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Kevin Mako is the Founder of MAKO Design + Invent, a product development firm that provides end-to-end physical consumer product development. What really sets Kevin’s company apart is that it’s tailored to inventors, product startups, and small manufacturers. Mako Design is a 30-person team with offices in Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto, has developed over 1,000 products for clients and has earned over 25 design and business awards including Red Dot, Inc5000, Entrepreneur360, Indigo Gold, Creative Pool Gold, Best Places to Work, Lux Magazine Best Design Firm in North America, and many others. Kevin lectures at the Masters of Engineering program at Ryerson University, sits on a number of entrepreneurship and education boards, and holds the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award designation. He is the host of The Product Startup Podcast, the hardware development industry’s leading podcast.
The Being An Engineer podcast is brought to you by Pipeline Design & Engineering. Pipeline partners with medical & other device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment such as cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, automation equipment, assembly jigs, inspection stations and more. You can find us on the web at www.teampipeline.us.
Books/Resources recommended for hardware inventors:
1) The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone
2) The Common Path to Uncommon Success: A Roadmap to Financial Freedom and Fulfillment
3) Mako blog: https://www.makodesign.com/blog/
Co-Host Rafael Testai
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PDX 2026 is October 20–21 in Phoenix. Booths are first-come, first-served, and many are already reserved.
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The Being An Engineer podcast is brought to you by Pipeline Design & Engineering. Pipeline partners with medical & other device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment like cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, automation equipment, assembly jigs, inspection stations and more. You can find us at www.teampipeline.us
Watch the show on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@TeamPipelineus