# Lisa Lloyd | Engineering with Inventors, Starting Inexpensively, and Diverse Teams

- Show: [Being an Engineer](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer)
- Published: 2022-06-17
- Length: 52m
- Episode: 23
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2022-06-17-lisa-lloyd-engineering-with-inventors-starting-inexpensively-and-diverse-teams
- Listen: https://teampipeline.us/lisa-lloyd-engineering-with-inventors/

## Summary

Lisa Lloyd, founder of The Invention Accelerator, shares her journey from licensing the French Twister at age 23 to launching TC Pets on Shark Tank, where a failure taught her critical lessons in cost management and speed to market. She explains how she now helps inventors validate ideas inexpensively using low-fidelity prototypes like coat hangers and soda bottles, emphasizing that engineers should focus on solving real user pain points rather than just building complex features. Lloyd argues that successful product development requires diverse teams, deep customer empathy, and maintaining cash reserves for 'unknown unknowns' to survive the high-risk nature of hardware innovation.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2022-06-17-lisa-lloyd-engineering-with-inventors-starting-inexpensively-and-diverse-teams#t=0) Introduction: Lisa Lloyd and The Invention Accelerator
- [2:31](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2022-06-17-lisa-lloyd-engineering-with-inventors-starting-inexpensively-and-diverse-teams#t=151) Licensing the French Twister and Early Success
- [6:26](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2022-06-17-lisa-lloyd-engineering-with-inventors-starting-inexpensively-and-diverse-teams#t=386) The TC Pets Failure: Cost, Patents, and Speed to Market
- [11:40](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2022-06-17-lisa-lloyd-engineering-with-inventors-starting-inexpensively-and-diverse-teams#t=700) Extracting Intuition: How to Coach Inventors
- [14:17](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2022-06-17-lisa-lloyd-engineering-with-inventors-starting-inexpensively-and-diverse-teams#t=857) Working with Engineers: Expectations and Collaboration
- [20:18](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2022-06-17-lisa-lloyd-engineering-with-inventors-starting-inexpensively-and-diverse-teams#t=1218) Inexpensive Prototyping: Coat Hangers and Soda Bottles
- [24:40](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2022-06-17-lisa-lloyd-engineering-with-inventors-starting-inexpensively-and-diverse-teams#t=1480) ROI and Managing Cash for Unknown Unknowns
- [30:01](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2022-06-17-lisa-lloyd-engineering-with-inventors-starting-inexpensively-and-diverse-teams#t=1801) Finding Partners and Leveraging Trade Shows
- [37:15](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2022-06-17-lisa-lloyd-engineering-with-inventors-starting-inexpensively-and-diverse-teams#t=2235) Diverse Teams and Innovation Methodologies
- [43:09](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2022-06-17-lisa-lloyd-engineering-with-inventors-starting-inexpensively-and-diverse-teams#t=2589) Fear, Failure, and Finding TrueNorth

## Topics

- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Prototyping & iteration](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/prototyping)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Intellectual property](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/intellectual-property)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- French Twister (product)
- TC Pets (product)
- Shark Tank (other)
- The Invention Accelerator (company)
- Helen of Troy (company)
- Vidal Sassoon (product)
- Revlon (product)
- Pipeline Design & Engineering (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Hardware Entrepreneurs: 3 Critical Mistakes You Must Avoid](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/predictable-designs-podcast/2022-06-21-hardware-entrepreneurs-3-critical-mistakes-you-must-avoid) (Predictable Designs Podcast)
- [Introducing: It's only a Prototype Podcast](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/its-only-a-prototype/2025-04-09-introducing-its-only-a-prototype-podcast) (It's Only a Prototype)
- [116: How to Turn an Invention into a Product Business](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-03-02-116-how-to-turn-an-invention-into-a-product-business) (Product Startup)
- [010: I have an idea, now what? Developing, testing & prototyping physical products.](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2016-06-14-010-i-have-an-idea-now-what-developing-testing-prototyping-physical-products) (Product Startup)
- [Why You Must Simplify Your Product to Succeed](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/predictable-designs-podcast/2022-07-19-why-you-must-simplify-your-product-to-succeed) (Predictable Designs Podcast)

## Citing this page

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