Tips and tricks on how to bring your product to market and share your brilliance with the world!

1. SO YOU HAVE A PRODUCT
IDEA?
Babak Forutanpour
babak@BrilliantCompany.com
@extra.tahdig

2. Before we start, if your only motivation is to make money, you
may want to reconsider being an inventor. Very few make it out
alive. I’m on 17th idea and give getTLTD.com 33% chance
Past
1. Fantatmation Studios
2. Internet Alarm Clock
3. PDPlay
4. PRESSD
5. Magic Steamer
6. Tabloo
7. Sunday Pillow
8. Clip Lights
9. StrapEZ
10. Selify
11. SaniBox
12. BALNCD
13. AryaBall
14. KOOL KAR
15. SendCheer
16. LifeGoesPOP
Current
17. TLTD
18. The Baker Buddy
19. The Tooth Diary
20. KLEAN Bottle
21. KLEAN Towel
22. KLEAN Flops

3. Perhaps you would be happier digital prospecting:
Using Helium10’s Chrome plug-in to look for gaps
in Amazon marketplace
Use Amazon 999 trick or
Helium10 Chrome plug-in to find
products to sell:
• Find niches
• Good sales (not great, not small)
• Read their 1-2 star reviews
• Fix those issues: cheese plate
example, BBQ Light example
• Buy MOQ
• Sell MOQ
• Use rebates and PPC to drive sales
velocity until on first page.
• Do this for 20+ products
• Can also source products from
clearance sections in retail stores.
Helium10.com and JungleScout.com
AM/PM Podcast!

4. If you want to do even less work and take even less
risk, then carry no inventory and invest in marketing
products from AliExpress. Research “Drop Shipping”
www.DropShipLifestyle.com

5. But if you are passionately curious, love to
experiment, see failure as a growth opportunity, like
building things, want to make new friends, have a
little slush fund, then stick around as this talk might
be for you.

6. 1. Discovery
2. Proof of Concept
3. Branding
4. User Study
5. Know your Costs
6. Protection
7. Path to Market
8. Angel Round
9. Working Prototype
10.User Study, Go to 9
11.Get it Quoted
12.Marketing
THIS IS HOW I DO
IT.
YOUR MILLEAGE
WILL VARY.
Email me if you disagree
with order of steps. I want
to learn from you.
12.Distribution Costs
13.Customer Acquisition Costs
14.Path to Market
15.Packaging
16.Full Utility
17.Crowdfunding
18.It’s On!
19.Quality Control
20.Customer Support
21.Beyond Crowdfunding
22.Sell, Sell, Sell
6

7. 1. DISCOVERY – IT REQUIRES EMPATHY
7
My son wanted to kick his football
since my brother and I didn’t bring a a
soccer ball to the park. I felt his pain.

8. 1. DISCOVERY
10 min
• Your homework was to bring a problem to class
• If didn’t bring one, take a few minutes now
• Next, think of a possible solution
• If you are struggling, pick a product you love.
8

9. 9
1. DISCOVERY

10. 1. NOW, FORGET ABOUT IT.
10 seconds
• Forget about it.
10

11. 1. NOW, FORGET ABOUT IT.
10 seconds
• Forget about it.
11
Every slide will have this
logo, sine you may
(should?) quit, saving your
bullets.

12. 1. IF AFTER 2 WEEKS STILL EXCITED, IT’S ON!
12

13. 2. BUILD A PROOF-OF-CONCEPT (not prototype)
10 min
• For now, draw out your idea.
• Show different views. 13

14. 3. BRANDING – GIVE IT A NAME, MAKE IT REAL
14

15. 3. BRANDING
15
5 min
• What’s your product’s mantra?
• What’s your product’s name?
• What’s your product’s logo?
• What’s your company name?
• Use GoDaddy.com and Instagram to see if available.
• Use words like “buy,” “shop,” “the,” “-” or .co domain name if taken
• Since domain is $10, consider reserving it
• Check http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/ to see if Trademarked in your category

16. 4. 3 F&F USER STUDIES: FIND PUSH BACK
PRICE
16
Group A: Tell them idea Group B: Show them idea

17. 4. 3 F&F USER STUDIES: PUSH BACK
PRICE
3+3+3+3 min
• Talk to your friends and family
• Assume sister is on left, and brother on right.
• I suggest you don’t ask your parents (at least not mine ;-) 17
Group A: Tell them idea Group B: Show them idea Group C: Show them the vision

18. 5. KNOW YOUR COSTS - SHIPPING TO AMAZON
12” x 12” x 12” ONEderball is about $2.00 per item
6” x 4” x 1” TLTD is about $0.03 per item @80,000
6” x 4” x 1” TLTD is about $0.10 per item @5,000
Do at home
• Based on your expected product+packaging
size, computer your shipping cost to Amazon.
www.cbmcalculator.com 18

19. 5. KNOW YOUR COSTS – AMAZON PRIME FEES
sellercentral.amazon.com/fba/profitabilitycalculator/index
Do at home
• Computer your Amazon
FBA and shipping fees
19

20. Do at home
• Computer your Amazon Storage fees for 3 months
of inventory assuming you sell 200 a month.
20
5. KNOW YOUR COSTS - AMAZON’S WAREHOUSING
FEES
Fetcher.com can assist with
Amazon accounting
ONEderball is 12” x 12” x 15”:
• Assume I sell 100 a month
• Keep avg 3 months supply in warehouse
• 300 in warehouse is 648,000 in^3, or 375 ft^3 (div 1728)
• That’s $258 a month
• About $1 a month per ball.
• But $3 per ball during holidays
• If your inventory sits in Amazon >365, major penalty.

21. 21
BASED ON FEEDBACK, SHOULD YOU QUIT*?
*THE WORD QUITTING FOR PRODUCT DEVELOPES IS NOT SLANDEROUS, IT’S A
BADGE OF HONOR. IT SHOWS YOU ARE DETACHED ENOUGH, HUMBLE-ENOUGH,
DISCIPLINED ENOUGH TO SAVE YOUR VALUABLE TIME FOR THE RIGHT
OPPORUNTITY. IT’S A MARATHON, NOT A SPRINT.

22. 6. PROTECTION
22

23. 6. $135 PROTECTION
23
3 min, more at home
• Do you think your solution could be novel and non-obvious?
• Since provisional are only $135, consider getting customer number and filing one
• Check https://patents.google.com/
• Be careful of doing your own searches, I goofed on PRESSD
• Consult with an attorney
• In my case, I like to draft and file my own provisional ($135) to lock in priority
• Gives me one year to either file utility or let it expire.

24. 7. PATH TO MARKET – LICENSING vs SOLO?
Licensing Starting a business
Little investment Varies but let’s say $10K
Mostly sending emails, calls, LN Total grind
5% of Wholesale 30% Retail + Exit
Not in control Total control
Frees you up to work on next idea Requires dedication and focus
Will see your product in stores May remain an online-business
Chance of success is high if picked up You can lose a lot of money if not careful
Recommend Licensing if:
1. You’re not 100% committed or sure of success, which is fine!
2. Unable to self-fund or raise funding
3. Think your product has high upfront costs (big molds)
4. Think your product is expensive to make
5. Think your product is expensive to ship
6. You sense there may be liability issues
7. Don’t think you can reach target market via social media
8. There is no conference for your product
9. If you license, make sure you stipulate minimum guarantees!
10. A product that is used inside the home so less chance of virality, think POPSocket
24
2 min
• Are you going to license or go a little further
towards building a company?

25. 7. PATH TO MARKET – LICENSING TIPS
I hit BBB, Target, WalMart and wrote down name of every
single company selling goods there. 233 unique
companies sell most of what we buy (outside of food and
clothing).
www.inventright.com
www.inventorsdigest.com
SALES KIT: Sell Sheet + Video
Tip:
• Using LinkedIn, reach out to Sales
team at the company. They have
vested interest in selling more products.
• Goal is to get their email, not talk by
phone yet.
• Use email for paper trail and so you
can follow up.
• Consider NDA. 25
Watch InventRight videos on YouTube.
Steve’s book is good too.

26. 8. ANGEL ROUND vs. SELF-FUND?
26
If you choose to move forward with making a working prototype, unless you know SolidWorks or can
build your own circuits and write your own software, it gonna get costly.
Pause and think about how you are going to pay for the R&D.
1. Who you will reach out to now?
2. Who to reach out to later?
3. At what valuation?
4. Loan or equity deal?
5. Should you find a partner instead?
6. What happens if you let them down?
7. $10K from 1 person, or $2K from 5?
8. Is it smart money?
9. Do you even want smart money?
10. Is slow burn better?
11. If you tap into 401K, what is the opportunity cost?
12. Who does this decision impact? Tell them.

27. 9. WORKING PROTOTYPE – BUT YOU’LL GET THERE
27
• Review prospective engineer’s SolidWorks portfolio
• Hourly rate should be under $125/hour
• If he doesn’t have his own 3D printer, move on.
• Ask him where s/he buys their parts from (e.g. McMaster, Indus Metal Supply)
• Build -> Measure -> Learn -> Repeat
• Don’t have him worry about every little manufacturing detail, e.g. draft angles
• Have him generate your patent drawings
• Make sure you know what factory is quoting, number your drawings
• Consider production limitations

28. 9. WORKING PROTOTYPE – IT’S A LONG ROAD
28

29. 10. USER STUDY: LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN
29
Group A, B, C: Let them use prototype

30. 10. USER STUDY: HOW I STALKED HALF-
NAKED
MEN IN PUBLIC SHOWERS
3 +3 + 3 + 3 min
1. Don’t introduce yourself as inventor. People think we are crazy. Call yourself product developer.
2. “Excuse me, I’m a product developer, can I ask you a quick question?” (have item in hand)
3. LISTEN, THINK, ACT.
4. Go back to step 2 30

31. 11. GET IT QUOTED
31
Platform88.com
Honor “NNN” agreements

32. 12. MARKETING – START BUILDING YOUR TRIBE
32
Awesome web site builder for $8/month:
strikingly.com

33. 12. MARKETING – GET THE PARTY STARTED
33
www.instagress.com
www.fastfollowers.com
Don’t by more than 500 fake followers.
Don’t by more than 100 likes per post, and only at beginning.
A GREAT service, but not taking any more new users.

34. 13. CUSTOMER ACQUISITION COST - EXAMPLE
34
5 min
• What is cost per 1000 impressions (CPM)?
• What is click-through-rate (CTR)?
• What is cost per click (CPC)?
• So, what is this CAC if 1 sale from this ad?
• If profit per LifeGoesPOP is $20, is it worth it?
• What should Babak do?
In Q1 2018, Average:
• $7.91 CPM (across FB, IG, Google)
• 0.52% Instagram CTR
• $1.41 CPC
• 1 cent, 1.5%, panj 75 cents, 50
• Good CTR, website/pricing is not converting

35. 13. CUSTOMER ACQUISITION COST – (YOU MAY WANT TO
DO THIS AT STEP 4 vs. THIS LATE)
1. Make ~10 ads 2. A/B test ads. Improve best. 3. Run ads to store
that says “Sold Out”
4. Compute CPA
FYI, roughly speaking, rate for 300 targeted views on Instagram is $1.
If you need to run 300 ads, per sale? CAC $1
If you need to run 600 ads, per sale? CAC $2
If you need to run 900 ads, per sale? CAC $3
If you need to run 1200 ads, per sale? CAC $14
35

36. 14. PATH TO MARKET – RETAIL, WHOLESALE, ...
GO BACK TO LICENSING?
Retail Price $15.00
BOM -$1.45
Packaging -$0.05
Shipping to US - $0.10
Amazon FBA - $2.25
Amazon Prime Shipping - $2.41
Amazon Storage (Blend) -$0.05
CAC - $2.20
Liability Insurance - $0.02
Customer Support - $0.10
Salaries -$0.00
Interest -$0.00
Misc -$0.25
Returns - $0.15
Gross Profit $5.97
Gross Profit x 1,500/mo $8,995
5 min
• How’s it looking?
• Do it? License it?
• Wholesale, retail, do both? 36
Wholesale Price $5.00
BOM -$1.05
Packaging -$0.10
Shipping to US - $0.10
Amazon FBA -$0.00
Amazon Prime Shipping -$0.00
Amazon Storage (Blend) -$0.00
CAC -$0.00
Liability Insurance - $0.10
Customer Support - $0.25
Salaries/Overhead -$0.50
Interest -$0.25
Misc -$0.25
Returns - $0.15
Gross Profit $2.25
Gross Profit x 10,000/mo $22,500

37. 15. PACKAGING – MUST PASS 15 FOOT TEST
Fiverr.com
Do it yourself
37

38. 38
16. IF PROVISIONAL IS EXPIRING, CONSIDER THAT
UTILITY PATENT

39. 17. CROWDFUNDING IS A BEAST! 2/3 FAIL.
39
Jellop.com Crowdco.co
Krowdster.co
Fundedtoday.comEnventys.com
Podcast: Art of the Kickstart Demystified
TIP #1: Should have 1/3 of the
backers you need before
launching campaign. So build that
interest e-mail list!
TIP #2: For a fair price,
Krowdster.co will sell you
thousands of FB IDs for like
products you can target like the
Russia during a US election year.
Perfect data for importing into FB
to create “Look Alike Audiences”
for PPC ads
TIP #3: Indiegogo lets you use
Facebook pixel to track ad
conversion, whereas Kickstarter
sadly doesn’t.
TIP #4: You may get knocked off
before you can even deliver. Be
careful. Also, don’t reveal too
much to help cheats.
LaunchBoom.com

40. 18. IT’S ON! – PLACE 1ST ORDER
40

41. 19. QUALITY CONTROL
41
www.portmanqc.com
www.chinaqualitycheck.com

42. 20. CUSTOMER SUPPORT
42

43. 21. POST KICKSTARTER

44. 22. SELL, SELL, SELL - AMAZON SEO
44
FBA High Rollers Facebook Group
www.helium10.com to see what keyword your
competitors are using www.virallaunch.com
Panda-boom.com
Drive PPC traffic to
Amazon using
promo codes.
Instant
coupons get
eyeballs

45. 22. SELL, SELL, SELL - GOOGLE SEO
45
When it comes to SEO, it’s a little bit of a black art and you may have to hire a consultant.
See Fiverr.com or talk to me about my consultant.
Tip:
• https ranks higher than http
• Use google sentence
completion for your product
to build similar pages, e.g.

46. 22. SELL, SELL, SELL - TRADE SHOWS
46

47. 22. SELL, SELL, SELL - BLOGGERS
47
Bloggers are looking for story ideas, so don’t be shy.
Don’t be transactional, give them value.
Send them samples for their feedback.
Blogger can help with your SEO.

48. 48
While I may get on SharkTank and give
up 20% of my business for $100K…
Rosanna Pansino, who often gets 500K
views per IG post and 2M views on
YouTube from kids and/or parents who
love baking with their kids, could be an
even a bigger opportunity!
5 min
• Who would be a good partner for
your invention?
22. SELL, SELL, SELL - PARTNERING

49. 22. SELL, SELL, SELL - GIFTING CELEBRITIES
49
See video: lifegoespop.com/pages/celebrity-buzz

50. FATE FAVORS THE CURIOUS
Babak Forutanpour
babak@BrilliantCompany.com
@extra.tahdig