Product Startup

Product Startup

By Kevin MakoBusinessEntrepreneurshipArtsMarketingDesign
Download on the App Store

Product Startup episodes

  • 046: Bootstrapping Product Development, Stephanie Cummings & Tal Berke of Shlocker

    Click this link for This Episode's Full Info Page: https://productstartup.com/podcast/046-bootstrapping-product-development-stephanie-cummings-tal-berke-of-shlocker/

    We get into solving that unmet need, validating their idea and creating the initial prototype. We talk about creating a refined prototype, sourcing manufacturers in the US and abroad and placing their first order.

    45 min
  • 046 - Bootstrapping Product Development, Stephanie Cummings & Tal Berke of Shlocker - The Product Startup: Product development for small business

    Tal and Stephanie started their product design after years of sharing living spaces with siblings and roommates. The Shlocker is a Shower Locker designed for anyone sharing a bathroom (college students, roommates, families). It allows the user to keep their personal care products separate, preventing product mooching and razor mixups.
    In this episode, we learn about

    * The 2017 Annual Product Startup Survey and Giveaway 
    * Solving that unmet need
    * Validating their idea and creating the first prototype
    * Creating a refined prototype
    * Sourcing manufacturers in the US and abroad and placing their first order
    * Pre-selling on Kickstarter
    * Doing what you can yourself - from photography to graphic design
    * Going into retail stores
    * Making improvements on the product
    * Attending trade shows to make contact with buyers and get publicity


    Links and resources mentioned in this episode

    * Website:

    * shlocker.com


    * Social Media

    * Twitter: @TheShlocker
    * Facebook: facebook.com/shlocker
    * Instagram: instagram.com/theshlocker
    * YouTube: youtube.com/channel


    * Tools

    * Canva - Easy to use graphic design
    * Survey Monkey - Audience surveys



    44 min
  • 045: Product development and Kickstarter launch of Botanium, a product that helps people grow herbs and chilis

    Click this link for This Episode's Full Info Page: https://productstartup.com/podcast/045-product-development-and-kickstarter-launch-of-botanium-a-product-that-helps-people-grow-herbs-and-chilis-the-product/

    Johannes Roselius is a development engineer with 10 years of experience in Product development. He has worked in design engineering, manufacturing, and product management and loves to find simplicity in the most complicated problems.
    48 min
  • 045 - Product development and Kickstarter launch of Botanium, a product that helps people grow herbs and chilis - The Product Startup: Product development for small business

    Johannes Roselius is a development engineer with 10 years of experience in Product development. He has worked in design engineering, manufacturing, and product management and loves to find simplicity in the most complicated problems. He enjoys all types of adventures, everything from business to sailing across the south Pacific Ocean. An entrepreneur since early childhood, he has run his own consultancy for over 2 years.
     
    Rasmus Tretow is an industrial designer and chili growing enthusiast. He is passionate about using design thinking to solve problems from a user-centric perspective. Rasmus is experienced in product development, prototyping, form giving, 3D printing and working with multidisciplinary teams and has also worked with interaction design.
     
    In this episode, we learn about

    * Giveaway announcement 
    * Update from Megan Cox of Amalie Beauty
    * How Megan increased traffic to her e-commerce site through blog content
    * Getting Amalie featured on other publications  
    * Giving your customers what they want - and staying in touch with them as much as possible  
    * Johannes and Rasmus share their design backgrounds
    * Creating the concept and many prototypes
    * Reaching out to the target audience and validating the market
    * Selecting the right components and manufacturers
    * Launching a Kickstarter, what they would do differently and what they did well
    * Hiring people to help with your project on a budget
    * How much money you may need to invest in a product yourself, and how much you can expect from a Kickstarter


    Links and resources mentioned in this episode

    * Website:

    * botanium.se


    * Social Media

    * Twitter: @botaniumlabs
    * Facebook: facebook.com/botaniumlabs
    * Instagram: instagram.com/botaniumlabs


    * Update From

    * Megan Cox of Amalie Beauty

    * Original Episode: The Product Startup - 021
    * Tools

    * Term Explorer







    47 min
  • 044: Turning customizable jackets into a multi-million dollar business, Elyse Daniels of Exodus Wear

    Click this link for This Episode's Full Info Page: https://productstartup.com/podcast/044-turning-customizable-jackets-into-a-multi-million-dollar-business-elyse-daniels-of-exodus-wear-the-product-startup-product/

    Why Exodus Wear does not use an online customization tool - and instead prefers to have students hand-draw their jackets designs. Why Elyse isn't worried about competing on price. Not starting a culture of discounting.
    50 min
  • 044 - Turning customizable jackets into a multi-million dollar business, Elyse Daniels of Exodus Wear - The Product Startup: Product development for small business

    In 2009 Elyse took a niche idea for fully customizable jackets, inside and out and turned it into a multi-million dollar business. Exodus Wear now produces a range of custom apparel sold Australia wide to schools and sporting and community groups with plans for international expansion in the near future.
    In this episode, we learn about

    * How Elyse started the business - and made a mistake on her first order
    * Why Exodus Wear does not use an online customization tool - and instead prefers to have students hand-draw their jackets designs
    * Why Elyse isn't worried about competing on price
    * Not starting a culture of discounting
    * Validating the market and the benefits of having your cutomer design your product
    * Working with manufacturers to get what you want
    * Sourcing products from multiple manufacturers
    * Dealing with incorrect orders at manufacturers and testing new manufacturers
    * Using third-part quality assurance
    * Consistency among multiple manufacturers
    * Financially growing the business and asking manufacturers for better credit terms
    * The ups and downs of entrepreneurship
    * Bootstrapped marketing
    * Cold calling businesses (with a live example)
    * Handling objections during cold calls
    * Not making the call sound like a script
    * Keeping your objective in mind - setting up a date and time to meet
    * Exodus' sales process
    * New products
    * Exodus Wear's overall growth as a company - starting the business and working part time and then growing the business full time
    * Start working on your "10,00 hours" now


    Links and resources mentioned in this episode

    * Website: exoduswear.com.au
    * Social Media

    * Twitter: @ExodusWear
    * Facebook: facebook.com/ExodusWearAU
    * Instagram: instagram.com/exoduswear



    49 min
  • 043 President Trump's Proposed Trade Policies & U.S. Manufacturing, Chris Mitchell of mfg.com - The Product Startup: Product development for small business

    Chris Mitchell is a seasoned marketer with considerable digital and e-commerce marketing experience, especially in building online applications and marketplaces. He founded or co-founded several internet startups and also served as director of user experience for MFG.com between 2005 and 2007, where he designed all aspects of the MFG.com website and related user and back-office applications.
     
    Chris talks about soliciting quotes from manufacturers and results of the mfg.com survey entitled - "How Will President Trump's Proposed Trade Policies Affect U.S. Manufacturing?"
    In this episode, we learn about

    * General findings of the mfg.com survey
    * Will trade barriers increase US-based manufacturing?
    * The importance of conducting this survey
    * What Chris found suprising in the report
    * The elasticity of demand
    * Clear support to re-negotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
    * Understanding the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
    * The effect of automation on manufacturing
    * MFG.com focus on the US
    * Submitting a Request for Quote (RFQ)
    * What makes an effective (and ineffective) RFQ
    * Determaining manufacturing costs
    * The benefits of personal communication with your manufactuers
    * The old way of soliciting quotes
    * Accepting the RFQ and awarding work
    * Key differences between manufacturing in the US versus in China
    * The award ratio to keep within the mfg.com system to stay in good standing
    * Using online RFQ tools to estimate costs 


    Links and resources mentioned in this episode

    * Website: 

    * mfg.com
    * An Exclusive Report On President Trump and U.S. Manufacturing


    * Social Media

    * Twitter: @MFGcom
    * Facebook: facebook.com/MFGcom
    * LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/15794



    50 min
  • 042 - All-Natural Insect Repellant & Reusing Failed Products, Stacy Marking with Lemongrass Trading Co - The Product Startup: Product development for small business

    Stacy Marking of Lemongrass Trading Co makes all-natural and 'green' products (mainly insecticides and fragrances). She took on the research, testing, design, making,  bottling and labeling herself.
    In this episode, we learn about

    * How Stacy started the company and her inspiration for the products
    * Why she entered an industry with established competition  
    * Creating the early prototypes
    * Import / export constraints and regulatory approvals
    * Research with the University of Bristol, paid for by an EU grant
    * What Stacy wishes she knew before she started
    * Products that never make it to market
    * Reusing failed products 
    * Getting feeback and exposure for your products
    * Stacy's unique superpower  
    * The two biggest marketing impacts to Stacy's business - local PR
    * The sales strategy for her products
    * New products - car spray and edible wasp spray  
    * Stacy's online fulfillment strategy: third-party eBay fulfillment


    Links and resources mentioned in this episode

    * Website: lemongrasstrading.com
    * Social Media

    * Twitter: @lemongrassltd
    * Facebook: facebook.com/LemongrassTradingCompany


    * Listener Elevator Pitch

    * Charliecat.Rocks



    34 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…