The Million Dollar Collar Invention – Rob Kessler – Ep51

02/21/18 • 36 min

Five years ago (2013) Rob was getting married in Jamaica. Everything went well except when Rob saw his wedding photos, he was shocked. His shirt collar was a sloppy, droopy mess. He does not like wearing ties, so he started looking for another solution.

He searched online but every existing product was a collar stay and that just didn’t work. He set out to make his own solution. His first prototype was made from a cardboard box.

He spent years developing the design, especially the material. One major challenge was he needed to find a plastic that could withstand dry cleaning machine temperatures (up to 700F).

We discuss his journey. He had a failed Kickstarter, he tried different marketing methods, and we talk about the patent process for him. If you are an inventor, this is an invaluable episode for you to check out, as Rob went through EVERYTHING to get his product to market.

You can contact Rob at [email protected]

Website: https://milliondollarcollar.com/

The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at [email protected]

The Million Dollar Collar Invention – Rob Kessler – Ep51

He searched online but every existing product was a collar stay and that just didn’t work. He set out to make his own solution. His first prototype was made from a cardboard box.

He spent years developing the design, especially the material. One major challenge was he needed to find a plastic that could withstand dry cleaning machine temperatures (up to 700F).

You can contact Rob at [email protected]

Website: https://milliondollarcollar.com/

The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at [email protected]

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Freeeup Your Time – Nathan Hirsch – Ep50

We have hit 50 episodes of the podcast!

Nathan Hirsch is a serial entrepreneur, hiring expert, and the CEO of FreeeUp.com. He has hired hundreds of freelancers to build his companies and has been featured on over 100 business podcasts sharing his knowledge on hiring and entrepreneurship.

We talk about entrepreneurship strategies and marketing. Nathan has grown Freeeup.com with hardly any marketing dollars. Instead he has used word of mouth by being a guest on various podcast, including Entrepreneur On Fire.

He started Freeeup.com because he saw the importance of outsourcing tasks that are not his main skillset, and instead focusing on what he is best at. I often do this myself, as I outsource podcast editing, website work, and other tasks that are not related to engineering.

To contact Nathan:

FREEEup.com

Next Episode

From 3D Printed Dive Masks to Business Development Lead at Formlabs – Ryan Turk – Ep52

Ryan Turk and I first met about 3 years ago on Upwork.com. He was looking for an engineer to assist in his new business venture. His idea was to create custom dive masks using 3D scanning and 3D printing.

He ended up hiring another engineer, but he did successfully make custom masks. We talk about how he accomplished that, through 3D scanning, using Geomagic software to process the scans, and 3D printing the molds for the masks.

Even though he could create the masks, the business opportunity is not quite there now. The costs are too high given the price point he can get for the product. So, for the time being, Ryan has changed paths by taking a job at Formlabs. He is working as the business development lead on mass customization. His new role is the find opportunities in the market to use 3d printing to make end use parts, not just prototypes.

You can contact Ryan at [email protected]

The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at [email protected]