Founding Partner
Inventors Tell All: How to Break into a Crowded Market
Presented by the Entrepreneurial Strategy Series and Gearhart Law
Having a great product is one thing, getting your product to the masses and breaking through all the noise is a whole other thing. Meet 3 amazing entrepreneurs with amazing products and hear their journeys first hand! Come learn from them what to do and what not to do in order to break into a crowded marketplace.
TOP TAKE AWAYS FROM THE EVENT:
1.) Know your ‘why’.
2.) Understand the market and industry and the need for innovation in it.
3.) Start small, one innovation in one space, then expand.
4.) How to treat customers, from Emily: make sure everything you create fits into one of 3 buckets: 1.) Attract 2.) Engage 3.) Delight
5.) Think outside the box with marketing – Mike gave a great example.
6.) Enjoy the journey! Also a great resource that we discussed at the end of our session was Inventor Rescue, a free service to protect inventors from scammers: https://inventorrescue.com/
OUR SPEAKERS:
Manuel Saez, Founder of Beyond: https://www.ridebeyond.com/ A little over twenty years ago, Manuel left Argentina for the US, with little more than my broken English, $200 in his pocket, and a dream of becoming an industrial designer. He become a design student and won eighteen design awards, to pay for his education. Today he is building Beyond, a company designed to simplify how people access & own e-bikes and scooters while minimizing environmental impact. He wanted to use his design skills to create a different kind of company, one that fights overconsumption, promotes re-use, and inspires other founders to do the same. Some of his accomplishments: Designed and brought to market more than fifty products and hold 35 patents. Have exhibited twice at the MoMA and one of his designs is part of the MoMA permanent collection Have won every major worldwide design award, 76 so far. Founded and built ManuelSaez & Partners, a design consultancy working with clients such as Crate & Barrel, Staples, CB2, Club Quarter Hotels, and Herman Miller. Established overseas manufacturing operations for two clients Have written for Fast Company as a Design Expert contributor President Obama received one of his designs as the presidential gift from Argentina in his last presidential trip.
Emily Kenison, Founder of Emikeni Inc.: https://www.emikeni.com/ Growing up in New York as a first-generation Turkish-American, Emily Kenison always had a perceptive eye for refashioning everyday use items with simple solutions. With a background in law and the complexity of creating patents, she has carved a path as an inventor and founder of Emikeni Inc., and its brands Straplets and RobeCurls. As Emily stumbled into her first invention of Straplets, Emily discovered how many people share the same daily frustrations. Instead of stuffing her extra pairs of shoes in the oven for storage, or buying an entirely new pair, she found a simple answer by designing a stylish strap that can be paired with any shoe. As the community of loyal customers has grown to embrace her inventions, Emily has expanded to create RobeCurls, the first heatless Curling Headband. Driven by care for the environment and the love of people, Emily continues to push the line of possibility in the fashion industry. Emikeni Inc.’s brand RobeCurls was awarded the 2021 Beauty Innovation Award and 2022 American Business Award, and has been featured in Glamour, Cosmpolitan, Buzzfeed and Today Show. In 2021, Emikeni Inc.’s brand Straplets and its inventor, Emily Kenison, were contestants on NBC’s TV series, America’s Big Deal.
Mike Indursky, Founder of HEAR ME RAW: https://hearmeraw.com/ Mike Indursky is the founder of HEAR ME RAW, a skincare line truly honors women because it’s best for skin, their health, their budget and the world around them. Mike has been in the skincare industry for well over 30 years and developed HEAR ME RAW as an alternative to mainstream skincare products that have many problems such as: ingredients you shouldn’t be putting on your skin, packaging that’s bad for the environment, prices that are too high for products you don’t need. HEAR ME RAW products are truly natural, vegan, gluten-free, cruelty-free and worry-free. And they’re super powerful using a panoply of carefully selected plant and earth-borne ingredients working together for maximum benefit. And they don’t, and will never use parabens, toxins, petro-chemicals, phthalates, silicones, hormone disruptors or any other crap that shouldn’t go anywhere on or near your skin.
David Postolski, Esq., Partner at Gearhart Law is our event moderator.