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Anyone who has ever cut their finger while cutting or chopping food may want to thank RJ Batts, the 15-year-old inventor of Tip Tough®, a simple and inexpensive way to protect professional chefs and home cooks from injury. When RJ was 12, he became consumed with the idea that there had to be a way to help his dad, a professional chef, protect his hands. Bob would often come home with painful cuts and bandaged fingers which sometimes kept him out of work. A year later, 3-D printouts in hand, RJ was accepted into the Young Entrepreneurs Academy at the Salisbury (MD) Area Chamber of Commerce and formed his company, Picklehead LLC. For months he went to classes and on field trips after school, learning how to set up a business, find funding, craft a pitch, and bring the Tip Tough® to market – all while attending middle school and playing on his soccer team. In October 2016, RJ received start-up funding from the Shore Hatchery Competition at Salisbury University (beating out grown-ups from 30 businesses) for a Second-Place award of $15,000. Then, TEDCo awarded Picklehead the Rural Business Innovation Grant for the design and prototype phase of the Pro Chef Tip Tough® in stainless steel and the Home Chef Tip Tough® in molded plastic. In March 2017, RJ was featured as the youngest inventor to present a product at the International Home and Housewares Show in Chicago, and was chosen to pitch to Home Shopping Network. Since then, he has brought his product through the manufacturing and packaging process while honing his skills as an entrepreneur by attending the inaugural HSN’s American Dreams Academy. RJ’s business is driven by 3 core values:  Families and friends should be able to get into the kitchen and prepare, fresh healthy meals safely. Food is love and memories are priceless.  Our products will be made in the USA because we believe in local jobs for local people.  Give back to the community by encouraging students to invent and start their own businesses. RJ speaks at local schools and career fairs and works with the Young Entrepreneurs Academy, Junior Achievement, Halo, and the MD Food Bank.
tip-tough.myshopify.com

The Inventors Launchpad – Roadmap to Success Series is presented by Inventors Launchpad in beautiful Tampa Bay, FL and hosted by Carmine Denisco. Carmine is an accomplished Author, Entrepreneur, Inventor and Co-founder/Managing Partner of Inventors Launchpad. Along with his business partner Rick Valderrama has changed the face of the invention industry and look forward to helping inventors from all over the world move their ideas forward. For more information please visit www.inventorslaunchpad.com

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Retail executive with more than 25 years experience in brick and mortar and theme park merchandise with a new focus on television retail. Experienced in brand management, developing signature events and private label lines to grow gross profit, customer perception and awareness. Ability to determine growth opportunities, identify white space and generate point of differential retail to maximize revenue. Negotiation skills partnerships and responsibility are key traits to success. Leader, mentor, excellent presentation skills- concept developer, brand builder, experienced in all aspects of retail development and management.

The Inventors Launchpad – Roadmap to Success Series is presented by Inventors Launchpad in beautiful Tampa Bay, FL and hosted by Carmine Denisco. Carmine is an accomplished Author, Entrepreneur, Inventor and Co-founder/Managing Partner of Inventors Launchpad. Along with his business partner Rick Valderrama has changed the face of the invention industry and look forward to helping inventors from all over the world move their ideas forward. For more information please visit www.inventorslaunchpad.com

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The Inventors Launchpad Network – Is proud to present Go Big, Go Bold, Co-Hosted by J.D. Houvener, Registered USPTO Patent Attorney of Bold IP and Carmine Denisco, Managing Partner with Inventors Launchpad. His background in business and experience as an engineer and patent attorney empowers him to clearly communicate to a broad range of inventors about their immediate and long-term needs for patenting in order to protect assets, leverage opportunities, and limit liabilities. If you have any questions on the legal side of your invention then this podcast is sure to help!

www.boldip.com

This Podcast is brought to you by the Inventors Launchpad Network.

www.inventorslaunchpad.com

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Quirky is a free community-led invention platform that brings real people’s ideas to life. Invention is hard. It requires a diverse set of skills, and it costs a lot of money. Everyday people have brilliant ideas but no way to see them become real products. Quirky makes inventing and selling products possible by pairing inventors with product designers and big manufacturing companies that can bring their ideas to life.

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Before becoming a mom to twins, I had a corporate career as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Behavioral Analyst and considered myself a very social person. Once the twins arrived, my world changed. For various reasons, my husband and I decided I would stay home with the kids. This decision excited and terrified me at the same time. How did I keep my sense of "me" and still be a good mom to these beautiful babies? For the first few months we really didn't go anywhere for fear of germs for our preemie babies. After a few months of that, my husband and I started taking them out and realized we had to lug a lot with us to feel comfortable. When Brian went back to work it was me, by myself. I realized through my sleepy new-mom stupor that I really wanted to have lunch with my friends. Just get out of the house with the kids and do SOMETHING. So, when I was chatting about my fears of restaurant floors, my awesome husband threw out some ideas. I started with a prototype using stuff we had in the basement. I tried it out and ta-da! It worked! I ran with the idea and The Drop Stopper was born. I felt my confidence grow as the problem of dirty restaurant floors and running after rolling bottles disappeared. I started going out with the babies weekly and found it got easier for me, and my kids were noticeably better at "being out" than some of my other friends' kids. We received comments from parents on The Drop Stopper everywhere we went, questioning where they could buy one. So here I am, helping to bring back some sanity and increase the confidence of new parents everywhere!

www.thedropstoppers.com

Jared and Karina Rabin share how they got the Hang-O-Matic into over 11,000 retail locations across North America and Worldwide.  Through out their journey Jared and Karina have appeared on Bravo’s Quit Your Day Job, Steve Harvey’s Funderdome on ABC, Entrepreneur Magazine’s Elevator Pitch & MSNBC Your Business. In addition to Reality TV Jared has appeared on QVC 4 times in the UK and US.

Four short years ago they started their retail journey at the International Housewares Trade Show. Today 500,000 units have been sold since exhibiting in the Inventors Corner. Now they dedicate their time to coaching inventors/entrepreneurs how to market and sell their products to All Retailers!

www.thepitchtogetrich.com

This Podcast is brought to you by the Inventors Launchpad Network.

www.inventorslaunchpad.com

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Jason Feifer is editor-in-chief of Entrepreneur magazine, and host of two podcasts: Pessimists Archive (iTunes, site), about the history of unfounded fears of innovation, and Problem Solvers (iTunes, site), about how entrepreneurs solve unexpected problems in their business. He was previously an editor at Fast Company, Men's Health, Maxim, and Boston, and has written for New York, ESPN, Slate, GQ, New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, and others. A novel he cowrote with his wife, Mr. Nice Guy, will come out on October 16, 2018, from St. Martin's Press. Jason lives in Brooklyn, and makes viral sites such as Crossing.us, Heat Fan Sounds, Selfies at Funerals, and Bad NBA Songs.
www.jasonfeifer.com
The Inventors Launchpad – Roadmap to Success Series is presented by Inventors Launchpad in beautiful Tampa Bay, FL and hosted by Carmine Denisco. Carmine is an accomplished Author, Entrepreneur, Inventor and Co-founder/Managing Partner of Inventors Launchpad. Along with his business partner Rick Valderrama has changed the face of the invention industry and look forward to helping inventors from all over the world move their ideas forward. For more information please visit www.inventorslaunchpad.com

Send us Fan Mail

The Inventors Launchpad Network – Is proud to present Go Big, Go Bold, Co-Hosted by J.D. Houvener, Registered USPTO Patent Attorney of Bold IP and Carmine Denisco, Managing Partner with Inventors Launchpad. His background in business and experience as an engineer and patent attorney empowers him to clearly communicate to a broad range of inventors about their immediate and long-term needs for patenting in order to protect assets, leverage opportunities, and limit liabilities. If you have any questions on the legal side of your invention then this podcast is sure to help!

www.boldip.com

This Podcast is brought to you by the Inventors Launchpad Network.

www.inventorslaunchpad.com

Send us Fan Mail

Jared and Karina Rabin share how they got the Hang-O-Matic into over 11,000 retail locations across North America and Worldwide. Through out their journey Jared and Karina have appeared on Bravo’s Quit Your Day Job, Steve Harvey’s Funderdome on ABC, Entrepreneur Magazine’s Elevator Pitch & MSNBC Your Business. In addition to Reality TV Jared has appeared on QVC 4 times in the UK and US.

Four short years ago they started their retail journey at the International Housewares Trade Show. Today 500,000 units have been sold since exhibiting in the Inventors Corner. Now they dedicate their time to coaching inventors/entrepreneurs how to market and sell their products to All Retailers!

www.thepitchtogetrich.com

This Podcast is brought to you by the Inventors Launchpad Network.

www.inventorslaunchpad.com

Send us Fan Mail

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A CUPCAKE BOUQUET? THE FIRST TIME I SAW A CUPCAKE BOUQUET, I THOUGHT TO MYSELF THAT THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO WAY I COULD EVER CREATE ANYTHING SO BEAUTIFUL! I had no cake decorating skills, no patience and absolutely no time, just like most Americans. I wanted to invent an easy and affordable way for anyone, just like me, to be able to easily create a deliciously gorgeous cupcake bouquet. The idea came about when my daughter, Chelsea, and I were planning a baby shower for my daughter, Shaanon. As a unique twist for the party, we were going to present a beautiful cupcake bouquet instead of a traditional cake. After pricing the bouquet, making one, DIY style, sounded like a better option. But then, after pricing the pieces to create a cupcake bouquet – Styrofoam ball, tissue paper, flower pot, toothpicks, etc. – and understanding that the end result may not end up as lovely as expected, a traditional cake seemed the most appropriate dessert for the shower. THERE WAS NO CUPCAKE BOUQUET AT OUR SHOWER, HOWEVER, AN IDEA WAS BORN! https://thecupcakerack.com

www.inventorslaunchpad.com

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Much like the King of England was born into his life as royalty, I was born into this life of the grocery industry. Okay okay, royalty and grocery cannot even be compared but I thought that would be a good ice breaker to introduce myself. It was about 30 years ago that my father had started a distribution company for licensed sports product (NCAA, NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, FIFA, NASCAR) to grocery, drug and c-stores where we created shopper marketing displays and did category management. In middle school and high school, I would spend my summers and weekends working in the warehouse doing pick n pack for chains like Meijer and Kroger. In high school, I started to work with vendors, handle shipping logistics, work with account management for the retailers. In college, I owned the accounts for Publix, Walgreens and CVS where I worked with category managers, buyers, district managers and store managers. I built p.o.p. displays and planograms as well as sold product through corporate offices. In 2015, I joined SwiftIQ, a data analytics start-up because I have a passion for helping the industry move forward to compete with e-commerce and best serve shopper needs. I brought the first grocery chain client and a $26.5B CPG client. To be all hands on deck for the companies needs, I transitioned to client success to consult with clients to take the data to create activations in shopper marketing, shrinkage, distribution and new retailer promotional programs.

The Inventors Launchpad – Roadmap to Success Series is presented by Inventors Launchpad in beautiful Tampa Bay, FL and hosted by Carmine Denisco. Carmine is an accomplished Author, Entrepreneur, Inventor and Co-founder/Managing Partner of Inventors Launchpad. Along with his business partner Rick Valderrama has changed the face of the invention industry and look forward to helping inventors from all over the world move their ideas forward. For more information please visit www.inventorslaunchpad.com