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How These Founders Pivoted From A Failed $20,000 Prototype To A Manufacturing-Ready Product · Pitch to Product

• Peter + Cloud Theory: every time we would iterate on this product, it was really down on us to think about like how would the consumer view this. Piece of the product. How would this come together? Does this make sense in manufacturing? We didn't have those answers because we didn't have the expertise. Like we don't have manufacturing connections. We have no idea if this is manufacturable or not. We don't know. That drives the whole design. Exactly. Like we don't have DFM experience. And with the team here, like that stuff is considered at throughout all stages of product design. Hey, welcome everyone. Thank you for watching the Pitch to Product podcast. Today I am very excited to have a couple of get special guests that came in from Dallas and have chosen us to help them bring their product to market. So welcome Jeff, welcome Dan. Thank you. Thank you, Peter. All right. So you guys had to travel in To see to do something today, who's got the optometrist autonomous girlfriend? I do. You do. All right. What's her name? Alyssa. Say hi to Alyssa. Shout out, Alyssa. There you go. Shout out already. You want to shout out to somebody? shout out to my parents. Thank you. There you go. Yeah. So look at I saw you guys come in. I appreciate that you are in the process. gonna be careful that we're not gonna disclose the idea yet because we're still working behind the scenes on that. But it is an amazing idea that I can't believe someone has not brought to market yet. So go through the journey. How did you guys know that it was something that needed to be done? How did you know who to find to help you? And what helped you find us to make that choice to bring this to the idea to market? Okay, so I'll go ahead and start off. So this was a couple of years ago. I was actually moving out of my old apartment and things were a little hectic. And I get a phone call from Jeff, and it was late at night. And he said, Hey, I have an idea and I think it's gonna be big. And I'm like, Okay, I I've heard this a million times. So what's going on here? And he tells me the idea, and I go, Are you sure this doesn't exist? This is nowhere in the market. He said, No, absolutely not. So, you know, weeks go by, we keep researching and researching, and there's nothing like it. And so You know, from the beginning it was really hard because we didn't know what route to go. Right. How do you get this started? We have an idea, but we're not engineers. Our background is in finance and accounting. and so, you know, we've tried different avenues like Fiverr and getting little small gig jobs here and there just to kind of start out. which worked, but it wasn't what we were looking for. If we want to build this full scale and have a product, that's not the way to go. So Jeff, you can continue on, but I think that's how we originally got that idea is you called me with it and we kind of fleshed out from there. Yeah, that's exactly what happened. And like he said, we're not engineers by trade. So we first reach out to an engineer on Fiverr, had him draw up some CADs of the product idea. We bought a 3D printer. We printed the first prototype. We were like, okay, this guy's not gonna be enough. We need to find somebody more skilled. And so we saw this guy on YouTube who was an engineer talking about a specific component that our product featured. Yeah. Okay. And we thought, okay, I just found his LinkedIn, reached out to him, scheduled the call, and we hired him as a contract engineer. And then we started iterating with him on our product and we realized this printer isn't. Good enough for what we need. We bought a more expensive resin printer, kept going. And we're probably working with this engineer for approximately six months. Yeah. And then we realized like, look, we need a s we need like a a really skilled engineer who understands not only the idea, but how to actually make this manufacturable. This this product doesn't exist. And so So, how did you come up with that? Because I'm gonna tell you, I spent 10 years now in this capacity, and that is the hardest thing for me to like educate. Everyone, I the comment I hear every day from everybody that contacts me is I have everything already done. So I now I'm the villain. I gotta like tell you your baby's ugly, this doesn't work, that can't work, that's not manufacturable. I don't want to be that guy. So how did you come up with that understanding between you guys that you look at? I think you hired the right person, but Doesn't I don't think they were seeing further enough down or far enough down the line with what your vision was. So help me understand. How did you recognize that to realize that that was a rabbit hole that you probably invested a lot of money into that is technically called a pivot? And that you had the foresight to say, write it off, move on, find a better next course. Yeah. I think through every iteration of the product, we would see an improvement and then. Something didn't work. An improvement, something didn't work. So we were going two steps forward, two steps backwards, and we weren't really getting anywhere. And so we figured we're we've already been in this hole for six months and we've been paying this guy. And kudos to him, he put in the energy. Just it wasn't enough for what we needed. And so we came across 52 launch, simple Google search. We looked for best product development agencies. 52 was the first result. I usually don't Select the first result. I went through the website. I called Daniel and I said, Hey, I think we need to give these guys a shot. We had an introductory call. And I mean, the the professionalism and confidence we got from that call really helped build confidence in moving forward with the process of learning about the brand. We didn't just, you know, learn about it and sign up. Right, yeah, yeah. Nobody does. We had a few intro calls. and I I think just the pure professionalism of the team. Number one in the way they communicated with us, but number two, how quickly they understood the idea and were able to communicate the technicalities related to the design. And we're talking about norm. This guy is in an engineer by trade, I wouldn't assume. And he he was sharp. He he understood instantly what we were looking for. Yeah. And built confidence. In 52 launch for us. No, that's awesome. And yeah. And I would just say that when we were looking at different firms, we started out with taking, you know, highest crazy prices and then, you know, lowest prices. And we and we found people that seem to be interested in what we had to say, even that we're charging astronomical prices for people that are building different radiation machines and sophisticated things. But we found that 52 was just the most professional. They understood what we were trying to do and we felt confident in the team, their energy they were giving off. and each meeting that we had with them, we felt better and better every single time. And like we had questions over contracts and different things, and they were just right back in immediately coming back to us with answers and getting questions answered. So we really appreciated that and just the level of professionalism as well. Yeah, that's look at we've never had more than a two person team, and that's usually like those high level questions. You're right. None of us are engineers. I mean, I've been doing this the longest and I have some insight, but the confidence is like it comes from being us us able to understand what you're trying to do, the nuances of what we I need to make sure like that that I can do what you guys are asking. You know, I have people calling me with like technology that doesn't even exist yet. So having that nuance, having to understand, but for them to have the team to go and ask specific questions to give you guys answers in a quick fashion, kudos. I love hearing that. That's that's the core of our existence. So the In your nuance, so you went through a bunch of different selections. Did the process of failure with that maybe failure's not the right word, but the disappointment or the you knew that it was going to be an end of the road, the would that have how how come that didn't kill your motivation to keep going? Like what what what keeps you driving to say, 'cause most people give up at the on the first sign of like adversity is the best way to put it. What made you guys keep going? I will say, so the product that we're creating, we had a different version for it originally. And that was what we had talked about on our first phone call. And this went on for a little over probably a year and a half or so. and it failed. And we were very confident that it was going to work. And at that point, we realized we had to pivot. And like you said, most people at that point realize this might be it. We're gonna give up. But we sat down for a few months and talked about how we're gonna change this to get actually get it to work and create a product that again doesn't exist, but is also functional and will work and is able to be manufactured. so I think that was a big point of failure that we had and we kind of overcome that and work towards it. But how important is that if you guys are starting a business? I mean In your guys' world, like I give you guys a lot of credit. That is the hardest part. A lot of people don't understand. There is a lot of failure in this process. But it's not failure, it's adversity or overcoming an obstacle that you didn't know so you can pivot early and that you can overcome. So so the original design isn't isn't the thing that you called us for. It's it's already iterated in that. So help me understand so far in the process now, since you you've come on board with us, are you seeing Different results or the are we like help us help understand. Are we being are we just giving you what what you're asking for? Or are we helping you kind of guide through all the different variables and options that you need to get to? And I know just for the TV or for the internet world, we're early stage, right? We're we're recently working with you guys and that you guys came in today to see the design, probably the second round of designs that we have. Just help me understand that process so far from your guys' vantage point so I can either make sure we're on the right track or we can improve it. Yeah. Go ahead. So this product requires a lot of consideration in the way it comes together and the way the consumer interacts with it. Yeah. And those are things that we've been keeping at the forefront of our, you know, our design decision. And every time we would iterate on this product, it was really down on us to think about like how would the consumer view this. Piece of the product. How would this come together? Does this make sense in manufacturing? We didn't have those answers because we didn't have the expertise. Like we don't have manufacturing connections. We have no idea if this is manufacturable or not. We don't know. That drives the whole design. Exactly. Like we don't have DFM experience. And with the team here, like that stuff is considered at throughout all stages of product design. So you the design to market. timeline is considerably decreased. Like all of that stuff is thought about day one. Yeah. And then it's iterated on, you have 10 new things to consider. You make a new design, 10 new things to consider. And it it just becomes so refined so quickly. Like we went through probably 20 iterations when we were with our contract engineer prior to joining 52 launch. We joined 52 launch and just in the last two iterations, it's wild. To see how quickly they've progressed the design. And it it actually works. Like we came, saw it in person. That's I think that's the most surreal part of this. It was a drawing on a notebook in my bedroom. And now it is actually printed. And it works. And the next step is actually seeing this on a shelf. And so and now it's not just that it worked because like this is what I always tell people. People come to me and show me 3D prototypes or 3D printed things. I'm like, I don't need to see anything past the proof of concept. If you can prove to me that your concept works, I'd rather we spend that effort and time in the manufacturing process. So right now, what we probably did was just validation, but I'm sure it wasn't like a full-blown, like you can't sell the three model that we just showed you, right? I I saw it, it was gray. Like some people are disappointed in that because they're expecting to see the the final product in their hand. When we can't do that till we go to the manufacturing step, but the confidence part that you guys now see. You know we're confidently moving forward towards making the thing that you dreamed of. 100%. Absolutely. And even today when we're meeting with the team, we saw the different iterations that he went through. Like he had the first version, the second version. and like Jeff was saying, just the different iterations between them. There's so many differences that are amazing. And it clearly each one has a purpose for why they're there. there's a different rotational mechanism in there. That we wanted to go one way but not the other. And he made it work. And it's just like it's it's pretty amazing that that was able to be done. How how collaborative is the process? I get asked all the time, like, sounds like you guys just want to run the show and just tell us what we what we need. Tell me how collaborative the process is on your guys from your perspective. I would say it's very, very collaborative. I came into this thinking that we would hire a firm and we didn't know what was gonna happen. Like obviously we had no background as engineers or anything like that, some business, but it has been spectacular, I'd say. Like every decision we are brought into with the team. So if we have something to say, they listen to us. If they have something to say, we listen to them. so every step along the way has been very collaborative, I'd say. Cool. And do you guys feel that like we're narrating the the decisions or are we giving you education? Like how are you guys formulating without experience? How are you guys formulating the decisions to move forward or Make decisions on how you want to move forward with your product. Yeah, I I think we have an idea, a very good idea of what we want this final product to be. And given the team's expertise, they're helping guide the decisions that need to be made in order to get to that final spot. That's a great way to put it. Okay. That's that's awesome. And then look at it I'm proud to hear that. You guys asked me at the beginning how this started. I mean, I did not start off with the intent that I was going to start this company. It started off with one person asking for help because they wanted to do something. And the the fact that that's continuing, I you're it's your vision. I just want to see it execute through I think, you know, between Dan and me and others, we put a team together that seems to be assembled to to accomplish that. should we have a conversation about Crystal? Crystal is we love Crystal. She's a character. She's awesome. She comes with a translator or do you guys have to trans do you do can you understand her? I like I've mentioned before, sometimes when she speaks, I do have to squint to understand some of the words. the thickest Boston accent I've ever heard. But she is awesome, right? Yeah. She's fantastic. And she cares? yes. Yeah. She's on all of our email communications, constantly reaching out, making sure we're all good on everything and good. So I'm gonna just describe because again, we tell everybody about a CSM, a s a client success manager. And That's what we've labeled it. There's no such thing in the world out there of like a client success manager that can take your dream, follow the continuity, make sure you're taken care of, answer your questions. Help me understand how important she is to you guys through this process when you need to communicate with the team that's busy doing the work that they need to do is one through ten. You can't use seven. No, I'd I'd give it a ten. Crystal is basically the telephone line between us. And the technical team, if we ever want an update or we want to get with the group to discuss the current project status or we have questions, the response is like immediate. A meeting is set up based on our availability, teams online. I mean, yeah, I couldn't ask for anything anything better. Awesome. So in in that process, is there times where you guys have gotten off a call, and I'm sure there are, where you're not clear, not sure, don't understand the full thing, and that you need a little bit more time or need to feel or I guess may maybe the other yeah, let's start with that first question. Is there times that you feel like, I I don't fully understand it, need to get back more information from Crystal. Help me understand the importance of the CSM in my world for you guys. I think we have full clarity into the actual process with 52 launch. I don't think there's ever been confusion or lack of communication there. Right. There have definitely been I wouldn't use the word confusion, but for lack of better terms, confusion on the actual design. Cause I mean, these guys are engineering experts. And sometimes when they show it in a in a CAD model on the screen, we don't even know what we're looking at. We're just like, okay, yeah, we'll we'll trust, you know, we we trust your opinion. Obviously, being here in person and seeing the product in our hand, everything has become extremely more clear. Good. And look at that is the hardest part. Like imagine Eight years ago, five years ago, we did this all by telephone. Right. We had to send documents to the fact that we're doing like we start we moved into the video conversation world probably just pre-COVID, where we have a requirement. Like if we didn't get on video calls and if we couldn't show you something online, how how much more difficult would this be? Very difficult. I honestly I think just the fact that we're able to within honestly a day or two get on a call if we have any questions and see visually what's going on with. CAD designs and we have, you know, face to face interactions over the the computer. It's just it's more personable and we're able to see all the changes that are being made so they can help describe what's going on. there's no lag time, obviously nothing's being shipped and things like that. Okay, I I set that up because we'll get to the next part about how young you freaking guys are. It must look like an old man between you guys. But like along the way, tell people how because I have people that show up on a not on the video screen. They are on their phone call. They're on my video screen, but they're on a telephone. So they can't see anything. Even though it's recorded, how important is it to see the visuals that we're providing you in those meetings that you guys are showing up for visually? Extremely important. I mean, that's that's our that's how we see the progress of this project. Yeah. Look at the plug here is please people, this is like If you c if you're not showing up on a video call for these meetings, I can understand that at the end you're not gonna understand what you have. And you might have made decisions along the way that are not going to be the best decision that you could make. This is a visual process, right? Yeah. You need to see it, you need to feel it, you need to believe it, and then you need to go and achieve it. That's it. It's like I I don't understand how you can hire us and not get on those video calls. So I appreciate and not just that, was there any hesitation in having you guys come in? No. No. You guys are very welcoming and it's been really nice the last few hours that we've been here. So good. Cause like that's what I want to let everybody know. Like the door's open. Anytime you want to come in, it's not a question. We're not hiding. There was no there's no paid actors out there. All real people. First impression when you walked in. First impression. I I love the environment in the office. It doesn't feel corporate at all. It's like the kind of environment where I would want to work in. I'm honestly a little jealous of the people that work here. Okay. I would agree. our names were up on the TV when we came in. And right away, Crystal, Ian, Jeff, they all came right over to us and said hi. So that's awesome. Perfect. And then when you walk past the little barriers and you saw the chaos, what does that look like? Which barrier. yeah. So when when you walked in towards so you you guys were in the Cube meeting. Yeah. So we're all the we're the we call it the pit where everybody works, all the desks. Like that's not messy on purpose. That's progress. So how did you guys feel walking through that little mess of a gauntlet? I think that's what you want is for design and creativity, you gotta have a little mess and it's it's not messy at all. I think that's part of the part of the project. Yeah, I think it's sign that the team is working on A bunch of different projects. Like I see products all over everybody's desk, and that just shows like they are physically handling the tangible product that they're working on and like they care. You don't have somebody behind a screen who's designing something in CAD who doesn't actually print what they made in CAD to see it and then have tactical feedback. Right. And that that tactical feedback is everything. Like if you don't have that and you look at you nailed it right at the beginning, it's It has n there's no nothing here that you and I would decide over a consumer. The consumer is the only guiding person here. If they like it, they will buy it. So you constantly have to keep your hat on how and it's not even I'll go back to like the madmen conversations, like Madison Avenue. It's not how you and I feel about it. It's how a consumer feels using your product. Right. And when they feel that certain connection to that product, that is the first step to building your brand. And that is the thing that I think Most mentors miss that completely. You guys seem to have it naturally. So help me understand where that came naturally. Or did you guys like read books on how to do this? Cause when I met you guys, I was like, Holy crap, these guys are so far ahead. And we'll talk about the youngness. For two young gentlemen, like how how did you guys see this? Take it, Daniel. At least from my perspective, I've o always been sort of an entrepreneur when I was little, selling things on eBay. I worked for an auction company, just doing different things. And college education was great and working a corporate job is nice. Like you have a steady income and everything. But I think my ultimate goal is to one day have my own company, have my own business. And so this kind of fell in line with that, especially when I'm working with Jeff. He's another really smart guy that I trust and We've known each other a while, so I think the vision's there. Awesome. And look at the you you nailed it right there. I I try and tell everybody that calls me with an idea. It's not it's got nothing to do with your idea. You're starting a business. And you guys are treating it like a business. And I respect that. And that's what I'm driven for. I want to help you guys start a business. I'm really good at that structure. My team is really good at helping you guys get the end result that we're looking for. And at the end of the day, this is the the the next part that we're going to stay tuned on is going to be. Where's where where are we next and when when are we launching? So help me understand what is it that you guys I guess we can't plug anything yet, but we can say stay tuned. These two gentlemen are going to succeed because they not just not not only do they have an amazing product that doesn't exist, that should be in the market. They have the drive, the determination, they've got the attitude. And I would say that that is ninety percent of the success. It's not the product, it's you guys. So look at kudos to you guys. I love having you here. I will ask the last question. How the hell did two young guys afford to do this? Because this is not a low sum game, right? What did you guys spend before you met us? Ballpark. Ballpark, what do you think? 20. 20? 20K. Yeah. Which is not that much. Yeah. So we were we were bootstrapped before. I guarantee you the audience, if we took a survey, everyone's going, my God, you spent 20 K. Like, how did you do that? But you're right. It's a drop in the bucket. 20K to get like it either told you you were off like this is the dumbest idea ever. Or that twenty K promoted like prov like helped you guys decide that that investment is still worth going into. So like that's the transition. When did that happen for you guys where you said, Look at twenty grand, yeah, mistake? That's a hard thing for two kids to write off. And I'm not selling you guys kids, but you guys look a lot younger than I do. So, how did that how the hell did you do that? So thankfully we have jobs. Daniel works for big four accounting. I work for a data center developer. so we have income coming in. Yeah. we actually met with a product development agency in New York. And I flew there, met the team, pitched the product. The quote that they gave us was more than five X of the quote was here. Yeah. And we weren't that confident in their team. They even said, We we can't really guarantee that we'll be able to get this to work and like. We share we share part of the name, but they go boom, right? no. okay. No, I'll I'll tell you them off stream. I don't want to Yeah, yeah, no, no, no, no. I don't big guys, but no, look at I think everybody has a different place in the market, right? Where I'm not like first of all, I don't have anybody calling me that comes from an enterprise. Like I am 100% for the people like you guys, like individuals, friends and family, two partners, husbands and wives. I don't have a single corporate customer that calls me to develop a new product. And they should because I am They should. They definitely should. Okay. So I mean for our benefit, not in the next six months, please. But yeah, yeah, yeah. Not no no look at yeah. For after these guys are done, we're gonna launch. But is there anything that I can do better? Is there anything else that you would have said, hey, you know, I wish that this would have been a next process? Cause again, I am constantly building out there. I'm trying to keep us the look it. I'm trying to keep us tri trimming lean. that's how we have a better product for less money because I'm not over bloated here. I try and only deliver the process and the and the deliverables that make sense to getting to the launch as quickly as possible without compromising the quality or experience that a consumer would have. So in that kind of little context, what can I do better? What could we have done different? Where we where have we disappointed you? Overall, I have really not been disappointed. I know this is a terrible it's a strong word. Right. And I I really have not. one thing that we did tell the team was just like timeline wise, if we could have rough estimates on dates, but I think that's pretty minor. Everything else has been running very smoothly and to date. So good. con consistent updates with marketing design and then with Crystal being the liaison. So it's been really nice. Awesome. Yeah. To your second question of how you can keep running this smoothly, find like attract and keep talent like Ian and Jeffrey, because we've even discussed, I've told Daniel when we launch, I would want to hire Ian. And I'm not saying I'm gonna steal him from you, but I mean we'll we can have that conversation. They come at a price. We'll make some trades. No, look at we have an amazing team, and that is the the the part. Look at you guys are probably gonna be at the next wave of this, you know, we're what we're also going through is a huge AI testing, understanding, because there's things that I'd rather have their high talent focused on the forty thousand foot view to and allow some of the twenty thousand foot view and ground level stuff done by AI so that it's more supportive so that they can keep their eye on the price for you guys. So that's my only That's the direction that if you're feeling anything right now, that's you guys will be part of it. We just you know, we've been embracing it since the beginning of the year. And I thought we were ahead of it. We're we are ahead of everyone else, but man, we're I didn't realize that the that race started two years ago. So for you guys getting the IA business, you probably know more about that. We won't go there, but you know, in closing, anything that you guys want to share share or say about your product, please it's the time. Shout outs to family, whatever you guys want. You want me to go first? Yeah. Get it done. I would just like to say that everything so far with fifty-two launch has been spectacular. communication, product development, everything. So we really couldn't be happier. Awesome. but yeah, other than that, we're really excited to get our product finished here in the next few months, figuring out the manufacturing and getting it to market. But yeah, just shout out to my family and thanks for all your support. Yeah. I'll echo what Daniel said. 52 Launch has been absolutely incredible. I don't think we'd be able to develop this product without them. and definitely not for the price that fifty two launch charged. And I'm not I don't this is really about pitching how cheap fifty two launch is. Not cheap, but the value you get. Right. Unbelievable. We talk Daniel and I have calls about this weekly. Like we're so thankful for all the work you guys do. So again. Thanks. Can't be more appreciative of that comment. And look at the easiest thing to do would say, let's put our value placement in place. That means I can't launch more dreams. So appreciate that. And I'm going to sit here and say, I still don't know how the hell you guys afforded our our fee. I'm working every day to get it lower. It's not costing more. I'm it's I'm doing more, right? So but I'm always trying to balance that because I'd rather launch launch more products where where we're gonna make money together and my only saving grace here is Not the first thousand units, but when we start when you guys start selling tens of thousands of units and I can be your manufacturer, I'll make it up. Right. So I want to launch new things that I can manufacture every day on your guys' behalf. So you don't have to hire anybody else to help be part of your process. So thank you guys for trusting us. That is the most important thing I can share with you guys. Thank you for coming in. look at I will plug it. I don't know, we'll we'll put some email out on the bottom here, but start giving these gentlemen your name and email list so that we can put you on a list because In the next little while, we're gonna be building audience so that you guys are gonna wanna know about this product. I guarantee you there's someone in your life that absolutely will be probably more than one person in your direct circle of influence is gonna want what these guys are making. So shoot them an email so you can give them permission to be on their list so that when we do launch or get updates that you guys are the first to know. And I'm sure they're gonna take care of you with like some incentives to be the first purchasers of their idea and product. So we will. That's your goal right now, gentlemen. Get the audience list built. Anyway, thank you guys for watching. I appreciate sorry I didn't cut you off. No, no, that's all. Awesome. Yeah. thank you guys for watching. I'm Peter. This is Jeff and Dan. And look at man, they got an amazing product that is going to launch and you got to be ready for it. So thank you for tuning in. If you have any questions, comments, please leave them below. If not, follow us, like us, share us, do everything you can to show someone in your world that has an idea that needs help to find us. Thank you very much.