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Product Startup
Product Startup episodes
- 103: How to Get a New Product’s First B2B Sales
Patrick Daly is the author of the book Just Start Up. He has built over 20 products from invention idea to market over the past 25 years. Today Patrick is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can get their first products sold by selling directly to other businesses such as wholesalers, retailers, distributors, or other brands, and then how to accelerate your ongoing product development and sales through those channels.
Today you will hear us talk about:
- How do you start selling B2B (Networks and referrals)
- Watch out for exclusive deals, they are great, but there are ways to protect yourself
- Speed is critical (startups should be speed boats) Speed boats vs Super Tankers
- Retain your identity, even with licensing or white label sales
- Only then, switch to reaching out to cold prospects, but do it via phone
- Think of innovation at all levels (Different Selling Point)
- Listening to your buyers
- Planning forward
- Connecting engineering with sales
EPISODE LINKS
Patrick Daly / Just Start Up Book Links:
- Website: https://www.amazon.com/Just-Start-Up-Building-Entrepreneur-ebook/dp/B0CYQHNLLF
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patricknoeldaly/
The Product Startup Podcast Links:
- Website: https://www.ProductStartup.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ProductStartup/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ProductStartup/
- Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ProductStartup/
- Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ProductStartup/
- Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ProductStartup/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProductStartup
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@productstartup
Kevin Mako Links:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Entrepreneurs/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/KevMako/
- Quora: https://www.quora.com/profile/Kevin-Mako
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KevMakoPage/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/KevMako/
28 min - 102: How Students Start Successful Hardware Businesses
Scott Evans is the Director of Inventionworks at the University of Texas, just a few blocks away from our Mako Design Austin office. Inventionworks is a 23,000 square foot product design and development facility with lots of fun machines and a team of 40 experts to help get student inventions off the ground. In addition, Scott has spent 25 years in the prototyping and product manufacturing industry. Today Scott is going to share some valuable knowledge on how student inventors and startups can start their invention idea journey, and how to maximize the value of what colleges and universities have to offer. And today isn’t just about students, but also how anyone in the industry can get involved with their local schools both to help and to learn from them.
Today you will hear us talk about:
- Look around campus (student to student, faculty, entrepreneurial programs)
- Product development in combination with an entrepreneurial mindset
- How can people in the community be helpful for universities hardware incubators
- Continuous learning, regress back to the role of a student to learn
- Blur the lines between education and professional practice
EPISODE LINKS
Scott Evans / Inventionworks Links:
- Website: https://inventionworks.engr.utexas.edu/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/r-scott-evans-34a6512/
The Product Startup Podcast Links:
- Website: https://www.ProductStartup.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ProductStartup/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ProductStartup/
- Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ProductStartup/
- Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ProductStartup/
- Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ProductStartup/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProductStartup
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@productstartup
Kevin Mako Links:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Entrepreneurs/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/KevMako/
- Quora: https://www.quora.com/profile/Kevin-Mako
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KevMakoPage/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/KevMako/
27 min - 101: Payment Processing for Small Hardware Manufacturers
Nic Beique is the Founder and CEO of Helcim, a North American payment processing company that has over 10,000 small business clients, and processes over four billion dollars of transactions per year. In fact, Mako Design is one of his clients. Today Nic is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers should understand the importance of payment processing, and how to best use it to improve the experience for both your end customers and your business-to-business wholesale transactions.
Today you will hear us talk about:
- High level of what payment processing is
- Why does payment processing matter to small hardware manufacturers?
- Tips for small new products and existing manufacturers
- Direct to consumer online, in-store, and B2B
- The new wave of wholesale direct sales
EPISODE LINKS
Nic Beique / Helcim Links:
- Website: https://www.helcim.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nic-beique-45084424/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/helcim/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/Helcim
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Helcim
The Product Startup Podcast Links:
- Website: https://www.ProductStartup.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ProductStartup/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ProductStartup/
- Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ProductStartup/
- Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ProductStartup/
- Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ProductStartup/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProductStartup
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@productstartup
Kevin Mako Links:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Entrepreneurs/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/KevMako/
- Quora: https://www.quora.com/profile/Kevin-Mako
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KevMakoPage/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/KevMako/
27 min - 100: Pitch Deck Storytelling for Hardware Funding
Donna Griffit helps write pitches for hardware startups and small manufacturing companies to raise millions of dollars in funding. Before working with small product businesses, she used to do corporate pitch investment decks for Samsung, Cisco, Microsoft, Google, Visa, and more. She has raised over $300 million for hardware companies alone. Today Donna is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers should think about how to write a perfect investor pitch through storytelling, and what specific story model to use to land the big bucks.
Today you will hear us talk about:
- There’s simply a lot of funding activity right now.
- The importance of telling a story.
- The formula for a great story.
- Relevance is key, why should an investor invest today as opposed to later.
- Find how you fit in three trends: Social, regulatory, and big things happening in or around your space.
- Bring undeniable value to the potential investors.
- Stories have both resonance and a structure, both are key.
- Use your personal story as part of the story.
- The framework: The pain/need/opportunity, then the hero, then the business potential, then the vision for the future.
EPISODE LINKS
Donna Griffit Links:
- Website: https://www.donnagriffit.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donnaabraham/
The Product Startup Podcast Links:
- Website: https://www.ProductStartup.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ProductStartup/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ProductStartup/
- Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ProductStartup/
- Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ProductStartup/
- Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ProductStartup/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProductStartup
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@productstartup
Kevin Mako Links:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Entrepreneurs/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/KevMako/
- Quora: https://www.quora.com/profile/Kevin-Mako
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KevMakoPage/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/KevMako/
33 min - 099: Accounts Receivable Funding for Big Orders
Steven is the Founder and CEO of FundThrough, a North American accounts receivable firm that has provided billions of dollars in bridge financing to help small businesses scale. His firm is also a fellow recipient of the Best Places to Work Award. Today Steven is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can understand how big buyers like wholesalers, distributors, and retailers use credit terms when purchasing your products, and what you can do to bridge the gap between delivering your product and getting paid, something which is quite important for a small and scaling consumer product business.
Today you will hear us talk about:
- Bridge Financing, Accounts Receivable financing
- It allows you to pay your suppliers
- The clock doesn’t start ticking on you getting paid until the invoice gets through.
- Get your invoices paid faster
- How bridge financing helps with scaling
- Small businesses that land a big sale
- Larger customers have a lot more control on how they get paid
- Use Quickbooks Online, makes financing very easy
EPISODE LINKS
Steven Uster / FundThrough Links:
- Website: https://www.fundthrough.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenuster/
The Product Startup Podcast Links:
- Website: https://www.ProductStartup.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ProductStartup/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ProductStartup/
- Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ProductStartup/
- Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ProductStartup/
- Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ProductStartup/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProductStartup
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@productstartup
Kevin Mako Links:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Entrepreneurs/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/KevMako/
- Quora: https://www.quora.com/profile/Kevin-Mako
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KevMakoPage/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/KevMako/
22 min - 098: Expand eCommerce Sales via Product Bundling
Amy is the Founder of Mozzafiato, a large e-commerce health and beauty product store. She has over 1,000 products on her platform, and it only launched a year ago. Before this, she spent 20 years as a university executive and an attorney. Today Amy is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can join with other emerging consumer products to create bundles of products to sell online, thus giving your product much broader market access and bigger potential sales.
Today you will hear us talk about:
- Press launch for a new brand, and for social credibility.
- Create a group of products that doesn’t compete with anything else.
- How a new product can get into people’s hands that they never would have been able to on their own.
- Can market your product in a different way when bundled.
- Powerful partnerships with other great brands that compliment your product brand.
- Margins can be good as perceived value is high.
- Shipping savings.
- Subscriptions when bundling.
EPISODE LINKS
Amy Parsons / Mozzafiato Links:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amybuildingmozzafiato/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IAmMozzafiato/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iammozzafiato/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChi6mU-l-gFdYkKJz5_gm7w
The Product Startup Podcast Links:
- Website: https://www.ProductStartup.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ProductStartup/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ProductStartup/
- Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ProductStartup/
- Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ProductStartup/
- Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ProductStartup/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProductStartup
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@productstartup
Kevin Mako Links:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Entrepreneurs/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/KevMako/
- Quora: https://www.quora.com/profile/Kevin-Mako
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KevMakoPage/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/KevMako/
24 min - 097: How to Overcome Product Buyers’ Objections
Will Russell is the Founder of Russell Marketing, a New York marketing agency that specializes in launching new consumer product inventions. He is also a fellow writer with me for Forbes. Today Will is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers learn to identify the main consumer buyer objections when purchasing your product, then how to overcome those objections when you launch your product to the market for the first time.
Today you will hear us talk about:
- What are the types of buy objections when selling B2C
- Omnichanel product launch strategies
- Lots of the strategies today can be used in many sales strategies, including B2B
- How to create launch systems
- Cost, positioning, brand, technical, apathy
EPISODE LINKS
Will Russell / Russell Marketing Links:
- Website: https://russellmarketing.co/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/willrussellmktg/
The Product Startup Podcast Links:
- Website: https://www.ProductStartup.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ProductStartup/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ProductStartup/
- Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ProductStartup/
- Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ProductStartup/
- Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ProductStartup/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProductStartup
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@productstartup
Kevin Mako Links:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Entrepreneurs/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/KevMako/
- Quora: https://www.quora.com/profile/Kevin-Mako
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KevMakoPage/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/KevMako/
42 min - 096: How To Launch a Consumer Product at Trade Shows
Jim Cermak is the Founder of Trade Show University, an organization that educates and consults small businesses on winning at trade shows. He has been both in the trade show industry for 30 years, but also in the consumer product development and marketing business for many years. He also is the host of the Trade Show University Podcast. Today Jim is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can first choose a great show to exhibit at, then how to do a great job at landing big sales at the show itself.
Today you will hear us talk about:
- So many big products had their first big hit at a trade show.
- What is a trade show and how do they work?
- Figure out which is the right show you should be at.
- CES, National Hardware Show, etc.
- The people who are there are really wanting to be there.
- Trade Show Roadmap
EPISODE LINKS
Jim Cermak / Trade Show University Links:
- Website: https://tradeshowu.biz/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimcermak/
The Product Startup Podcast Links:
- Website: https://www.ProductStartup.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ProductStartup/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ProductStartup/
- Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ProductStartup/
- Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ProductStartup/
- Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ProductStartup/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProductStartup
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@productstartup
Kevin Mako Links:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Entrepreneurs/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/KevMako/
- Quora: https://www.quora.com/profile/Kevin-Mako
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KevMakoPage/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/KevMako/
39 min - 095: Solve End-User Pain for Consumer Product Success
Dan Soviero is the Founder of Signature Athletics, a highly successful sports gear company selling products all over the world. Dan is also a Forbes 30 Under 30 recipient, and like me, started his business while back in school. Today Dan is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can use the power of truly understanding a customer’s pain point, and using that understanding to create and sell highly successful products.
Today you will hear us talk about:
- A popular concept vs a problem-solving concept.
- Used the process of creating value to create more products
- Tried whitelabelling to other brands, but couldn’t best solve the end-client’s pain points.
- Used innovation from the end-client.
- Use one sentence to solve a pain point for your end-customer.
- You can come up with an invention idea by focusing on a problem and thinking hard about how to solve it.
EPISODE LINKS
Dan Soviero / Signature Athletics Links:
- Website: https://signaturelacrosse.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-soviero-signature-athletics-3945b0a8/
The Product Startup Podcast Links:
- Website: https://www.ProductStartup.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ProductStartup/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ProductStartup/
- Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ProductStartup/
- Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ProductStartup/
- Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ProductStartup/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProductStartup
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@productstartup
Kevin Mako Links:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Entrepreneurs/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/KevMako/
- Quora: https://www.quora.com/profile/Kevin-Mako
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KevMakoPage/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/KevMako/
32 min - 094: How New Startup Products Get Into Big Retailers
Yohan Jacob is the Founder and President of RetailBound, an agency that helps emerging hardware brands get into major retail stores and sales channels. RetailBound has been around for 14 years and has worked with over 4,000 product companies. Yohan himself has spent 30 years in the industry, including being a major buyer for Sears and Office Max. Today Yohan is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers get into the big retailers, including the 3 major tips on what retailers are looking for these days, and furthermore, how to succeed and scale once you are on the shelves with your invention.
Today you will hear us talk about:
- The difference between retail and marketplaces
- Three traits retailers look for: Unique, capitalized, nice people.
- Three metrics retailers look for:
- 1. Revenue, profitability, inventory turns
- 2. Past sales history
- 3. What are you going to do to build awareness
- It’s not just about sell-in, but it is about sell-through.
EPISODE LINKS
Yohan Jacob / Retail Bound Links:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yohanjacob/
- Website: https://retailbound.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/retailbound
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/retailbound
The Product Startup Podcast Links:
- Website: https://www.ProductStartup.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ProductStartup/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ProductStartup/
- Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ProductStartup/
- Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ProductStartup/
- Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ProductStartup/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProductStartup
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@productstartup
Kevin Mako Links:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Entrepreneurs/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/KevMako/
- Quora: https://www.quora.com/profile/Kevin-Mako
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KevMakoPage/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/KevMako/
22 min
About Product Startup
From the publisher's feed
The Product Startup Podcast is the hardware product development industry's #1 podcast. From invention idea to getting onto store shelves, and everything in between. Hear how inventors, product…
startups, & small manufacturers created their inventions and launched their physical product businesses. Learn from the industry's top industrial designers, mechanical engineers, PCB designers, consumer product managers, manufacturers, patent attorneys, hardware investors, product sellers, wholesalers, retailers and more. Learn about industrial design / product design, prototyping, 3d printing, additive manufacturing, product manufacturing, marketing, selling, patenting, logistics, and product business scaling. Hosted by Kevin Mako, the leading strategy and fundraising consultant for hardware startups at www.productstartup.com. Sponsored by TriMech Group, offering a comprehensive range of design, engineering, and manufacturing solutions backed by expertise that is unrivalled in the industry.