Chris, design engineer, entreprenuer, looking to partner

[karakoram]

I'm not new to the Fastlane forum, but I haven't posted very much, and I haven't posted for a very long time. Recently, I partnered with an inventor local to my area to design the first version of his product. In exchange I got an equity stake in his new venture.

At my day job (as a design engineer) I was laid off last Sept. This was after designing 3 new key products (the only products they sell) for my employer. They laid me off as they were underfunded and could not afford to pay my wages. Just a few days ago, I saw that they are going to market with all 3 products I designed, and this small startup and the owners (my former bosses) are going to get rich off of my designs. In this situation, I was an employee, paid a very good wage, but not given any equity stake, but that was the deal I signed up for when they hire me, so I am not resentful. I do wish they would have offered me ownership.

I recently got a new day job as a design engineer at a larger company, and not long after they hired me, the lead engineer was fired. His designs made MILLIONS for the company, yet they canned him without too much forethought, for a reason I think was completely invalid. It really drove the point home that business owners think a super engineer (such as myself, or the former lead engineer at my new employer) are easy to replace. This is actually not true. Regular engineers are not too difficult to replace. But a super engineer is worth 10x a regular engineer, and is extremely difficult to replace.

At any rate, I decided that I needed to work on my own business, where I am in a position to directly benefit from the commercialization of my own designs (products).

Any Fastlaners interested in creating a physical product, PM me. I am an extremely talented design engineer. If you have an idea for a product, I am interested in partnering with you. If you would like to see some examples of my work, I am happy to share screenshots of CAD 3D solid models, and photos of the actual products. I am very atypical for an engineer. I have a very strong entrepreneurial streak. Earlier in my life, for almost 7 years, I founded, owned and operated an internet based (no walk-ins) consumer credit service. Changing regulations forced me out of this lucrative business, so I went back into engineering.

If your product or idea is physical or mechanical, I can design it, fix it, or redesign it. And if I can't design it, it can't be made ;-)


Images below:
--3D CAD model of a molded plastic cup
--3D CAD model Barrel nut of my own design for an AR15
--CAD Shop print sample of above barrel nut (partial print only, on purpose)
--3D CAD model of AR15 with my own designed forward handguard (rail), and picatinny attachments. Barrel nut I mentioned above fits within this 3D assembly model
--3D CAD model of a sports car axle I designed for myself (one of my personal car projects)
--Photo of same axle I paid a machine shop to fabricate and heat treat
--Stress analysis (FEA) of same axle.

 

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[Semmy]

Thanks good to know for people who want to venture into product licensing. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Journey2Million$]

I recently got a new day job as a design engineer at a larger company, and not long after they hired me, the lead engineer was fired. His designs made MILLIONS for the company, yet they canned him without too much forethought, for a reason I think was completely invalid.

Yeah, Rule #1: Employers treat Employees like shit. Rule #2: Employers never give royalties to employees.

Why don't you come up with a great product idea yourself and use Kickstarter to fund it?
In coming up with product ideas, remember that most people are dumb, so your product should preferably be something dumbed down, low brow, and easy to use. That way it'll sell more. Also the best piece of marketing advice I ever got is that people decide to buy products based on how much they imagine they'll enjoy them. An example of a successful dumb, low brow product is this:
http://www.billybobproducts.com/store.php/categories/billy-bob-teeth

 

[karakoram]

Hi thanks for the replies.

I wasn't really talking about licensing, though I suppose a royalty deal is sort of licensing. I was thinking more along the lines of finding people who have an idea, they talk to me about it, I decide (based on my extensive life experience, engineering experience and judgement) whether or not I think its a viable idea, and if so, I partner with the person. I am more interested in an equity sharing deal.

My talent lies in design. I don't have the time or money to come up with an idea, manufacture it and sell it myself. One thing I am not good at is coming up with ideas from nothing. HOWEVER, If someone describes a product idea to me, I can turn that into a 3D cad model mockup very quickly. I recently did this with an inventor local to my area. He already has a patent on his idea, but needed an engineer to create the design and create the CAD 3D model and do the dimensioned engineering drawings (most people mistakenly call these "schematics") so it can be made by a fabrication shop. He is responsible for getting investors, buying the tooling, and selling the product. I am happy to pitch in where I can in these other areas, but due to my day job demands, I have limited time.

Just for example, if someone were to say to me: "Chris, here's an idea for a product that I know for sure sells like crazy (like thousands of units per month), and you can sell it for $100 bucks a pop." and this person just told me what it was, and didn't even give me a sketch, it would not matter. I could design it. If I did some research and found I could manufacture it for $25, then I would be all over it. The $25 is because I have to sell it wholesale for $50, so they can mark it up and sell it for $100. I've been given hand sketches before and turned those into 3D cad models and then into real parts. I just need good ideas that have high commercial value.

The MOST efficient use of my time is to focus on the design, as I can do that faster than anything else, and I can do it faster than most anyBODY else. Design is also about making changes once we get feedback from the fabrication shop, or the toolmaker, etc. More design work is also required if the initial prototypes of the product show some deficiencies.

My background:
I have designed parts, assemblies and test rigs for aerospace (aircraft). I've designed complete firearms, 3D printers, and I've designed high performance car parts.
My latest job is molded part design (plastics) and moldsets (tool design).

I've thought about doing a kickstarter yes. I just need some good ideas for products. I also have to watch out that I don't violate any patents. It seems like every little thing is patented these days.

I think the best way to come up with products is to find problems to solve. The problem (LOL) for me is that when I run into problems, I rig up a solution and fix it, and don't give it a second thought. For the longest time, I used to think everyone did this. Then I found out that most people don't. I sort of have "problem blindness". I don't see problems, I just see something that needs a fix, and I barely consider it a problem.

Being an engineer, I tend to over complicate solutions as well. I have to really force myself to get simpler. One of my engineering professors taught me early on, the principal of "KISS" - keep it simple, stupid! Its still a struggle. I think one of the hallmarks of good design is simplicity. I greatly admire what Steve Jobs did with the iPod, iPhone and iPad.

By way of example of problems I solve without thinking about it, just take computers I have owned over the years including my current one. I have used windows since it was DOS6.2 (Win 3.11). Whenever I have problems pop up with my computers, I would just fix them myself. This includes when my wife and I had the lending business with multiple computers networked, etc. I was the IT guy even though I never had any formal training. I have NEVER hired anyone to fix my computer. I've even fixed computers for friends.

 

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[Semmy]

I'm not new to the Fastlane forum, but I haven't posted very much, and I haven't posted for a very long time. Recently, I partnered with an inventor local to my area to design the first version of his product. In exchange I got an equity stake in his new venture.

At my day job (as a design engineer) I was laid off last Sept. This was after designing 3 new key products (the only products they sell) for my employer. They laid me off as they were underfunded and could not afford to pay my wages. Just a few days ago, I saw that they are going to market with all 3 products I designed, and this small startup and the owners (my former bosses) are going to get rich off of my designs. In this situation, I was an employee, paid a very good wage, but not given any equity stake, but that was the deal I signed up for when they hire me, so I am not resentful. I do wish they would have offered me ownership.

I recently got a new day job as a design engineer at a larger company, and not long after they hired me, the lead engineer was fired. ...

you want to watch the webinar from Stephen Key "One Simple Idea" at:
https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/one-simple-idea-stephen-key.30946/
and the webinar that was done for the Fastlane Forum Members last week:
https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/posts/437300/

 

[Semmy]

Yeah, Rule #1: Employers treat Employees like shit. Rule #2: Employers never give royalties to employees.

Why don't you come up with a great product idea yourself and use Kickstarter to fund it?
In coming up with product ideas, remember that most people are dumb, so your product should preferably be something dumbed down, low brow, and easy to use. That way it'll sell more. Also the best piece of marketing advice I ever got is that people decide to buy products based on how much they imagine they'll enjoy them. An example of a successful dumb, low brow product is this:
http://www.billybobproducts.com/store.php/categories/billy-bob-teeth

DUMB? Says who?

I recommend you watch and read what Stephen Key has to say about Licensing.
Companies do not pay you royalties for "dumb" stuff - maybe if you are into novelties
or practical jokes business ideas, but what what you are talking about here does not
sound right - if you don't provide value for your customers you will not be successful.

With the attitude that you only hit the markets if you perceive people as dumb,
I would say that is a very short sighted perspective and will likely fire back to you
as it will not ensure long term profits if you think you just want to make a quick buck
out of people "being dumb".

If you read TMF from MJ De Marco you will see a different mindset on how to provide real
value on a massive scale to people and earn money once you chase REAL needs that can be scaled.

PS: Who says that it is a rule that employers treat employees like shit. Some do, other don't - it is
not the problem. The problem is that there is no leverage in being employed and that it is not
Fastlane.

 

[Semmy]

@scarab did you read the Millionaires Fast Lane book already?

Maybe you could create a business to provide 3d-models to inventors and people who are planning to license,
and are about to file provisional patents or patents. The question is: how big is the competition for this?

 

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[Journey2Million$]

Yeah the majority of people are pretty dumb and therefore you often have to incorporate this fact when designing products, so that your sales will be good. I'm guessing that you don't have experience designing products for the masses. I can back up my statement with a lot of evidence. First of all there's the famous phrase, "No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American Public." This is actually a simplified paraphrase of the original quote by H.L. Mencken: “No one in this world, so far as I know — and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me — has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.”
AOL was a huge success because they dumbed down the internet for the masses. The IPhone is a big success in large part because they dumbed it down, they made it simple & easy for people to use. Products in general must be easy to use, unless the the target market is engineers or other highly trained & intelligent professionals. There's so many products where the designers went out of their way to make them easy to use. Advertisements frequently stress how easy the products are to use. Also how about TV shows. Most TV shows are made for average dumb people. How about Youtube. The top Youtube channels are super dumb. Pewdie Pie is #1 on Youtube. He's a multi-millionaire for acting like a complete idiot. The #1 viewed music video on Youtube is Gangnam Style - where a Korean guy acts like a total jackass. Rap music is very stupid and look how financially successful it is. I personally also have to dumb down my own products and target simple minded people and base emotions to sell products. You don't get rich by creating products for intellectuals, because we make up just a tiny percentage of the population.

 

[karakoram]

@scarab did you read the Millionaires Fast Lane book already?

Maybe you could create a business to provide 3d-models to inventors and people who are planning to license,
and are about to file provisional patents or patents. The question is: how big is the competition for this?

Yes, I have read MJ's book, but its been a couple of years, so I may have forgotten a thing or 2. I like your idea of providing 3D models to inventors who want to license. I'm not sure this fulfills the commandment of scale though. Your suggestion is more like consulting, which might be harder to scale.

I was thinking of partnering with people, and we would found startups. If I do this one several people, I can handle their engineering, while they take care of the business side of things. If I have a percentage ownership of the business, I get scale once the product launches and we sell many copies (manufacturing scales if we pick the right products).

If I did something like Quirky, I could get the design side of things to scale, but I am not sure I would be doing design if I did a quirky-like startup. Quirky is more like running a online community.

I would rather focus on design which I am good at, and because I have really limited time I can spend working on my own thing (because I have a very demanding day job).

So, I have been thinking a lot about how to use my talent for design and engineering, yet find a way to scale it. The best idea I have right now is to partner with people who have an idea for a product, but need design and engineering done for them while they handle running the business side of things. Also, my thought is to validate the product via kickstarter. This would also get us funding to produce the first batch manufacturing run of parts.

The biggest value I bring is that I am willing to do the design/engineering work for free in exchange for some ownership. This is significant, as an engineer at my level could easily cost $75 to 95K/year. In addition, I have access to tools such as parametric, history-based 3D solid modelers which speed up design, and cut down on prototype iterations. Professional level 3D cad can easy cost $7k to $12K, plus to you have to really know what you are doing to UTILIZE this type of tool to the maximum possible effectiveness. In addition, I bring my manufacturing resources and contacts. I know of one company willing to partner with me and it may be possible to get them to make prototypes for very little cost up front (in exchange for a promise to get the production work when it materializes). All of the above translate into significant savings, as prototype design, engineering and fabrication can run $120 per hour. I've worked on projects that have hundreds or thousands of hours of my time alone. Then you have to pay for the initial production run on top of that.

 

[Semmy]

@scarab sounds like a great ambitious plan - since I obviously have no specific insights about your industry I wish you good luck and looking forward to learn more about your progress.

 

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[Semmy]

@Journey2Million$ ok, the "Keep It Simple Stupid" KISS rule for communicating with the masses and making things as simple as possible to use and understand I can relate to. Your blunt language about how dumb people are was just a bit too generic for me. It sounded like too disrespectful to me. But I get it what you meant. And it gives me to food for thought - mabye some of my products that I tried to launch were "too difficult to understand". I just think if you "hate your customers" (as they are so incredibly "dumb") - and that is what I got our of your original comment - it will show and the part of "providing value for your customers" might suffer long term.

But again I understand now what you meant, if you want to serve millions you have to make it as simple and "stupid" as possible to reach the most numbers of potential clients.