RELATIONSHIPS ARE KEY
A passion for design and giving back.
Throughout his career as a designer, Glenn has taken the opportunity to help entrepreneurs along their paths, becoming a new breed of angel investor. Not being a millionaire and seeking relationships over wealth, he has chosen to give in a way that is often more valuable to new entrepreneurs by providing guidance, encouragement and clarity of vision. He has personally helped countless people in their quest to bring their own ideas to life. The services we provide below are things that he has done time and again at no charge simply because they needed the help and he was able to give it. Over a dozen such people have been able to achieve success on Kickstarter as a direct result of his guidance. One such entrepreneur was @windeler_ who came to us with their own great idea, but questions about engineering and design were keeping them from progressing. Glenn was more than happy to help out with ideas and guidance but was also able to connect them with a manufacturing resource that was far more reliable than what they had found on their own. @windeler_ was able to achieve their goal and is now thriving after bringing in over $250K through Kickstarter.
Though some have benefitted from his help, there still many more out there who just need to get over that "hump" keeping them from success. If you are a small business or even just have a solid idea, we would be glad to help you get the ball rolling.
Project launch guarantee
Trust vs. Risk
The biggest challenge that I face when signing an agreement with a new vendor is whether they are truly able to deliver the results that they promise. Our goal is to eliminate that concern for you. If you are not certain by the end of this exercise, you should not select us as your design resource.
After connecting, exchanging NDAs and defining the challenge that has brought you to us, we will give you some initial thoughts, ask questions and then dive into your challenge. A typical review takes between 10-20 hours to complete and in the end, we will present you with a list of solution options, any of which you could adopt which will get you to where you are going. They are "solutions" in that, if we recommend them, then we are certain that they are viable, in spite of how "curious" they may seem to you.
In addition, we will also present something that you did not ask for but has always been well received.
During this first phase we always find additional possibilities even when the idea pool seems to have dried up. The ideas that we present will vary by project, but for most customers, this list opens their eyes and changes their perspective on how they decide to move forward, seeing their own ideas in a new light and the potential benefits they had not considered. This second list is not a requirement, but if nothing else, the change in perspective will make you stop and consider before moving forward. In the end, these ideas always have an effect on your path.
Sparks of Inspiration will Ignite when they are needed most: If you have not heard of the Leatherman Skeletool. In 2003, Glenn invented the idea for the Skeletool on his own time while working there as a Design Engineer. The management team couldn't see the potential and shelved the idea. Finally after three years and a series of prototypes Glenn made, they were finally convinced and decided to move forward and it released in 2008. It has sold millions in the years since. Imagine if they had listened five years earlier.
After you have time to review everything we have presented, we can meet and decide how to proceed and/or if to proceed. If you choose to continue, we can get to work right away. If you decide to hold off, then that works as well, you have to be certain it is the right fit for you. As such, there will be no charge to you. If we move forward, then we can only do that if you see value in what we provide and how it will benefit you in the end. No hard feelings.
Example: We were approached by Coolest Cooler ($12.6M Kickstarter) with regard to doing a design update (primarily cost reduction). We proceeded exactly as described above, including "the bonus options" and then parted ways. Six months later they came back. They had become so excited by the list of possibilities we created for them that they scrapped their original plans and decided to move in the direction we proposed. The resulting design that we developed for them was an engineering marvel.