iTAP: Sales and Marketing Internship

MAKO Design + Invent has quickly risen to be a leading full-service, end-to-end North American product development firm. Since being founded in 1999, our award-winning industrial, electrical, mechanical, graphic and web/media design teams provide you with the most innovative, cost-effective and marketable solutions for your products.

We are actively working with private individuals and enterprise-level clients across Canada, the United States, Mexico and Europe to bring new products from Concept to Design, Prototype to Patents, and Manufacturing to Market. MAKO Design + Invent has recently launched its prestigious internship Training Accelerator Program (iTAP).

Working with aspiring entrepreneurs, creating marketing strategies and getting products to be market ready is what I breathe. At MAKO, I will be bringing my business acumen to the next level by working with top talent who have already brought numerous products to the mass market. With experience working with and consulting several startups, I hope to deepen my understanding of product-market fit with this internship (fact: most businesses fail from the start due to a lack of a clear understanding of this concept). In my role as a Sales and Marketing Coordinator, I will be focusing on developing strategic partnerships as well as helping product developers bridge the gap between concept and market success.

My name is Jonathan Ku, and I have experience running a startup, developing a tradeshow and creating a new smart pet feeder named Nibbles. My projects have been featured on CTV, National Post and Toronto Star, to name a few media outlets. Despite my broad spectrum of experience, I aspire to greater heights. I recently applied for and was accepted into MAKO Invent’s iTAP. I am now joining the team at MAKO in a role as a Sales and Marketing Coordinator to aggressively challenge my own personal and professional development. While joining a team of this calibre is a little daunting, I’m pleased to have the opportunity to grow tremendously in a safe space throughout my 6-month program.

I am thrilled to be starting my internship at MAKO. If you think as an intern with MAKO you’ll be playing receptionist, making copies or getting coffee for the team, you’d be quite wrong. We have a Vice President who gets us coffee! Specifically to my internship, I will be focusing on developing brand strategy, social media, sales and communications.

Moreover, every role here will have the ability to work with and learn other specialties, so I’ll be gaining some industrial design experience. I’m excited to be updating you on the latest products we’re working on as well as sharing my journey through iTAP. You aren’t just expected to be an intern here but considered to contribute as a full-time employee.

Do you want to learn how to clearly communicate to your target market and drive sales by using the latest marketing techniques? Do you want to work with proven entrepreneurs and learn how to market effectively in today’s fiercely competitive market? Do you want an opportunity to be given as much responsibility as you can handle and prove just how capable you are? I did and I have an opportunity to work with some of North America’s hottest talent in a safe space and grow as a future business leader.

If you think you have what it takes, look into our iTAP and apply if you’re committed to taking your career to the next level.

About: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Also, our founder Kevin Mako hosts The Product Startup Podcast, the industry's leading hardware podcast. Check it out for tips, interviews, and best practices for hardware startups, inventors, and product developers. Click HERE to learn more about MAKO Design + Invent!