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Secrets Of Crowdfunding Success

December 11 2012 | Cliff | All Posts, Crowdfunding, Manufacturing, Manufacturing Tips, Prototyping, Supplier Management | Comment

Secrets of Crowdfunding Success

Crowdfunding hasn’t been around long, but it changed the face of product development by allowing people to vote with their money and that is a powerful thing when it comes to preparing product for market. At Leardon we have had the privilege to work with crowdfunded entrepreneurs. In doing so, we’ve compiled some advice based on our experiences.

A quick list of our recommendations for crowdfunding success:

1) For better or worse, Your product is in the public eye.

Our advice: Attempt to lock in quotes and estimates prior to raising any funding. Once your campaign is successful, vendors and service providers will not have to look too hard to find out how deep your pockets are. Be strategic to avoid being taken advantage of.

2) The 80 / 20 Rule

Our advice: A fancy prototype can get you pretty far, but successfully crowdfunded entrepreneurs have told us how surprised they were to have to do an extreme amount of marketing. If your campaign is successful, it may be because you spent 80% of your time marketing it and 20% doing everything else. Don’t hesitate to reach out to every single person you know to ask them to spread the word. Make it easy for them to share the information and remember to include a call to action in everything. Social media, local TV, blogs and experts will work to your advantage, make relationships prior to the campaign launch.

3) Design for manufacturability

Finding out your prototype isn’t manufacturable sucks, but it really really sucks after you’ve taken 50k in orders.
Our advice: Prototype as far you can until you absolutely need funding. Regardless if your idea is software or hardware, always consider designing for scalability. If you are unfamiliar with this process, reach out to product development teams that specialize in end-to-end product development and that can design for manufacturability.

4) Walk the Walk – Talk the Talk :

Let’s face it, until manufacturing comes back the US, chances are that you will be building your products overseas to compete with global competition. You may find yourself in a sticky situation if you do not know much about your partners overseas.
Our advice : Consider finding service providers that have reps, project managers, engineers, ect.. in the areas where you will be manufacturing. Their ability to perform a factory audit, speak with factory managers and correct issues before you start shipping product to customers will save face and your business.

5) Watch every cent, do what you know how to do well and get help when you are far out of your comfort zone.

For questions related to product development, please reach feel free to contact us.

Tagged Crowdfunding Tips, factory audit, Manufacturing, Prototype

Wasdio – A San Diego Prototyping Success Story

December 6 2012 | Cliff | All Posts, Business Tips, Crowdfunding, News, Product Design, Prototyping, San Diego | Comment

After two years and two different prototypes, San Diego product entrepreneur Cary Evans has now launched his innovative PC controller, The Wasdio on Kickstarter in an effort to raise $175,000 in pledges to help build a production version.

Since Evans is a Leardon client and San Diego resident, we thought we would take a moment and ask him about his product development experience and some best tips for prototyping.

Q: Cary, what gave you the inspiration to build a new PC controller?

Cary: After getting my butt kicked too many times in online games, I realized that I was not a good touch-typer in high stress situations. I knew how I wanted to move, but between the 20+ keys my hand was responsible for, I could not move and switch weapons intuitively. I knew there had to be a better way than the keyboard.

Q: What has been the most challenging part of the journey?

Cary: Just like video games, each stage of the journey gets more challenging than the last. Right now our project is on Kickstarter and it has been difficult to get press to talk about our project and to help bring awareness to our project.

Q: What has been your biggest lesson with product development?

A: Our product fits in your hand and ergonomics is a huge factor. With our first prototype, we did not do any 3D print-outs so we could test proportions, button sizes, and how it feels overall in your hand. That being said, we learned to print everything out prior to flushing out a high-fidelity prototype.

Q: How important is it to find the right team that knows the product development life cycle inside and out?

Cary: Finding the right team that have the skills and personalities that you enjoy working with is always important. Also, working with people that have an understanding of the entire process makes for a better product and easier planning. We have not made it from one end to the other, but so far we have been happy working with an end-to-end provider.

Q: Did you design the prototype to optimize manufacturing efficiency? If so, what were some key areas that needed revising for design for manufacturability?

Cary: Yes, but ask Murray more about this one

( Murray Learmonth is VP of engineering at Leardon Solutions )

Murray: The parts were designed to minimize the tooling complexity and therefore minimize the tooling investment by the client. Wherever possible standard open/closed part design was adhered to and only using sliding cores where essential. This process is called Design for Manufacturing (DFM)

Q: What changes will you make (if any) to the production version?

Cary: The purpose of any prototype is to enable you to test it, find improvements and iterate on it. We have a handful of refinements and tweaks that we’ll make before a production version. As an example, our product is essentially a joystick and right now we are refining the amount of tension or force needed to push the stick. These kind of changes are impossible to make without actually feeling it in your hand.

Q: How important do you feel it is to have a real and working prototype to help raise money especially on sites like Kickstarter?

Cary: I cannot speak to other sites but on Kickstarter, if you have a hardware project, you are required to have a working prototype. You can no longer show just computer renderings.

Everyone has ideas, but there is a huge difference between having an idea and holding one. Holding an idea demonstrates that it can be done, your commitment to the idea, and allows people to see and use if for themselves.

Q: What is the best tip(s) you could give someone thinking about spending the capital required to prototype a product?

Cary: Each stage of the process is about refinement. Before prototyping a product, do a proof of concept of your own. It does not matter how crude it is or what materials are used; paper, cardboard or wood are all a great start. The process of making something with your hands and testing it with friends and family will enable you to refine your idea and put you in a great spot for building a prototype.

If you have questions about your prototyping process – please feel free to Contact Us for more information.

Tagged Consumer Device, Joe Donughe, Prototype, San Diego

Why Build A Demonstrable Proof Of Concept Prototype

October 30 2012 | Cliff | All Posts, Business Tips, Crowdfunding, Product Development, Prototyping | Comment

Whether you are a Fortune 100 company or a first time inventor / entrepreneur / startup, the proof of concept prototype is integral to successful product development which includes the costly design, build, and test/qualify phase with multiple prototypes. Creating a large number of expensive prototypes prior to proving “it works” is unfortunately a common pitfall and results in significant cost and schedule overruns or project cancellation. More than 70% of the cost along with highest burn rate ($/time) of project dollars will be in the design and prototyping cycle. You cannot be inventing and/or requiring breakthroughs during this phase. This should be an execution phase not an investigation phase!

Raising Capital Requires A Wow Factor

Along with a solid marketing and sales plan, a solid product demo is a must for most projects going forward. This is particularly true for those incorporating crowdfunding strategies like those offered by Kickstarter or Indiegogo. A proof of concept that has all the critical form and function is significant to inspiring your investors. Your typical investor likes to be wowed and a demonstrable proof of concept has a huge impact on their opinion of your abilities with their money. Be careful to avoid trying to create the final product with all the features, industrial design, etc. The objective here is to create a quality demo leveraging the proof of concept. Folks that know what they’re doing aren’t looking for a finished product at this stage. It is acceptable to have electronics outside the product, using a laptop to help with performance and stereolith/caste mechanical parts at this stage.

Along with the major feasibility proofing and the “dog-and-pony” opportunities the POC provides additional validation to all aspects of the value proposition and cost structure. Marketing, sales, manufacturing, finance, and R&D are able to validate and improve upon the plans and activities going forward based on the learnings achieved with the POC.

Have questions about your proof of concept? Contact Us, we would be happy to help.

Tagged Crowdfunding Tips, Mike Hoggatt, Proof-of-concept, Prototype

The Patents & Prototype Live Show Recap

September 19 2012 | Cliff | All Posts, Business Tips, Patents and Prototypes, Prototyping, San Diego | Comment

Check Out The Patents & Prototypes Live Show Recap

Entrepreneurs learn from Entrepreneurs and this is the reason Joe Donoghue of Leardon Solutions contributes to incubators, mentoring sessions and web live shows.

Joe co-hosts the live monthly web show Patents & Prototypes and this month the live show featured two great entrepreneurs and their inventions.

Steve Hartman invented the Cyclemower. It has been a long journey for Steve but the end product has shown a lot of promise when it comes to accurate grass cutting and green house gas emissions reduction.

The second guest was Jay Barbeau. Jay invented the Sonitar Guitar ( you can see his prototype in the video below. ) See a demo of the Sonitar here.

Both entrepreneurs answered questions from Joe who is a product development specialist and Eric Hanscom, an IP attorney from Carlsbad, California.

Tagged Joe Donoghue, Live Show Replay, Prototype

San Diego Based Aculief Discusses Prototyping

August 7 2012 | leardonsolutions | All Posts, Business Tips, Manufacturing, Prototyping, San Diego | Comment

Leardon Solutions’ customer Jon Duggan, CEO of Aculief of San Diego, California has recently launched a company around their namesake product. The Aculief product is a stylish wearable pain management device for people with active lifestyles. It was designed around the idea of applying pressure to the LI-4 meridian acupressure point located between the thumb and forefinger to provide tension relief. Jon has been working on the Aculief product for a couple of years, tuning the idea so that it not only works well but also has an aesthetic appeal to consumers.

Jon is a perfectionist and hence took the Aculief through many prototype iterations to make it exactly like he wanted. We decided that it would be beneficial to interview Jon about his San Diego prototyping journey and provide this advice for others working on prototypes. Here is the interview between Leardon Solutions and Jon.

Leardon: How did you come up with the idea for the Aculief?

Jon: When I was in college a friend of mine told me about the LI4 Acupressure Point to fix a headache. I took my thumb and used it to apply pressure to the area and it relieved my headache. After graduating college I said “I am going to design a product that you can wear to apply pressure to the LI4″. I talked about it for a number of years and 12 years later I was on a plane reading a Men’s Health Magazine article titled “30 second to cure a headache”. The article described how to apply pressure to the LI4 to cure a headache. I said to myself “I need to do this now”. After finding a local San Diego prototype company Leardon Solutions on the internet, we met and discussed the best way to prototype, design, and manufacture the product cost effectively. Working with a service provider who provided an end-to-end service (idea to manufacture) made the development, prototyping, and collaboration process easy.

Leardon: What was the most important thing you learned about the prototyping and new product development process?

Jon: Be patient and never compromise. Since you know what you want the end result to be, don’t settle for any less. Sometimes all that is required are a few prototype tweaks and it is exactly what you set out to create from the start.

Leardon: How important was prototyping Aculief?

Jon: The Aculief prototypes were critical. If you are creating a product from scratch you need to test it, break it and get feedback from others. Without a prototype this is not possible.

Leardon: How did you prototype the Aculief?

Jon: Leardon’s knowledge of plastics is amazing so we went with their suggestion on the type of plastic. Leardon then created a rough sample to test the plastic and it was what we needed. Next step was finalize the design and then they created a prototype based on the design and it was close. Finally, they tweaked the pressure and made some design changes to make it fit better and we had the final product.

Leardon: What did you learn from prototyping Aculief?

Jon: Feedback from potential consumers and testing of the product allowed us to make changes that will hopefully lead to our success.

Leardon: What prototyping recommendations do you have for others with product ideas?

Jon: Find a great partner and they will make it easy. Have the prototype made and present it to all your friends and family. Once they see it and you get their reactions you will know if you should continue with going into full production. You never know until you try!

Here are some additional resources about the LI-4 acupressure point and using the Aculief.

How to Relieve Pain Using Acupressure Massage at L14 (Hoku Point)

Acupressure Points and Massage Treatment

How to Use the Aculief

If you are interested in learning more about the Aculief, please contact them at info (at) aculief.com.

Need more information on new product development or the manufacturing process? Please contact us with any questions or contact me directly at joseph.donoghue ( at ) leardon.com.

Tagged Prototype, San Diego

Prototype or Crowdfunding. Which Comes First?

April 10 2012 | leardonsolutions | All Posts, Business Tips, Product Development, Prototyping | Comment

With the recent passage of the JOBS (Jumpstart Our Business Startups) Act, we have had an increased number of questions from people asking how to best get funding from crowdfunding sites such as Kickstarter and IndieGogo. Many of the discussions revolve around the basic question: Which comes first, the prototype or the crowdfunding? Basically, entrepreneurs with good product ideas are wondering if they should go out and seek crowdfunding with their idea sketched onto a sheet of paper or if they should develop a decent prototype to communicate their product idea. The simple answer is that entrepreneurs need a prototype to maximize their changes of getting crowdfunding.

A PROTOTYPE SHOWS YOU ARE WILLING TO PUT SKIN IN THE GAME
If you truly believe in the product idea, you will inevitably put “skin in the game”, meaning that you will use your own money to get as far as possible prior to receiving outside funding. Funders need to know you are committed to the project and spending your own money on a prototype will help convince them of that.

Nothing is better than showing off your product idea with an aesthetically pleasing and functional prototype. One way to keep the prototyping costs as low as possible is to build a minimum viable prototype. A minimum viable prototype is similar to a minimum viable product. The idea behind the minimum viable prototype is to only develop and prototype those important product functions and features that allow you to demonstrate what the product does on your project video. In a minimum viable prototype, there is no need to focus on the corner cases of functionality which will take most of the product development focus. Keep the crowdfunding prototype simple, otherwise you will spend more money than necessary and risk confusing the people who might fund your project.

YOUR PROTOTYPE IS AN EXTENSION OF YOU AND YOUR COMPANY
Interestingly, a prototype is an extension of you, your company, and the values of your company. In other words, the quality of your prototype gives potential funders a first impression of you and your efforts. Give them your best first impression by having a great prototype.

When people see your prototype, they will immediately know if you have thought through only the simple aspects of your product idea or if you have dug deep into the critical aspects of the product such as the user and human interface, the detailed design, the interactions with other products, and the manufacturing or assembly issues. Also, the prototype will show if you have a true innovation, an improvement over an existing product, or a trivial reinvention. Create your prototype so that is demonstrates the important functions of the product and looks good.

Producing prototypes is one of the first challenges of product development. Based on the quality, functionality, and overall look of the prototype, people can easily gauge how prepared you are to take on the challenges ahead. Show them that you are prepared for the future challenges of product qualification, production, and manufacturing scale-up by demonstrating your prototype is the best possible embodiment of your product idea.

DON’T TAKE MONEY UNTIL YOU ARE READY TO EXECUTE
Once you receive funding from the crowdfunding sites, you will be required to fulfill the promises stated in your crowdfunding project. If you have demonstrated a functioning prototype in your project video, you will be best prepared to step into production and manufacturing and will not have taken people’s money without a clear vision for the funding.

Developing products that meet the quality and functionality goals isn’t always easy so work with a respectable engineering and manufacturing team that understands the needs of entrepreneurs. This team should be capable of providing end-to-end product development, from the initial prototype development through production and manufacturing fulfillment.

Need more information? Please contact us with any questions or contact me directly at joseph.donoghue ( at ) leardon.com

Tagged crowdfunding, Jobs Act, Joe Donoghue, product development tips, Prototype

Prototype a Product ..What You Need To Know !

October 11 2011 | Cliff | All Posts, Prototyping, San Diego | 2 Comments

When it comes to prototyping your vision, it’s important to understand the process and educate yourself to save money and frustration. Prototyping is usually the longest process in developing a product for market, so it is important to be realistic with your expectations and to understand the process. If this is your first time creating a prototype, consider these tips below.

Where To Start -

Unless your a CAD expert or graphic designer, just communicating your vision to your team and others is key to getting a great start on your product prototyping life cycle.

To keep costs down, use whatever you may have available to create a rough prototype so that others can better understand what it is your trying to achieve. Never underestimate your ability with a pair of scissors, some hot glue and scrap cardboard, wood or paper.

The benefits of going hands on with your industrial design is the ability to physically hold something, see it in 3 dimensions and discover basic flaws that won’t tie up resources and expensive development time.

Alternatively, you may be able to find an industrial design student at a local college, local handyman or crafty relative to help get your idea from your head to something you can hold.

When Is It Time To Call In The Pros?

Spending too much time trying to create the final product at the homebuilt proof of concept prototype stage can result in a lot of frustration. Often, creating multiple homebuilt prototypes to show different functions and designs can speed the process up and allow you to be more detailed about specifics. When you are satisfied that your home built prototype(s) meet your basic functionality, it’s time to find the right team to help take it to the next step.

What Is The Next Step In Prototyping?

Selecting the right team to help you build your prototype is one of, if not the most important step in your prototype development. There are thousands of service providers, I always recommend trying to work with someone local and that has been recommended. Communication is key, so spend some time with your development team and make sure you are all on the same page. An experienced team can make recommendations and offer up ideas on how to get you from A-Z on time and on budget. Alternatively, Using a site like www.thomasnet.com may help you find the right resources.

Creating a Design Prototype

This is where things really start to get exciting, your idea is literally just shy of becoming a real product. The design prototype looks, feels and operates the same as the final product, the only difference is the manufacturing process that’s geared towards low volumes. Avoid using rapid prototyping methods as these may add unnecessary costs.

The Design Prototype can be used to work out the final design and manufacturing details and to receive feedback from distributors, buyers, and retailers.

Things To Avoid

• There is usually no need to spend money on any production tooling in the proof-of-concept or design prototyping phases. Even if a production-like method must be used to produce a part in a prototype, the cost can be minimized by fabricating only what is absolutely necessary to make the parts.

• Only fabricate the quantity of prototypes sufficient to meet the needs of the team plus a small number of replacements. Do not fall victim to prototype companies that demand a minimum order quantity (MOQ) of prototypes.

Need more information? Please contact us with any questions or contact me directly at

joseph.donoghue ( at ) leardon.com

Tagged Industrial Design, Prototype, Tips