Product Genius, the Podcast for Inventors, Entrepreneurs, and Startups

Steven Julian: If you’re a nerd like me, you read Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and you know that the answer to life and everything in the universe is 42. Well, today, our guest, Rita Crompton, the inventor lady, focuses more importantly on the questions about licensing and about being an inventor entrepreneur and taking that journey. While at the end of the show, we won’t be the podcast at the end of the universe, we’ll get pretty close next on Product Genius.

Rita Crompton: Do you want to be a successful inventor entrepreneur? Struggling to get your product from idea to market? Well, you’ve come to the right place. Welcome to Product Genius, the down-to-earth podcast that explores important topics about inventing and launching new products. Noah McNeely is your trusted guide. With more than 20 years of product launch experience, he’s here to help you on your journey to become a product genius. Let’s get started. Here’s your slightly annoying co-host, Steven Julian.

Noah McNeely: Hey, that’s my line.

Steven Julian: Yes, it’s your slightly annoying co-host, Steven Julian. Welcome to another, hopefully one day soon, award-winning edition of Product Genius. Coming to you from deep in the lair with the open door and the beautiful. spring weather behind us. Of the headquarters of Product Quick Start, it is the Product Genius podcast show. To my right, the intrepid producer, Jody Smith, across the table from me is the host, is the star of the show, is the partial genius who brings other geniuses to the table. It’s Noah McNeely.

Noah McNeely: Half the reason I do this show is to get that intro because that makes me feel amazing. Yeah, thank you. And I appreciate that.

Steven Julian: Thank you. Well, listen, I did some coaching, coaching of basketball and baseball. Sometimes you got to break people down. Sometimes you got to get everybody ready to run through a brick wall.

Noah McNeely: You’re good enough. And gosh, darn it. People love you.

Steven Julian: Oh, I love that. Stuart Smalley reference. We’re starting off hot. I like it. And it’s going to get even hotter. We have a fantastic guest. Before I do the official introduction, why don’t you tell me who we’ve got at the table? How you met her.

Noah McNeely: Sure. So today we’re talking to Rita Crompton, who is one of my favorite people because she has a passion for inventors and entrepreneurs just like I do. And she’s out, you know, just like me, she wants to make sure people are not getting scammed. She wants to make sure people are doing the right things and not wasting their money on the wrong things to get their product to market. So she and I are kind of kindred spirits in that sense. Frankly, I don’t remember exactly how Rita and I met. I think we were on this email exchange somehow, and we were both on this list, and I responded to it, and then she responded to me, and then we talked on the phone, and now we’ve known each other for a while.

Steven Julian: And here we are. And she also has a fantastic radio show and podcast called Invent America. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome Rita Crompton to Product Genius. Rita, welcome to the show.

Rita Crompton: Oh, gentlemen, thank you so much. It’s a pleasure to be here with you. Absolutely.

Steven Julian: So why don’t we start with you talking about your show. Tell us about Invent America and what you do on your show.

Rita Crompton: Well, Invent America is the brainchild of another genius. He is Michael King with Home Talk USA and Home Talk USA has been on for. 20 years. It’s one of the… Shortly, in a few months, we will be the longest running do-it-yourself talk radio program in history. So, you know, I’m really proud to be part of that. He asked me about a year and a half ago if I would come on and do the second hour, because it’s a three-hour show, for inventors. Because I’ve been on several times and always bringing one of my inventors with me. And so we started Invent America with the… Absolute dedication of helping inventors get from I have an idea to the marketplace and just passionate and dedicated and driven really is the better word probably for making sure that inventors have the best information out there. And so I had the… The opportunity to meet Noah when, you know, people would call me and I’d say, you know, they’d call me on a Saturday afternoon because that’s when we were actually on the air. And I said, well, how did you hear about us? And he goes, I listen to you on the radio right now and I need somebody that can help me manufacture this product. I was like, let me introduce you. to Noah. And so that’s kind of how things all got started.

Steven Julian: I like it. I like it. Now, this show grew out of you being a guest on the Home Talk USA and your guest appearances. Was because of how you help inventors and entrepreneurs. And Noah has been on this show talking about how he helps kind of design the product and do prototypes. And he plays an engineer and helps people do that side of it. There are a lot of other aspects and you help with some of those other aspects. Talk about how you specifically have helped inventors and entrepreneurs in the business you do to help them with that.

Rita Crompton: Well, years ago, I met some… Older gentlemen, rocket scientists, and they got me started working in the area as a licensing agent. One of them was a licensing agent. He kind of took me under his wing. One of them was a registered patent attorney. And these gentlemen, you know, I always say, you know, somebody says, how did you get connected with this? And I, you know, joke and say, well, I shut up long enough to listen to what God was saying. to me. But, you know, I got connected with these guys, started going to the meetings. The one mentored me and taught me how to be then a licensing agent, all the legalese and everything that goes into it. So when I, you know, spun off from him when he retired and we realized that if we could help inventors sooner do a good job, that we had a better chance of licensing on the end. And licensing is done after Noah creates these beautiful prototypes and the patents are filed and we’re ready to start manufacturing some. Licensing is when the inventor wants someone else to make it, sell it, and send a royalty check. And there are a lot of people that dabble in that area, but they all charge up front. We don’t. We don’t charge anything. We get paid when the inventor gets paid. And so that was a big deal. And, you know, like I said, the sooner we could help inventor make better choices, you know, when was it appropriate to file intellectual property? What did you have to do before that? You know, how do you get then that first prototype of duct? tape and cardboard? When do you go to someone like a Noah? What’s next? What are your options? What are the price points? When I get an inventor that tells me they paid $50,000 for a patent, it’s like, oh my God, find a different patent. We know that the average cost should be somewhere around a grand for a complete utility filing. But I get inventors that tell me they spent $25,000, $30,000, $50,000, and it’s like, holy cow. And I think some of it is that inventors at the early stage, they will have a budget. And they spend it too quickly not realizing that manufacturing, you know, getting those sexy manufacturers’ prototypes and being able to even get a short run done, it’s expensive.

Noah McNeely: I think you can start to see why Rita and I are kindred spirits because we complain about some of the same things about having met inventors that have just blown so much money doing the wrong things or the right things at the wrong times. At the wrong levels.

Steven Julian: And one of the questions I want to ask, and Noah, we have spent many episodes and in sometimes creative and sometimes not. so creative ways, which is all my fault. We kind of talk about… One of the things that’s been your passion is also helping inventors and entrepreneurs avoid mistakes. What mistakes can they avoid? So I’m thinking, Rita, if I asked you the same question and I know if I say, hey, what mistakes are you helping people try and avoid? You could talk nonstop for probably three and a half hours with your experience and what you’ve seen. Can you give a couple of the main mistakes you’ve seen over and over and over again around the areas you’ve been in in terms of licensing and patents? And I think we’ve already heard one of them, which is you should be very careful to not overpay and get under-delivered on the service of the actual patent. But what are some of the other mistakes you’re trying to help people avoid on their journey to bring their product to market?

Rita Crompton: Well, the first one we frequently see is that the inventor’s original business plan is have idea, get patent, make money. And so my job is to let them know that’s not exactly the right steps and to encourage them. to get their own independent, comprehensive search done first. It’s a conflict of interest for the attorney to do the search, but that is nine times out of ten, they, oh, my attorney did the search. It’s like, no, don’t have the attorney do the search. Get your own search done. A good comprehensive search is $500. It searches the entire world because if your idea has been done anywhere in the world, you will not be granted a U.S. patent. Helping them really understand why that’s true, what they do then with the patent so that they’re able to frame the conversation with the attorney rather than the attorney framing the conversation with them. What should the price points be on certain stages? Really helping them understand the process. What are the first steps? And then understanding options, I think, is the big one because so many inventors get pushed into startup mode. And I don’t know how you guys feel about startup mode, but we laugh around here. Startup mode means you take someone else’s money, you go bankrupt, and they still expect to be paid back. As opposed to growing organically if they want to be able. to manufacture and grow a business. But a lot of inventors don’t realize that, you know, if they’re going to go that route, you’ve got to be an expert at business. You’ve got to be an expert at marketing. You’ve got to be an expert at manufacturing. And rarely are they an expert on everything, although I’ve had a few things that they were.

Noah McNeely: Those are the worst ones, right? The ones who don’t know anything but are absolutely convinced they know everything.

Rita Crompton: Oh, my God. I had a guy tell me, he goes, well, I’m the smartest guy I know. And it’s like, our conversation is over.

Noah McNeely: You don’t know a lot of people, do you, right?

Steven Julian: I know, right? Well, welcome to the counseling session of Noah and Rita. I’m your therapist, Steven, and my job is to listen. But I did want to reset the conversation. No, I’m sorry. That was good. That was very cathartic, I think, for both of you to go, oh, my God, do you remember? Oh, yes, that one guy. Okay. Anyway, go ahead. I interrupted you.

Rita Crompton: So, you know, it’s just really helping inventors understand kind of the parameters, the reality. check. You know, when they tell me it’s like, oh, you know, this is just going to make so many millions of dollars. And it’s like, no, probably not. Here is the reality of this. And I always tell my husband, it’s like, you know, well, you know, I can. I can, you know, think in fantasy land. I know there’s a happy land and then there’s the reality check. And if I can end up in happy land because, you know, we’ve balanced out, you know, fantasy and reality. I can keep most of my inventors with both feet on the ground and realize, you know, licensing, somebody else does the heavy lifting, and you are going to have extra disposable income. But when you go into, you know, that business building mode, your trick to the bank is going to be generally to take money out or to see if you can find it somewhere. And that when you license it, you actually get a check you get to go and deposit. So, you know, those are just some of the reality checks. Some of them have, you know, enough bandwidth and experience that they can start manufacturing. and build a business. And I had a few on the radio the last few weeks that are doing exactly that. And, you know, that’s wonderful, more power to them. But for the inventors that say, you know, I need to take out a second mortgage on the house to do this, it’s like, probably don’t want to go there.

Noah McNeely: Yeah, that’s a bad strategy generally. It’s a very risky investment, no matter how you look at it. So you wouldn’t take a second mortgage out. Well, you shouldn’t take a second mortgage out to buy a hot stock, right?

Steven Julian: Yeah.

Noah McNeely: I’m asking the financial planner.

Steven Julian: Or buy cryptocurrency. That is not a good idea. So yeah, I’m with you there. So Rita, my tagline is I’m the Slightly Annoying co-host. And one of the benefits of acknowledging that I’m Slightly Annoying is I am allowed… I’m allowed one question on every show where if I ask it, people go, that’s stupid. That’s dumb. You should have never asked that. And that’s annoying. And then I just quickly pivot to another question. So I believe this might be the slightly annoying. So if this is way off, you are allowed. to call me, you know, just nicely call me stupid and we’ll move on. So when I’m listening to all the things you do and you don’t get paid until they. And that is almost at the end of the rainbow. So I’m beginning to wonder, all this other stuff you’re adding in is a tremendous value add. Are there other services you provide that potentially someone would contract with you other than just at the very end at the licensing? Or is all this stuff you’re doing to help them to get to the licensing so that both of you get paid?

Rita Crompton: Yeah.

Steven Julian: Great. See, that’s a fantastic answer. I love it.

Rita Crompton: Well, you know, if I work with the inventors, not all of them go for licensing. Some of them actually go into startup mode. Well, you know, we’ve got, you know, sometimes I put them in touch with a good reseller. We’ve got one gentleman, if he can get his price down, and I sent him to Noah already. Then, you know, he’s got all of these hardware stores want to carry his product. Well, there are some of those where I put them in touch with. that. And then, yes, I do get a piece of that, you know, when they’re getting paid. But again, I don’t get paid till they get paid. So if I can help an inventor sooner rather than later make better decisions, you know, when it comes for licensing, they’ll say, you know what, I trust her. I’m going to go back to her. So, yeah, we do sow a lot of seeds. And with the idea that we’re going to get the products out there. But like when we go to ASD Market Week, when we go to the trade show, about half of the inventors there want a license, but about half of them there are taking orders, which is fine. We don’t care. We want good products in our booth. We want inventors to make progress. when they go to a show with us, whether we’re acting as a licensing agent for them or we are just acting as… A booth space for them to come and get some exposure and enjoy the experience. You know, yeah, I get a lot of people say, oh, you know, you should charge up front. It’s like, no, no, I need. to be able to sleep at night. And I can’t guarantee that we’ll get a deal done any better than the guys charging up front.

Steven Julian: Noah, I can see why you wanted to bring Rita on this show. First of all, we’re speaking with Rita Crompton. She is the host of Invent America. And if you we don’t want anyone to leave our show, but you just need to add on your list of shows to listen to. You need to be listening to Invent America and listen to all the people she brings on the show and the advice she’s giving there. Because I am so hearing the kindred spirit and I see why you brought her on. And even being interviewed, she’s a great host because she pivoted to a topic naturally that we wanted to make sure and cover. Noah, you were telling me a little bit about this off air. So I’m going to let you introduce because you wanted to talk to her about this trade show.

Noah McNeely: Yeah. So Rita, I think we could probably have you back and do a whole episode just about the whole trade show experience. But it’s something you do. that I’ve not seen anyone else really do. For the benefit of inventors, the way you do it in the sense that you go to this trade show and you actually coordinate having a very large area at the trade show and inventors come in and they have their booths and they get to demonstrate their wares. Tell me about that. How do inventors use that? How do you help them use that effectively and to what ends?

Rita Crompton: Well, most inventors, you know, if they go to a trade show, they sign up for the inventor space. Don’t do that. All right. You get treated like you’re in high school and the majority of the people you talk to are trying to sell you services.

Noah McNeely: It’s like a science fair exhibit, right?

Rita Crompton: Exactly. Exactly. So we are out on the main floor. This last one, we had 800 square feet. We had 30 products. The inventors, I encourage them to go. They can talk better about their product than anybody else can. Although we’ve had some good deals come in on the products that couldn’t be there. So, you know, if they can’t be there, that’s all right. I’ve got. staff that represents the products. But for a lot of the inventors, this is where they go and they learn. You know, they’re able to have feet on the ground. They’re able to talk to people. They’re able to practice their pitch. And they do it at a fraction of the cost as if they were going alone. So they can learn. They can learn about what it’s like to be at a professional trade show, not a consumer-based trade show. And they tell me all the time, it’s like, oh my God, this was so much fun. This was so cool. I learned so much. The ASD market people are wonderful to work with. They really, really… So we’re encouraging to all of our products. We did the Innovation Awards. So all of the people, all of the products in our booth were participated in the Innovation Award. And Leslie Holland was the first place winner on her jewelry product. She’s called the Jewelry Closet. And we’re looking at licensing that one. And so, you know, AST was wonderful because it was such a broad. Um, selection of consumer goods. We’d been to the National Hardware Show for several. years. And, you know, we had somebody say one time, it’s like, well, you know, I keep Googling National Hardware Show and Inventor Lady is the only thing that comes up. It’s like, well, hello, we pay a lot of money for that. And, um, you know, part of it is, you know, when an inventor goes by themselves, they are looking at spending five to 10 grand to be able to do a lot of the things that we do, um, that’s included in their price of 3000. And that includes all the materials and all of the advertising and the online, and it makes them look a lot bigger than if they had to go alone. So those are some of the things that we’ve learned. is, you know, for the inventor to learn, for their product to launch at a major show, those are all good things.

Noah McNeely: And you said something that you went through fairly quickly, but I want to draw attention to it, is you drew a distinction between professional or commercial trade shows and consumer trade shows. You know, maybe our average listener doesn’t realize there is a difference. And I’m pretty sure I. know what you mean by that, but help us understand.

Rita Crompton: A consumer trade show is a show where the consumers come in to buy one at a time. You know, they’re looking to see what’s for sale and they’re just, you know.

Noah McNeely: So like the boat show down at the local rec center or whatever it is. Right, right.

Rita Crompton: And a professional show, they have to have credentials to get in. So they’ve got to be buyers. They’ve got to be manufacturers. They’ve got to be in product development. So it’s the show where a store owner is representing thousands of his buyers, his customers. And so he’s going to order, you know, a case of something instead of one.

Noah McNeely: So you know it’s a legit conversation you’re having if you’re having it at that kind of show like you go to.

Rita Crompton: Exactly. We really don’t go to the consumer shows. Some of my inventors, they’ll go to a local one if they’ve got inventory. But the other thing is for the inventors, a lot of times they don’t realize they’ll manage to get into a professional show and they will walk around. They’ve got to be so careful what. they say because if you want to be able to sell your product, you’ve got to pay to play, which means you’ve got to be an exhibitor and have an exhibitor badge on. If you’re an attendee, you’re expected to be there as a buyer. And so when they start trying to sell their product, they can get escorted out and actually get blacklisted from attending another professional show.

Steven Julian: And so again, one of the ways you’re giving back and also participating and helping. So when you’ve, you know, your area, you’ve created your own area and then allowed multiple inventors to be a part of what you’ve kind of etched out at this ASD show. Is that okay? So, and I, as you’ve been talking about it, so anyone can go and look for ASD. It looks like there’s multiple, they do, they kind of host multiple shows throughout the year. They’re kind of a trade show organization.

Rita Crompton: ASD Market Week is the largest business to business. And it was so funny because when, you know, my inventors were there and they were saying, well, this is business to business. And I go, and you are a business. And. they said, but it’s, you know, it’s, you know.

Noah McNeely: That’s an epiphany for people, right? I’m not an inventor. I’m a business. Right. What’s the difference?

Rita Crompton: But it’s for wholesalers and you are wholesaling. Right. And it’s like, oh, wow, it didn’t get that. So, you know, yes, it is always fun to watch the, you know, the lights starting to go off and they start to get so excited. And so when we put, you know, a lot of inventors and products, they actually, you know, they go and they have each other’s back. They start talking about each other’s products. It’s really exciting to see them get so excited. Somebody comes up and that inventor might be out on the floor and they’re talking about the guy next to him. They’re talking about their product. It’s like, oh, I know somebody. Because a lot of them, they’re professionals and they know people in other areas. The staff that I had, they are professional trade show workers out there in Las Vegas. They would actually say, oh, I went to this show. You know, so let me go home tonight and I’ll get you all those leads from another. show. So it makes a huge difference that, you know, we are able to be out there. We’re able to get the inventors out there. It’s a professional area. ASD does two shows a year. 2024, we only went to the March show, but in 2025, we will start participating in both of their shows, the one in March and the one in August.

Noah McNeely: Wow. And are those both in Las Vegas? or where are those?

Rita Crompton: Those are both in Las Vegas. You know, there is a professional trade show for every industry, for every product. If the inventor looks around and there’s not a central database for them to go really and look at, they’re all over the country. But, you know, you can call, you know, if you call, you’ve got a hair product and you call a beauty salon and say, what is the professional trade show that your product sellers attend? The product rests. Where do they go? They can generally give them a pretty good idea. I mean, I’ve been to the National Asphalt Show.

Steven Julian: Nice.

Noah McNeely: I’ll bet that was really exciting. Yeah.

Rita Crompton: Oh, yeah. It was. Now, for the inventor, it truly was exciting. because, man, there were people after his product big time. But otherwise, you know, it was in a high school gymnasium, so it wasn’t, you know, not a Las Vegas convention center.

Noah McNeely: Right, right.

Steven Julian: I was trying to think of a good hot and sticky reference, but all I could think of was sticky buns. But anyway, and it’s funny, Rita, as you kind of started and we were asking, what are kind of the mistakes you’re helping people avoid or the traps that have been set? And I think we’ve kind of come full circle. because part of this is if you’re on the journey of becoming an inventor and entrepreneur and you want to bring your product to market, on the one hand, You and Noah and others are trying to help them avoid the bad players or the bad actors of overcharging for patents or overcharging for services that they don’t quite yet deliver. And yet, there is such a place and a need. That’s, again, the part of this show is there need to be other geniuses at the table. You’ve got to know who to partner with, and you’ve got to find those good partners. to work with. Because you’re helping them on the back end with the licensing, but there’s all these other things you’re trying to help entrepreneurs and inventors kind of find. And some of that is in how to conduct at a trade show and who you need to find and the right partnerships. And so you can’t do everything for these people. So is it just kind of helping them learn the ropes? Is it introducing them to the right people? Is it a combination of everything? Is it trial and error? I mean, goodness gracious, it seems incredibly daunting. Why are you still doing it? What gets you up in the morning? Where’s your why? What gets you motivated other than I can’t call you and do an introduction like I did for Noah on his show that we record here, but why do you keep doing it?

Rita Crompton: 17 years I’ve been doing this. You know, it’s that magic moment when I help somebody get that licensing deal in place. And I can’t help but think that, you know, this is where God has brought me because there’s somebody out there. He wants me to help that. I’m the. stepping stone. And that’s just what I have always believed. I’ve explained it to my husband. He goes, man, he goes, I am not going to get in your way. Whatever you need, let me know because I got your back. And, you know, one of the things that we’ve learned is. For a lot of inventors, their best resource is the inventor sitting next to them. And so we do the Inventor Roundtable meetings twice a month. We do Inventor Roundtable Virtual East, Inventor Roundtable Virtual West. It’s free. All they’ve got to do is get out there and find the link. They’re all over the place. Holy cow, we put them up everywhere. And, you know, they’re all across the country, the inventors. They’re talking about Noah. Imagine that.

Noah McNeely: Hopefully it’s all good.

Rita Crompton: Oh, my God. The one lady thinks you walk on water. And it helps them when they say, no, you know, this was a service provider I use. This is where I got taken advantage. You know, you don’t want to get caught up in this part. And, you know, they will trust other inventors. You know, who’ve been down the same path and the. other inventors, you know, take mercy on, you know, the new guy that’s trying to get it done. So that’s one of the things that, you know, that we do offer. that, you know, it’s kind of the calling version of the radio show where they can talk to each other and ask for information. So that’s been a good piece. But, you know, like I said, it’s that deal that gets done. We had a lady a few months ago that did. She had early onset Parkinson’s. She was 25 years old. And her dad was footing the bill for the patent. She had a feeding tube for eight years, graduated from high school. Imagine going through high school with that. And then went to college, became a chemist. Solved her own problem because that feeding tube causes a horrible, horrible rash and pain because of the seepage. For everybody in the world that has to have a stoma. This is a problem they have. And we ended up, we helped her with her intellectual property. And then I was the licensing agent that helped her get the deal done. And we licensed it to the company that makes. the stomas. And they knew, they had known for decades that it was a problem. She was the one who solved it. And so it’s, you know, things like that that get me up in the morning. It’s like, let’s find a new deal.

Noah McNeely: That’s a fantastic story. That should be a movie. That’s an amazing story. I love that. One of the things you mentioned, I think it’s the community you create is just fantastic. And I think that’s one of those things that inventors really, I meet a lot of inventors who feel like they’re very isolated. You know, they’ve gotten advice from here. They’ve gotten advice from there and et cetera, et cetera. None of it matches. And, you know, they follow this one person’s advice and they get something different. But your community has people that can tell them, yeah, I did that because so-and-so told me it didn’t work out. So I did this instead.

Rita Crompton: A couple of tidbits. I want to, you know, make sure I get out there before we end this is stay away from SCORE and SBA. All right. They are business people. All right. Rarely are you talking to one. that’s actually invented something totally different. There are steps involved in, you know, if you’re opening a cleaners or starting a mechanic shop, you know, anything like that, you’ve got one set of steps you take. If you are an inventor, you have a very different set of steps you take. And oh my God, there are so many inventors, oh, well, I went to the SBA and they had me do a business plan. No, you’re just guessing at that point because you don’t have anything yet. And so, you know, that’s one of the big ones that we want to say, don’t go there and don’t do crowdfunding. You know? I’ve had people raise $500,000 in a six-week campaign and be bankrupt in two weeks because they didn’t understand it. It’s a tool when you know what’s going on. Exactly.

Noah McNeely: It’s not a tool for beginners. And people go out, I raised all this. We’ve had a show about this. I’ve raised all this money. Isn’t that great? Yeah, but you raised a third of what you need to succeed. Now you’re going to have to pay all that money back. You’re going to be bankrupt or whatever. And yeah, absolutely. I have a soapbox about that, which I had to retire.

Rita Crompton: Got a guy that just got, he raised $200,000 two years ago. Hasn’t filled a single order and he is obligated legally that he’s got to fill those orders. and he just keeps kind of patting everybody on the head and saying, I’ll get there, I’ll get there.

Noah McNeely: He’s got 2,000 angry people out there.

Rita Crompton: Yep, yep. And now he’s calling me saying, okay, now what?

Steven Julian: Well, and it was funny, you mentioned it earlier and I think crowdfunding is one of the options. I think sometimes people think the end is to get the funding. And that’s just the beginning. That’s just a hurdle to the next opportunity. And I do want to clarify, and I think you said this very clearly, but you’re not saying score and SBA are bad. You’re saying they’re not who inventors need to start with. That’s more when you’ve got a full operating business, maybe there’s a reason to go back there and talk to them. But getting it off it, yeah, I like that. It’s so interesting. There’s an element of parenting. There’s an element of coaching. There’s. an element of my mom and dad both taught for over 30 years, and there’s that teaching element of seeing your kids grow up, seeing the child in the class. Get the calculus concept that Noah and I were talking calculus before the show.

Noah McNeely: We’re not nerds at all.

Steven Julian: No, not at all. Wait till I pull out my Legend of Nim reference. It’s going to knock your socks off.

Noah McNeely: I love that movie.

Steven Julian: I knew you would. That’s why I mentioned it.

Rita Crompton: I don’t even know what you’re talking about.

Steven Julian: So it’s just

Steven Julian: Greetings and salutations. Steven Julian: I am your slightly annoying host, Steven Julian. Steven Julian: Welcome to a new edition of Product Genius. Steven Julian: This time… Without Tiffany Crumans, but what we do have is the fantastic Noah McNeely. Steven Julian: Noah, welcome back to the show. Noah McNeely: Yeah, it’s good to be back. Noah McNeely: I feel like it’s been an entire pandemic ago. Steven Julian: Almost. Steven Julian: It’s been at least, it’s been a year, but it does kind of feel like a whole pandemic ago. Steven Julian: So, Product Genius, this might sound a little bit different. Steven Julian: There are some differences. Steven Julian: Why don’t? Steven Julian: we cover all that stuff up front?

Steven Julian: Broadcasting this show almost live from the Plush Palatial Studios that is the worldwide headquarters of Product Quick Start. Steven Julian: Tell everybody about your new digs. Noah McNeely: Yes, so Product Quick Start, we were fortunate enough to move into a new facility, well, new to us facility that we’re renovating in what they call the Depot District of Lawrenceville, Georgia, which is this… Exciting little area where we have some breweries and we have a distillery going in. Noah McNeely: that I think is going to make tequila and I try to remain sober during the day when I’m working here. Steven Julian: Especially when you’re doing the show. Steven Julian: Well, maybe not as much when you do that. Noah McNeely: Probably more important that I remain sober when using the power equipment in the back. Steven Julian: Amen. Steven Julian: The other thing we want to talk about for those people who are coming upon this episode and have listened to past episodes. Steven Julian: In some respects, we’re the same, but in some respects, there are some differences. Steven Julian: This show was always known as Product Genius with Tiffany Krumans. Steven Julian: Tiffany is still with us, but she’s not with us in the studio. Steven Julian: So, Noah, I ask. Steven Julian: you, where in the world is Tiffany Krumans? Noah McNeely: Well, anyone that has listened to more recent shows probably knows Tiffany has a lot of ideas for businesses, and she also has… New children in her life, and she stays very, very busy. Noah McNeely: Her latest company is called Opu Probiotics, and it’s a fabulous product. Noah McNeely: I recommend you try it. Noah McNeely: I particularly like the mocha mint flavor. Noah McNeely: But anyway, we believe that Tiffany is scouring the world looking for the finest ingredients she can for that particular product. Noah McNeely: So you might find her in the Himalayas or the Amazon. Noah McNeely: Probably wearing a baby and a baby Bjorn and with three other kids following her around. Steven Julian: And everybody can go to opuprobiotics.com, opuprobiotics.com, and see all the latest things that Tiffany is doing with that product. Steven Julian: And therefore, she was the creator of Product Genius originally, and you were a fantastic partner and sponsor of the show and would come on and talk about… Developing products through your business, productquickstart.com. Steven Julian: And when Tiffany really launched Opu, she told all of us, Jody Smith, the producer of the show, and myself as the slightly annoying host, hey, I’m going to take a little. Steven Julian: bit of time off. Steven Julian: I got to launch this new business. Steven Julian: And then in the meantime, let me just fast forward a little bit. Steven Julian: And I don’t know how much behind the scenes and unplugged you want to get. Steven Julian: Why are you sitting across the table from me and why are you now kind of leading this ship that Tiffany built up to this point? Noah McNeely: Well, first, we’re going to hope that the Shipley is led in a good direction and not running aground. Steven Julian: Not yet, at least. Steven Julian: We’re five minutes in. Steven Julian: It’s so far so good. Noah McNeely: So, yeah, we’re doing great at the moment. Noah McNeely: Well, I always enjoyed doing the show. Noah McNeely: I mean, I had a lot of fun with you guys and it really hits one of my passions, which… I like talking about this stuff. Noah McNeely: I do what I love. Noah McNeely: I enjoy explaining it to people. Noah McNeely: I think the show is a good way to do that. Noah McNeely: I’ve actually met a number of people through the show. Noah McNeely: Those are all great conversations. Noah McNeely: My hope is as we move forward, Product Genius will be a show that’s useful for inventors, of course. Noah McNeely: Really, I think we’re going to. Noah McNeely: talk about things that relate to all entrepreneurs or most entrepreneurs. Noah McNeely: Even to people that work for bigger companies that want to think more like entrepreneurs. Steven Julian: So here we are after more than a year off. Steven Julian: We’re doing a new show. Steven Julian: Noah McNeely is sitting across the table from me. Steven Julian: Jody Smith from JodySmith.com is still our producer. Steven Julian: I’m still the slightly annoying host. Steven Julian: And here we are still talking about product development. Steven Julian: We’re going to talk about inventing. Steven Julian: And today we’re talking about help. Steven Julian: I’ve got too many ideas. Steven Julian: Which is definitely true of this show after not doing it for a year. Steven Julian: And people who are doing product development and kind of trying to bring their product to market, as they’re bringing one product to market, they have all these other ideas. Steven Julian: That’s the entrepreneurial, that’s the inventor. Steven Julian: There’s a lot of people listening who, number one, are going, okay, yeah, they’re talking about something I need to talk about. Steven Julian: And when you’re listening to this, you might also be thinking, Ooh, I know someone else that needs to hear this. Steven Julian: So listen to this one, invite them to hear the show because we’re going to be talking. Steven Julian: about, I got too many ideas. Steven Julian: So the title of the show, obviously I gave a little bit of a inkling of it.

Steven Julian: You are guilty of this just like anybody else, right? Noah McNeely: Oh, absolutely. Noah McNeely: In fact, the fact that I’m doing this podcast while writing a business and… Engaging in various other hobbies may be an example of where I’m guilty of this, but I’m trying to balance it well. Noah McNeely: And we thought this would be a really good topic for the first show because Tiffany is actually a great example of doing this well. Noah McNeely: She realized at some point that she had too many different things going on. Noah McNeely: So to be successful, she had to push some of them to the back, and that’s why. Noah McNeely: That’s why we’re here. Steven Julian: That’s why she’s out finding those great products or finding those great ingredients to go into the mint mocha. Noah McNeely: That’s why she’s in the Amazon today. Noah McNeely: Exactly. Noah McNeely: So, you know, this is a problem that doesn’t just affect inventors and entrepreneurs. Noah McNeely: It actually affects big companies as well. Noah McNeely: And back when I did a lot of big company work, this was a topic that would come up. Noah McNeely: The big. Noah McNeely: scary corporate name for this is portfolio management. Noah McNeely: As an inventor entrepreneur, you never need to use that phrase again, probably. Noah McNeely: But the idea is even big companies, they have so many things that they want to do or would love to do, but they can’t do them all. Noah McNeely: In a big company, like a Fortune 500 company, I almost said some names there, but I don’t want to be sued or anything by any of my clients from years ago. Noah McNeely: In a big company, you have entire teams of people in many cases. Noah McNeely: Their whole job is to manage and really to do the portfolio management role. Noah McNeely: They’ll have roadmaps of products that the company is going to develop for five, ten years out in some cases, and they have to prioritize those. Steven Julian: So let’s talk about the person who’s listening to this podcast who’s trying to bring one or a couple of products to market or are trying to build their business. Steven Julian: Go from idea to prototype to development.

Steven Julian: When you say, help, I’ve got too many ideas, can that be true of one product? Noah McNeely: It can be. Noah McNeely: It can be true of one product or it can. Noah McNeely: also just be the nature of the individual. Noah McNeely: So I’ve met people that clients have come in and they get really excited about their product. Noah McNeely: We go through that. Noah McNeely: And then a lot of times on the way out the door, they’re like, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. Noah McNeely: I’ve got seven more I’m working on. Noah McNeely: We’re going to talk about them next time. Noah McNeely: And I think they tell me that to get me more excited about working with them, but that’s really often a red flag. Noah McNeely: So on the next meeting, you’re at the next meeting, I usually have to tamp that down a little bit and say, you know, look, that’s great. Noah McNeely: I love all these ideas, but let’s get one on the market first. Noah McNeely: And I think that can be a tough thing for entrepreneurs, even myself, because I have… I have so many things I want to accomplish and want to do, but it’s easy to want to spend all the time in the visionary stage. Noah McNeely: Hey, this is going to be fun. Noah McNeely: I’m going to spend all day thinking about this idea and jotting out what’s it going to be like when. Noah McNeely: I’m done. Noah McNeely: But the problem is there’s a lot of things that have to happen between now and achieving that vision. Steven Julian: And the ideas is the sexy part. Steven Julian: The ideas is the everybody’s. Steven Julian: Had at least one or two ideas. Steven Julian: I actually, I still don’t know why at times I’m the slightly annoying host of the show because I’ve had very few ideas of products. Steven Julian: I’ve never tried to develop anything, but I would relate it. Steven Julian: I, I love the world of comedy and I love listening to comedians, especially them talking about doing jokes. Steven Julian: And it’s one thing to have, Hey, Seinfeld had a book called, is this anything you start with an idea? Steven Julian: Hey, is this anything? Steven Julian: Is this potentially funny? Steven Julian: But from that point to getting it to where it’s a tight bit to be done on stage, there’s this huge, there’s a lot of work that goes in. Steven Julian: So you just mentioned it’s easy to do the ideas. Steven Julian: I got seven more, but they got all this work they got to do to just to get that one. Steven Julian: But I want to drill down and I want to kind of push back and ask even that. Steven Julian: person who’s on that one, I’ve got too many ideas. Steven Julian: Do they get sidetracked with too many things even in that one single idea? Steven Julian: That they’re bringing to market? Noah McNeely: Yeah, that can happen too.

Noah McNeely: I think we may have talked about this a long time ago, but there’s a concept I call minimum viable product or early viable product. Steven Julian: I remember that. Noah McNeely: Yes, it’s a classic. Noah McNeely: You should check it out. Noah McNeely: But the issue there is sometimes maybe it is just one product, but they have all these ideas for that one product. Noah McNeely: Oh, I want it to do this. Noah McNeely: I want it to do that. Noah McNeely: I want it to be Wi-Fi and I want it to levitate and I want it to glow in the dark. Noah McNeely: Sir, it’s a doorknob. Noah McNeely: It doesn’t need to necessarily do all that. Noah McNeely: Those are all great. Noah McNeely: Let’s get one on the market. Noah McNeely: because all that stuff you just talked about, that’s a two-year development program. Noah McNeely: If we just do your basic product, which is already cool and already different than anything out there, you can be on the market in six months. Noah McNeely: You can generate revenue. Noah McNeely: You’ve got a successful business at that. Noah McNeely: point. Noah McNeely: And more importantly, you’ve got money that you can now spend on Gen 2 and Gen 3 and Gen 4. Noah McNeely: But if we start down the path of developing, The super mega colossal product now, you’re never going to get there. Steven Julian: And we titled this show again, Help, but I think probably more often than not your job as the product development guru, as the genius who helps people bring their product to market, you have to tell them you really should be saying, Help, I have too many ideas in this super amazing, stupendous product. Steven Julian: Very rarely do they verbalize that. Steven Julian: You’re helping them verbalize. Noah McNeely: Right. Noah McNeely: Well, sometimes I have to help people realize it is a problem because, like I said, a lot of visionary people and a lot of entrepreneurs, like myself, we do tend to love that visionary phase. Noah McNeely: And we think that’s the most important thing. Noah McNeely: It’s not. Noah McNeely: It’s actually one of the least important and easiest parts of having a successful business.

Noah McNeely: So think about it this way. Noah McNeely: Think about all the little boys who dream about winning a Super Bowl as the quarterback. Noah McNeely: Now, you can’t just keep dreaming about winning a. Super Bowl. Noah McNeely: That’s great. Noah McNeely: That’s a wonderful vision. Noah McNeely: But if you don’t start exercising and training and learning the game, you’ll never play on a team, much less get to the Super Bowl. Steven Julian: So it’s a difference between being a Super Bowl quarterback and being Uncle Rico sitting on the front step saying, if Coach had put me in that game, we would have won the state that year. Noah McNeely: That’s exactly right. Noah McNeely: And there are no time machines that will get you back there. Steven Julian: Exactly. Steven Julian: So portfolio management, to use the term of the Fortune 500 companies, is really them kind of categorizing or siloing or insert other corporate term here. Steven Julian: But really, it’s checking boxes. Steven Julian: It’s laying it out in steps.

Steven Julian: Is that something that you, as the person with Product Quick Start, is trying to help people say, okay, here are the 17 steps that we’re going to have to take? Steven Julian: Or is it just getting them focused on creating the 17 steps? Steven Julian: Kind of talk through that process. Steven Julian: Someone’s got an idea, and then someone starts to spiral into too many ideas. Steven Julian: The portfolio management that you do, not for the Fortune 500, but for the individual. Steven Julian: entrepreneur and inventor, what do you try to bring to the table? Noah McNeely: Yeah, so it’s really launch your product in 375 easy steps. Noah McNeely: No, it’s not. Noah McNeely: There’s really only two questions. Steven Julian: I thought it was 367 steps. Noah McNeely: We revised it last year. Noah McNeely: Oh, okay. Noah McNeely: So there’s really only two. Noah McNeely: Two questions that I ask people to consider when they’re trying to prioritize the features of their product or which product to develop or which product to develop when. Noah McNeely: And with the assumption that inventor entrepreneurs, you probably don’t have five people or 20 people on a team that you’re paying to do all the analysis. Noah McNeely: And yeah, you go to a really big company and they’re going to ask a lot more than these two questions. Noah McNeely: At least they’re going to ask a lot more versions of these two questions. Noah McNeely: But the two questions I tell people to consider is, number one, what can I get to the market with my resources? Noah McNeely: And of course, I can help them try to figure that out. Noah McNeely: This is how much it’s going to take to develop this product, to make the tooling for it, to produce it. Noah McNeely: So we have to be. Noah McNeely: realistic about what resources you have to actually get that to the market. Noah McNeely: And that may mean you can’t launch five at a time. Noah McNeely: Now, I’ve had some clients that are just independently wealthy, and yeah, they can do it. Noah McNeely: They have the resources for that. Noah McNeely: It can still be a bad idea in those cases because a resource that people often overlook is their own time, their own focus, their own ability to strategize and think about their business. Noah McNeely: So the second question is, what can I sell? Noah McNeely: You know, what will I be able to sell? Noah McNeely: So, yeah, this is a great idea. Noah McNeely: I have the funds to develop it. Noah McNeely: I have the resources to develop it. Noah McNeely: But is there a market for it? Noah McNeely: And is it a market that I understand well enough to actually sell? Noah McNeely: And the answer to either of those questions is no. Noah McNeely: Then that’s probably not the product you should develop first. Noah McNeely: You need to focus on the product or the collection of features in your product. Noah McNeely: that both of those answers are yes. Steven Julian: And I know we’ve talked about variations of those questions over past episodes. Steven Julian: Encourage everybody to go back and. Steven Julian: listen to Noah’s past episodes on Product Genius. Noah McNeely: Product Genius is brought to you by Opu Probiotics. Noah McNeely: Pre and probiotics you can pour directly on your tongue in delicious mint and mocha flavors. Steven Julian: But the taste is just the beginning. Noah McNeely: With Opu, you can see improved digestive function, boosted immune system, easier weight management, improved mental health, and much more. Noah McNeely: Try today at GetOpu.com. Steven Julian: That’s GetOpu.com. Steven Julian: Let me focus in on the second question. Steven Julian: first, because I think… The typical inventor entrepreneur who sits down with you, especially with their first idea, and you ask them that question, you know, what can I sell? Steven Julian: Can this sell? Steven Julian: Their answer, bar none, is going to be, well, of course this is going to sell. Steven Julian: It’s a fantastic idea. Steven Julian: I came up with this. Steven Julian: It came in a bolt of lightning. Steven Julian: Everybody who brings you any idea is going to tell you, well, of course it’s going to sell. Steven Julian: It’s fantastic. Noah McNeely: Yeah, I’ve heard variations of, well, why wouldn’t you buy this if you could buy it? Noah McNeely: I’ve probably heard a hundred variations of that throughout the course of my career.

Steven Julian: You’re a communist pig if you don’t buy this, of course. Steven Julian: This is great. Steven Julian: Sorry, that was my insertion, not Noah’s. Steven Julian: My apologies. Noah McNeely: Yeah, so we’re going to remain politically apolitical here as best we can. Noah McNeely: Uh, yeah. Noah McNeely: So a lot of, um, a lot of inventor entrepreneurs, they’re so enamored by their idea. Noah McNeely: They just can’t imagine it not being successful. Noah McNeely: And then they’re like, well, as soon as people see this, they’re going to want it. Noah McNeely: That may be true. Noah McNeely: And that, that in some ways that for most people, that probably is true. Noah McNeely: The question becomes, how do you reach those people? Noah McNeely: And that’s also part of how do you sell it? Noah McNeely: Can you sell it? Noah McNeely: Uh, so if you’ve got a, it’s a product that, oh, everyone would use it. Noah McNeely: Well, that’s almost the worst kind of product for an inventor because. Noah McNeely: You don’t have the marketing budget to reach everybody. Noah McNeely: If it’s more focused, like, well, people that have teenage girls that want to learn how to play golf, you can reach that market a lot easier and in a more forceful way. Noah McNeely: So that’s also part of, you know, what’s it going to take to sell this? Noah McNeely: Not necessarily even, do I have the sales? Noah McNeely: skills? Noah McNeely: You can always hire someone to do that for you, but it’s got to be. Noah McNeely: Do I have the resources not only to design, develop, produce this product, but do I have the resources to sell it? Noah McNeely: What are those resources going to be? Steven Julian: And in your help in answering that question, because I was kind of pushing back against the question, the second question you asked there, what can I sell? Steven Julian: You have to drill down and you have to ask that question more specifically or they have to answer that question more specifically because really what you’re asking is, is there a market for this? Steven Julian: Can the person define the market? Steven Julian: Can you sell it? Steven Julian: Meaning the person who’s got the idea, how would you sell it? Steven Julian: So let me then ask this in helping them answer that question. Steven Julian: How much is it you trying to get them to have their eyes open to all the all that that’s going to entail of selling the product? Steven Julian: or and or how much is it you saying, if you’ll listen to me, I’ve had a lot of experience and I’ve done this for a long time and I’ve done. Steven Julian: this. Steven Julian: On corporate level and individual level, here’s what I believe and I know surrounding what you’ve just told me about this idea. Noah McNeely: It’s a little bit of both. Noah McNeely: It depends on who I’m talking to and how receptive they are. Steven Julian: Ah, there we go. Noah McNeely: Different people with different personalities. Noah McNeely: You know, it’s kind of like the old Aesop’s fables, the way he would teach very powerful people lessons without insulting them, as he would tell a story about someone else who was fictional. Noah McNeely: They would maybe learn a lesson about. Noah McNeely: So sometimes I have to do that. Noah McNeely: And it comes along as, you know, I have to say, you know, look, I’m not into sales. Noah McNeely: I’m not into marketing. Noah McNeely: I design, build, and create stuff. Noah McNeely: I can help you fill a warehouse full of product. Noah McNeely: That’s no problem. Noah McNeely: We got that. Noah McNeely: What I can’t help you do is I can’t help you sell. Noah McNeely: I can’t help you market. Noah McNeely: I can tell you what I’ve seen other people do and what that’s cost them. Noah McNeely: And oftentimes that loan and going through that process is enough to help them realize, oh, I hadn’t thought about that. Noah McNeely: I hadn’t thought about that. Noah McNeely: I am going to need a budget for that. Noah McNeely: And so sometimes I approach it that way. Noah McNeely: Sometimes people come in and they do have a lot of really good business savvy, business knowledge, business experience. Noah McNeely: They understand that right up front. Noah McNeely: I have to do a lot less in those cases. Noah McNeely: Sometimes in those cases, it’s more about explaining why it costs so much to make this product or that product or whatever it is. Steven Julian: So let me just ask Noah McNeely, the Product Quick Start CEO and the guy who’s done this for more than a few years, although you only look like you’ve been doing it for a few years. Noah McNeely: Well, hair dye goes a long way. Steven Julian: Exactly. Steven Julian: And flattery will get me everywhere. Steven Julian: Do you enjoy to an extent when someone who’s just starting out in this, it’s their first idea, they’ve never run a business, but they’re receptive to your kind of expertise and guidance. Steven Julian: There’s that that’s satisfying. Steven Julian: As well as the satisfying of kind of someone with some business savvy who knows the business stuff and you don’t have to spend as much time on that and you can really just focus on. Steven Julian: the product development. Steven Julian: Is there a preference one where this is just a personal question I’m asking at this point? Noah McNeely: That is a very difficult question. Noah McNeely: Exactly. Steven Julian: I’m slightly annoyed. Noah McNeely: It’s very individual based. Steven Julian: This is a relational thing for you, right? Steven Julian: This is a relational business, even for you and this. Noah McNeely: I’ll put you this way. Noah McNeely: I’m at a point in my career, I’ve done this long enough, I don’t usually have to work with people I dislike. Noah McNeely: Now, I will do my best to help anyone. Noah McNeely: Even if I dislike you, I will try to point you in a good direction, sometimes to someone I don’t like, but also. Noah McNeely: They don’t know that. Noah McNeely: Yeah, they don’t know that. Noah McNeely: No, but either can be good. Noah McNeely: I think it’s better for me to answer this from the standpoint of what’s the worst type of relationship. Steven Julian: Oh, there we go. Noah McNeely: That’s where someone comes in and they’ve never developed a product before. Noah McNeely: They don’t know anything about it, but they saw something on TV. Noah McNeely: So now they’re an expert or they stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night. Noah McNeely: So now they’re an expert and they come in and they’re like, this is how you’re going to do it. Noah McNeely: This is how you’re going to do it. Noah McNeely: And I’m like, well, why are you here? Noah McNeely: How am I supposed to help you? Noah McNeely: You know everything already. Noah McNeely: Even though everything you just told me is completely wrong. Noah McNeely: I know you’ve read a book about it that some idiot wrote who doesn’t know what he’s talking about, but that’s not how you do it. Noah McNeely: That’s not how the real world works. Noah McNeely: So those are not good relationships. Noah McNeely: Those usually end quickly. Noah McNeely: The other side of that is people that they just cannot accept what I’m telling them. Noah McNeely: So here’s the problem you have. Noah McNeely: And if you cannot solve this problem, You don’t have a business. Noah McNeely: Now, that’s just my opinion, but my opinion is based on a lot of experience, and some people just, they get really irritated about that, and I never hear from them again, and that’s probably for the best for me. Noah McNeely: But unfortunately, they then go out and they find an engineer who’s just happy to take their money, and they’ll spend a year. Noah McNeely: Dumping thousands of dollars into making something that they can never afford to produce or. Noah McNeely: that it’s never going to sell or it’s just the wrong market. Steven Julian: I like the way you answered that question. Steven Julian: Well done. Steven Julian: I asked a difficult question. Steven Julian: Noah gave a great answer to it. Steven Julian: So let me transition from the second question you asked of what can I sell. Steven Julian: And let’s kind of circle back real quick to that first question. Steven Julian: What can I get to the market with my resources? Steven Julian: This is a… Another way of kind of talking about minimum viable products. Steven Julian: So what do you need to know from the person that you’re talking to? Steven Julian: when it comes, because that word resources, let me unpack that just a little bit more. Steven Julian: You know, what can I get to the market with my resources? Steven Julian: You kind of need to know some things. Steven Julian: How much money do you have? Steven Julian: How much time do you have? Steven Julian: Kind of break that down. Noah McNeely: Yeah, I need them to be honest with themselves and with me.

Noah McNeely: Stuff costs what it costs. Noah McNeely: You know, I can’t work for free. Noah McNeely: Most people cannot. Noah McNeely: It doesn’t do you or me any good for you to come in and wear a fancy suit, pretend like you have. Noah McNeely: all this money, and then you don’t. Noah McNeely: Because then you and I are going to talk and go, hey, this is generally what this is going to cost. Noah McNeely: And you’re going to get one or two steps into that and say, oh, I can’t afford to go any further. Noah McNeely: Well, it’s like, well, why did you waste the money on the first two steps? Noah McNeely: I told you what it was going to cost to get this far. Noah McNeely: It’s like, I don’t know. Noah McNeely: Well. Noah McNeely: I can’t refund your money. Noah McNeely: All the work is done. Noah McNeely: The prototypes are built. Noah McNeely: Whatever it is, that’s done. Noah McNeely: I’m sorry you can’t take it any further, but I don’t know what you want me to do. Noah McNeely: Go out and raise some money and come back in a few years, I guess. Noah McNeely: So that’s kind of the worst scenario there. Noah McNeely: I think I do need to do my best to explain to them, and I try my very best to this where I can. Noah McNeely: This is generally what it’s going to take. Noah McNeely: Hear what they’re trying to do. Noah McNeely: I’ll lay out a scope. Noah McNeely: Okay, the first phase is to get us to a prototype. Noah McNeely: I can give. Noah McNeely: that a pretty tight number. Noah McNeely: If there’s stuff in there, I don’t know. Noah McNeely: Yeah, I don’t know. Noah McNeely: Are we going to end up in this material or that material? Noah McNeely: Beyond that, I have to give an estimated range. Noah McNeely: And then I can give my best guess at what the manufacturing is going to cost. Noah McNeely: But I can’t, you know, obviously on day one, nothing’s been designed. Noah McNeely: So I don’t know exactly what that is going to cost at the back end. Noah McNeely: So I do my best to open their eyes to what the costs are going to be. Noah McNeely: And also a little bit, you know, you’re going to have to have money for marketing. Noah McNeely: If you’re going to do a patent, I’ll send them to Brock, who you may know from other shows. Noah McNeely: All that’s going to take money. Noah McNeely: You may have to prioritize what you want to spend your money on and how you want to spend it. Noah McNeely: And I think actually in our next episode, we have some ideas about that. Steven Julian: Ooh, fellow with a tease. Noah McNeely: A slight tease, yes. Noah McNeely: I like that. Steven Julian: Well done. Noah McNeely: I am not a radio professional. Steven Julian: You just played one on this podcast. Steven Julian: So let me just, again, push back slightly on the word resources. Steven Julian: So we are talking about money. Steven Julian: There’s no question. Steven Julian: that is the main. Noah McNeely: Not just money. Steven Julian: Well, that was my question. Steven Julian: Don’t take my question away from me. Steven Julian: You definitely are not a professional when you did that. Noah McNeely: Clearly not. Steven Julian: So apart from money, what other resources can people bring to the table that you need to know about that will help you in helping them develop their products? Steven Julian: See how I did that? Steven Julian: Was that good? Steven Julian: All right. Noah McNeely: Thank you. Noah McNeely: So you may have other resources in terms of people in your network. Noah McNeely: You know, if you come in and say, I have this great idea and it’s for, you know, baseball players and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Noah McNeely: And okay, that’s great. Noah McNeely: But you don’t tell me, oh, and by the way, my cousin plays Major League Baseball. Noah McNeely: Well, you know, that’s a resource that we could know about. Noah McNeely: that can actually change my mind about how you would market this. Noah McNeely: Oh, well, maybe you don’t need all this money for marketing because your cousin can endorse it. Noah McNeely: Well, that may change what I advise you. Noah McNeely: on. Noah McNeely: