216: 5 Key Tips For Starting Your Product Development Journey

With Wade Harmidy, Operations & Project Manager at MAKO Design + Invent

Hosted by Kevin Mako, President of MAKO Design + Invent

Wade Harmidy, an esteemed project manager at MAKO Design + Invent, dedicates his meticulously cultivated expertise to guiding inventors and hardware startups through their product development journeys. Armed with an impressive academic background that includes an Honours Bachelor of Science degree and a Post Graduate Certificate in Quality Assurance, in addition to a prestigious Six Sigma Black Belt certification in Project Management, Wade is a beacon of knowledge in his field. Today, he graciously shares key tips for modern inventors, startups, and small-scale manufacturers. He expounds upon how to best navigate the beginning of your product development journey by revealing 5 indispensable strategies that will ensure you succeed in your product venture.

Here are the key takeaways from the episode:

• What are the core factors that dictate how your product journey will go?
• What is the Six Sigma Black Belt certification?
• Having a definitive vision for what your invention is going to achieve or what problem it is solving is integral.
• The clearer your vision is in the initial stages, the more likely it is that an experienced team will be able to help you realize your vision.
• Write down your product vision!
• Shoot for fewer words than more words. In only a few sentences, someone should understand what your product does.
• Have something tangible to bring to the product engineering firm. You don’t need to be an artist or have advanced sketching skills! Just get the idea down.
• Make sure to consider the end user and what your product accomplishes for them.
• How do you want the end user to use your product?
• MVP design is a key tenet that streamlines the product development process and minimizes cost.
• Keep your design focused on the core functionality of the product!
• MVP design plays largely off of lean manufacturing principles.
• When you have fewer features to focus on, you can make sure each is developed to the highest standard.
• Start small to start, wedge yourself into the target market, and then build from there.
• Setting realistic deadlines is incredibly important!
• You need to give your product design team enough time for research, ideation, concept and industrial design, and iteration.
• Cutting corners often leads to failure!
• Plan for the big picture and all of the key milestones you need to hit.

Wade Harmidy Links:

LinkedIn | Six Sigma Black Belt Certification

The Product Startup Podcast Links:

www.ProductStartup.com

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MAKO Design + Invent Links:

www.makodesign.com

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Kevin Mako Links:

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Producer: 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 the above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories.