Prototypes are near and dear to our hearts because building and using them helped us succeed in licensing our dead battery prevention device, the Battery Buddy, to a huge company. We built our prototypes ourselves. But there are other ways to get it done.
In the companion to this piece, you can learn about the strategic thinking that you must do in order to proceed effectively with the prototyping phase of your startup .
Here’s some advice about moving your invention prototype from your mind’s eye to a reality that will help you commercialize your product.
Build the prototype yourself
That’s the cheapest approach, and it may be the best. Claus Sadlier, for example, spent less than $1 on the materials for his prototype for a triple-wall-insulated paper cup. He used existing paper cups, poster board, cardboard, glue and scissors at his kitchen table to fashion the value-added device that now generates $50 million in annual sales for his Vernalis, California, company, Insulair Inc.
“It demonstrated functionality and the look and feel of the product,” he says. “It wasn’t something that was difficult to get your mind around, so I could do it myself.”
Find tradespeople to put the prototype together for you
If building your invention prototype requires bending metal or plastic, or engineering and assembly beyond what you used to do with your childhood erector set, you may have to get some help.
Check out independent tool-and-die shops where they’re used.
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