Hardware Podcasts

012: Testing product ideas. 7 inventors & small business owners share advice

Product Startup · 12 Jul 2016 · 33m

What this episode covers

Filip Valica hosts a compilation of seven founders—Brad Sumney (Savage Jerky), David Frankel (Perky Collar), Tony Devine (Original Profender), Kelsey Duffy (Versakini), Doug Marshall (Game Face Company), Fabien Serrier (Knit Yak), and Matt and Eric (Mini Materials)—sharing how they validated product ideas before launch. Sumney tested beef jerky recipes at a local bar, Frankel used office colleagues and Inventus for market research, and Devine validated his basketball trainer with college coaches. Duffy, Marshall, Serrier, and the Mini Materials duo also discuss their specific validation strategies, ranging from Kickstarter campaigns to direct sales prototypes, highlighting the importance of passion, market fit, and early customer feedback in overcoming the challenges of bringing physical products to market.

Most relevant to

founders before launch and early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Inventus, Mako Design + Invent
Products
Savage Jerky, Perky Collar, Original Profender, Versakini, Game Face Company, Knit Yak, Mini Materials
Also
Shark Tank, Kickstarter

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • Predictable Designs Podcast · 36m

    How to Validate Your Product Idea Before You Spend Serious Money On It

    Host John Teel explains how hardware entrepreneurs can validate product ideas before spending significant money on development. He outlines specific strategies including researching competition to ensure market proof, building an audience through content marketing, and using sales page tests to gauge real interest. Teel also discusses the importance of pre-selling, minimum viable products (MVPs), and leveraging an existing email list for successful crowdfunding campaigns like Pebble's.

    Validation & product-market fitCrowdfunding & preorders
    6 chapters

  • Predictable Designs Podcast · 54m

    How to Validate the Market for Your New Product with Ivo Kalburdzhiev of CreatorClub

    Ivo Kalburdzhiev, co-founder and CEO of CreatorClub, explains a product market validation process for hardware startups to avoid building unwanted products. He details a funnel using Facebook and Instagram ads to drive traffic to a landing page, where users can sign up or pay a small deposit to reserve a product, such as the DuoBox night-vision camera. Kalburdzhiev emphasizes testing price points, using real product photography over renders, and analyzing metrics like cost per lead and pre-launch metrics to ensure viability before full development. He shares his own past failures, including a failed Kickstarter for an iPad racing wheel and a phone stand, to illustrate the importance of validating demand early.

    Validation & product-market fitCrowdfunding & preorders
    8 chapters

  • Core77 Podcast · 53m

    Afterschool Podcast, Episode 11 - Marco Perry and Mark Prommel of Pensa (11/12)

    Marco Perry and Mark Prommel, partners at the Brooklyn design firm Pensa, discuss launching the DIWire, a desktop wire bender, via Kickstarter. They explain how the tool emerged from their prototyping needs for furniture models, evolving from an open-source prototype to a polished commercial product. The episode also covers their Street Charge solar charging station, developed in partnership with Goal Zero and AT&T, highlighting their strategy of open-source sharing and rapid field iteration to validate concepts and build brand credibility.

    Prototyping & iterationCrowdfunding & preorders
    10 chapters

  • How I Built This · 49m

    Advice Line with Alberto Perlman of Zumba

    Zumba co-founder and CEO Alberto Perlman joins Guy Raz to advise three early-stage founders on scaling their physical product businesses. He helps Stephanie Miller of Barlettics decide between crowdfunding and strategic partnerships for her grippy yoga shoes, Jack Shrupp of Drink Wholesome on broadening appeal for his sensitive-stomach protein powder, and Peter Arlene of Mountain Flow on evaluating opportunities for his plant-based ski wax. Perlman emphasizes the importance of product-market fit, saying 'yes' to serendipitous partnerships, and using the impact-versus-effort matrix to prioritize growth.

    Validation & product-market fitCrowdfunding & preorders
    5 chapters

  • Thoroughly Considered · 38m

    2: Launching

    Dan Provost and Tom Gerhardt of Studio Neat document the launch of their Obi smart laser toy for pets on Kickstarter, hosted by Myke Hurley. The founders describe the high-stakes pressure of relying on the campaign to sustain their business, noting that previous successes with products like the Neat Ice Kit had created a false sense of security about their ability to pivot to new markets. As the campaign failed to meet its $100,000 goal, they faced the difficult decision of whether to cancel the project, ultimately choosing to let it run its course to respect their backers while learning from the marketing failure.

    Crowdfunding & preordersValidation & product-market fit
    7 chapters

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by Product Startup. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.