The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast: Recent Episodes
Scott Tarcy
Hi this is Scott Tarcy and welcome to the Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast
I’m a mechanical engineer and the president of CADdesignhelp.com. My company does CAD work and prototyping. I love designing and inventing products and creating businesses around that activity.
There are many podcasts out there about entrepreneurship and a few about inventing, but I have yet to find a podcast specifically about the engineering and technical side of entrepreneurship
Since I couldn’t find the exact podcast that interests me as a design engineer and entrepreneur, I decided to go out and create it myself
My strategy with this podcast is to interview engineers, designers and inventors who have created businesses around their inventions and products
I specifically want to focus on the engineering and design side of their products and inventions
TooTallToby and The Gamification of 3D CAD– Too Tall Toby– ep 157
TooTallToby started a company that specializes in gamifying 3D CAD Modeling. We’ve built a website that allows users to practice their 3D CAD speedmodeling skills. They are CAD agnostic, which means users can practice with any CAD system. Along with providing practice material, we also provide tips & tricks, and competitions that allow users to test their skills against others.
Number one tip:
Use Control S. save constantly
Contact info:
www.tootalltoby.com
https://www.youtube.com/@TooTallToby
This week we have guest David Hirschfield, a veteran software developer and AI expert, to discuss his career and insights on technology evolution.
David shares his journey from studying physics to excelling in sales and eventually founding a successful software company, which he sold in 2000.
He explains the rise and fall of IEF, a tool for enterprise software development in the late 80s and 90s, and how outdated systems still impact industries like car rentals today.
The conversation shifts to modern innovations like AI and alternative rental models like Turo, which offers a more seamless customer experience.
Number one tip:
If you are a startup, trust yourself but don’t believe in it.
If you aren’t sure how to speak to AI, ask it how you should use it.
Contact info:
Website tekyz.com
david@tekyz.com
Click on info page, heard you on the podcast
Email David@tekyz.com
https://www.engineeringcareeraccelerator.com/engineeringentrepreneur
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Mitchell Eaton is the Director of Product at Prototek. Prototek bought out his original company, which was an open marketplace manufacturing platform.
We discussed his history of starting his company, the buyout and how Prototek operates. Then we discussed how AI is involved in all of this.
Number one tip:
Don’t be afraid to try something new.
Contact info:
IQ.prototek.com
meaton@prototek.com
https://www.engineeringcareeraccelerator.com/engineeringentrepreneur
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Emma Schermer Tamir is the CEO and co-founder of Marketing by Emma, a top-rated e-commerce and Amazon copywriting firm that has worked with many of the top 100 Amazon best-sellers and DTC brands
We discussed the importance of copywriting, content marketing, and keyword research.
Number one tip:
Find what makes you different and find that group that is underserved and put your effort there
Rather than go broad, go specific
Contact info:
Youtube
Website marketingbyemma.com
https://www.engineeringcareeraccelerator.com/engineeringentrepreneur
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Wael is the Chief Technology and Product Officer at Imprint, a fast-growing FinTech company that partners with leading brands to launch co-branded credit cards.
If you ever wondered about the details on credit cards and why companies like Walmart and Amazon create their own card, then you need to listen to this podcast.
Number one tip:
Act like an owner with your work
Contact info:
imprint.co
wael@imprint.co
https://www.engineeringcareeraccelerator.com/engineeringentrepreneur
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Greg is a Civil Engineer based in Canada. Following in his family's footsteps of entrepreneurship, heventured away from a traditional engineering careerto working in a hybrid capacity as both anengineer and entrepreneur.
He has found his footing by living with a foot in each world! Now he owns a coffee business and does civil engineering consulting.
Number one tip:
Talk to people. He doesn’t mean networking events, just talk to random people.
Contact info: Coffee Website
https://www.engineeringcareeraccelerator.com/engineeringentrepreneur
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Leo Jiang is a staff engineer with Amplitude. Amplitude is a digital analytics product that allows you to see how your customers drop off on your website.
Number one tip:
For people who want to get into software engineering, go make your own website and use amplitude to see how users are using your website.
Contact info:
www.amplitude.com
https://www.engineeringcareeraccelerator.com/engineeringentrepreneur
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Clint is a mechanical engineer and recently wrote a book called “The Global Engineer: How to Use the Essence of Engineering to be an Engineer of International Ability”
Our conversation was about how to work effectively with engineers from different countries.
For example, Australian automotive engineers tend to work on a shoe string budget.
Number one tip:
To realize how we got to now. Meaning, technology evolves based on previous technology.
Contact info:
Linkedin
Website
https://www.engineeringcareeraccelerator.com/engineeringentrepreneur
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Jonathan is a Biologist by Education and a process and mechanical engineer by training and is a second generation inventor of a revolutionary waste to energy process that can convert all carbon-based waste, simultaneously in a wet and mixed stream into clean burning, carbon-neutral fuels, biochar, and organic fertilizers with no waste streams or byproducts, in an environmentally positive way.
His company uses heat, pressure and time in a patented process to safely convert waste into simple carbon chains.
Number one tip:
Just cant give up, if you truly believe in what you are doing
Contact info:
Website
www.Edenenergy.co
Personal Accounts
Instagram: JonathaAppel13
Twitter/X: JonathanAppel13
Company Accounts
Website: www.Edenenergy.co
Instagram: EdenEnergySolutions
Twitter/X: EdenEnergyX
Engineer to Financial Planner – Ryan Sullivan– ep 148
Starting his career as a mechanical engineer, Ryan built an engineering department from the ground up. In just five years, he built the department into a formidable team of 11 professionals, generating an annual revenue exceeding $1 million. This journey uncovered Ryan's true passion for finance and investing, which led him to starting his financial planning firm.
Number one tip:
Put your finances on autopilot.
Contact info:
Obpfinancial.com
https://www.engineeringcareeraccelerator.com/engineeringentrepreneur
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com.
Investing with Real Estate Syndicates – Dr. Allen Lomax– ep 147
Dr. Allen, a seasoned leader with a Ph.D. in Organizational Systems Psychology. He has over three decades of experience. He underwent a transformative shift after years of working with horses and realizing the power of quiet mindfulness for personal and organizational growth. With expertise in college student development and psychology, he found fulfillment in academia while securing financial stability through real estate investing. Driven by a passion to empower others financially, he founded Steed Talker Capital and hosts the podcast Real Estate Investing Abundance, aiming to help leaders achieve abundance in all aspects of life.
Most of our conversation focused on investing in large real estate deals through syndicates.
Find a place that’s a quiet plate to find peace of mind to let your ideas come to surface.
To invent and design, you don’t need to put yourself under pressure.
Contact info:
www.Steedtalker.com
How to be a Great Leader – Darby Vannier – Ep 146
Darby Vannier has over 20 years of experience as a seasoned leader adept at building and growing organizations. As a president & CEO of an indispensable leadership group, he excels as an executive coach, consultant, and speaker.
Number one tip:
As you start to lead people, don't underestimate the impact you're having. Because you may be having the impact that you have no idea that's actually happening.
Contact info:
Beindispensible.com
...
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, president of CADdesignhelp.com.
You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com.
You can download it here on iTunes:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-engineering-entrepreneur-podcast/id1141757951
Or directly on my site at CADdesignhelp.com
Follow me on Twitter and Instagram: @caddesignhelp
Please like and subscribe to my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@caddesignhelp
Thanks,
Scott Tarcy
Francis is an Engineering Leadership Coach who helps CTOs and VPs of Engineering at scaling tech startups nurture amazing work cultures and high-performance teams that build products and services that delight their customers.
Number one tip:
If you are a staff engineer or have technical position: remember whenever are acting with someone they are a human too, you will have more empathy.
Contact info:
Francis Lacoste - The VPE Coach
Career Clarity Checklist
...
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com.
You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com.
You can download it here on iTunes:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-engineering-entrepreneur-podcast/id1141757951
Or directly on my site at CADdesignhelp.com
Follow me on Twitter and Instagram: @caddesignhelp
Please like and subscribe to my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@caddesignhelp
Thanks,
Scott Tarcy
Dan Simpkins is the Chief Executive Officer and one of the two founding partners of Dwellwell Analytics, Inc. The company has developed an IoT SaaS product that helps protect residential real estate assets by identifying maintenance issues before they become costly and disruptive
Dan’s company Hillcrest created the original 3D mouse for smart TV’s. He went from there to his new company Dwellwell which makes diagnostic sensors for homes.
Number One Tip:
Don’t let convention wisdom get you down, like “that’s a crazy idea”.
The 10 laws of the entrepreneur. You have to go over the line to see the line.
Early on, an entrepreneur should seek mentors.
Contact Info:
Linkedin: Dan Simpkins
https://dwellwell.ai/
...
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com.
You can download it here on iTunes: Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast
Or directly on my site at CADdesignhelp.com
Follow me on Twitter and Instagram: @caddesignhelp
Please like and subscribe to my YouTube channel.
Thanks, Scott Tarcy
Innovative Insoles and Shoe Inserts – Tom Smoot, Jr. – Ep 143 Tom founded Lift and Shift Foundation and most recently Project Biotech that aim to improve the lives of others. He's also a graduate student and a former army veteran with a personal story of resilience.
The Lift and Shift foundation is a non-profit who help veterans shift from military to civilian life through science and technology.
Project Biotech is a business that makes custom Orthotics and targeted nutrition plans to fight foot pain and diabetic symptoms.
Number One Tip:
You can’t do everything yourself and don’t be afraid to ask for help.
Contact Information:
https://www.weliftandshift.org
https://projectbiotech.co
..
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com.
You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Jessie is the co-founder and CEO of KittyCAD.
KittyCAD is a new CAD software that will have both your normal graphical interface but also the ability to code directly.
This solves a common problem in CAD of both slow workflow and having to fix failed features, like fillets. I have been there many times!
Make sure to check out this episode. I can wait for Jessie and her team to finish the product.
Number One Tip: Do what you love.
Contact Information: https://twitter.com/jessfraz
Kittycad.io
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Greg’s background is in medicine, but he has been passionate about wine since his first sip of a vintage wine in Napa at age 16. He received his Master of Science in Medical Engineering and a Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
I’m not a wine guy, but the history of why wine is bottled in glass and the size of the bottle is interesting. We discuss all of that and why Coravin solves many of the problems of storing wine after it has been opened.
Number One Tip:
The best inventions come from meeting an unmet need. And you need to know whether you want to be an inventor or an entrepreneur.
Contact Information:
DM him on X and Instagram: Gregatcoravin The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com.
Latest Technology News – David Mantey – Ep 140 David is the Editorial Director of Digital Media at Industrial Media, a publishing company that owns some of the most recognized websites in the manufacturing industry. These include Industrial Equipment News, Manufacturing Business Technology, Manufacturing.net, and Food Manufacturing.
David has an interesting job, and we talk about how he got started, how he finds out about the latest news, and some good stories he’s written.
Top Tip:
Focus on constant improvement
Contact Information:
David Mantey
Editorial Director, Digital Media
Today in Manufacturing podcast: https://www.ien.com/podcast
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-mantey/
Design & Development Today: https://www.designdevelopmenttoday.com/
Twitter: @djamesmanny
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com.
Particle41 – Ben Johnson – Ep 139
Ben is the CEO & Founder of Particle41, a development firm providing businesses with integral support on application development, data science, and DevOps projects.
I learned some new things in this episode. Devops is platform engineering. For example, his team created a training program on the Oculus headset. The training program was for safety training for operating a forklift.
We discussed raising capital. Start with angel investors in your community.
Lastly, we discussed personal productivity and AI.
Top Tip:
Just get up and do it.
Contact info:
Ben@particle41.com
Pam Hurley is founder and president of Hurley Write, Inc. She helps corporations fix the writing problems that are costing them time & money.
Everyone must write papers in high school and college (write 10 pages on subject X) but in the real world this is not how it works.
In the business world, the importance of writing is clear communication. For example, I write SOP’s (standard operating procedures) for most processes in my business. This makes it easy to train a new employee.
Number one tip:
Plan for good writing.
Contact info:
Pam Hurley, PhD
President
910-233-7670
Hurley Write, Inc.
www.hurleywrite.com
https://www.engineeringcareeraccelerator.com/engineeringentrepreneur
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Brian Kobus is the southeast Business Development Manager for Universal Robots based out of Charlotte, NC.
I personally met Brian during a demonstration he was running with a robot. He showed us a simple pick and place example of the robot moving a block from one area to another
The UR robot is easy to program. No code is needed.
When it comes to repetitive tasks, getting a robot can pay for itself very quickly. In addition to labor savings, robots do not need bathroom breaks, time off and do not make mistakes.
Number one tip
Don’t be intimidated by robotics, once you learn it the next project will be a lot easier
Contact:
bko@universal-robots.com
https://www.engineeringcareeraccelerator.com/engineeringentrepreneur
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Aaron Moncur is the founder of Pipeline Design & Engineering. aron has a similar background to me where he worked as a design engineer first before starting his company. He worked designing medical devices.
His company specializes in making custom manufacturing equipment.
He’s learned (like me) that trading time for money has limited scalability so he has gotten into creating products. His first one is a threaded detail installer.
Aaron also has a podcast. Check it out, it’s called “Being an Engineer”
Number one tip: be nice to people. Everything we do, its all about relationships
Contact:
Today’s Episode is Sponsored by MFG.com
Are you an engineer or designer looking for reliable and skilled manufacturers to bring your designs to life?
MFG.com, the world’s largest online manufacturing marketplace, connects you with over 10,000 suppliers across the globe. Browse the directory, or submit a Request for Quote and receive an average of 4 quotes from US suppliers.
MFG provides access to a wide range of manufacturing capabilities, including precision machining, injection molding, and 3D printing, so you can find the right supplier for your specific project needs.
Signing up for MFG.com is quick and free, and gives you the ability to manufacture your engineering designs efficiently and effectively.
So why wait? Sign up for MFG.com today and take your engineering and design projects to the next level. Again, Visit MFG.com to sign up today.
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Itunes link
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/engineering-entrepreneur-podcast/id1141757951?mt=2
website link
http://caddesignhelp.com/podcast/
Jim worked his career in Public Relations. His company was out of Singapore, and he sold that business a few years ago.
How he runs the Unnoticed Entrepreneur Podcast.
We talked about how you can increase brand awareness for your company. The main ways you can do this are to create engaging social media posts that educate the viewer and the other way is to make sure you are authentic.
Your posts need to inform, educate or inspire.
Number one tip:
Make yourself available.
Contact info:
https://www.jimajames.com/
Today’s Episode is Sponsored by MFG.com
Are you an engineer or designer looking for reliable and skilled manufacturers to bring your designs to life?
MFG.com, the world’s largest online manufacturing marketplace, connects you with over 10,000 suppliers across the globe. Browse the directory, or submit a Request for Quote and receive an average of 4 quotes from US suppliers.
MFG provides access to a wide range of manufacturing capabilities, including precision machining, injection molding, and 3D printing, so you can find the right supplier for your specific project needs. Signing up for MFG.com is quick and free, and gives you the ability to manufacture your engineering designs efficiently and effectively.
So why wait? Sign up for MFG.com today and take your engineering and design projects to the next level. Again, Visit MFG.com to sign up today.
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
J.D. Houvener is the founder of Bold Patents, a law firm for startups and inventors to get their patents.
He also has his own podcast, The Bold Patents Show, which is in its second season.
He has a background working for Boeing as an engineer before starting his law firm.
We talked about how important it is to write your provisional patent the right way, which is talking about the novel aspects of your invention.
We talked about an example of how JD’s company helped an inventor with a fish lure product.
Don’t be afraid of infringement on your patent. If people are trying to copy you then you have a great product.
Number one tip:
Make sure to get an experienced patent lawyer on your side from the beginning of your invention process.
Contact info:
www.BOLDIP.com
Today’s Episode is Sponsored by MFG.com
Are you an engineer or designer looking for reliable and skilled manufacturers to bring your designs to life? MFG.com, the world’s largest online manufacturing marketplace, connects you with over 10,000 suppliers across the globe. Browse the directory, or submit a Request for Quote and receive an average of 4 quotes from US suppliers. MFG provides access to a wide range of manufacturing capabilities, including precision machining, injection molding, and 3D printing, so you can find the right supplier for your specific project needs. Signing up for MFG.com is quick and free, and gives you the ability to manufacture your engineering designs efficiently and effectively. So why wait? Sign up for MFG.com today and take your engineering and design projects to the next level. Again, Visit MFG.com to sign up today.
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Barry Coziahr is a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Freetime.Solutions, a virtual personnel agency that helps small businesses, one-man-band entrepreneurs and professionals build a powerhouse team of virtual assistants.
I personally have a lot of experience with virtual assistants. I have been using them for years now to free up my time and scale my business.
Number one tip
Take the time to train people, get some help so you can expand your business.
Contact info:
https://www.freetime.solutions/downloads
barry@teambuilders.agency
Today’s Episode is Sponsored by MFG.com
Are you an engineer or designer looking for reliable and skilled manufacturers to bring your designs to life? MFG.com, the world’s largest online manufacturing marketplace, connects you with over 10,000 suppliers across the globe. Browse the directory, or submit a Request for Quote and receive an average of 4 quotes from US suppliers. MFG provides access to a wide range of manufacturing capabilities, including precision machining, injection molding, and 3D printing, so you can find the right supplier for your specific project needs. Signing up for MFG.com is quick and free, and gives you the ability to manufacture your engineering designs efficiently and effectively. So why wait? Sign up for MFG.com today and take your engineering and design projects to the next level. Again, Visit MFG.com to sign up today.
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Exponential Theory – Aaron Bare – Ep 132
Aaron Bare is a bestselling author and speaker on the topic of exponential theory.
He helps businesses grow at an exponential rate instead of a linear rate.
Large companies tend to think that 10% annual growth is good.
But Aaron argues that this mentality limits you and prevents exponential growth.
We talked in depth about how emerging technologies are changing the world.
We talked in depth about Artificial Intelligence.
Number one tip
The biggest opportunity is to think bigger about the problem you are solving.
Contact info
Aaronbare.com
XMBA.io
Today’s Episode is Sponsored by MFG.com and Shapeways
Are you an engineer or designer looking for reliable and skilled manufacturers to bring your designs to life?
MFG.com, the world’s largest online manufacturing marketplace, connects you with over 10,000 suppliers across the globe.
Browse the directory, or submit a Request for Quote and receive an average of 4 quotes from US suppliers.
MFG provides access to a wide range of manufacturing capabilities, including precision machining, injection molding, and 3D printing, so you can find the right supplier for your specific project needs. Signing up for MFG.com is quick and free, and gives you the ability to manufacture your engineering designs efficiently and effectively.
So why wait? Sign up for MFG.com today and take your engineering and design projects to the next level. Again, Visit MFG.com to sign up today.
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Itunes link
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/engineering-entrepreneur-podcast/id1141757951?mt=2
website link
http://caddesignhelp.com/podcast/
Michael Bogue is the brand manager of Benro Tripods in the US. He has a wide-ranging background from his current role managing tripods and lighting in the US, to his start in the photo business with DJI and drones.
We talked about Benro’s newest product, Theta. It is a smart, modular travel tripod with auto-leveling, an auto-lock QR ring, and more. They launched a Kickstarter and it has already raised 2.5 million dollars.
Number one tip:
He does photography for his job, get out there and take as many photos as you can
Contact info
BenroUSA.com
Reach out on Kickstarter
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Sean, CEO, and Co-Founder of Helios are on a mission to empower stakeholders with comprehensive and actionable information around tonal analytics.
Helios is pioneering speech analytics for Wall Street.
They have saved investors MILLIONS by eliminating tone deafness to increase confidence in trading decisions.
They are the first and only company doing this in finance.
We discuss how tonal nuances, emotional analytics, and insights can lead to hidden issues that may not be clear.
Number one tip:
You can make a lot of progress with a small budget. Very lean to get prototypes out there and talk to people.
If you have a small budget, go talk to hedge funds
Contact info:
sean@helioslife.enterprises
Do you want to quit your job and be an entrepreneur? Click here:
http://eepurl.com/iiWiAH
Need help with your product design? Click here:
Caddesignehelp.com
David Rose is an MIT lecturer, inventor, and five-time entrepreneur, who draws on culture, design, travel, and music to envision future products and businesses sparked by the next generation of technology.
His last book, Enchanted Objects, is the definitive book on designing the Internet of Things.
David wrote the seminal patent on photo sharing, founded an AI company focused on computer vision, and was VP of Vision Technology at Warby Parker.
He is known for translating complex technologies into delightfully intuitive new products and consulting with businesses on how to thrive during digital disruption.
We had an in-depth conversation about how augmented reality can be implemented, especially in boat navigation.
Number one tip:
Try to be a lead user
Contact info:
https://www.supersight.world/
David.rose@supersight.world
The Instafloss Invention – Eli Packouz – Ep 128
Eli is the inventor of Instafloss, the world's first 10 second floss.
I love invention episodes because we cover topics from engineering to marketing.
We talked in detail about how Eli came up with the idea, how he validated it was something people wanted, and how he engineered it.
Eli worked with experts like dentists to create the ideal design. The product had a successful Kickstarter campaign. You can pre order it here: https://instafloss.com/products/the-10-second-instafloss
Number one tip:
You have to partner with people who know the stuff you don’t. For Eli that was dentists.
You can pay consultants or give equity.
Clause – Make sure they do what they need to do or they don’t get the equity. Want to be very careful with equity partners.
How do you convince someone to work for equity – if its truly a good idea they will be on board
Contact info:
https://instafloss.com/
This week’s episode is Sponsored by Onshape .
Onshape is the only cloud-native product development platform featuring professional-grade CAD and data management. With Onshape you no longer need an expensive workstation - all of the heavy lifting is done in the cloud - things like rendering and creating large assemblies can be done on inexpensive devices
Onshape is a professional tool like Solidworks. It was actually created by the same founders as Solidworks.
I have used Onshape and if feels just like Solidworks, with all the same commands. So if you are a current Solidworks user, it’s a very easy transition.
I highly recommend the engineers and product developers listening to consider using Onshape for their business
You can try it for free at Onshape.pro/EngineeringEntrepreneurPodcast or click the link in the description
Ravi Kurani is the CEO and founder of Sutro, which is a water chemistry monitor company.
He grew up working for his dad who owned pool supply stores. He went to college for a mechanical engineering degree and after school worked for NASA.
He left NASA to start his company Sutro. We discuss the entire series of steps he took to bring his company to life. From idea validation, to prototyping, to manufacturing and funding.
Number one tip:
Lessons learned: as a founder your number one focus is managing risk.
Across employees, investors, across customers.
2nd thing: your most important resource is people.
Contact info:
Email: hello@mysutro.com
Video Game Entrepreneur – Beau Button – Ep 126
Beau Button President and CTO of Atlas Reality - Linkedin - Has a very interesting story and spends a majority of his time outside of work building through 3D printing.
Beau has a background in computer hardware and software. Atlas Reality builds video games as a consultancy and builds their own games.
We talked about the process of building location-based games. Beau says “It’s a nightmare building these games”. It’s refreshing to hear someone really tell you how it is.
Then we talked about 3D printing for the 2nd half of our conversation.
Number one tip:
If you are an entrepreneur trying to start a software business, don’t try to teach yourself coding. Find a technical co-founder.
Contact info:
This week’s episode is Sponsored by Onshape.
Onshape is the only cloud-native product development platform featuring professional-grade CAD and data management. With Onshape, you no longer need an expensive workstation - all of the heavy lifting is done in the cloud - things like rendering and creating large assemblies can be done on inexpensive devices.
Onshape is a professional tool like Solidworks. It was actually created by the same founders as Solidworks.
I have used Onshape and if feels just like Solidworks, with all the same commands. So, if you are a current Solidworks user, it’s a very easy transition.
I highly recommend the engineers and product developers listening to consider using Onshape for their business.
You can try it for free at Onshape.pro/EngineeringEntrepreneurPodcast or click the link in the description.
Liquid Instruments- Daniel Shaddock – Ep 125
Daniel Shaddock is the CEO and Founder of Liquid Instruments (LI). LI makes high precision scientific equipment.
They take the complexity of the physical world and push it into the digital world using software and high powered computers.
Some of their devices are used by NASA on the space shuttle. They are measuring changes along the lines of a nanometer over the distance of a mile in space.
Even though they have some very high-tech tools, they are also making simpler measurement tools used at the university level. One of their more popular tools is the Moku Go.
Number one tip: Things will take longer than you expect but don’t lose hope. Set agressive goals, its better to set aggressive goals and miss by 20% than set easy goals you will hit.
Contact info:
info@liquidinstruments.com
liquidinstruments
This week’s episode is Sponsored by Onshape .
Onshape is the only cloud-native product development platform featuring professional-grade CAD and data management. With Onshape, you no longer need an expensive workstation - all of the heavy lifting is done in the cloud - things like rendering and creating large assemblies can be done on inexpensive devices.
Onshape is a professional tool like Solidworks. It was actually created by the same founders as Solidworks.
I have used Onshape and if feels just like Solidworks, with all the same commands. So, if you are a current Solidworks user, it’s a very easy transition.
I highly recommend the engineers and product developers listening to consider using Onshape for their businesses.
You can try it for free at Onshape.pro/EngineeringEntrepreneurPodcast or click the link in the description.
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me atinfo@caddesignhelp.com. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram: @caddesignhelp You can download here on iTunes: Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast Or directly on my site here: CADdesignhelp.com Thanks, Scott Tarcy
Launch Cart Ecommerce Platform – Greg Writer – Ep 124 Greg is the CEO of Launch Cart, an ecommerce platform. He got his start by working as an investor. He invested in inventors and startups. Greg is an inventor. One of his early inventions was a kid’s safe browser in the 1990’s. We go into details about how to raise money for your startup. For example, Greg went and befriended the mayor of the city to get the connections he needed. You need to get an attractive offer and show the risk reducers to help your odds to get an investment. Number one tip: Get a coach or mentor. Contact info: Launchcart.com Gregwriter.com This week’s episode is Sponsored by Onshape . Onshape is the only cloud-native product development platform featuring professional-grade CAD and data management. With Onshape, you no longer need an expensive workstation - all of the heavy lifting is done in the cloud - things like rendering and creating large assemblies can be done on inexpensive devices. Onshape is a professional tool like Solidworks. It was actually created by the same founders as Solidworks. I have used Onshape and if feels just like Solidworks, with all the same commands. So, if you are a current Solidworks user, it’s a very easy transition. I highly recommend the engineers and product developers listening to consider using Onshape for their businesses. You can try it for free at Onshape.pro/EngineeringEntrepreneurPodcast or click the link in the description. The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com.
You can download here on iTunes: Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast Or directly on my site here: CADdesignhelp.com Follow me on Twitter/Instagram: @caddesignhelp
Wealth Advisement for Engineers – Bill Keen – Ep 123
Bill Keen has a passion for helping others achieve their retirement dreams and founded Keen Wealth Advisors with this goal in mind.
Bill specializes in advising those within the engineering community on issues related to ESOP plans, compensation, taxes and benefits planning.
We talked about the differences in taxes and financial planning between employees and entrepreneurs. We talked about how much you should be saving for retirement and more.
Check out Bill’s number one selling book: Keen on Retirement – Engineering the Second Half of Your Life, which is available on Amazon.com.
Also check out Bill’s podcast, Keen on Retirement.
Number one tip:
Treat your own personal retirement plan as a project.
Contact info:
https://keenwealthadvisors.com/for-engineers
bkeen@keenwealthadvisors.com\
This week’s episode is Sponsored by Onshape.
Onshape is the only cloud-native product development platform featuring professional-grade CAD and data management. With Onshape, you no longer need an expensive workstation - all of the heavy lifting is done in the cloud - things like rendering and creating large assemblies can be done on inexpensive devices.
Onshape is a professional tool like Solidworks. It was actually created by the same founders as Solidworks.
I have used Onshape and it feels just like Solidworks, with all the same commands. So, if you are a current Solidworks user, it’s a very easy transition.
I highly recommend the engineers and product developers listening to consider using Onshape for their businesses.
You can try it for free at Onshape.pro/EngineeringEntrepreneurPodcast or click the link in the description.
The Engineering Entrepreneur podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com.
Follow me on Twitter/Instagram: @caddesignhelp
You can download here on Itunes:
Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast
Or directly on my site here:
CADdesignhelp.com
Ava Naeini is the Founder and Data Architect of Pulse Operations, which is an intelligent engine that uses machine learning and statistical processing with various heuristics to determine the healthiness and performance of distributed systems.
Many software engineers must constantly manually monitor their systems to see if there is a pattern developing that could lead to issues. Ava’s tool allows engineers to work on bigger issues while the system is monitored automatically.
We talk about all the challenges with starting a company after creating the product, including the challenges of getting a patent.
Number one tip: Creating a company was a challenge, for example setting up the platform, Corporation and LLC. Some tools she suggests:
Gust – used to create a company.
Patent process – have a lawyer.
Legal zoom - Cost was very reasonable.
Contact info:
mailto:ava@pulseops.ai
https://www.linkedin.com/in/avanaeini/
www.Pulseops.ai
Engineering Career Coach – Jeff Perry – Ep 121
Jeff is a leadership/career coach for engineers and tech professionals and the founder of More than Engineering.
He is also a host on the engineering career coach podcast.
He helps engineers by working with them on their mindset.
Number one tip: to be intentional in what you are trying to become, whether an employee or entrepreneur.
Contact info:
https://www.engineeringcareeraccelerator.com/engineeringentrepreneur
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffcperry/
ThingLogix Company – Rob Rastovich- Ep 120
Rob Rastovich is the CTO of ThingLogix, a company that provides a low-code platform built on AWS, Google, and Azure to accelerate innovation and system development by a factor of 50 or more.
We talk about examples of how his company provides value. The refrigerator example of how the software monitors the temperature of a refrigerator explains it well.
Robs top tips: Business models that could not exist without technology.
Amazon could not have existed without the internet.
Take the blinders off. Imagine the things you can do in a subscription.
Contact info:
www.Thinglogix.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-rastovich-1560532/
Life Science Inventions and Patent Law– Kevin Buckley and Neil Thompson – Ep 119
Kevin Buckley is the founders of Torrey Pines Law Group and Neil Thompson is a patent agent with the firm.
The firm focuses on life science inventions that often have an AI component.
We discuss the differences between patent agents and patent attorneys. We also discuss the typical costs of getting a product patented.
We also discussed the steps involved in getting a patent. If you are a new inventor, this is one episode that you do not want to miss!
Number one tip: Get a provisional at least, even if it’s cheap and dirty.
Contact info:
www.Torreypineslaw.com
Youngest Person to Fly a Rocket to Space – Jordan Noone – Ep 118
Jordan Noone is the Co-Founder and General Partner of Embedded Ventures. He has had a lifelong interest in aerospace, including designing and building spaceflight hardware at age 18 while at the University of Southern California. He is also the first student and youngest individual in the world to get Federal Aviation Administration clearance to fly a rocket to space (150 km altitude) while leading USC’s Rocket Propulsion Lab.
He also created a brandnew CAD program called Kitty CAD. It is a totally different type of CAD that is programmable, not click based.
His main business, Embedded Ventures, is a next generation venture capital firm investing in dual-use space startups beyond launch.
Number one tip:
Find the top 3 areas of your life and do something where those areas intersect.
Contact info:
Twitter: @thejordannoone
Email: jordan@embedded.ventures
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Check out my new online course:
https://info9704710.wixsite.com/engineeringpreneur
Draft.Dev – Karl Hughes – Ep 117
Karl Hughes studied mechanical engineering in college but in his last year got into coding.
His first job was building a blog for his college campus. From that, he worked in programming and managing writers.
During the pandemic, he started his business, Draft.dev. His company writes technical posts for software companies. Blog posts are important for SEO but most companies don’t specialize in writing blog articles, So there is where Draft.dev comes in.
We talked about how he develops new business. He realized that he needed to hire help once he was not able to handle all the incoming requests.
Number one tip: Niching down and knowing your market really well.
Contact info:
karl@draft.dev
Making a More Efficient Hot Water Heater – Tiago Bandeira – Ep 116
Tiago Bandeira is the founder of Klugit Company.
His first product is an electric hot water heater. The problem is that a regular hot water heater does a constant on off cycle due to heat loss. This cycling wastes a lot of energy.
We talk about how he started this company while working at Bosch, which is ironically a company I used to work for. Bosch sponsored this project and didn’t take any equity. A very strange thing to hear but great for Tiago.
Tiago also ran a kickstarter campaign to prove the concept and that went very well.
Number one tip: Go for it. It is normal to feel that you are not good enough.
Contact info:
https://klugitenergy.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiagosbandeira/
Fulcrum, a SAAS ERP, MRP and MES Platform – Sunny Han – Ep 115
Sunny is the CEO and Founder of Fulcrum.
We talked mostly about ERP systems (which stands for enterprise resource planning). Most companies these days have ERP systems but many of them are not good. For example, many are not connected to the internet and therefore you would need to be at the factory to have access to the data.
One of the advantages of his company is his software will work for many different types of manufacturers. A lot of the software right now is only good for specialized manufacturing.
Number one tip: Start a lot earlier than you think. Start right away The doing of it teaches you what you need to know
Contact info:
sunny@fulcrumpro.com
DPX Orion Underwater Tablet – Ali Keskin – Ep 114
Ali Keskin is the Business Manager of the company, Innovasub.
Innovasub is an underwater innovative technology firm founded by the ‘Design with Divers’ perception 15 years ago.
They have a new product called DPX Orion that just finished a Kickstarter Campaign. The DPX Orion is a water tight tablet case for scuba divers that has many applications like 3D mapping program, dive computer app, visual sensus apps, messaging to other divers, and more.
Number one tip: “In order to be successful you need to find the requirements of the industry.”
Contact info: www.innovasub.com
TangoTeams Software Development – Alex Murrey– Ep 113
Alex is the Head of North American Operations for TangoTeams, a startup that’s redefining the software development outsourcing industry.
His career started at a law firm where he helped the firm implement their own software for tracking cases. Later he worked for a digital agency.
At TangoTeams, they spend a lot of time upfront to truly understand the clients’ needs so that the right product is built. A big problem as a service provider (like me) doing this is that you can waste a lot of time doing research that you never get paid for.
TangoTeams works as a subscription service for software development.
Number one tip:
If you’re going to think about building software, is outsourcing the right thing for you?
Contact info:
www.Tangoteams.com
Linkedin: Alex Murrey
Artificial Intelligence – Peter Voss – Ep 112
Joining us today is Peter Voss, a pioneer in AI who coined the term ‘Artificial General Intelligence’ and the CEO and Chief Scientist at Aigo.ai. For the past 15 years, Voss and his team at Aigo have been perfecting an industry disruptive, highly intelligent, and hyper-personalized Chatbot, with a brain, for large enterprise customers.
Peter started as an electronics engineer. He quit that and didn’t even finish high school. He taught himself programming and started a company selling accounting software. He grew that company to 400 people and then sold that business.
After this company he got into artificial intelligence and a lot of our talk was focused on this subject. We covered areas like chat bots, teaching employees, and an artificial intelligence personal assistant.
His number one tip: The thing he regrets the most is he waited to 25 to start his first company. He wishes he started sooner.
Contact info:
http://www.aigo.ai/
peter@aigo.ai
Sheet Metal Expert - Andrea Dallan - Ep 111
Andrea Dallan is an engineer, an entrepreneur and CEO of Dallan Spa, an Italian family business that has been producing systems for the processing of thin sheet metal since 1978. They have 160 employees that include engineers, technicians and operations. He is the author of the books “The Revolution of Efficiency” (2020) and “Think Thin”.
Most mechanical engineers like myself are familiar with sheet metal and how it is processed. However, if you are not, it is pretty fascinating how you can take a thin flat piece of metal and turn it into say a car door or dishwasher housing (my actual experience).
Andrea talks about all the problems he has seen and solved in his years of experience in sheet metal processing and wrote 2 books about it.
Number one tip: “To write a book, you must have some interesting to say.”
Contact info:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreadallan/
CEO of The North Face Company - Hap Klopp - Ep 110
Hap Klopp spent 20 years as CEO and President of The North Face. In that time, he turned two small retail stores into one of the most recognized and well-respected outdoor gear companies in the world.
He also authored 2 books (and my uncle Brian Tarcy wrote the books).
-
Conquering the North Face
-
Almost
We discussed his background and how he started the company. One thing that he wanted different about his company was that he wanted to women and men to have equal opportunities at his company (at the time, it was common that women were paid less than men). Also, he wanted his products to have a minimal environmental impact.
He has since sold his company and is now a professor at Hult International Business School.
Number one tip:
Great quote from German philosopher: “You can sit and talk forever about what you are going to do, but you must get started to succeed.”
Contact info:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hap-klopp-b3b976/
Outer Space Logistics – Luca Rossettini- Ep 109
Luca Rossettini is the CEO and Co-founder of D-Orbit, Expert at the Space Advisory Group of the European Commission. He is an Aerospace Engineer with a Ph.D. in advanced space propulsion, awarded with honors by Politecnico di Milano.
Early in life, his goal was to be an astronaut, but he was not selected. So, he pivoted and started his company.
His company runs logistics for satellite operators. Think of a telecom company that needs a satellite put into orbit. D-orbit will handle all the logistics of getting this satellite in position.
Number one tip:
D-orbit is Luca’s 3rd company. He has learned that the initial team is very important. Need everyone fully committed.
Contact info:
www.dorbit.space
ceo@dorbit.space
Create a business that can thrive without you – John Warrillow - Ep 108
John Warrillow is the Founder of The Value Builder System, a simple software for building the value of a company used by thousands of businesses worldwide.
John is an expert on how to guide business owners to structure their business so that is sellable. John has built and sold 4 companies. He has written 3 books on the topic.
When you want to sell your business, the key is to make sure your business is not dependent on you. One of the key ways to do this is to make sure you have recurring revenue.
John’s number one tip: “Find something that makes you unique and protect the idea.”
Contact info: www.Builttosell.com
Blockchain-powered Gold - Nick Prouten - Ep 107
Nick is a veteran in public speaking and a team leader able to pitch projects, ideas and concepts. A firm believer that diversity is strength. Nicholas has worked in a wide array of industries ranging from cyber security, gaming, real estate, entertainment, tech and blockchain.
We first discuss the basics of crypto and blockchain. Then we talked about how investing gold and silver is a good idea to diversify your investing risk.
Number one tip:
“If you don’t have a digital strategy, get learning now. Everything will be held on a blockchain in 10 years.”
Contact info:
Website: https://lode.one/
Twitter: @NicholasProuten
Raise Capital for Your Invention – Tim Cooley – Ep 106
Tim is the author of the #1 trending book on raising capital, The Pitch Deck Book: How To Present Your Business And Secure Investors. He is the Executive Director for Park City Angels and a Partner at ViaCap. He has worked with 100s of early-stage companies in marketing, sales, product development, and fundraising. The companies he has worked with have raised more than $200M in Seed and Series A funding.
We discuss how you can create an MVP (minimal viable product) so you can present to investors or put your product on Kickstarter (not supposed to this but it happens!)
Contact info:
Tim Cooley
Author: The Pitch Deck Book
https://www.linkedin.com/in/timlcooley/
Online Learning, Evertus.com – Raunak Dutta and John Myers – Ep 104
John and Raunak teamed up to create a new online learning platform called Evertus.com.
John held a career in Logistics for over 4 years, for two of those years he was a mentor and teacher guiding people through budgeting and being more proficient in their careers.
Raunak learned most of his professional skills from a learning platform called Lynda.com which is now called LinkedIn Learning.
Because of each of their background, they both have a good understanding of the positives and negatives of other online learning platforms. One of the big issues with online learning is the wide variety of quality. They set out to bring the highest quality online learning to the world.
In addition to details on the platform, we discussed the business model, which is a subscription model.
Their number one tips:
Raunak: “Choose your co-founders carefully. Find people who have a passion for what you are doing.”
John: “Task itemization. If you can’t see a clear path to end goal, everyone is lost.”
Contact info:
Website: www.evertus.com
Emails: ceo@evertus.com and cfo@evertus.com
Software Product Developer - Ryan Frederick – Ep 105
Ryan is a founder and product person at heart. He has had the privilege of being part of starting and growing several software and service companies over the years. Currently, he leads an elite team of 70 product designers and data problem solvers at his company AWH.
We go into details of how you should go about developing a product and finding the customer needs. We both give real life examples of products we have developed and how we went about doing it.
Ryan also discusses how he started and how he runs his software product firm. He has written 2 books about it.
Contact info:
https://awh.net/
https://www.ryanfrederick.biz/
Save Money with Solar Panels - Stephan Scherer- Ep 103
Stephan Scherer was born and raised in Vienna, Austria. He attended the Technical University of Vienna (also took part in Duke University’s exchange program), then started work as an engineer in Siberia’s oil fields. He founded CraftStrom in 2017 after first, private work on mobile solar systems, while working as an energy infrastructure consultant.
We talk in depth on the technology of solar panels.
- Solar panels can pay for it itself quickly.
- In California, it pays for itself in 4 years.
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In Europe, pays for itself in 7-8 years.
Stephan also ran a Kickstarter and we talked briefly on some lessons learned from that.
Number one tips:
Know your customer – don’t try anything without having spoken to customers. Reach out where your customers are.
Contact info:
info@craftstrom.com
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Nextime App, Send Messages by Scheduling them into the future - Emanuel Martín Haurigot - Ep 102
Emanuel Haurigot is an Argentinean entrepreneur who has been working in Europe for the past 14 years in technology companies, such as SAP, Veeam Software and Oracle. He has now created his own company: Nextime! the app that will change how we communicate with the future!
Nextime will send messages, pictures, audio, video into the future from the next minute up to 75 years. Nextime also plays a big part in the new sustainable marketing, meaning NO ADS popping up your screen asking you to pay a subscription to have a clean navigation. The app is for free to download with two additional subscriptions to increase storage. It will also be able to connect with social networks to schedule posts.
Emanuel’s number one tip:
If you have an idea, don’t find excuses not to do it.
You can overcome all your challenges if you stay focus and you have the right team with you!
Contact info:
Go to nextime.buzz
Email: emanuel@nextime.buzz
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Career Gig: Hire Talented Contractors - Greg Kihlstrom - Ep 101
Greg is a best-selling author, speaker, and entrepreneur. He is currently Co-Founder at CareerGig, after selling his digital experience agency, Carousel30, in 2017.
Carousel30 was his marketing agency and he learned quite a bit about hiring freelancers. We talked briefly about the sale of Carousel30 and then moved into his current venture: CareerGig.
CareerGig is set out to build a network of the best freelancers. It benefits companies as the freelancer on it need to verify if they have the skill required. Freelancers benefit because they can get benefits like health care if they do enough hours.
Contact info:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstrom/
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Celebration Show 100 Episodes – Ep 100 – Scott Tarcy
Well, we did it. We hit 100 episodes. In light of that, I thought I would review some of my favorite topics and mentions some projects I have done recently.
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Episode 2, Rick Daley and licensing
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Don’t have to make actual product but a prototype helps a ton
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Can also use CAD renderings
- Can make a lot of money from licensing
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Episodes 14 with Andrew Bougie and 53 with Matt Holling about 3d scanning
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Scanning is a great way to reverse engineer complicated existing parts
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Point cloud – stl file – to solidworks file
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Good scanner will cost 10k-30k
- Episodes 70 with Alex Hobson and Ep 56 with James Wilson about Patents and IP
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In these episodes, we covered how the entire patent process works and the steps you should take when you have a new invention idea.
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Should first check on uspto.gov to see if patent already exists. My recommendation is to look at images.
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If you don’t see, file a provisional patent. It’s cheap and gives you one year protection before you need full patent.
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Some projects I was hired for:
- Condiment bottle – printed in durable resin and works just like a blow molded PP bottle.
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AutoCad blocks – conveyor system that the client could drop in on his manufacturing plant layout to make sure it fits.
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Tonal shelf
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Always looking to create new products that will create passive income.
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Can’t remember exactly how I thought of creating a product for tonal users, but when I looked at the cost of buying a tonal, I could this was a good market.
- If someone is going to spend $4000 on an exercise machine, they have plenty of disposable income. I should be able to sell for $100.
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The machine has 4 different handles, so need place to store the extras.
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Created a shelf to hold these, make it by 3d printing. Tooling would cost a fortune.
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Gave a local guy free samples in return for testing it out for me. Took 9 revisions before I sold the first one. Based on feedback made one more revision for a total of 10.
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It has been very successful.
The Average Joe Tech Startup Founder – Shawn Livermore – Ep 99
Big episode this week! Last one before reaching triple digits. I’ll put together a special episode for 100.
Shawn Livermore is a tech startup founder, entrepreneur, and technology consultant for over 20 years. He the author of the best-selling amazon book “The Average Joe”.
He didn’t go the traditional path many think of when they think of tech founder. He taught himself while working full time and became Microsoft certified. He then raised capital for 2 different business, both in the tech industry.
Shawn learned many lessons that he shares but many focus in determination and learning to deal with failure as an entrepreneur. Take it from me, it’s going to happen!
Number one tip: Proximity is a great replacement for talent. Be around with great people.
Contact info:
Shawn runs Product Perfect, a software consultancy, in Southern California.
Follow Shawn on twitter @shawnypants https://twitter.com/shawnypants
The book website is www.averagejoetechgenius.com
The Slow Create Framework is at www.slowcreate.com
Hire Shawn for your next software project at www.productperfect.com
Invention: Making your Phone Battery Last Longer - Nick Kshatri – Ep 98
Most people nowadays know that phone batteries seem to lose their ability to hold charge over time. There are multiple reasons for this, but one of the big reasons is that when you charge your phone, a lot of heat is generated.
Nick and his team solved this by creating a product that works as follows: When you plug it in, it will charge for some time, but then it will take a break from charging, to allow the battery to cool back down. Then it will resume charging. This cycle of charging can double the length of your battery.
We discussed how Nick came up with the idea, how they got funding through a competition, and how they developed and prototyped the product. They also filed for a patent on the product.
Finally, we talked about how they set up and ran their Kickstarter campaign.
Number one tip: If you have an interesting idea, you should pursue it. Don’t hold yourself back.
Contact info: www.canalbatteryguard.com
Robotic Industrial Process Automation – Vicki Knott – Ep97
Vicki is a Chemical Engineer and the CEO and Co-founder of Crux OCM which is a software start-up automating control room operations for major oil and gas assets.
Vicki started her career by commissioning control systems in the field and found out that controls systems require an operator to go through thousands of button pushes and 3 hours of work to start up a pipeline, for example. She knew there would be a way to automate this process.
We discuss how she and her co-founder started their business by first creating a scaled model and pitching it to potential clients. They are both engineers so the selling part of this was new to them and they joined a start-up accelerator to help them learn this part of running a business.
They now have their first 2 clients.
Vicki’s number one tip: “Learn how to sell. “
Pretty good advice!
Contact info:
vicki@cruxocm.com
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Follow me on Twitter/Instagram @caddesignhelp
Crash Octopus Board Game Invention- Nozomi Obinata– Ep96
Nozomi works at a company, Itten from Japan and they design board games. The Crash Octopus game is their 2nd game released using crowdfunding (Kickstarter).
We discussed how the idea was formed. Then how the prototypes were made by laser cutting wood.
Nozomi explains that the process of developing games is first by prototyping some pieces, then figuring out how to move them around in the game, and finally figuring out how to best mass-produce the game.
Contact info:
http://www.itten-games.com/
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Making Creative Facebook and Instagram Ads - Kevin Urrutia - Ep 95
Kevin Urrutia is the co-founder of New York-based Voy Media who specializes in creating for clients Facebook and Instagram ads that are sophisticated and super creative.
Kevin studied computer science and was good at creating software products, but didn’t have a lot of knowledge in marketing and therefore didn’t get a lot of traction on his products.
He tells a story of creating a maid service/cleaning company and it was almost entirely a marketing play. He found other people to do the actual work and he just took care of booking the jobs.
He now runs voymedia.com and helps other people with their digital marketing.
His number one tip is: He thought marketing was a bad thing, but being your own marketer is important.
Contact info:
kevin@voymedia.com
Pro Basketball Combine Entrepreneur - Jake Kelfer – Ep 94
Jake is a 2x bestselling author, global speaker, and founder of Pro Basketball Combine, which has helped 70+ NBA draft prospects sign their first contract, and coach to entrepreneurs and freedom seekers.
Jake had a love for basketball and wanted to work in the industry. He worked for one season at the Lakers and while he was there, he made many important connections in the industry.
He wanted to start his own business and he came up with the idea for the basketball combine. He found a need: players who are coming up the ranks needed more exposure and the NBA had just created a special contract category for 60 players. His event fulfilled this need and kickstarted his business which has led to other opportunities.
We covered many important topics related to any type of entrepreneur. And Jake’s number one tip is:
The ability to grow your business will be in direct correlation to the relationships you can build.
Contact info:
IG: @jakekelfer
FB: facebook.com/jakekelferjourney
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jakekelfer
Twitter: @jakekelfer
Website: jakekelfer.com
Build What Matters - Rajesh Nerlikar – Ep 93
Rajesh is a product advisor and coach. Having worked with 25 companies in the past 3 years and recently released a book called “Build What Matters” to share best practices from that experience. Prior to that, he was an engineer turned MBA and worked in product management at a few startups and a larger enterprise company.
We discussed how important it is to know what the customer wants (hence the title, build what matters). There are many ways to find out what your customers want, like interviews and getting a waitlist for a new product.
Then we discussed his new book (Build What Matters).
His number one tip: Talk to people who might need your product.
Contact info:
rajesh@prodify.group
World’s Smallest 200W USB Charger - Vinson Leow – Ep 92
Vinson is from Sydney, Australia and runs his company ChargeASAP, which is a startup originating from Sydney and has been creating highly innovative mobile phone accessories since 2016.
His latest product is the world’s smallest portable charger for mobile phones. The product is called Omega. It uses Gallium nitride technology, and we get into this during the show.
They just completed a Kickstarter campaign. Their goal was $10,000 but raised over $1M. We discussed how he ran the campaign, how prototypes were made and more.
Finally, we discussed some new products he has in the pipeline. One product is an improved flash powerbank.
Vinson’s Number one tip:
Spend less time designing, more time creating prototypes.
Contact info:
Customer service team
help@chargeasap.com
www.chargeasap.com
Mobile Grip Gear and Inventor Coach - Donteacia Seymore - Ep 91
Donteacia Seymore was starting a career in politics but had an idea for an invention. It was a way to put your phone on your hand when working out.
She created initial prototypes herself and created a Kickstarter campaign. After successfully selling for a while she sold the entire business and is now an inventor coach.
If you need help with your invention, you should check out her website.
Number one tip for inventors: find someone to help you that has already done it and make sure you get prototypes made before production
Contact info:
www.Freeinventiontraining.com
Photography Card Deck Invention - Eric Bohring – Ep 90
Eric used to work in a corporate job, then set off to travel the world to follow his passion for photography.
Eric invented a playing card deck that doubles as a cheat sheet for photography. Each card has tips and tricks for taking great pictures. He also had a successful Kickstarter campaign to launch the product.
We talk through his entire process, from initial concept to prototypes, to the Kickstarter campaign and final production.
Contact info:
Youtube and Instagram: travel9to5
Website: https://travel9to5.com
Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/travel9to5/photography-deck
Machine learning, Artificial intelligence and the OAK Project - Brandon Gilles - Ep 89
Brandon is the founder and CEO of Luxonis and Chief Architect of the OpenCV AI Kit (OAK). He's driven to build things that materially impact the world - and views OAK as his biggest opportunity to do so."
The OAK kit is a small chip with a camera that can be used to build your own AI machines. Say you want to remove a bad apple from a large pile? With OAK, you will be able to automate a robot to control this process.
We discuss a lot about how AI and machine learning work. If you are new to these topics, this will fill you in a lot.
We then discussed the specifics of Brandon’s background and how he created OAK.
His Kickstarter campaign just finished up and we discussed how that went as well.
Contact info:
Discussion Forum:https://discuss.luxonis.com/
Slack Community Invite:https://join.slack.com/t/luxonis-community/shared_invite/zt-emg3tas3-C_Q38TI5nZbKUazZdxwvXw
Email: brandon@luxonis.com
Cybersecurity and Hackers - Raffi Jamgotchian – Ep88
Raffi Jamgotchian is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional who has helped thousands of small companies with their cybersecurity and he is the President of https://triadanet.com.
We discussed many of the realities of cybersecurity in the modern business world. How to prevent getting hacked? What are ways to prevent critical information, like your intellectual property, safe?
We also discussed what is the dark web, what is ransomware, and some other related topics.
Contact info:
contact:
triadanet.com
triadanet on Twitter, Instagram
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Follow me on Twitter/Instagram @caddesignhelp
The Edboard Invention –Cody Candler – Ep87
Cory is an engineer from CU Boulder Colorado. He invented the Edboard, which a magnetic circuit-building kit made for kids. He has a Kickstarter campaign in progress as of the time of this recording to fund the first units.
The invention is like a big breadboard that is magnetic so young kids can learn electronics.
We discuss the process of how Cody and his team created it.
One of the things that helped him was the accelerator program at his school, Catalyze CU.
Cody’s number one tip:
Be honest with yourself where your weaknesses are.
Cody wasn’t ready for pitching at competitions and had to be told to do so.
Contact:
Kickstarter campaign
www.edboardtechnologies.com
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com.
Follow me on Twitter/Instagram @caddesignhelp.
Advice from an Experienced Entrepreneur – Cory Lee– Ep86
Cory is an entrepreneur, business builder, and leadership developer who is passionate about helping entrepreneurs navigate business growth without sacrificing their faith, family, and fitness. He and his wife have built and sold multiple businesses in the healthcare and fitness industries.
We cover a lot of topics about entrepreneurship in general. For example, do you need experience in an area to start a business in it? Or just a passion for it?
Another important topic is commitment. If you want to start a business, you first need to have that commitment.
Cory gives a lot of great advice for inventors and entrepreneurs and his number one tip is to invest in yourself.
Contact info:
https://www.coryleeleadership.com/engineering
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com.
The Origami Bottle Invention– Petar Zaharinov – Ep85
This week I interviewed Petar Zaharinov, an inventor & product designer. He is an architect by education but truly an inventor and innovator by heart. He has been a product designer for the last 10 years.
Patar is an expert at finding hidden functionalities in design. He sketches first, then make some simple paper prototypes and finally uses software like Grasshopper to create the final designs. We talk about how this software is good for folding designs which is what Patar specializes in.
His latest project, which is an active campaign on kickstarter, is an Origami bottle. It is a folding water bottle, made from a single injection mold. What makes his bottle different than existing folding water bottles is that it is very stable in the non-folded state.
Check out the links at the end, you will really appreciate how well his designs work and are thought out.
Petar’s Number one tip: Follow your intuition when solving a problem
Contact:
https://difold.tech/
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/difold/origami-bottle
The Voyager Beach Chair Invention– Steven Wilcox– Ep 84
Steven is the Founder and CEO of PARKIT, a brand whose mission focuses on adventure and outdoor enjoyment. PARKIT's first product, the Voyager, raised more than $400,000 dollars on Kickstarter.
Steven’s goal was to create a high-end beach chair. He was tired of the cheap beach chairs with limited functionality.
He sketched out his ideas on paper and found a product development company, Klugonics.
Their process is very similar to mine, they took his ideas, put them in CAD and then made a prototype. Once he had the first prototype, he learned a lot and made adjustments to get to the final product.
In addition to the technical challenges he faced, we also discussed how he financed the project and best practices for funding.
Steven’s number one tip: believe in yourself more than anything
Contact info:
#EnjoyTheExploration
www.parkitmovement.com
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/voyager-the-chair-to-change-outdoor-enjoyment#/
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Follow me on Twitter/Instagram @caddesignhelp
Portable USB Charger from Recycled Materials– Tom Meades– Ep83
Tom Meades, Designer and Co-Founder of Gomi, is from Brighton, UK. Tom and his team started Gomi in 2018, with a vision for a future where waste materials are non-existent. Tom's background is in Design & Craft, and combines industrial manufacturing processes with handcraft techniques.
Tom and his team have created a portable USB charger where the plastic case is entirely from recycled materials. Currently, they are using compression molding and it is a very hands-on process. The material is typically old grocery bags. This makes the material have a marble pattern. Every case is unique due to the random nature of these bags.
They are running a Kickstarter campaign now for the cases.
Tom’s number one tip is: Do what you love.
Contact info:
hi@gomi.design
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gomi-eco-tech/gomi-portable-chargers-that-clean-the-planet
Polish Entrepreneur and Investor in Africa – Marek Zmysłowski – Ep82
Marek is from Poland and started his career as an entrepreneur in Africa.
He co-founded Jumia Travel – Africa’s Biggest Hotel Booking Portal listed on NYSE as part of Jumia Group and HotelOnline.co – a Travel Technology Company.
After this he started his own travel company and got int some trouble with competitors when they made false claims to Interpol. He wrote a book all about this crazy experience. Check it out: Chasingblackunicorns.com
After he got through that mess, he started working with a Swedish company making solar powered roofs for homes. These are not just solar panels, but the actual roof itself is one big solar panel. That company is sunroof.se. These roofs can power the entire home, completely removing one’s need to rely on the grid for power.
Number one tip:
Marek’s biggest problem is lack of technical knowledge. Even if you have dreams of becoming entrepreneur, finish your studies. Work as engineer for some time, it will give you an amazing advantage; he went in entrepreneurship too fast
Contact info:
Twitter: @marekchinedu
Instagram: @marekchinedu
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Follow me on Twitter/Instagram @caddesignhelp
Classicbot Toys –Philip Lee– Ep81
Philip Lee is a self-taught toy designer from Hong Kong. He was an experienced advertising creative who always wanted to make his own toy. So, in December 2016 Philip started his own company Playsometoys, and debuted his first toy Classicbot Classic.
The Classicbot looks like the old Macintosh computer from the 80’s, but with arms, legs and a face. His latest project is the iBoy which looks like the original iPod but also with arms, legs and so on.
These toys do not function as a computer or music player but that was not his goal. He wanted to create a fun toy that looked like classic Apple products.
The iBoy has some more functionality than the Classicbot Classic. The arms and legs are magnetic, and it has a chrome finish on the back. The parts are made by injection molding in ABS plastic.
Philip did a lot of the design work himself using Cinema 4D. Then his factory would take his files and refine them for final production.
Philip’s top tips:
For people who work on getting out their first thing:
- When you create something, it needs to be something that you feel attached to.
- It’s a long process, you have to stick with it for a long time for it to be successful.
- Your passion will resonate with other people.
- Promotion: social media is a must-have for anyone who wants to start their own brand
- Running Facebook ads is a good idea
-
Doing simple PR with influencers in the niche
Contact info:
- https://www.facebook.com/classicbot/
- https://www.instagram.com/classicbot_toy/
- https://twitter.com/Classicbot_toy
- email: info@playsometoys.com
- https://classicbot.com/
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Follow me on Twitter/Instagram @caddesignhelp
The Audio Injector Invention – Matt Flax – Ep80
Matt is an entrepreneur running his own company, FlatMax Studios.
He has recently invented an Audio Injector product and is raising money on kickstarter.
We discussed the technology of soundcards.
Matt’s invention isolated the desired sound from the noise of the computer by use of magnetic fields, instead of using electrical signals (electrons).
Matt’s number one tip: If you have an invention, don’t let it sit on the shelf too long. Just get it out there.
Contact info:
http://www.audioinjector.net/
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/flatmax/audio-injector-isolated-dac-and-adc
Makeway, The Marble Wall Game – Elyasaf Shweka – Ep79
Elyasaf is an Industrial Designer and a self-taught Carpenter. He lives in Jerusalem, Israel and has his own small wood work shop. He is the creator the amazing Makeway marble wall game.
His family ran a construction company and Elyasaf worked there as a project manager. However, his passion was in design and creation.
He started working with wood and creating YouTube videos about how to create different products from wood. He even created a wood cajone (a type of drum).
He tried to create a business around the wood working passion. He was creating various projects but his products were not selling.
So next he started the Makeway game. It started with his own fascination with clock works, gears, and things moving in interesting ways.
After 2 years of full-time effort, using his own designs and 2 Prusa printers, he completed the full game. (you really need to go to his kickstarter campaign and watch the video to fully appreciate how cool it is).
Next he launched his still-running (as of April 2020) Kickstarter campaign. We talk about all the steps he took to launch a campaign that is already super successful (over $1 million raised).
I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation and learned a few new things as well
Number one tip:
Value good design, bad design is very obvious
Contact:
Email: shwekwek@gmail.com
Kickstarter campaign: https://kicks.to/try1/Mvpkz7V
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Follow me on Twitter/Instagram @caddesignhelp
Don’t Wait too Long to Apply for your Patent– Devin Miller – Ep78
Devin is a patent attorney and the founder of Miller IP Law that focuses on startups and small businesses.
He found a gap in the startup/small business area for a need in intellectual property (IP).
When you work with Devin, he generally has 2 scenario’s his customer is in:
Scenario 1: have an invention before you get to investors
Scenario 2: more of a lifestyle product; branding is more important than patent
Some other areas we discuss:
-
What the Patent office looks at:
-
Novelty -
-
Obviousness - take 2 or more things and combine in an obvious way
-
Software patents
Example: 2+2=4
If all you did was putting this on a computer, it is not patentable
- What to do If you get a rejection
- PTAB and what they do
Devin’s number one tip: Decide how does your IP fit into the business? Maybe it is better to focus on branding over IP. Sometimes you need a patent and sometimes you don’t
Contact info (He offers free 30 minute strategy session)
- Phone: 801-82-8446
- Email : devin@millerIPL.com
-
millerIPL.com
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Follow me on Twitter/Instagram @caddesignhelp
Automatic Ocean Cleaning Device, The Seabin Project – Pete Ceglinski – Ep77
Peter Ceglinski is the CEO and Co-founder of the Seabin product and company. The Seabin is a floating trash can that skims the surface of the water.
Peter’s background is he is trained as a product designer with experience in injection molding.
The inspiration for his invention came from the thought: If we have trash cans on land, why not put them in water
The device works but skimming plastic pollution and marine liter in the water from the surface, pulling it into the bin.
We discuss many aspects of the project, from technical to funding to intellectual property (they are patent pending in 7 countries including the United States).
If you are interested, they are taking on investors now. For a low amount of money ($250 minimum), you can be an equity holder in the company.
Number one tip: if you got an idea, and you want to do it. Go for it, but make a plan and save your money
Contact info:
- Email : contact@seabinproject.com
- https://seabinproject.com/
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Follow me on Twitter/Instagram @caddesignhelp
CADdesignhelp.com Top 5 Projects 2019 – Scott Tarcy – ep 76
Changing things up this week, no guest. Instead, I reviewed my 2019 and picked my top 5 most interesting and unique projects I worked on. In summary they are:
- Candle Project
- 3D printed a mold to then make a silicone mold. A mold for a mold if you will
- Wax is poured into silicone mold
- Key lesson: make alignment keys too small
- Exercise Device
- Ab roller, foam roller and pushup bar all rolled into one
- Ability to lock rotation
- Used expanding foam
- Key lesson: use silicone mold for making foam parts. Getting foal off PLA plastic is a major pain
- Hood Exhaust
- Air filtration fire trucks
- Need to test removing and reinstalling the air filter tube 100,000 times
- 2 tables from 8020 Aluminum extrusions
- Designed in solidworks
- Built and tested
- Key lesson: used 3D printing to create some missing parts on the install day
- Gnome Head
- Xmas gift. A woman wanted her friends head on the body of a gnome
- Use photos to create head in 3D (used Maya). Scanning not an option due to her being too far from me
- Used Grabcad.com to find existing gnome 3D model
- Combined the head STL and gnome STL in blender
- Created breats on the gnome to make female version
- Key lesson: 3D printing this: SLA print much better result than FDM print
- Squash Racquet attachment
- Created 3D model of squash handle by measuring physical part
- Used client images to create cad file
- Device is a training aid to learn correct grip
- 3D printed a mold to make the prototypes
- Key lesson: to get a silicone part to hold onto something (like a grip) you want to design for about a 10-20% interference fit
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Incredible invention: Control Your Stuff Just by Thinking About it– Ian Rowan– Ep75
Ian is the inventor of one of the world’s smallest EEG wearable devices, Nurio. Ian has deep interest in all thing’s technology, especially Artificial Intelligence and its implications for the future of health.
Nurio is a tiny electroencephalogram (EEG), a tracker that can record brain waves. It’s no bigger than an earpiece, all you need to do is think about a command to make it work.
You can use this device to control any internet connected device, like your TV, your Amazon Alexa and so on.
We get into discussing exactly how this works and how Ian was able to create such an incredible product, as well as his background and how he learned everything he needed to create this on his own.
Ian’s number one tip: Anything that you find yourself learning – take it all the way to its core.
Contact info:
Linkedin: Ian Rowan
Email: ian@mindbuilderai.com
Website: http://www.nurio.info/
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Follow me on Twitter/Instagram @caddesignhelp
How Inventors can Succeed with Ecommerce – Rick Watson – Ep74
Rick Watson is an eCommerce entrepreneur and operator based in New York City who, after spending the last 20 years in the industry, recently founded his own business , RMW Commerce Consulting ,where he helps companies launch new initiatives with strategic business advice.
In particular, he spends a lot of time focused on companies in the supply chain and marketplace-related areas of eCommerce.
Rick and I discuss how inventors can succeed in selling online. As an inventor myself with over 20 products on Ebay, Amazon, and Etsy, I can attest to the challenges, but I also understand the benefits.
Rick’s number one tip
- Follow the pain. If you are in online commerce, search reviews for consistent feedback and look for areas to improve
- Listen on twitter for info on your category
Contact info:
-
- Website: Rickwatson.io
- Email: rick@rickwatson.io
Simulation Software – David Heiny – Ep73
David is Co-Founder and CEO of SimScale. SimScale is a web-based simulation platform bringing together CAE (computer aided engineering) functionality, content and people.
Simulation is an engineering technique where a computer will approximate a situation, like the airflow through a heat exchanger or the load bearing ability of a bridge. These softwares are very powerful and can accurately predict many situations but up till now, owning the software and hardware required to run simulations was very expensive.
Simscale solves this issue by bringing simulation to the cloud. Much like Onshape has done with CAD software, Simscale is doing with simulation. Essentially you would be renting their computers/software to run your simulation. Additionally, Simscale has many great engineers to help you set up your simulation correctly.
Lastly, David and I discuss the technical side of how simulation works.
If you want to learn more, please go to:
Simscale.com
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Follow me on Twitter/Instagram @caddesignhelp
Trademarks, Everything You Need to Know – Suzi Hixon – Ep72
Suzi Hixon has been a trademark attorney and trademark creation strategist for 15 years. She has managed the trademark portfolio of a Fortune 100 company, as well as numerous small businesses and startups. She focuses on strong brand name creation ~ from both the legal and marketing perspective.
Suzi now runs her own company, helping individuals with their trademarks and branding. We discuss trademark protection in other countries, private labeling, and how NOT to pick a trademark.
Many people pick bad trademarks, based on a name that describes the product. Suzi says that if you have a new type of product, you want to pick a generic name and a brand name. For example, Band-Aid Bandages. Band-Aid is the brand name, and bandage is the generic name.
Suzi’s top tips:
Nothing stays the same, you want to pick trademarks that registers with customers
And you want names that are pronounceable
Contact info:
Suzi’s web course: trademarkquickstart.com
website: https://www.theprivatelabellawyer.com/
Twelve way to make a Prototype with Xometry – Greg Paulsen– Ep71
Greg Paulsen is the Director of Application Engineering at Xometry. He is an expert in helping determine the best-fit manufacturing process for customer projects and discussing design-for-manufacturing for over 12 different manufacturing technologies from precision machining to 3D printing
Xometry is a manufacturing marketplace that provides instant pricing, lead times, and manufacturability feedback for custom parts in real-time through its website.
In our discussion, we go into the specifics of many of these processes, like Direct Laser Metal Sintering (DLMS), 3D printing SLA elastomers, FDM printing, Carbon 3D printing, HP Multijet fusion, and urethane casting.
We also discuss the business side of Xometry and how they use the same concept as Uber: utilize capacity of people and business who have the machines to make prototypes.
Greg’s number one tip: If a manufacturer does provide feedback, it’s not a critique of the part. They just want to make the best part they can for you.
Contact info:
www.Xometry.com
support@xometry.com
Email: gpaulsen@xometry.com
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Follow me on Twitter/Instagram @caddesignhelp
This week’s show is sponsored by Gusto
Everyone loves payday, especially engineers. But loving a payroll provider? That’s a little weird. Still, small businesses across the country love running payroll with Gusto. Gusto automatically files and pays your taxes, it’s super easy to use, and you can add benefits and HR support to help take care of your engineering team and keep your business safe. It’s loyal, it’s modern — you might fall in love yourself. Listeners get three months free when they run their first payroll. Try a demo and test it out at gusto.com/ee. That’s gusto.com/ee
This week’s show is Sponsored by:
Average Joe’s Financial Coaching. Leading small business owners and employees to financial success!
Average Joe’s Financial Independence teaches people how to correctly manage their money. Over 80% of people live paycheck to paycheck and Average Joe’s can help change that. People who have their finances under control are more productive at work and at home! Whether you are struggling to pay of debt or just trying to control your income , contact Average Joe’s today! They also work with Small Business owners to increase profit margins by assessing their expenses.
Their coaching is virtual and can be done right from the comfort of your home! Please contact them today at 805-419-9777 for a FREE consultation. That’s Average Joe’s Financial Independence @ 805-419-9777
Helping you take control of your money!!
Today’s show is sponsored by BricsCAD
Attention computer aided design software users! – are you tired of expensive subscriptions and constantly increasing prices?
There is an alternative to high subscription pricing. It’s called BricsCAD.
It’s innovative, fast and native DWG. It’s totally compatible with what you know, and it’s available in a permanent, lifetime license.
If you know AutoCAD, you know BricsCAD. Try it for free for 30 days at bricsys.com, then buy a lifetime license for less.
How to Patent an Invention – Alex Hobson – Ep70
Alex Hobson is founder and president of Invention To Patent Services. He is also an inventor being listed on more than 20 U.S. patents. He has more than 20 years of experience.
I’ve had other patent agents on the show before, but Alex is a little different. Alex was first a mechanical engineer and actually worked at a same company that I worked at before (WLGore.com, the Goretex company).
He started writing his own patents while at Gore and learned enough to change careers and go on his own writing patents.
We cover all topics of patents including allowance rate, priority date, difference between a patent agent and patent attorney, provisional patents, and more. If you are new or even experienced inventor, this is the show for you.
Contact info:
Email: ahobson@invention-to-patent.com
800-634-0605
Invention-to-patent.com
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Follow me on Twitter/Instagram @caddesignhelp
This week’s show is sponsored by Gusto
Everyone loves payday, especially engineers. But loving a payroll provider? That’s a little weird. Still, small businesses across the country love running payroll with Gusto. Gusto automatically files and pays your taxes, it’s super easy to use, and you can add benefits and HR support to help take care of your engineering team and keep your business safe. It’s loyal, it’s modern — you might fall in love yourself. Listeners get three months free when they run their first payroll. Try a demo and test it out at gusto.com/ee. That’s gusto.com/ee
This week’s show is sponsored by:
Average Joe’s Financial Coaching. Leading small business owners and employees to financial success!
Average Joe’s Financial Independence teaches people how to correctly mange their money. Over 80% of people live paycheck to paycheck and Average Joe’s can help change that. People who have their finances under control are more productive at work and at home! Whether you are struggling to pay of debt or just trying to control your income , contact Average Joe’s today! They also work with Small Business owners to increase profit margins by assessing their expenses.
Their coaching is virtual and can be done right from the comfort of your home! Please contact them today at 805-419-9777 for a FREE consultation. That’s Average Joe’s Financial Independence @ 805-419-9777
Helping you take control of your money!!
Autodesk, AutoCAD, and Fusion 360 Engineer – Bryce Heventhal – Ep69
Bryce Heventhal is the Sr. Technical Marketing Manager for Fusion 360. He has 9+ years of CAD, FEA, and generative design experience, with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. When he is not designing, he is out rock climbing.
Bryce started his career as an Applications engineer for a Solidworks reseller. He said that 80% of cases were installation issues and boring stuff.
CAD has come a long way over the years and we discuss how we both worked with old drawings to make 3D models. It amazes me that anyone could build a product at all before the modern CAD we have today.
Now Bryce works at Autodesk, specifically in the Fusion 360 technical marketing area, making tutorial videos on YouTube.
Fusion is a very interesting platform because it integrates with all the various Autodesk products. Solidworks only performs BREP forms. For example, if I receive a mesh file from a client, I typically must use a program like Blender first to get the polygon count to a manageable amount. In Fusion, you can work directly on mesh files and then go right back into traditional modeling.
Contact info:
Email: bryce.heventhal@autodesk.com
Twitter: @BHeavyy
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Follow me on Twitter/Instagram @caddesignhelp
This week’s show is sponsored by Gusto
Everyone loves payday, especially engineers. But loving a payroll provider? That’s a little weird. Still, small businesses across the country love running payroll with Gusto. Gusto automatically files and pays your taxes, it’s super easy to use, and you can add benefits and HR support to help take care of your engineering team and keep your business safe. It’s loyal, it’s modern — you might fall in love yourself. Listeners get three months free when they run their first payroll. Try a demo and test it out at gusto.com/ee. That’s gusto.com/ee
Average Joe’s Financial Coaching. Leading small business owners and employees to financial success!
Average Joe’s Financial Independence teaches people how to correctly mange their money. Over 80% of people live paycheck to paycheck and Average Joe’s can help change that. People who have their finances under control are more productive at work and at home! Whether you are struggling to pay of debt or just trying to control your income , contact Average Joe’s today! They also work with Small Business owners to increase profit margins by assessing their expenses.
Their coaching is virtual and can be done right from the comfort of your home! Please contact them today at 805-419-9777 for a FREE consultation. That’s Average Joe’s Financial Independence @ 805-419-9777
Helping you take control of your money!!
3D Printing Advice from a Formlabs Engineer - Andrew Edman – Ep68
Andrew Edman is an Industry Manager for product design, engineering, and manufacturing at Formlabs.
He previously owned his own design company where he met the founders of Formlabs early on.
Andrew looks for use cases for 3D printing. One such example is at Ashley Home Furniture. He found uses such as using a 3D printed fixture that weighs much less and is faster to change over compared to their traditional machined fixture.
If you own a Formlabs machine, this podcast would also give you some inside info on some of the materials. We discuss specific use cases for the various materials.
Another part of our discussion was how to make silicone parts. Andrew used to work at Reynolds Advanced Materials., which is a company that makes silicone material. Typically, I will 3D print a mold and use that to form the silicone part.
Contact info:
Email edman@formlabs.com
Linked profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-edman-5434a621/
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Follow me on Twitter/Instagram @caddesignhelp
This week’s show is sponsored by Gusto
Everyone loves payday, especially engineers. But loving a payroll provider? That’s a little weird. Still, small businesses across the country love running payroll with Gusto. Gusto automatically files and pays your taxes, it’s super easy to use, and you can add benefits and HR support to help take care of your engineering team and keep your business safe. It’s loyal, it’s modern — you might fall in love yourself. Listeners get three months free when they run their first payroll. Try a demo and test it out at gusto.com/ee. That’s gusto.com/ee
The Wheelchair Mountain Bike – Bowhead Corp (Chris Bagg and Will Gill) – Ep67
23 years ago, Chris Bagg broke his back snow boarding. Chris was very into outdoor sports and wanted to continue his activities as a parapalegic.
Chris built his own custom wheelchair first. He needed this because all the stock chairs were too small for his 6 foot 8 inch size.
Next, he started working on his off-road wheelchair bike. He “modeled” the bike first using paper and foam, just to work on the concept. Then he started getting prototypes made from using Solidworks and creating waterjet cut parts.
Chris later brought in a Solidworks expert and engineer Will Gill. This is when their company Bowhead Corp was born. They now have a few products such as the Bowhead Reach and the Bowhead Traveler. You should go to their website and check out their pictures and videos in action.
You can reach them at:
https://bowheadcorp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/bowheadcorp/
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
The Wonder Wallet Invention – Alan Beckley– Ep66
Alan Beckley is an entrepreneur, inventor, and podcaster.
His degree is in aerospace engineering but worked a lot of his career in project management.
In 2012, he hit it big with an invention of his, the Wonder Wallet.
Today he continues to invent but also but also focuses on helping other inventors to succeed with his website alanbeckley.com, which has webinars for inventors, online courses, and his podcast, called Inventors Helping Inventors.
Alan and I discussed in detail exactly how he went about inventing his product, from initial idea to the final licensing deals with As Seen on TV and Direct TV and retail sales.
Alan’s number one tip:
Do you due diligence. Inventors often don’t do enough patent searching and Google searching to see if their product already exists
You can contact Alan at:
Alanbeckley.com
972-989-1002
Alan-beckley@msn.com
This week’s show is sponsored by Gusto
Everyone loves payday, especially engineers. But loving a payroll provider? That’s a little weird. Still, small businesses across the country love running payroll with Gusto. Gusto automatically files and pays your taxes, it’s super easy to use, and you can add benefits and HR support to help take care of your engineering team and keep your business safe. It’s loyal, it’s modern — you might fall in love yourself. Listeners get three months free when they run their first payroll. Try a demo and test it out at gusto.com/ee. That’s gusto.com/ee
Serial Inventor, Entrepreneur and Daymond John Business Partner – Mike Watts– Ep65
Mike Watts is a serial entrepreneur who has started 6 product-based companies totaling over $50million in total sales. Mike is currently serving as Founder and CEO of LoveHandle, who manufactures patented custom-printed smartphone accessories and is a partner of Daymond John from Shark Tank.
Many listeners of this show are inventors and Mike took a slightly different approach than many inventors. Mike started out by partnering with an inventor of a lawn/garden product and manufacturing that inventor’s product, in return for giving the inventor a royalty.
After that product, Mike has created a smart phone accessory that makes it easier to hold your phone. The brand name is called Lovehandle (www.lovehandle.com). Daymond John (from Shark Tank) discovered his product and was so impressed with it that he contacted Mike and they have since partnered up to do business together.
Mike’s number one tip:
Seek out wisdom from those that have done it before
You can contact Mike at:
Mike@lovehandle.com
Instagram: @mikewattsceo
Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) – John Laslavic– Ep64
If you are an engineer at a mid to large company, you are well aware what PLM is. But if not, hopefully this episode will teach you a few things.
Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is how companies organize the process of creating and modifying products. Traditionally this applied to just the CAD data itself. This is important because if multiple engineers are working on a file, the system will keep the data organized so that everyone knows what the latest revision is and the status of the project (is the CAD in process, under review, or ready for tooling, and so on).
John is the CEO and founder of Upchain.com. Upchain is changing PLM by organizing the entire supply chain, not just the CAD data. This makes the entire product management smoother. After the CAD is done, other departments still have work to do like getting quotes for tooling. Upchain organizes this process.
Contact info
http://www.upchain.com
The Business of Bioscience – Susan Goebel – Ep63
Susan is what I call a Bioscience Entrepreneur. She went to college for Biology and her first job out of school involved creating displays in museums, but these aren’t your average displays. One display she worked on was the structure of the human heart, using an actual heart!
She then worked for a while in the animal health industry.
But this type of work was not for her, so she moved onto entrepreneurship. Using her experience in animal health, she started her own company for animal health. Some advice from me hearing this story is that if you want to start your own business, one of the best ways is to get a job/apprenticeship and learn while working for someone else, as she did. My story is the same, I worked for 10 years for large corporations before starting my own business as a design engineer.
One of her top products she helped make was a vaccine for cattle for Ecoli, but the purpose of the vaccine was to prevent Ecoli from affecting humans further down the food chain. This is a fascinating series of cause and effect that makes you really appreciate how everything is so connected.
Susan’s company also has worked on immunotheraputics for cancer, specifically bladder cancer.
Her company also works with companies as a strategic partner to get government funding, get VC capital, and help with the regulatory (FDA) process.
Susan’s top tips are:
- Check your assumptions. Make sure you know what your assumptions are and make sure they are correct
- Business planning – don’t dismiss it
You can contact Susan by email at s.goebel@bell.net
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
From Aerospace Engineer to Entrepreneur– Amy Simpkins – Ep62
Amy Simpkins is a speaker, author, and thought leader in innovation and the CEO of renewable energy startup, muGrid Analytics. She's an MIT-trained aerospace engineer who caught the entrepreneurship bug and loves facilitating massive leaps forward for individuals and organizations. She's recently published her book, Spiral: A Catalyst for Innovation and Expansion and believes that innovation is for everyone and holds the key to both personal fulfillment and lasting global change.
We discuss Amy’s journey from her days as an engineer with Lockheed Martin to her current role as CEO of muGrid.
At Lockheed, Amy worked on projects like low earth orbit satellites and acoustic vibration issues in astronauts’ ears.
Amy wanted to move into entrepreneurship, so she left Lockheed. She had a few failures, as most entrepreneurs do when they first get started. But now she has a book published and is successfully running muGrid Analytics.
MuGrid is a renewable energy business that creates custom energy storage solutions for private companies and municipalities.
You can contact Amy at:
www.Amysimpkins.com
www.mugrid.com
TheSpiralBook.com
This week’s show is sponsored by Gusto
Everyone loves payday, especially engineers. But loving a payroll provider? That’s a little weird. Still, small businesses across the country love running payroll with Gusto. Gusto automatically files and pays your taxes, it’s super easy to use, and you can add benefits and HR support to help take care of your engineering team and keep your business safe. It’s loyal, it’s modern — you might fall in love yourself. Listeners get three months free when they run their first payroll. Try a demo and test it out at gusto.com/ee. That’s gusto.com/ee
Asset protection for entrepreneurs – Scott Smith – Ep61
This episode focuses on some important business aspects of being an engineering entrepreneur: things like asset protection, insurance, and tax strategies.
Scott is the founder of Royal legal solutions. His company specializes in asset protection for entrepreneurs. This includes what insurance to get, how to best structure your business for tax savings, and what to do when you get sued.
Scott and I discuss these 3 topics. Starting with liability, a good option for entrepreneurs is to set up 2 companies:
- Asset holding company – separate LLC that holds everything
- Shell company –runs operations of the business
Then we discuss retirement savings, specifically the details of a Solo 401k
Finally, we talk about lawsuits and what to do if you get sued.
Scott’s top tips are:
- Use a 2-company structure
- Set up a solo 401k
- wrap up everything in estate plan (living trust and will)
You can contact Scott at:
Royallegalsolutions.com
Real estate nerds podcast
512-757-3994
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Lean Manufacturing and Lean Startups – Jason Burt – Ep60
Jason Burt is the owner of Evolve Holdings, which is a consultancy that focuses on teaching and applying the principles of Lean Manufacturing.
Lean Manufacturing started off as the Toyota production system and centers around a continuous improvement culture and taking waste out of the manufacturing process. The first half of our conversation is about lean manufacturing and some examples.
The second half of our talk is about the lean startup philosophy. The lean startup is about not wasting time adding features to a product without first testing to see if anyone wants those features. What you want to do is create a MVP (minimum viable product) and test with customers before putting more work into it. And when you get feedback from customers, you want to revise the product accordingly and test again.
This is where 3D printing can be helpful, as it is very cost effective to edit and create a new version of a product.
Contact info
Linkedin profile
Website ehiipconsulting.com/engineeringentrepreneur
From Gear Head to Group Head – Paresh Shaw– Ep59
Paresh is a mechanical engineer who founded Enginpreneur Academy, which is a course to transform engineers into innovators, entrepreneurs, and inspiring leaders.
He also runs the nonobviouscompany.com, which is a training company that addresses the 6 biggest challenges companies face today, like disruption and innovation, believability crisis, and passive loyalty.
Our talk focuses mainly on how engineers can improve their people skills to move up in their jobs. Most engineers have pretty good technical skills, but often lack in their ability to lead others and communicate effectively. You could throw me into that group up until a few years ago when I started my own company and had to learn how to manage people.
We joke that before I was simply a “grunt” (my words, not Paresh). But it was true, I simply did whatever job my boss told me to do. I didn’t act as a leader or show much initiative.
We talk about many ways to improve these skills. Paresh says there are “7 deadly blind spots” that engineers have that become career limiters. We discuss these and ways to overcome them.
To learn more and contact Paresh, please see links below:
Enginpreneur Academy
nonobviouscompany.com
Finance your Inventions – Matt King– Ep58
One of the most important things to take care of in the invention process is figuring out how to pay for all the steps needed to get your product to market. Unless you have a trust fund or a high paying job, you will likely need help getting your product to market.
It will take thousands (if not more) dollars to go from idea to final product. Costs will include CAD design, prototyping, market testing, advertising, production and so on.
Matt King is an expert in helping entrepreneurs get the funding needed to start their business. He runs Titan Consulting, located in my home city of Charlotte, NC.
In this week’s podcast, Matt and I talk about the right way to go about getting funding. To put simply, you should not go from your napkin sketch to trying to raise $20M. There are many steps before that and we discuss how to do it with practical examples.
You can contact Matt at:
Email mking@titan-industries.com
Phone number 704-231-8152
Creating Software Products – Jay Gibb – Ep57
Jay Gibb is a software engineer, but he is also an entrepreneur. He has started 2 companies, Arizona Bay and Cloudsponge (links are at the end).
Arizona Bay is a consulting firm that builds custom software. Cloudsponge is a digital asset (a product) that makes it easy for people to recommend your website to a friend. The easiest way to explain it is, imagine you just booked a place on Airbnb and want to recommend it to friend (or all your friends). Most websites have a place where you can type in each and every name, but good luck remembering all your friend’s email addresses. Cloudsponge solves this by integrating with your address book and you can simply click next to each name you want to send the Airbnb listing to.
Jay and I discuss how each business operates and how he came up with the idea for Cloudsponge. His advice: the best products come from solving your problems first and finding out many other people have the same problem.
We also touch on machine learning, which I didn’t know a lot about previously. Cool stuff!
You can contact Jay at:
Arizonabay.com
Cloudsponge.com
Jay Gibb LinkedIn
The Patent Process Explained – James Wilson – Ep56
This episode is one that you inventors out there should definitely listen to. Most people know what a patent is but not many understand the process it takes to get one.
In this episode I talked with James Wilson from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). James is the Assistant Regional Director of the Elijah J. McCoy Midwest Regional Office in Detroit.
We talk about the entire patent process, from idea creation to provisional patent, to non-provisional application and the review process. We uncover all the details inventors want to know, like costs, time frames, and the process.
There are some links from the podcast I will add once I get them from James. But those will be for the resources he described including how to get assistance on patent applications.
James’ parting advice is that the UPSTO strives to be one of the best government entities and that they are looking to hire more examiners. So if you are a professional with a technical degree, there might be an opportunity for you at the USPTO.
You can contact James at:
midwestregion@USPTO.gov
313-446-4800
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Innovation Freak Podcast – Nathan Kemmerer – Ep55
It’s not often the title of my podcast is about another podcast, but that is the case this week.
Nathan Kemmerer (also a mechanical engineer like me) runs the Innovation Freak Podcast, which is a podcast that covers new innovation/technology around the world that has a positive impact.
Some of his episodes cover topics such as:
- Trash collection machine in the Baltimore bay
- Open sourced 3D printed prosthetic hands
- Airwolf 3D printers
Nathan also has some 3D printers of his own that we discuss, including the CR-10 and Tevo Tarantula.
You can contact Nathan at:
natek@innovationfreak.com
http://innovationfreak.com/
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
The Dadsak Invention and the Startup Bus – Jeremy Losaw – Ep54
Jeremy is the engineering director for Enventys Partners. He just got back from Startup Bus where his team, Sak Labs placed 2nd in the competition with the Dadsak, the world’s first fully integrated infant carrier and backpack diaper bag.
I have worked with Jeremy on quite a few other projects.
In this podcast, we talk about the Dadsak invention and the Startup Bus. We cover many topics that will be of interest to inventors, including initial concepts, prototyping, provisional patents, and pitching investors.
You can contact Jeremy at:
Jeremy.losaw@enventyspartners.com
Jeremylosaw.com
www.dadsak.com
Other links mentioned:
Startup Bus
How Does 3D Scanning Really Work? – Matt Holling – Ep53
Matt Holling is the engineering manager at Dezignworks. His company specializes in reverse engineering using both laser scanning and bridge CMM. If you don’t know what that is, listen to the podcast, we go over it.
Matt and I have done a lot of work together. While there are many ways to reverse engineer a part, laser scanning is becoming one of the most popular ways and I am often having him do this for me. Once I have the model, I can make edits to the model (add holes, threads, mirror the part, etc).
One major misconception about 3D scanning is that you simply scan a part and instantly have a usable CAD file. The reality is far from this, as the scanner itself only creates a point cloud file. We go over ALL the steps needed to go from the scan, to an STL file, and finally to a fully defined Solidworks file. His company has created a proprietary Solidworks add in to do this work, and the software is impressive (the software also works on Autodesk products).
You can contact Matt at:
sales@dezignworks.com
website: Dezignworks
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
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 turk@formlabs.com
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
The Million Dollar Collar Invention – Rob Kessler – Ep51
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 rob@milliondollarcollar.com
Website: https://milliondollarcollar.com/
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
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
Million Dollar Side Hustle with a Full Time Engineering Role – Tony Whatley – Ep49
Tony Whatley is a mechanical engineer from Houston, Texas. He is also a serial entrepreneur.
Since he was 18 years old, he has worked in the oil and gas industry. He started out as a pipe fitter. He earned his college degree while working full time in the oil and gas industry.
Tony has worked his way up into a project management role. But during all of this, he always had a side hustle. His most successful side hustle was a website about cars, specifically GM aftermarket parts. The site had so many visits that it was generating $400,000 a year in recurring revenue. He sold that website in 2006 for over $1 million.
Tony gives some great tips about taking your dream and making it a reality. He is moving into consulting to help other people achieve success like him.
You can contact Tony at 365driven.com.
All about Drones – Johnny McLendon – Ep48
Johnny McLendon is a Photographer and Certified Drone Pilot. He uses a Phantom 4 Pro.
He uses his drone for creating maps and videos for large industrial facilities.
We discuss the technical aspects of drones. I don’t personally own one, but I have some friends that do, and I have seen them in action. I’m impressed with how stable the video is and how they can float in one place. One interesting fact I didn’t know: Drones needs GPS to maintain location. If GPS is unavailable (like when flying inside), you will need to manually maintain the position.
We also tie in 3D printing to the conversation. Johnny can create 3D contour maps from the data the drone collects. This can be used to 3D print a scale model of the land.
To contact Johnny:
Website: https://johnnymclendon.com
Email: info@johnnymclendon.com
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Low Filament Alarm Invention and other 3D topics – Michael Graham – Ep47
This week my guest is Michael Graham. He is an engineer with HP, working on the multijet fusion printer. In his spare time, he works on his own inventions using Cubify Software and a Prusa i3 printer at home.
I found him when I was looking for a solution to knowing when my filament was about to run out mid print. He invented a low filament alarm. Here is a link to it:
https://engineerdog.com/store/low-filament-alarm/
We discuss that invention and then move into many other topics about 3D design and 3D printing. I hope you enjoy it.
To contact Michael:
EngineerDog.com
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Open Source SLA 3D Printing – Dean Piper – Ep46
This week my guest is Dean Piper. He is the founder of mUVe 3D, which is the manufacturer of open source SLA printers. The website is muve3d.net.
I have quite a bit of experience running the Form2 resin printer for over 6 months now, so this conversation was very interesting to me. We talk in detail about DLP versus laser printers. We discuss why SLA printing seems to be more reliable than FDM printing (this is my experience).
There is a lot of technical talk in this conversation, which I think many of you will enjoy. We also cover Dean’s background and how he started the business.
I’m very tempted to purchase one of his machines and I may do that in the future. I’ll be sure to make a podcast out of my experience if I do.
To contact Dean:
ww.muve3d.net
muve3d@gmail.com
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Medical Applications for 3D Printing – Jan Witowski – Ep45
This week my guest is Jan Witowski. He is a medical student in Poland and has taken the lead for developing medical applications for 3D printing in his university. The main application so far has been for surgeons working with liver surgery.
We talk about how he creates the 3D files using CT scans. This was very interesting, as I had no idea a CT scan could create a 3D image. Jan then uses Blender to assemble various parts so the models can be printed in separate pieces and put together.
We discuss the importance of working with open source software (like Blender) and using lower cost 3D printers (Ultimaker 2 for example). While there are others out there making 3D printed parts for medical applications like him, they are using much more expensive software and printers.
We also touch on Bio-printing, which is printing living tissues.
You can get in touch with Jan on Twitter: @JanWitowski
Or his website: http://jwitowski.com/
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Improving the Education System with 3D Printing – Brian Federal – Ep44
This week my guest is Brian Federal. Brian is a Futurist, Keynote speaker, Filmmaker, and Designer. He has two companies: Prana Communications and Innovative GlasDesign
Brian spent a lot of time in the past few years interviewing leaders in the 3D Printing industry and has nearly completed a documentary film about 3D printing. We discuss his journey on how he started that project and what he learned along the way.
Then we move into a discussion of how 3D printing, robotics, and AI can improve the education systems, as well as how these 3 areas will change the business environment.
To contact Brian, please go to his Linkedin Page
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
3D Printing for Investment Casting - Jerry Lepore – Ep43
This week we have Jerry Lepore. He is the CEO of Spectra3D, which is a 3D focused development company located in Asheville North Carolina (my home state).
Spectra3D specializes in 3D printed investment casting patterns and tooling, as well as Cosplay props & more. They use Stacker and Fusion3 Design 3D printers.
Some topics discussed include:
- How 3D printing for Investment Casting works. 3D printing is using a new technology to improve the process of an ancient technology like investment casting
- His largest ever print job (1800 pieces and it took a month to complete, running nonstop)
- 3D printed 5 foot cos play axe
His top tips for the Engineering Entrepreneurs?
1. Get a 3d printer and try things
2. Take your hobby and turn into a business
To contact Jerry
1. Follow on twitter: @spectra3Dtech
2. Spectra3D.com
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
3D Professional Networking - Chris Kaminsky – Ep42
Chris Kaminsky runs MI3D.co, which is a professional networking association focusing on all things 3D. The group is located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Chris is a Mechanical Engineer by degree, currently working for GM.
He started the MI3D so he could get together with other 3D printing enthusiasts. They meet once a month and have had guests such as reps from Ultimaker, Autodesk, and more.
We talk about how he came up with starting the group and his future plans for the group. Then we move into some 3D printing projects he has done (like making molds for chocolate).
His number one tip for the engineering entrepreneurs: Get to know people. Even if the meeting isn’t what you wanted.
To contact Chris:
YouTube videos about the group (including meetings):
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX-HdXIZVFTNEGFyzPLrOog
Website (including blogs about events): www.mi3d.co
Email: michigan3d@gmail.com
Personal site: www.criscodesigns.co
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Fusion3 F400 3D Printer Review – Ep 41
This week I will do a review of one of my 3D printers. The printer is the F400 from Fusion3. Fusion3 is a relatively new and small company based out of NC. The F400 was my 2nd 3D printer I purchased.
My first printer was a Cube3 from 3D systems. That machine was so bad that 3D Systems does not even sell it anymore, but it did teach me the basic of FDM printing. I consider the F400 my first “real” 3D printer.
Before I get into what I like and don’t like about it, I will first explain a little about this machine and why I decided to purchase.
I purchased this machine is August 2016, price was approximately $5000, I think just a little under. The machine is a FDM type printer and has a build volume of 14” by 14” by 12.6” tall. At the time of purchase, I really needed a machine that could make big parts and this seemed to be the best one I could find under $10,000.
So, what do a like? Here is my list
-
It is a big machine, and that’s crucial for my business. I get inventors who come to me all the time with product ideas in the 8-12” range and most FDM printers are not quite big enough.
-
It is FAST. I run this machine all the time at 6000mm/min, and never really have issues. Of course, that is material dependent (tip: don’t try running flexible filament that fast)
-
It can run any material up to 300C glass transition temperature (i.e. melting temp). This means I can run basically any common or exotic material.
-
It has an enclosed build chamber. This is extremely important if you use ABS filament. One of my other FDM machines is an Ulitmaker2+ extended (let’s call it the UM2). While I like that machine and use it often, I have found that I can only run very small parts in ABS on it. Why is that? Well ABS plastic tends to warp a lot. The reason is because it shrinks a lot as it cools. Therefore, you need an very hot (100C) environment the entire time it is printing, or some areas of the part will cool before other areas. If that happens, the parts will often crack. So I can get away with small parts on the UM2 because it is near the bed, but a tall part will not be near the bed, which is kept hot at a constant 100C. On the F400, since it is fully enclosed, the heat is maintained throughout the entire part.
-
Lastly, the customer service is awesome. I heard it was good before I ever bought from the, and I knew I needed that because if you buy a 3D printer, you have a lot to learn to get it right.
What don’t I like? Not much but I had one MAJOR issue at the start that I can’t leave out.
This story goes way back to August 2016. The first 3 months I had the machine, I didn’t have a lot of issues. But then things changed.
A lot of the issues had to do with clogged nozzles and jams. One thing that is important with 3D printing is that the bed is very level and the gap between the nozzle and the bed (called the Z gap) is just right. I just kept having problems, no matter how many times I went through both the level and Z gap process. It was really confusing and both me and the support guys couldn’t really figure it out.
I even went as far as renting a van, packing the machine into it, and driving 2 hours north to Greensboro for them to troubleshoot it right there. That took basically an entire day and cost me a few hundred dollars to rent the van.
Not a week after I got back home, it started acting up again. A month later, they agreed to completely swap out the machine for me. I just paid the shipping on the new one. I want to say this was around December 2016.
For the new few months, I would still have intermittent issues with the new machine. I was extremely frustrated and I estimate I spent 200+ hours of my time in total troubleshooting it.
I did ultimately get everything to work, and the machine has been nearly flawless the last 5 months. What I think did it was the light sensor. The light sensor is on the moving hot end and it basically live calibrates the level of the bed as it prints. I think this part was the culprit the entire time I was having problems, possibly with both machines. It is ironic that I basically tried everything else that support and I could think of before finally replacing this part. Ever since I replaced the light sensor, I really haven’t had any issues.
That wraps up my review of the Fusion F400. In summary, I think it is a great machine, albeit a little pricey compared to other FDM printers. I think also a lesson learned here, is that 3D printing is tricky and sometimes you will just get unlucky and have an issue like this and try all the wrong things before you finally try the right thing.
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
3D Printed Miniature Roller Coaster – Coaster-track.com – Ep40
Lee Williams and Steve Guilmetter are the founders of coaster-track.com. Their invention is a miniature roller coaster that consists of mostly common hardware parts but also some 3D printed parts. The coaster is a fully functional mini replica.
Both Lee and Steve are mechanical engineers that have a passion for roller coasters. Their business plan for this is to make 80% of it open source. Meaning, they will give away 80% of the information needed to build a track. The only thing you will need to purchase are the rail ties and the car. Right now, they are 3D printing these 2 components.
Their next step is to launch a Kickstarter campaign. Their goal is to raise $50,000 to pay for injection molding tooling for the rail ties and maybe the car. The campaign will launch September 5. I will send out a link once I have it.
We discuss their background, the inspiration for the coaster, and how they went about designing and building it.
To contact Steve and Lee, check out their email, website and social pages listed below:
marketing@coaster-track.com
http://coaster-track.com/
https://www.facebook.com/coastertrack
https://www.instagram.com/coastertrack/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1wLoUyisLIJcjESbwpXcZw
https://twitter.com/coastertrack
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
3D Printing Video Game Cases – Justin Shook – Ep39
Justin Shook was featured on episode 3 of the podcast and he is back, just about 1 year later. Last time we talked, he was running his business Shookideas.com. Me and him were both basically doing the same thing, running a product design and 3D printing service company.
He has shifted his focus to a new business. He is now running a very successful 3D printing manufacturing operation making products for fans of old school video games. His business specializes in the making cases specifically for the Raspberry Pi computer. A lot of the cases look like old video game systems like the SNES, Nintendo 64, etc. His business website is https://collectorcraft.com/.
I think Justin is at the forefront of a shift in manufacturing. It used to be that 3D printing was used only for prototypes. Now it is used to manufacture products in serious quantity and Justin has taken this farther than anyone I have ever talked to.
If you would like to reach out to Justin, you can go to his website.
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Inventing his own 3D Printer – Julian Merghart – Ep38
Julian Merghart is the founder of Blackened Industries (inspired by the Metallica song). His company sells CNC cut aluminum phone cases. I’ve never see that before.
He also started and is still working on his own 3D printer. He desired to make his own printer after being disappointed with the size of the desktop Makerbot Clone he had. He looked at larger 3D printers but the price point was too high. He has put his design (in STEP format) available for download on his site. He is still working on finishing the design and 1st prototype.
You can contact Julian at:
1. julian@blackenedindustries.com
2. Facebook Page
3. Twitter Page
The Window Wizard Invention – Robert Bowerman – Ep37
Robert Bowerman is the inventor of the Window Wizard, which is a tool to line up window frames and curtain rods to make sure they are level. The product is quite simple, but like any product, the process of getting it finished for sale is not simple.
Robert hired my company off of Thumbtack.com and from his sketches and information, we were able to make a CAD file of the product and 3D print a prototype. At that time, the product was a 2 piece design that slid into place and was glued to stay. It was originally made that way because the idea he had was that the injection mold would be too expensive if it was made in one-piece due to the size of the mold.
After meeting with one of my molding partners (PDQ South), we determined that indeed a one piece product made more sense. I updated the CAD file and the tool was made. Robert just got his first pieces from the tool and a little more touch up work is needed to be 100% ready.
Check out Robert’s product on his facebook page and website: https://www.facebook.com/windowwizardtool/
www.Windowwizardtool.com
To contact Robert: info@windowwizardtool.com
Key Takeaways
- Mold process can take a long time
- Even simple products take iterations to get just right
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Bottle Cap Light Up Invention– Bart Briggs– Ep36
Bart Briggs is currently an engineer for Newell Brands (formerly Rubbermiade). Like myself, he graduated from Virginia Tech (he got a degree in Materials Science and Engineering)
After college he took a job with Halliburton, but despite excellent pay was experiencing job burnout. He decided to take a 40% pay cut to do what he really loves, which is design engineering. He says he is very happy with the decision.
In addition to his day job, he has a light up bottle cap invention that he is working on. It is patent pending and we discuss the next steps to the design and bringing it to market. I’ve helped him a little bit with the design.
Key Takeaways
- I like Bart’s advice about not always following the money. Do what you love
-
Having a side project can lead to bigger things
-
To Contact Bart
a. Bart.briggs@gmail.com
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Integrating 3D Printing into Video Game Design– Amie DD– Ep35
Amie D Dansby (she goes by Amie DD) is a software game programmer, previously at Marvel Studios, working on Captain America and other titles. She then transitioned to Research and Development working with the PlayStation and Xbox. Currently she works at ATAT Tech, a robotics, augmented reality video game studio in Dallas, TX.
She went to school for game simulation and programming. We talk about how the video game industry has changed from writing games in code to now mostly being done in programs like Unity3D (using a graphical interface).
Then we turn the conversation into how she uses 3D printing for interactive video games. I didn’t even realize this, but now there are video games that integrate physical objects. For example, in this LEGO game, you have to first build the structure, then use your phone/tablet to scan it and the same structure appears in the game. Really cool stuff!.
She is using 3D printing at her current role in ATAT to create physical prototypes to test this concept on their games.
Key Takeaways
- Not a bad idea to get a kit (build your own 3D printer) – to really learn how it works. However, it will take up a lot of your time from what I have been told
- I think dabbling in code (or using a program like Unity3D) is good. Learn how these virtual assets get made. Sort of like learning CAD.
To Contact Amie
a. Amiedd.com
b. Twitter @amiedd
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Unique 3D printing innovations (like printing furniture) – Eugene Pentland – ep 34
Eugene Pentland runs Pentland Designs (as a side job), a company that uses 3D printing to create every day mechanical solutions. He has come up with solutions like a quick access wallet, a solution to never needing to tie your shoes again, or sorting your spare change.
We discuss his role at Pico Turbine (his full time job) where they use 3D printing in a wide range of applications, like coming up with unique solutions for disabled kids at a rehab facility.
We also talk about a large format 3D printer that is used to 3D print office chairs (it uses a massive nozzle diameter of 3mm).
Some other areas touched on:
Eugene’s invention: shoe lace lock
What software does Eugene design in? – Mainly, Autodesk fusion 360 but he also has used Solidworks and Creo parametric
Key Takeaways
- At the beginning of our conversation, he warns about getting a low end 3D printer. There will probably be issues. But if you have time, it can also be a good way to learn the machine from having to do repairs
- 3D printing is great for problem solving. He has invented 5 or so products that solve some real problems, like the joystick issue and the shoe lace issue. The coin sorter solution on his youtube page is quite impressive.
To Contact Eugene
a. Eugenepentland.com
b. Youtube channel
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
How to Validate Your Product Idea – Daryl Gibson– Ep33
Daryl Gibson is a thought leader and consultant in future trends, lean startup/agile methodologies, and building cultures of innovation. He is a serial entrepreneur, having start multiple businesses. His current project is InnovativeX, which is a site that provides the tools and resources to enable anyone to develop an idea from concept to market.
We explore his business with a few examples in the product development space. First, we discuss his idea of a board game that teaches the players the product development process. Then we discuss my product, The Selfie Glove, and what I have done and what I should do to continue market testing.
Key Takeaways
- No matter how good you think your invention is, you need to go through the validation phase of product testing
- I always assumed you needed to get sales right away to validate a product idea. But Daryl points out that you can give away samples and still test. If you give out samples and people say “hey where can I buy this”, then likely the product will be worth pursuing.
To Contact Daryl
-
Linked
-
Darylgibson@innovativex.com
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Pushing the limit of 3D printing and trying new 3D Printing Filament – Matthew Gorton– Ep32
Matthew Gorton is Mechanical Engineer who has transitioned from employee to entrepreneur. For many years, he worked at WL Gore, in both Arizona and Delaware. (WL Gore is best known for the Gore-Tex Brand). As an aside, I also worked there as a summer intern in 2006.
Matt has since left that job to pursue his passion of 3D printing as a full time career. His business is PrintedSolid, which is both an online and brick and motor 3D printer retailer. He sells many desktop 3D printers and materials, mostly the ColorFabb brand.
We discuss his transition into entrepreneurship. Then we get into a lot of 3D printing details and details on new materials for 3D printing. We also discuss a new metal desktop 3D printer.
Key Takeaways
- Matt followed his dreams through and the business is succeeding. Don’t doubt yourself when you want to pursue your passions.
- While we discussed many aspects of 3D printing, one of my big takeaways is how many different materials there are and that I need to experiment with more materials like he is doing.
To contact Matt:
-
Twitter, Instagram: @printedsolid
-
PrintedSolid.com
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Working as an Engineer for Caterpillar and Rubbermaid, and Creo versus Solidworks – Jon Klinger– Ep31
Jon Klinger has worked in the past for Caterpillar and Rubbermaid (now called Newell Brands). He has designed many interesting products, including edge belt conveyors, thermo-formed polycarbonate doors for the Skid steer D series, and Rubbermaid Fast Track parts.
Jon also is now working for me part time. In addition to his work history, we talked about the differences between Creo and Solidworks (both are 3D modeling programs).
Key Takeaways
- Jon has worked on many different types of products, made from different manufacturing methods. This makes you a better designer and engineer to have a diverse background.
- He also has learned many programs including Creo, Solidworks, and Ansys.
To Contact Jon
-
Linked: Jon Klinger
-
Jon.klinger02@gmail.com
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Former IDEO Mechanical Engineer turned Startup Freelance Consultant – Jen Davis-Wilson– Ep30
Jen Davis-Wilson worked for 12 years at IDEO. Since then, she has gone off on her own to be a startup freelance consultant. She typically works with clients in the San Francisco (Silicon Valley area).
While Jen and I are both Mechanical Engineers, our careers and the way we go about creating client projects is quite different and it was interesting to hear a different perspective on the process.
Some of the highlights/links we discuss:
- Industrial design versus Engineering
- Her work with Magic Instruments on a cool new guitar product to help beginners learn guitar
- How to test products? Make a rendering and put a product on ebay, kickstarter, etc. Also, 3D print a product and put on the same websites Examples:
- Justin Shook (who was on episode 3, owner of com and his etsy store Collector Craft
- One of my creations, the Led Zeppelin Object. I’ve found that fans of classic rock bands love re-created retro things you can’t find anymore.
- com
- com
Key Takeaways
- It was interesting to see how Jen’s process is compared to what I am used to. She tends to work with bigger startups than my company and as a result seems to have a bigger team on her end, often backed with IDEO employees.
- It was also interesting to discuss the Solidworks work flow versus Industrial design CAD tools. While I prefer Solidworks because it is easy to update a file, I can understand why some designers work in other programs that are not parametric. And from my experience, some shapes are easier in other programs like Blender (and Jen mentioned Rhino).
- We had a good discussion about product testing. Some companies will make renderings to see if people will buy a product before it is made. However, traditionally big companies will use focus groups and interviews.
To Contact Jen
Linked
JenDaviswilson@gmail.com
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Selling Old VCR tapes, Selfie-Glove Discussion, and other side hustles – Shane McLendon - Ep 29
Shame McLendon and I connected when he found my CADdesignhelp.com Facebook page. He was looking for guests on the Built in a Day Podcast. I went on the podcast and talked about product testing with the Selfie-Glove. This was in the fall of 2016.
Shane and I hadn’t talked in a while, so we did a podcast to catch up and throw around business ideas. Shane has quite a few side hustles, mostly as a copywriter. His current project is Theboxcrusher.com, which is a website to give blue collar workers ideas of how to get more customers for their business (think plumbers, welders, lawn mowing).
We also through around ideas on other products that might be good for me to make. The trick I have found about selling online is that you need to offer something a lot of people want. One big hit I have had is the Led Zeppelin object. We discuss some other products that might be good.
Key Takeaways
- Have a big list of ideas to try. You really don’t know what’s going to work until you try it. Who would have guessed that old VCR tapes would be popular?
- Look for gaps in the market. I think Shane is onto something with his com website. There is an opportunity to teach blue collar workers concepts like the lean startup method.
To Contact Shane
Go to his website: Theboxcrusher.com
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Talking Product Design with a Stanley Black and Decker Engineering Manager – Terry Gonzales - Ep 28
Terry Gonzales is currently an Engineering Manager with Stanley Black and Decker in Southington Connecticut with hand tool and auto mechanic group. Terry was my first boss at my first job out of college. That was at United Pet Group in Blacksburg, VA (we called it Tetra because that was the main brand).
It was great catching up with Terry. We hadn’t really talked for a while in years. Both of our careers have gone different directions since our Tetra days. While I have gone the entrepreneur route, he has done a few different things and we discuss it. He started out in product design, then worked as sales engineer, then as a manufacturing engineer and now he has come full circle back to his passion, product design.
This is a great episode for anyone thinking about engineering as a career. You get a great feel for what you can do in the working world.
And of course, we talk about some 3D printing!
Key Takeaways
- Don’t be afraid to try new things. Terry went from Tetra to Trimech because of his skills in Solidworks. The work was different but you never know what you will like doing until you try it.
- Terry was spot on about the need to practice your 3D modeling. I would say it took me a full year at 40 hours a week before I felt like I had mastered Solidworks.
To Contact Terry
Email: Terry.gonzales1215@gmail.com
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Stepping up your CAD Design Business – Scott Hoffman - Ep 27
Scott Hoffman is the founder of PepperNickelDesigns, a CAD design and 3D printing service. Scott’s background is in electrical and computer engineering. He works full time as an insurance adjuster but he started PepperNickelDesigns as a side hustle that he wants to bring to a full-time job in 2017.
We connected on the Facebook page for the Side Hustle Show (http://www.sidehustlenation.com/). He posted on the Facebook page that he had issues with either too much design/print work coming in at once or not enough. This is an issue I am very familiar with, as I have been running my business full time for 2 years now. I replied to his post and offered him to come on the podcast so that I could help him with the strategies of how to solve some of these issues.
(Side note: I was a guest on the Side Hustle Show in June 2016. If you want to hear that interview, click here: http://www.sidehustlenation.com/listener-success-story-took-side-hustle-full-time/)
Key Takeaways
- The secret to starting a side hustle is to take a skill you have and find a way to monetize it
- My advice to Scott was to use contractors to handle overloads of work
- And when work is slow, there are a few strategies
- Make cold calls for new business. Even better is to follow up with past clients to see if they have any new projects
- Look for other revenue streams. One of my favorite ways when incoming work is slow is to work on new inventions. I have so many ideas but only so much time to work on them, so I use my downtime to create new products of my own. Sometimes the products sell and sometimes they don’t. Even when they don’t, I usually learn some valuable design skills in the process
To Contact Scott
Email: Peppernickeldesigns@gmail.com
Tumblr: Peppernickeldesigns
Facebook: Peppernickeldesigns
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Jeff Funderburk is the inventor of the Big Bear Shelf (bigbearshelving.com). Jeff was cleaning his garage one day and realized he didn’t have enough storage space. He went to Lowe’s to find a solution but all the products out there were very costly.
Jeff’s solution was to create a “holder” piece that holds 3 two by four pieces of lumber. We discuss how he made some initial prototypes, came up with funding, found a CAD designer to help him create a plastic version for mass production and how the product is selling to date.
Key Takeaways
- The key to any successful invention is to find a problem that the market doesn’t already have. While there were shelving solutions, many were too costly for the average homeowner.
- In addition, often the best inventions are the ones that solve a problem you have yourself.
- It was smart of Jeff to test the product. He wanted to make claims it could hold a certain amount of weight for a set period of time.
To Contact Jeff
Email: jeff@bigbearshelving.com
Phone: 704-340-4262
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
CADdesignhelp.com Business Update – Scott Tarcy (solo episode) - Ep 25
I thought it was time to do a solo episode and talk about random stuff I have going on in my business. Some of the highlights include:
Projects
Brush butler - https://brushbutler.com/
- Engineering challenges
- 3D printing – 4 or 5 different materials used for the prototype
- Nearing completion!
Microphone handle
- 2 piece product
- Threads and clearances, had to print a few times to get it to fit right. Check out images on my website: http://caddesignhelp.com/podcast/
Inventions
Selfie-glove - http://caddesignhelp.com/products-and-inventions/
Business stuff
- Thumbtack overload in January. Bid on 10 jobs, got all of them
- Time management
- Looking for more help
- Local employee going away for 5 weeks
- Challenge of managing 4-5 people
3D printing
Fusion3 F400
- Lots more maintenance but better for big ABS parts
- Faster as well
Ultimaker 2+
- Works great, but challenges with big ABS parts
- Led Zeppelin object print
TV show – 3D print the future
UPDATE 3/15/2017: There was a problem with the original post (the track got looped I think). Anyways, I apologize and the new, corrected podcast is now posted.
Trey Sullivan is from Louisiana and grew up on a farm. He learned a lot of hands on practical knowledge from fixing farm equipment. He started college after high school, but ultimately dropped out and worked most of his career as an insurance adjuster. He has now decided to go back to college (at 39) and this time is pursuing a Mechanical Engineering degree (which is what my degree is in).
Trey reached out to me as he has a lot of questions and wanted some advice about engineering and 3D printing. He asks a lot of great questions and I think that if you ever wanted know the basics of how 3D printing works, this is the podcast for you.
Key Takeaways
- First, hats off to Trey for going back at 39 years old to get his college degree. It’s never too late
- We talk SLA versus FDM. FDM printing is generally what you will see in colleges, makerspaces, etc. SLA is different and uses a liquid resin that is cured by light.
- 3D printing versus 2D printing. My opinion is that 3D printing will never take off like paper printing (in the sense that everyone will have one at home). We discuss why I think that.
To Contact Trey
- Facebook – Trey Sullivan
- Email Hershelsullivan@gmail.com
3D Print the Future TV show
We are still looking for more guests but spots are filling up. Please contact me soon if you have interest in being featured on the show. You can email info@caddesignhelp.com
Please see details here: 3D Print the Future TV Show ------------------------------------------------------- The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com
Pat Sweet has worked most of his career as an engineer in the rail industry. After reading the 4 hour workweek and some other entrepreneurship books, he got the inspiration to start some side hustles.
He taught himself how to build websites and still creates websites as a side business.
Another action he took was to create his own website: Engineeringandleadership.com. At first he created it because he enjoyed writing about engineering and leadership, but the site rank has grown and he has been able to monetize it.
We talk about his journey, how to validate a product, and where he sees his future: as a product consultant. You might just want to hire Pat as a consultant on your product! He knows his stuff.
Key Takeaways
- Portfolio career- you don’t need to work your whole career for one employer
- How to validate a product – doesn’t always have to be the final product to test an idea
To Contact Pat
- Engineeringandleadership.com
- Twitter @engileader
3D Print the Future TV show
We are still looking for more guests but spots are filling up. Please contact me soon if you have interest in being featured on the show. You can email info@caddesignhelp.com
Please see details here: 3D Print the Future TV Show
I can’t give him the title of “King of 3D Printing in the World”, but I will give him the title for Michigan. And for good reason….read more below
Jonah Dorman is the owner of SOC3D, which is a 3D printing company based out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. His company has the most reviews on 3D Hubs (think of AirBnB for 3D printers) in the entire state of Michigan. They have 35 3D printers in use, which is truly amazing.
I learn a lot myself on this call about 3D printer filament formulation, how they actually make printer filament, how to run parts fast, and we discuss all my headaches with my 3D printer I’ve had lately!
Key Takeaways
- ASA is going to be the replacement material for ABS. ABS was never created for 3D printing, it was made for injection molding.
- Jonah is probably the first person I have seen that has so many different printers (and types of printers) that he can fully optimize for any type of part. For example, tall but skinny objects are perfect for a delta printer.
To Contact Jonah
- info@soc3D.us
- His 3D hub
- Call him 727-386-6825
Since we talked about 3D hubs, I figured I might as well share my 3D Hub in the show notes (honestly don’t know what I never thought of that before)
Caddesignhelp 3D hub
Brian Walt is only 22 years old but already is a business owner and entrepreneur. He started Walt3D, a 3D printing and manufacturing services company based out of King of Prussia, PA. We connected over Instagram, as we both often use the #3D printing (you can follow me on Instagram @caddesignhelp).
We talk about his story on how he got into 3D printing. We talk about the Pro Putt, a golf training product he helped design and prototype. Then we discuss the 3D printers he uses and the ones I use. We talk a lot about 3D printing, so be sure to check this one out if 3D printing interests you.
Key Takeaways
- I was impressed Brian started this company before even finishing college. If you find a passion, no matter your age, you can turn that into a business
- Brian gave a great piece of advice about 3D printing, which is that there are so many ways you can use it. If you want to get started yourself, pick a market you like. Then if you want to get a machine to make parts, make sure the machine can make the parts you need. Some of the less expensive machines may not necessarily get the job done. You can always reach out to me at info@caddesignhelp.com and I can help you out.
To Contact Brian
Email Walt3Dprinting@gmail.com
Website Walt3D.com
Instagram @Walt3D
Links discussed:
http://www.proputtusa.com/
The Perky Collar Invention- David Frankel - Ep 20
David Frankel is inventor whose background is in sales and marketing. He found a need himself to keep a dress shirt collar upright when he is not wearing a tie. After finding a makeshift solution (his daughter’s headband) for the sales meeting he was about to have, he knew he was onto something. He took the idea from that initial handmade prototype to a final product that he is selling online and in many retail stores.
We go into depth about all the stages of getting the product from his initial idea to the final product with packaging.
Key Takeaways
- David knew he had to go “all in” if he wanted his product to be a success. While he did some market research, in the end he had to go with his gut feeling that the product would succeed and invest quite a bit of money to get it fully developed
- Don’t underestimate the value of a well-designed package. In my opinion, I do not think David could command a $20 price point for his product if he did not have a well-presented package to portray the value of the product.
To Contact David
Email: info@perkyllc.com
Website: perkycollar.com
Phone: 704-839 - 1169
Designing on Stage Machinery for Lady Gaga Performances and CES 2017 Discussion– Emanuel Moshouris - Ep 18
Emanuel Moshouris is a Mechanical Engineer working for Black and Decker. His background includes working as an engineer in both the automotive and entertainment sectors. If you ever wondered how the big-name artists create their elaborate on stage performances, you will want to listen to this episode. Really interesting stuff!
Emanuel and myself met at CES 2017 a few weeks ago, so the 2nd half of our discussion is about what we both liked the most at the show and where we see the future in technology. We talk a good amount about 3D printing and Virtual Reality (VR).
Key Takeaways
- Emanuel has a goal in mind of where he wants his career to go. By looking at how others have achieved it, he has a game plan to follow
- I like his tip about “list of stupid decisions”. It is ok to fail, but it should always be your goal to not fail the same way twice
To Contact Emanuel
Email: emoshouris@gmail.com
Scott Houdashell is an insurance salesman by day but an inventor at his core. One day he was decorating a hardboiled egg with his family and thought there must be an easier way. After some testing and trials, the Eggmazing was born.
I first connected with Scott when he needed his Sketchup drawings converted into Solidworks drawings. He has since already gone to tooling with his product and he had a successful Kickstarter campaign. He is on the verge of a big breakthrough and our conversation will show you how he went from an idea to a final product.
Key Takeaways
- It was evident in my call with Scott that he has a support team of family and friends behind him. This can be key because of the substantial capital required to launch a product
- Scott had a successful Kickstarter campaign by getting the word out about the product in advance
- Scott wasn’t afraid to do quite a bit of the design and testing himself before finally reaching out to me. That makes my job easier. So do as much design upfront as you can before reaching out to a pro
To contact Scott
website http://www.eggmazing.com/
Phone 806-584-5440
Links discussed:
http://www.sourcentra.com/
To contact me:
info@caddesignhelp.com
Tu-Hien is a mom who lives in Florida. She had her first child a few years ago, and found that using a breast pump was very uncomfortable.
She went online and couldn’t find a product to solve her problem, so she set out to solve it herself. She created a Facebook group of moms to use as her focus group / testing group. She went through 41 iterations to come up with the perfect final product. Then she launched and completed a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund the injection molding tool.
We discuss all the steps she went through to bring her product to market.
Key takeaways
- Solving your own problems is often the best way to invent something. The odds are that someone else has your problem
- Try and try again. It takes many iterations to get it right. It took Tu-Hien 41 iterations to perfect her project.
- Kickstarter is a great way to raise money for your project. But in order to be successful, you need to prepare in advance by building an audience for the campaign.
To contact Tu-Hien
Website: https://www.beaugen.com/
Facebook/twitter/Instagram : @BeauGenMom
Email: tuhien@beaugen.com
Other Links:
Original Yeti Plug Blog Post
Original Yeti Plug Ebay listing
Silicone Yeti Plug Blog Post
Silicone Yeti Plug Ebay Page
Get Recognized for Your Expertise- Carl Friesen - Ep 16
This week we have Carl Friesen. He is from Toronoto, CA and his background is in Journalism. He currently helps people get recognized for their expertise and helps authors get published.
Carl talks to me about how I can get more recognition in my field of CAD and Product Design. We talk about doing speaking engagements and writing articles on my field. While I already do both things, I can always do more and Carl gives me some great advice.
Whether you are a mechanical engineer, civil engineer, industrial designer or even an inventor, this conversation will really help you in your career to establish you as a thought leader. That can make a real impact on your success!
Key takeaways
- It is important to focus on the trade publications in your niche. While not a lot of people might read that magazine or blog, those that do read it are very interested in it.
- If you want to show that you can get results for your clients, generate articles and do presentations on your abilities to solve their problems
To contact Carl
Thoughtleadershipresources.com
My website: CADdesignhelp.com
Will Gibbons is a Training Specialist at Luxion, the makers of KeyShot rendering software. He's got a degree in Product Design and experience in marketing, product design and development and visualization.
Will has experience in more CAD programs than anyone else I know. We discuss many of the different programs out there and give the pros and cons of each. I mainly use Solidworks so this conversation really opened up my eyes to the different options when it comes to CAD. If you currently use CAD software or are interested in it, you will find a lot of value in this conversation.
Make sure you stick around to the special section at the very end, Will and I go into some extra discussions on Z-brush (a program used to create these masks).
Key takeaways
- There are so many CAD programs out there, that you need to pick the one or ones that best suit what you need
- For beginners looking to get into CAD, start with Fusion 360 because of the cost and flexibility
To contact Will
Website: Willgibbonsdesign.com
Instragram: @Willgibbonsdesign
Email: will@willgibbonsdesign.com
Andrew Bougie has a background in general IT and has (until recently) worked for a ScanSource, a company that sells 3D scanners. During his time there, he learned a lot about 3D scanning by getting hands on with the scanners and answering customer calls about scanner issues.
Andrew told me that he always wanted to own his own business and he had some side hustle jobs in the meantime. But he recently decided it was time to go full time with his knowledge of 3D scanning and start a business. With the help of a business partner, he started Digitizedesigns.com, which a service that provides 3D scanning services.
During our talk, we start with his journey so far. Then we move into the nitty gritty of 3D scanning. If you ever had any interest in learning about 3D scanning, then you need to hear this conversation.
Key takeaways
- We went into a lot of the details of 3D scanning, but the main takeaway is that it is great for reverse engineering complex shapes, and is not hard as you might think. You just need the right tools and we discussed many of them today
- Regarding starting a business, find a skilled business partner – you want some overlap so you understand each other but mainly you want to have a complimentary set of skills
To contact Andrew
Company website: Digitizedesigns.com
Twitter, Instagram: @AndrewBougie , @DigitizeDesigns