Kevin sits down with Jonathan Schloo, the Founder and Inventor of the Car Generator. An ingenious device, Schloo created the first ever car generator when in need of hydro while camping with his family. Soon after, he recognized that there was an opportunity to build a successful business by helping people power their homes during stormy nights with the cars parked right in their driveway. Throughout the episode, the two discuss how Schloo took his initial invention to a product selling on Amazon and in big box retailers, and all the lessons he learned along the way. First time product founders - this one’s for you.

057 - Spotting Opportunities │Jonathan Schloo

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, North America’s leading expert on product development for physical product startups, founder of Mako Design + Invent, keynote speaker, and Masters of Engineering lecturer.  Produced by MAKO Design + Invent, the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors.

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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, <a...

222: Securing Grants for Scaling Up a Hardware Startup

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...

221: How to Go from Prototype to First Manufacturing Run

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, <a...

220: How Storytelling Drives Consumer Product Sales

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 <a href="https://www.makodesign.com/services/product-manufacturing/"...

219: Hiring Your First Team Members at a Hardware Startup

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,...

057 - Spotting Opportunities │Jonathan Schloo

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