you have reviews.
• There are lots of ways to get early reviews, use those methods.
• Use your ads to let people know that you have a premium product.
• Learn the advertising system yourself in Amazon.
• A low cost product is harder to sell because of shipping, advertising, etc.
• Focus on one product category and do it well. Don’t do a bunch of things okay, do one or a few great.

Tim Angel Links:

LinkedIn | Zugu Case

The Product Startup Podcast Links:

https://www.ProductStartup.com/

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

Mako Design Links:

https://www.makodesign.com/

YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter

Kevin Mako Links:

Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter

Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer...

Will Haire serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Bellavix, a marketing agency dedicated to the strategic growth of emerging hardware brands on Amazon and Walmart.com. With a background in military technology and supply chain management, Will has honed his expertise over a decade in the digital marketing realm. In this presentation, Will will impart invaluable insights tailored for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers. He will elucidate the nuances of the Walmart.com Marketplace, guide you through the product listing process, and illuminate best practices for effectively launching and expanding your hardware product in this competitive space.

Here are the key takeaways from the episode:

• Walmart online differs from Walmart Retail Stores.
• Not all products on the website are available in physical stores.
• Online sales can demonstrate a product's value effectively.
• Many Walmart online products catch the attention of retail store buyers.
• Walmart is aggressively expanding into the e-commerce sector.
• Walmart possesses a vast infrastructure.
• There's a substantial opportunity for brands to join Walmart, especially as it's still in its early stages.
• Getting a new product on Walmart.com is now surprisingly straightforward.
• Previously, it was challenging to access the platform, but it's now more friendly to emerging product brands.
• It takes less than a week to list your product on the Walmart marketplace.
• Avoid simply mirroring listings from other marketplaces; tailor your approach to Walmart's platform.
• How Walmart presents and promotes your product is crucial.
• Different online marketplaces have varying sales metrics for the same consumer products.
• Maintain control over your product brand on Walmart.
• Walmart Fulfillment Services is akin to Amazon Prime Fulfillment.
• Transfer reviews from Shopify, if available, to your Walmart listing.
• Advertising is essential for brand scaling, especially after garnering positive reviews.
• Carefully design and engineer titles, keywords, descriptions, and bullets to match buyer intent.
• Experiment with software to find the most effective keywords for traffic and conversions.
• Utilize Pay Per Click ads and the DSP Programmatic Platform in both on and off-platform advertising on Walmart.com.

Will Haire Links:

LinkedIn

BellaVix

The Product Startup Podcast Links:

https://www.ProductStartup.com/

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

Mako Design Links:

https://www.makodesign.com/

YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter

Kevin Mako Links:

Instagram | LinkedIn |

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...

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

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

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

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...

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 |

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 |

Thomas Ask is a Professor of Industrial Design at Penn College, which stands as a sibling institution to Penn State. With extensive experience spanning over three decades in the realm of hardware product development, he has also played pivotal roles in nurturing two hardware startups. Thomas's academic journey culminated in the acquisition of a PhD in Industrial Design, further enhancing his expertise. Today, Thomas is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on what ethnocentric design is, why it is valuable for a hardware startup, and the process to ensure you do a great job at getting inside the mind of your customer so that you can best achieve both design and sales success for your invention product.

Today you will hear us talk about:

• Defining what ethnocentric design
• Different cultures
• Different demographics
• Subject matter expert
• Inventing something and inventing something for someone
• A lot of design and invention has ego, but you should take out the ego. Instead, look at data.
• Identify the problem.
• Develop empathy for the user. What is going on in their life.
• Interview your customer, or prospective customer types.
• Formal ethnographic techniques.
• Processes, understand the user, ideation, feedback.
• Ideation is where you create ideas to match and infuse them to what you have learned from your customer.
• Cultural consensus questionnaire
• First, ensure your end customers are the correct people.
• A structured questionnaire.
• Human observation.
• Many people don’t want radical change from traditional methods, even if it is better.
• If it doesn’t work well and it is not intuitive, people will not use it.
• A dynamic feedback loop ensures success.

Thomas Ask Links:

LinkedIn | Penn College

The Product Startup Podcast Links:

https://www.ProductStartup.com/

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

Mako Design Links:

https://www.makodesign.com/

YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter

Kevin Mako Links:

Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter

Partner: PTC’s best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product

Paul McEnroe is the creator, developer, and leader behind UPC barcodes for IBM. The work he did is still the standard over 50 years later on almost all products worldwide. Since then he has been the head of engineering and eventually President for hardware companies, and sits on a number of boards and educational institutions. Today Paul is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on the type of team you need to build for your hardware product, how to manage that team, and how to ensure smooth communication so that your team can make sure your new hardware product is a big success.

Today you will hear us talk about:

• When you see someone that has a huge part of the market, and they aren’t doing it well, you know there is lots of opportunity for new innovation.
• Innovation and execution does not happen overnight, it can take years to get it built, then to market, then to scale.
• The power of team in building a new hardware product
• Ensure you have a great technical team in building a hardware product, especially as a hardware.
• Have experience in fields that you do not have yourself.
• What do you want to do with your product, and how does that bring about a team?
• Each team member can not be focusing just on themselves, they need to recognize the power of the whole.
• What do you want others to do?
• Communicate openly, in both directions
• Individual Skills, Whole goal, and communication.
• You have your people, the designers and engineers in the shop,
• Explain it in simple terms to people that have the money, or are buying the product.
• To improve your business communication among your team, learn some of the skills of a college debate team.
• Put your mind in the place of the person you are communicating with, not just your own perspective.
• Ensure that everyone on your team is in full understanding.
• Help out the quieter people in the room, as their insight is potentially just as important.
• Make yourself, as the leader, as available as can be.
• If someone comes up with an issue, do not let it bubble up, especially interpersonal issues.

Paul McEnroe Links:

LinkedIn | Book

The Product Startup Podcast Links:

https://www.ProductStartup.com/

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

Mako Design Links:

https://www.makodesign.com/

YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter

Kevin Mako Links:

Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora |

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

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 |

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...

Rich Walsh is the CEO of CorVent Medical, which is the eighth company Rich has helped build. Prior to CorVent, Rich was a part of many different companies building them from early phases right to exiting through either acquisition or going public. He has been in the space for over 25 years. Today Rich is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on how rewarding building a hardware startup is, how to move fast to accomplish big goals much faster than big companies, and how to be a repeat serial hardware startup entrepreneur.

Today you will hear us talk about:

• Hardware startups are leading the pack for innovation in 2023
• The hardware world is extremely rewarding when done right.
• Startups are very nimble, they can develop far faster than a big company, even though big companies have so much more money.
• Company vision is key to bringing on many different stakeholders.
• Build a quality product and sales and financing will come.
• The culture of your startup and the stakeholders you work with will be important.
• The sooner you start, the better. Even young people can have multiple exits before they even hit mid-career.

Rich Walsh Links:

LinkedIn | CorVent Medical

The Product Startup Podcast Links:

https://www.ProductStartup.com/

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

Mako Design Links:

https://www.makodesign.com/

YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter

Kevin Mako Links:

Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter

Partner: PTC’s best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality.

Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer...

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...