# Concept to Market in One Year with Allen Walton of SpyGuy.com [Part 1]

- Show: [Predictable Designs Podcast](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/predictable-designs-podcast)
- Published: 2020-02-17
- Length: 1h 02m
- Episode: 7
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/predictable-designs-podcast/2020-02-17-concept-to-market-in-one-year-with-allen-walton-of-spyguy-com-part-1

## Summary

Allen Walton, founder of SpyGuy.com, explains how he leveraged his existing e-commerce surveillance store to validate and launch the Scout, a hidden camera detector, in approximately one year. He details his strategy of using customer feedback from his retail business to identify a market gap for a simple, affordable lens-based detector rather than a complex RF device. Walton discusses the challenges of being a non-engineer, including high development costs and the difficulty of finding reliable manufacturing partners, and how he mitigated these by focusing on industrial design and brand strength. He also shares insights on marketing the Scout, specifically the difficulties of targeting spy gear on Facebook and the importance of pricing strategies and understanding customer misconceptions about 'wireless' technology.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/predictable-designs-podcast/2020-02-17-concept-to-market-in-one-year-with-allen-walton-of-spyguy-com-part-1#t=0) Introduction: Allen Walton and SpyGuy.com Background
- [5:37](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/predictable-designs-podcast/2020-02-17-concept-to-market-in-one-year-with-allen-walton-of-spyguy-com-part-1#t=337) Developing the Scout: From Customer Feedback to Product Idea
- [15:37](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/predictable-designs-podcast/2020-02-17-concept-to-market-in-one-year-with-allen-walton-of-spyguy-com-part-1#t=937) Non-Engineer Challenges: Outsourcing Development and Managing Costs
- [28:54](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/predictable-designs-podcast/2020-02-17-concept-to-market-in-one-year-with-allen-walton-of-spyguy-com-part-1#t=1734) Market Validation and Branding Strategy for Scout
- [35:04](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/predictable-designs-podcast/2020-02-17-concept-to-market-in-one-year-with-allen-walton-of-spyguy-com-part-1#t=2104) How Scout Works: Lens Detection vs. RF Detection
- [41:45](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/predictable-designs-podcast/2020-02-17-concept-to-market-in-one-year-with-allen-walton-of-spyguy-com-part-1#t=2505) Marketing Challenges: Facebook Ads and Targeting Difficulties
- [53:03](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/predictable-designs-podcast/2020-02-17-concept-to-market-in-one-year-with-allen-walton-of-spyguy-com-part-1#t=3183) Product Design Decisions: The Cost of Omitting RF Detection

## Topics

- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Direct-to-consumer & e-commerce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/direct-to-consumer)
- [Manufacturing partners & offshoring](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/manufacturing-partners)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Industrial & consumer product design](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/industrial-design)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- SpyGuy.com (company)
- Scout (product)
- Tim Ferriss (other)
- Connective (company)
- Airbnb (other)
- Common Thread Agency (company)
- Hardware Academy (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [032: Success in Small Niches with Jill Bong of Chicken Armor](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2016-12-20-032-success-in-small-niches-with-jill-bong-of-chicken-armor) (Product Startup)
- [180: Hardware Startup Tips for Non-Technical Founders](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2023-06-15-180-hardware-startup-tips-for-non-technical-founders) (Product Startup)
- [012: Testing product ideas. 7 inventors & small business owners share advice](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2016-07-12-012-testing-product-ideas-7-inventors-small-business-owners-share-advice) (Product Startup)
- [EP 3: AI Smart Glasses | 16 Weeks to CES, 10 Months to Acquisition | Build 2 Create](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/build-2-create-hardware-founder-stories/2026-02-10-ep-3-ai-smart-glasses-16-weeks-to-ces-10-months-to-acquisition-build-2-create) (Build 2 Create: Hardware Founder Stories)
- [Intrapreneurship, Internal Incubation, Spinoffs, and IoT Product Development](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2021-07-06-intrapreneurship-internal-incubation-spinoffs-and-iot-product-development) (Over the Air)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/predictable-designs-podcast/2020-02-17-concept-to-market-in-one-year-with-allen-walton-of-spyguy-com-part-1. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Predictable Designs Podcast.