Product Genius, the Podcast for Inventors, Entrepreneurs, and Startups
Honest advice for inventors—with obscure cultural references included at no extra charge.
Episode
244
Inventor of The Caulking Finger: Daniel Stephenson
What can inventors learn from a professional painter who turned a worn-out fingertip into a real product sold through paint stores, hardware retailers, and major online channels? Steven and Noah sit down with Daniel Stephenson, inventor of The Caulking Finger, to explore his two-year journey from homemade silicone prototype to manufactured product. They discuss prototyping, investors, material and manufacturing decisions, the challenge of selling a single-SKU product, retail placement, product demonstrations, patent research, and the old-fashioned hustle required to get an invention onto store shelves—with plenty of finger jokes along the way.
Core Topics for this episode:
- Interviews
- Invention Process
Key Takeaways Include:
Listen here:
Episode Blog
The Caulking Finger: What Inventors Can Learn From a Simple Product That Solves a Real Problem
Some inventions begin with advanced technology, years of research, and a laboratory full of equipment.
Others begin with a sore finger.
In this episode of Product Genius, Steven Julian and Noah McNeely sit down with Daniel Stephenson, a longtime professional painter and inventor of The Caulking Finger—a deceptively simple tool designed to do exactly what its name suggests: smooth caulk without destroying your actual fingertip.
Daniel’s story is a terrific case study for inventor entrepreneurs because it contains so many of the fundamentals that matter in successful product development: start with a problem you genuinely understand, build a rough prototype, test it with real users, bring in professionals where your expertise ends, find funding when it makes sense, hustle to make sales, and resist the urge to overcomplicate a product that already does its job.
Start With a Problem You Know Extremely Well
Daniel has been a paint contractor for more than 35 years.
That matters.
He did not discover the problem through a market-research report. He experienced it personally, over and over again.
Professional painters commonly smooth caulk with a fingertip. Do that occasionally around your house and it may be mildly annoying. Do it repeatedly as part of your livelihood and the skin can become raw, sore, cut, or splintered.
Eventually Daniel had enough.
His internal product-development brief was refreshingly concise:
“Go make a finger.”
So he did.
There is an important lesson here for inventors. Some of the best product opportunities hide inside repetitive frustrations that experienced users have simply learned to tolerate.
When you hear people say, “That’s just how we do it,” pay attention.
There may be an invention hiding nearby.
The First Prototype Does Not Need to Look Like a Product
Daniel’s first prototype was clever but decidedly homemade.
He used alginate—the type of material commonly used to create dental impressions—to make a mold of his own finger. He then cast a flexible finger, added a bent metal rod, and attached it to a handle.
It was not shelf-ready.
It did not need to be.
It answered the first important question:
Does the idea work?
That is what an early prototype is supposed to do.
Inventors often delay progress because they imagine their first prototype needs to resemble the finished product. It usually does not.
The earliest prototype should prove the riskiest assumptions as cheaply and quickly as practical.
Daniel made something he could actually use.
Then he handed prototypes to other professional painters.
They liked them.
That feedback gave him a reason to keep moving.
Bring In People Who Know What You Don’t
Daniel is a professional painter.
He is not an injection-molding engineer or polymer specialist.
And he did not pretend to be one.
After proving the basic idea, he hired people with the technical expertise to turn the concept into a manufacturable product.
Noah immediately recognizes one of the less-obvious challenges in the finished design: the flexible finger material.
The product combines a rigid molded handle with a softer, durable elastomeric finger. Selecting materials, designing tooling, controlling wall thicknesses, reducing material usage, and making the removable finger manufacturable all require knowledge that has little to do with painting.
Daniel summarizes the value of professional product-development help beautifully: that is where the people who “know what to do, how to do it” come in.
Inventors do not need to personally master every discipline.
They need to know when to bring the right discipline into the project.
Simple Products Still Require Engineering
The Caulking Finger looks simple.
That can create the illusion that it must have been simple to manufacture.
Not necessarily.
For example, the rigid handle is hollow in areas where solid plastic would provide little additional value. That reduces material cost and also makes conventional molding more practical.
The flexible finger also contains cavities that reduce the amount of the more expensive elastomeric material.
These are tiny details to a customer.
They are meaningful details to manufacturing economics.
A penny saved in a component produced tens or hundreds of thousands of times becomes real money.
Good product engineering frequently lives in places the customer never notices.
Don’t Over-Engineer a Product That Already Works
Daniel’s invention is fundamentally simple because the human behavior it replaces is simple.
People smooth caulk with a finger.
The Caulking Finger gives them another finger.
Some users still need a little instruction. Daniel explains that you turn and manipulate the tool just as you would your own fingertip.
That leads Noah and Steven into one of the classic inventor traps: responding to every isolated customer suggestion by adding features.
Someone somewhere will always ask why a simple product is not automatic, motorized, pneumatic, electronic, app-connected, or battery powered.
But every feature has a cost.
Complexity can increase tooling expense, manufacturing cost, failure modes, size, weight, customer confusion, and retail price.
If the $4 solution works, turning it into an $800 solution because one person suggested automation is probably not innovation.
It is feature creep.
Use Other People’s Money When It Makes Sense
Daniel also made another decision Noah highlights: he brought in an investor.
Many inventors become so determined to retain 100 percent ownership that they spend years slowly funding development from personal income.
There is no universal rule that says outside investment is always correct.
But there is also no prize for owning 100 percent of an invention that never reaches the market.
Daniel met his investor through his painting business. The investor saw an early prototype, liked the idea, and helped provide the resources to move it forward.
The entire journey from idea toward a market-ready product took roughly two years.
That is a very reasonable physical-product development timeline—and far faster than the decade-long crawl some self-funded inventions experience.
The Single-SKU Problem Is Real
One of the most useful business discussions in this episode concerns something many first-time inventors never consider:
Retailers may not love a company with only one product.
The Caulking Finger is physically small, inexpensive, and highly specialized.
That creates practical retail challenges.
Shipping a small quantity of one inexpensive item can consume too much margin. Retailers also think in terms of shelf layouts and planograms. A brand with eight related products can fill a meaningful section. One little product needs somewhere to live.
Daniel has adapted by shipping stores larger quantities—often a dozen rather than six—to make the shipping economics work better.
He is also thinking about additional SKUs, including different finger sizes that could fit the existing handle.
This is not merely about inventing more stuff.
A broader product line can improve freight economics, retail visibility, shelf presence, retailer relationships, and the overall value of a brand.
Think About Where the Product Will Live in the Store
Daniel sends retailers clip strips so The Caulking Finger can hang near the caulk.
That is smart merchandising.
A customer standing in front of caulk already has the problem in mind.
Put the solution directly beside the problem.
The product can also work as an impulse purchase near checkout, but the caulk aisle gives it immediate context.
Inventors often think intensely about what their package looks like but not enough about where that package will physically appear.
Ask:
What will be beside it?
What is the customer shopping for when they notice it?
Does the product explain itself quickly?
Will it disappear visually?
The Caulking Finger’s bright green and yellow colors help here too. Daniel originally chose a bright color so painters could find the tool after dropping it on a jobsite.
The same color also helps it stand out in retail.
Sometimes a functional design decision becomes a marketing advantage.
Getting Into Retail Requires Hustle
Daniel’s retail story is wonderfully unglamorous.
There was no magical phone call where every national retailer suddenly begged to carry his invention.
He worked relationships.
A Sherwin-Williams manager who knew him helped begin the process there.
For Lowe’s, Daniel participated in its product-review process and demonstrated the invention, ultimately getting the product onto Lowe’s online store.
For Ace Hardware, he worked through its submission process.
And for independent paint and hardware stores?
Daniel gets in the vehicle.
He makes demonstration boards at home, packs a caulking gun, caulk, and samples, and visits stores.
He demonstrates the product.
He lets buyers try it.
If they like it, he writes an invoice and leaves inventory.
Then he follows up.
He has traveled to different parts of the country and stopped at stores along the way.
As Daniel puts it:
“You got to hustle.”
That may be one of the most important lessons in the entire episode.
Inventing the product does not create distribution.
You still have to sell.
Demonstration Can Be a Superpower
The Caulking Finger has another commercial advantage: it is easy to demonstrate.
Daniel can put down a bead of caulk, smooth it with the tool, and let a store owner try it.
The value becomes obvious in seconds.
Inventors should think carefully about how their product can be demonstrated.
If the advantage is visual, show it.
If it saves time, demonstrate the before-and-after time.
If it reduces effort, let people feel the difference.
If it produces a better result, put the results side by side.
Do not make customers or buyers imagine a benefit you can prove in front of them.
Protect the Idea—But Keep Moving
When Noah asks Daniel what advice he would give someone at the beginning of the invention journey, Daniel starts with research.
Search for existing patents.
Research the idea thoroughly.
Use confidentiality agreements appropriately before disclosing non-public details.
Daniel also used a provisional patent application as part of his early strategy.
The legal specifics of patent rights can become complicated quickly, and inventors should get qualified patent advice for their individual situation.
But the broader principle is solid:
Understand the intellectual-property landscape early enough that you do not spend years developing something only to discover a major problem later.
At the same time, protection should support progress—not become an excuse to avoid talking with the professionals needed to actually develop the product.
Unexpected Uses Are a Bonus
Once a product enters the world, customers sometimes discover uses the inventor never imagined.
The Caulking Finger has apparently been used for crafting with hot glue, pottery work, pressing elevator buttons during the pandemic, and even sensory-related activities.
Some of these may become meaningful adjacent markets.
Some may simply be amusing stories.
The important thing is to listen without immediately redesigning the entire product around every unusual use.
Observe patterns.
If a meaningful group of customers repeatedly discovers the same secondary application, there may be a new market or SKU hiding there.
The Product Genius Take
Daniel Stephenson’s story is a reminder that an invention does not need to be complicated to be valuable.
It needs to solve a problem.
Preferably a real problem experienced by real people often enough that they are willing to pay for a better solution.
Daniel knew the problem because he lived it.
He made a crude prototype.
He put it in the hands of other professionals.
He brought in people with expertise he did not have.
He found investment.
He kept the product simple.
He learned the realities of retail.
And then he got in the car with demonstration boards and started selling.
That last part matters.
Inventors sometimes imagine that getting the engineering finished is the finish line.
It is not.
It is the point where a different kind of work begins.
Or, in Daniel’s case, where you load up the caulk gun, hit the road, walk into a store, and give them the finger.
The Caulking Finger, obviously.
Or, read the full transcript here:
Steven Julian
The NDA I just signed and our lawyers tell me that I'm legally and morally obligated to inform you that we're going to give you the finger on this next show. It's actually called the Calking Finger and the inventor, Daniel Stevenson, is in studio with us. Along with that, Jody's going to have to bleep out some things and Noah and I talk about the Bible and being frustrated and he's a little grumpy. But anyway, we'll get into all that and more next on Product Genius. Do you want to be a successful inventor entrepreneur?
Daniel Stephenson
Struggling to get your product from idea to market?
Steven Julian
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. Hey, that's my line. Yes, it's your slightly annoying co-host. I decided not to do the long yes because Jody turned my levels up just a little bit more, and I appreciate. that.
He is our intrepid producer, Jody Smith. I am your slightly annoying co-host, Steven Julian. Why am I slightly annoying? Because I already altered the intro to the show. Hey, that's just what I do. Sitting across from me is the head genius, the show genius. The show, I can't say creator, but I can say captain. It's your host, Noah McNeely.
Noah McNeely
I'm not used to that level of praise. In fact, let me tell the audience that when we first sat down, I was admonished that the last time we recorded, I didn't let Steven get a word in.
Steven Julian
Just at the beginning.
Noah McNeely
At the beginning. Just at the very beginning. And apparently he's been stewing on that for two months now.
Steven Julian
And look at my response. I heap. Praise upon you, which proves the biblical reference that, you know, show love to your enemies.
Noah McNeely
Should I feel hot coals on my head right now?
Steven Julian
Yes, exactly. That's what I was going for. How'd it go? Did I do good?
Noah McNeely
It burned.
Steven Julian
It burns. All right. We've got a cool show. We've got a great show. We've got a show that's going to give people the finger. Okay. That's the only one I'll do. I apologize. We are very excited to have a guest in the studio. We have Daniel Stevenson. Daniel is the inventor and the owner of The Caulking Finger. And it is a fantastic little product. And I've got a little story of why Daniel is on the show. But before we get to that, because, you know, nobody likes to hear my stories.
People want to hear the guests. So Daniel Stevenson of The Caulking Finger, welcome to Product Genius. Welcome to the lair. Welcome to the studio.
Daniel Stephenson
It's good to be here. And I appreciate y'all inviting me.
Steven Julian
Absolutely.
Noah McNeely
Thank you for coming.
Steven Julian
Uh, everybody I know on the intro of the show, and because we don't do this on video, everybody's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, what do you say? The caulking finger? Tell everybody what it is and what your product does.
Daniel Stephenson
Well, it's a tool for smoothing caulk. I'm a paint contractor, been a paint contractor for over 35 years. Got tired of wearing my finger out smoothing caulk, getting splinters, cutting them. So one day I was doing a big job and on the way home, I just said to myself, I said, self? Go make a finger. So I went home and made a finger.
Steven Julian
That's the t-shirt right there. Go make a finger.
Daniel Stephenson
So I went home, went and got the stuff to make one, handed it out to several other paint contractors I knew. They liked it. And then went and started working on it. Hired some people smarter than me to make it work the way it should work.
Steven Julian
How long of a process was it from idea to... Hey, I've got something I can put in stores.
Daniel Stephenson
Almost two years.
Steven Julian
Okay. And so I'll insert the story.
Noah McNeely
I have to ask a question.
Steven Julian
Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah. I knew you'd jump in.
Noah McNeely
You said you went home and you got the stuff to make a finger. What was that? What was the stuff to make a finger at the beginning?
Daniel Stephenson
Well, I'll tell you, I went.
Noah McNeely
Because I've got the finished product here and it's really cool.
Daniel Stephenson
I went to, I can't remember where it was at. I should have brought all of it. It's alginate. That they make like dental implants. I went home, I bought some little paper Solo cups and I stuck. my finger in it and let it dry. Oh, wow. And then went and bought some stuff. They make Dyna something.
Noah McNeely
Dynaflex?
Daniel Stephenson
Yes, I think. So I went to a place in Atlanta and bought it what they make prosthetic hands and all. It was a silicone.
Noah McNeely
That's a lot more sophisticated than some of the first prototypes I see from some of my people.
Daniel Stephenson
Oh, really?
Noah McNeely
Yeah, Play-Doh, rubber bands, et cetera. So that's cool.
Daniel Stephenson
Then I just took a metal rod and bent it, stuck it up in there, and put it on a handle. And that was out of the silicone, and I made it out of my finger. And then it worked good, but it was silicone, so it would wear faster.
Noah McNeely
Sure.
Steven Julian
So the slogan is, why wear out your finger? Just use mine. Now the story explains why it's molded based on your finger. Yes, sir. I love on the product, it says, designed and tested by professional painters, the caulking finger spares your fingertips and delivers a paint-perfect finish every time. Flexible fingertip won't scratch or damage surfaces. And it's incredibly durable. It's a little bit longer than a finger because the handle. allows you to grip it and use it. Let me just ask real quick. Obviously, the main thing is caulk and painters are the ones who tested this.
This is your background. Are there any other uses that you've kind of found while, because we're going to stick with painting. That's the main audience. But are there other things that, you know.
Daniel Stephenson
We've had people send in stuff. I got a lady that sent in. She does crafting where she used hot glue. Instead of bending her, burning her finger, she uses it. Oh, that's brilliant. And then I've got another lady that made a video. She has a pottery school and supposedly there's a tool called a thumb that you smooth pottery on the inside. She bought one and loves that it worked better than her own thumb. People say it's as big as a thumb, but I guess I got big fingers. It's the same exact size as my finger.
It's bigger than my finger.
Steven Julian
Actually, now I'm looking at it. It's not that much bigger than my finger. So I got big fingers, too. All right. Do you have problems texting and do the fat finger thing? Yeah.
Daniel Stephenson
I'd rather call somebody.
Steven Julian
Daniel and I will have that conversation off air where our fat fingers cause problems. But thankfully, his fat finger has created the caulking finger. And so I was also. I was also thinking of other. So here's a good one. Kids that are playing football. I always hated when I was a kid to be the one who had to put my finger on top of the football when the guy's about to kick off because inevitably they're not trained kickers and you get your finger kicked. I'm thinking this would be great to hold out and hold up a football.
Daniel Stephenson
We've actually had people use them when the pandemic, they used them for mashing elevator buttons.
Noah McNeely
That's fantastic.
Steven Julian
That's brilliant. All right. So, Daniel, I'm going to ask you other questions, but it is time, and Noah already asked one question, but it's time for me, Noah, to ask you. You are someone, this is your, this is...
Noah McNeely
Is this a punishment question?
Steven Julian
No, not a, goodness gracious.
Noah McNeely
I'm a little grumpy.
Steven Julian
You said froggy, apparently you're grumpy too.
Noah McNeely
I'm under the weather and grumpy, so I'm going to take it out.
Steven Julian
Okay. All right. That's what I'm here to do. Apparently, Jody never gets yelled at.
Noah McNeely
Go ahead and ask your question.
Steven Julian
Okay. So you help people bring their products to market. Yes. So if Daniel had brought this to you two years, that sounds pretty – he didn't dawdle. He got things done. He kept moving forward in the process, didn't he?
Noah McNeely
Yeah, I think so. I think that's a legitimate timeline to do this. It doesn't sound like there were any needless delays there. Well, first of all, you worked on this yourself some before you went and hired somebody to help you with it.
Daniel Stephenson
Yes, I've actually, I worked on it myself and I went and I think y'all had him on here, White Light. I had met with him.
Noah McNeely
Willis is a good friend of mine.
Daniel Stephenson
I had met with him and we had discussed it and then I had an investor come in. Yeah. And he said, let's just do it on our own.
Noah McNeely
Okay.
Steven Julian
So, Noah, you know, Daniel is almost like he was a listener of the show before he was a listener of the show. I mean, he did some of the right steps. there, right?
Noah McNeely
Absolutely. So, one big step you did was you didn't use all your own money. You used somebody else's money, which is real important. Smart. You know, a lot of inventors run into that as a roadblock. They will spend 10 years doing what you did in two because they're like, I'm just going to do it all myself. I don't want to give up 1% of this thing, you know? But I think you had a smarter route.
Daniel Stephenson
Me being a painter, I actually met my investor by doing a job for him.
Steven Julian
I love it. I love it.
Daniel Stephenson
And along the way, he— Were you using your—? No, it wasn't even—it was just a—I mean, it was a bad—it was just a prototype.
Steven Julian
Right, but you had something.
Daniel Stephenson
I had something, and he was like, ooh, look at that. And he liked it.
Steven Julian
Yeah, I like that. So I would imagine, Noah, too, a product like this, it's kind of ubiquitous. It's not— We've had conversations of all these moving parts and should we use this or that? It's a pretty basic design. A consumer like me looks at it and goes, oh, this was easy. to make. Of course, there's nothing that's easy to make, but this seems like a pretty straightforward process.
Noah McNeely
Yes and no. I think probably if you ran into a challenge, it was probably the material of the finger itself. That would be. my guess is that's not. A mainstream material.
Steven Julian
We should have turned this into a game show. Try to stump Noah.
Noah McNeely
Some sort of elastomeric or material there. And maybe, does your molder make both of these parts?
Daniel Stephenson
Yes, sir.
Noah McNeely
Okay, so they're sophisticated enough to know how to do both hard plastic and this. It comes off. If I had to guess, that's the challenge.
Steven Julian
The finger comes off?
Daniel Stephenson
Yes.
Noah McNeely
That's the challenge you ran into, would be my guess, is figuring out exactly how to make the finger part.
Daniel Stephenson
Not for me, but for them. Yeah, right.
Noah McNeely
Well, yeah.
Daniel Stephenson
Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
Noah McNeely
That was the general you.
Steven Julian
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Team you.
Daniel Stephenson
That's where the people like you come in, the know what to do, how to do the.
Steven Julian
Ladies and gentlemen, it is at this point in the program that I remind our audience, we did not pre-screen Daniel to say something like. that. But it is so good to talk to someone who's brought something to market and has gone through all the steps that you on this show have said. Please use a professional like me or White Light or the other people we've brought in. I mean, fantastic.
Noah McNeely
I knew I liked Daniel at the beginning because he brought me a T-shirt.
Steven Julian
That's true. That's true.
Daniel Stephenson
By the way, you can buy them on our website.
Steven Julian
There you go.
Daniel Stephenson
See, Daniel. Thecaulkingfinger.com. Thecaulkingfinger.
Steven Julian
By the way, C-A-U-L-K-I-N-G. Let's not have anybody have any misspelling mishaps. On online. So thecaulkingfinger.com. I wanted to ask you a very strong green and yellow color. Was that your decision? Was that someone else's, the investor, marketing?
Daniel Stephenson
I'll tell you why I done the bright color. Yeah. I'm a painter. You drop something, it gets lost. I wanted something that was flashy. So if a painter's on the job, drops it. I like that. You can look down and pick it up.
Noah McNeely
If somebody's painting their living room this color green, they've got other problems.
Daniel Stephenson
I've done it.
Noah McNeely
I'm sure you have. There's people that will, we, my wife, and she'll kill me, but my. wife once convinced me we were going to paint a bathroom purple and it was the most god-awful purple.
Steven Julian
My wife and I were having a, did she like it?
Noah McNeely
For a month, then we painted over it.
Steven Julian
My wife and I had a conversation last night about the color she picked, and she was like, remember that purple? And I was like, no, apparently I've blocked it out of my memory. It was a lavender or something.
Noah McNeely
The color of like a grape Fanta can?
Steven Julian
Yeah. Oh, man, that's okay. Took three coats, I bet. Anyway, I don't want to get into painting.
Noah McNeely
To cover it? Yeah, it took three to cover it.
Steven Julian
Why does the finger come off? Is this, this is replaceable?
Daniel Stephenson
We haven't got, they are replaceable, but we haven't got the packaging to sell.
Steven Julian
Okay, but you're thinking ahead.
Daniel Stephenson
Thinking ahead and maybe, you know, coming out with a smaller one.
Steven Julian
Okay.
Daniel Stephenson
That would fit on the same handle and having, because like you said, this is a problem is one skew.
Steven Julian
Right, right, right, right.
Daniel Stephenson
If we can get more skews.
Steven Julian
So apparently Daniel Stevenson of the Caulking Finger is looking for hand models, specifically smaller fingers that don't mind sticking their fingers into some kind of goo and then creating a prototype.
Noah McNeely
You know, we should talk about that one skew issue because that was sort of our pre-show banter earlier that we were talking about. Yes.
Steven Julian
So this is the one product you made. Yes, sir. And you were telling me this at the home show. We were having a good conversation and there's been a little bit of a challenge with that. Talk about that as a business owner trying to get your business or product on the market.
Daniel Stephenson
It seems as your bigger companies like to have more products. And from what I've understood, it's down to the shipping. Shipping costs so much. They want to get as much product for you to have on their shelf.
Steven Julian
They find it hard to do a deal with a company that only has one SKU.
Daniel Stephenson
Yes, because of shipping. You know, shipping's expensive. Yeah. And it kind of gets into your price. Your leverage of getting it on the shelf. Yeah. But we kind of got past that a little bit.
Steven Julian
Can you explain to this point how you've been able to? kind of get some share?
Daniel Stephenson
Well, we just can't, we don't make as much as we could, I guess you'd say. Okay.
Steven Julian
You were willing to meet them halfway, swallow some of that shipping cost to get your product out on the market.
Daniel Stephenson
And we sell them to our stores by the dozen. Okay. Where a lot of... A lot of the big people, big stores I take, want six for their inventories. And we've been able to eat some of the cost of shipping by shipping 12 instead of shipping six, if that makes sense.
Steven Julian
Noah, you've worked with people on single skew. Talk a little bit about what you've learned over the years.
Noah McNeely
Yeah, it's definitely a challenge. Now, it does depend on the industry and depends on how you sell it. I mean, there's some companies that just sell exclusively online and there's not as big of a problem, though it does become a problem over time because eventually you're going to have competition. And if competition comes out with one product, then another product, then another product, then you get kind of left behind there. But you're absolutely right. Where I've seen the problem is exactly. where you've seen it, and that's with the larger... You know, they have a system and it's the shipping is certainly one part of it.
It's also like you go into a Home Depot and you see a display with, you know, for some brand that's got eight, nine, 10 items in your little product. Now that's, you know, it's small just by the nature of what it is, not small in terms of value, but it's over there by itself and it kind of gets lost in all that. And I think that a lot of times what they, the planogram people, they're the people that lay out where things are sold in the store. They really hate single-skew items because they're like, where am I going to put this thing?
And our friend Tiffany got kind of burned by that way, way back. And I think her first product ended up on like a top shelf where nobody could reach it at CVS.
Steven Julian
Or in different sections. So yeah, go back and listen to the archives from years ago when she talked about Ava the Elephant and being a single-skew producer.
Noah McNeely
And if she had been able to. go in, not that first-time inventors are not going to be able to do this, but if she had been able to go in with three or four products, she would have had a much more prominent space because it's more It solves a problem for the planogram versus like, rather than where am I going to stuff this little thing, it's this can help me fill this little space I need to fill.
Steven Julian
Yeah.
Noah McNeely
Which is different.
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Steven Julian
We're speaking with Daniel Stevenson. He is the inventor of the caulking finger. We're going to talk about the stores that they are in at the end of the show. You can also go to the caulking finger and get t-shirts. Daniel, I've decided. At this point, I've decided. my role in this show, apart from leading the conversation, is to help you come. up with other more obscure uses for the caulking finger. So I already did kids playing football who don't want to get their fingers kicked. A new one I just came up with is this would be great for teachers.
There's a lot of... Public and private school teachers, various grades. I'm thinking mostly middle school, but honestly, it could be high school as well. So a teacher never wants to go before the principal and told, hey, I heard you said some things to a student and you like got up and, you know, got in their face and even poked a finger in their chest. No, no, I didn't do that. So the caulking finger can be a teacher poking finger. You know, hey, get back in line, you know.
Daniel Stephenson
Funny you should say that about a teacher. We had a teacher send us an email. She deals with children that have sensory touching. Yeah. So we sent her some and we had never heard anything back to see how it worked for the kids.
Steven Julian
Oh, man. So I took it as a joke, but a real thing. A teacher could use it. But you know what? As. the father of a special needs child who dealt with sensory processing issues. Yeah, that would be huge. It's sensitive to touch. I wonder, yeah, that would be, or being able to practice social skills, certain things. I don't know. That might be some use. Talk, let's go back to your development of it. So go through that two-year process a little bit. We don't need to cover every single step, but I do want to, you kind of talked about the first prototype.
So talk from that first prototype. Was there anything? as you talked to other painters, as you used it yourself, were there any tweaks that needed to be made? Were there any things like, well, I thought this would work, but then when I did this, oh, you know, this worked so much better. Or was it like, Because again, it seems like a simple product and it solves a very important need. But I'm just wondering, was there anything that you were like, ooh, I thought, okay, I need to do this. What was the feedback you got other than, this is great.
Daniel Stephenson
To be honest, really nothing. Okay. It's real simple. The idea, what. do people use to smooth their caulk with? They use their finger. Yeah. We call it in the, you'll see people with their fingers, but you can see the scars on my fingers. I know the audience can't, but when you rub, it'll just wear the skin off.
Steven Julian
Okay.
Daniel Stephenson
And you get raw, just bloody fingers.
Steven Julian
Because you're doing it 10 hours a day, you know, week in, week out, 30 years.
Daniel Stephenson
So we made it and it just seemed to fall right in. You can turn it. I have people say, you know, it's, I have some people. They say, well, it won't work. I just have to explain to them, turn it like you would your fangle. Some people, and I don't mean to say this, I don't know how to even say it, but some people don't use common sense. Right, right. And they think since it's a product, it's going to do it for you. You've still got.
Steven Julian
You got to put some pressure on it.
Daniel Stephenson
You got to put some pressure. You've got to turn it to make it get in certain spots. But, I mean, there's nothing.
Steven Julian
So, Noah, this is where if people. have listened to our show for a long time, you've had conversations about it's a minimum viable product, you know, so people going, people not using common sense. Well, where's the pneumatic, you know, pressure hinge that causes it to push itself, you know?
Noah McNeely
Or the inventor that gets that one email about why isn't this automatic? This like comes to me in a panic. We've got to make this a pressure pneumatic thing. And I was like. Okay. Do you want it to cost $800? Right. Do you want it to cost $4? Right. And that usually solves that problem, but not always. Sometimes it's...
Daniel Stephenson
I have people call me all the time and I just explain to them, you know, they say it won't fit in a certain spot. I say, take it like you're going to poke somebody because the point of it's a little thinner. And it's flexible. It's flexible. So you can manipulate it to work.
Steven Julian
Because that's what you've done for decades with your own finger.
Daniel Stephenson
Exactly. Once I explain it to them, I say, oh, okay.
Noah McNeely
So some people, I mean, you'll get like 300 good reviews and then that one person's like, oh, it should be battery powered.
Steven Julian
Why?
Noah McNeely
Well, we got to make it battery powered because one person said something on Amazon.
Steven Julian
How hard has anyone hit someone else with this caulking finger?
Daniel Stephenson
That's something I couldn't tell you.
Steven Julian
Yeah. Okay. All right. Sounds like something because I was sitting here thinking. So back in, I worked with teenagers for years and one of the favorite games, we called it stress relief. We used pool noodles. Half the people would get pool noodles and I go for 30 seconds, you can hit anybody without a pool noodle, just nothing in the face, nothing in the crotch because they sound like they hurt, but they really don't. And then go, but the rule is when I blow the whistle, you got to drop and the people who didn't have a pool noodle can now pick up a pool noodle.
And I'm just wondering, could the caulking finger be used for a little bit of stress relief? Maybe Noah will use that later on me. I don't know. Anyway. All right. So you've developed the product from the very beginning, from the first prototype. Not too many major tweaks. I would imagine, you know, it was how hard of a plastic. I noticed the plastic is, it's an empty cavity in the back. You know, that might be for weight or it's good distribution.
Daniel Stephenson
Save money.
Steven Julian
Yeah. Okay, good.
Noah McNeely
You also couldn't mold it if you didn't make it. Holly liked that. Well, you could, but it'd be a different process. It'd be real expensive.
Steven Julian
More expensive. Save money. Okay. There you go. See, I learned something today.
Noah McNeely
Sorry. The nerd engineer came out for a minute.
Steven Julian
Why are you sorry? That's the whole point of the show. At least you didn't do Secret of Nim.
Daniel Stephenson
When you pull the finger off, we've got two cavities. One saves the amount of material that goes into the inside there.
Steven Julian
Sorry, I was distracted. 21 minutes, 40 seconds in, I got my name reference.
Noah McNeely
There's a reason he's pointing out that is important. The reason the finger itself has a hollow section in the area where it's not being used as a finger, that is the same material. Because this is a relatively expensive material, this flexible stuff, this stuff is pennies per pound. This stuff here, much more expensive.
Steven Julian
As he says this stuff, he's holding up the finger.
Noah McNeely
The bright green plastic. Very inexpensive. Well, they can't see what color it is.
Steven Julian
I thought I gave a good explanation, but apparently not.
Noah McNeely
Bright green plastic, very inexpensive. High-tech, modern, finger material simulation, very expensive.
Steven Julian
Proprietary finger. Yes. You have a proprietary finger.
Daniel Stephenson
I like that.
Steven Julian
So, Daniel, talk about the start of the process of getting into those first stores, getting the, you know, I would imagine being from the painting industry with all your friends and family or all your buddies that you know, hey, man, you got to check out this product. I just made it. But start, how did you, and we met at a home show. That's smart, you know, got a table at a home show, a lot of other builders and things like that. So that's the right crowd. What's been the other process of kind of getting this on store shelves?
Daniel Stephenson
Well, as you said, I was a painter for so long. I had a store manager at a Sherwin-Williams that I shopped at, and he liked the idea. And he inquired to Sherwin-Williams, and they had to go through a long process of the. higher-ups going through, being checked over by several buyers, and then I got into that stores.
Noah McNeely
They wanted to make sure that your product wasn't going to kill anybody before they put it in the store.
Daniel Stephenson
Yes.
Noah McNeely
It would be very difficult to kill somebody with this product.
Steven Julian
Now you got me thinking. Uh-oh, now. You can kill somebody with anything.
Daniel Stephenson
Let's not put nothing in nobody's head. I got a stipulation on the back. You know, I got a warning.
Noah McNeely
You launch it fast enough and hard enough, you know, I don't care what it is.
Steven Julian
Yeah, don't try to clean your ears out with this finger. Exactly. When you feel pressure, stop.
Noah McNeely
Maybe clean your horse's ears out.
Steven Julian
Well, that's true. So the other, and so Sherwin-Williams was kind of the first one. And I love that. you had an advocate. You had somebody local. You had a connection. You had a relationship. Let's go ahead and say, what other stores currently, as we're recording this in early 2025, that the Caulking Finger is a part of?
Daniel Stephenson
We've got them in several, I call them independent paint stores. I can't name all of them. Benjamin Moore stores, independent. We got them in Ace Hardware. Not all of them.
Steven Julian
Some of the independently owned.
Daniel Stephenson
Well, they're all independently owned. It's just we've got in some of them. Select. We've got them in. They're on Lowe's.com. Okay. They are selling on Amazon. Okay. And we sell them on thecaulkingfinger.com, our website. Independent hardware stores.
Steven Julian
Yeah. So as someone who has done some painting but is not a painter by trade, my recollection of going up and down the painting aisle, other than the paint and the brushes, and tape, there's not a ton of painting accessories. Is that a fair statement?
Daniel Stephenson
There's a lot of them. Okay.
Steven Julian
So I'm wrong. Please feel free to tell me.
Daniel Stephenson
There's a section that most people don't go look for unless you're going for a specific reason. You've got a spot over there where they've got roller handles, little tools for scraping and stuff like that. They're called sundries. Paint sundry.
Steven Julian
I learned another term today.
Daniel Stephenson
We send out clip strips with these. So they can hang them right where they sell their caulking. Yes. So when you're there looking at caulking, and that's where we like to put them, right there where the. caulk's at. Yeah. And a lot of people put them right there on the gondola shelf, right at the checkout, kind of a point of view. Point of sale. Point of sale, right there.
Noah McNeely
So it's an impulse buy.
Steven Julian
Impulse buy.
Daniel Stephenson
Yeah, they say, but dang.
Steven Julian
And you know what the impulse is? Oh, that would save my finger.
Daniel Stephenson
Exactly. Why? Don't wear your finger out. Why wear your finger out? Just use mine.
Steven Julian
I like that.
Noah McNeely
And it's the kind of thing that, you know, as a homeowner, you're painting two or three rooms. You buy it just for that. You know, you're not. Well, you know, a lot of ladies. Then you buy another one next time.
Daniel Stephenson
A lot of ladies use it. They don't want to get their fingernails messed up. Sure.
Noah McNeely
Preach.
Daniel Stephenson
They pay a lot. I know my wife pays a lot of money to have manicures.
Steven Julian
All right. So, Daniel, I've got to ask one other question that has been burning on the minds of. A few listeners and the slightly annoying co-host, are you from the south side of Boston or the north side of Boston with that accent?
Daniel Stephenson
The very north side.
Steven Julian
Yeah. Okay. Yeah. All right. Because as you said, the caulking finger, your accent is perfect for your company because of the way you say it. I can't say it like that.
Daniel Stephenson
I'm Georgia born and bred. Really?
Steven Julian
It was surprising. Whereabouts in Georgia are you from?
Daniel Stephenson
Conyers, Georgia. Oh, yeah, yeah. Rockdale. Absolutely. Live in Monticello, Georgia now. Oh.
Noah McNeely
Well, that's not too far from where I grew up. Yeah. We're probably related if we go back far enough.
Steven Julian
Well, we all are.
Noah McNeely
Yeah, that's right. Probably not as far back.
Steven Julian
If you don't mind me asking, what got you in the painting business? Was it a paycheck to start? Like, hey, I found I'm good at it?
Daniel Stephenson
Father-in-law.
Steven Julian
Okay. Yeah.
Daniel Stephenson
At the time, yeah.
Steven Julian
And you've done residential. You also do a lot of commercial.
Daniel Stephenson
I've done residential. I've done commercial. I've done industrial.
Steven Julian
And you're still doing that? Yes, sir.
Daniel Stephenson
I'm still painting.
Steven Julian
So you have your own painting company? Yes, sir. You've also developed this? Mm-hmm. I'm going to be – first of all, I'm going to become – Mark it as a favorite, thecaulkingfinger.com. I may try an outside job to try and become your. t-shirt designer, but that's a conversation off air. I believe Noah has a question or a comment.
Noah McNeely
Actually, I want to go a little bit deeper on a question that you asked.
Steven Julian
That's why you're here.
Noah McNeely
So when you're getting into stores, now I think this will be really interesting to people out there trying to invent or thinking about how do I even do this. How do you actually do it? Are you making phone calls? Are you sending someone? You're visiting. And for the mom and pop or the independent stores, that works. What about like some of the chains? Like you told me how Sherwin-Williams happened, but...
Daniel Stephenson
Lowe's, you have to, we went to a, Lowe's does a process called Into the Blue.
Noah McNeely
Okay.
Daniel Stephenson
We went to an Into the Blue thing and met with them, done demonstration, they liked it. And that's what got us. on the online business. Ace Hardware, we filled out some information online, sent it in, they call, fill out more information, and I guess they have a crew that looks at it.
Noah McNeely
Okay. So most of these chains, it sounds like they have some sort of process. Yes. And each one's. probably different, but you just have to figure out. How to get started on that.
Daniel Stephenson
Yes, sir. How to fill out. And there's a lot of, we had help along the way from other people to tell us how to, there's a lot of the lingo that me being a painter, I don't know. And they would help us fill out the forms and stuff online.
Steven Julian
So it should be stated, these large Lowe's, Home Depot, I'm not going to mention Home Depot because they don't have his product. They should. So these places, they all have a process. You, as a business owner already, and someone who knows how to drum up business, you didn't just create this and went, well, I got it. All right, I'll just wait for everybody to show up.
Daniel Stephenson
I mean, you got to hustle.
Steven Julian
You got to hustle. You got to rattle the bushes. You got to figure out what you're supposed to do and follow their process.
Daniel Stephenson
Their protocol. Yes, sir. I mean, I've traveled to... Pennsylvania, I've gone to Chicago, and I've gone to Los Angeles. I mean, I'm sorry, Las Vegas. And along the way, I've stopped at stores, and. that's how I get into them. I mean, not word of mouth, I'm into actually walking into the store and pitching it to them.
Steven Julian
So in that process, is there, so let's just, and I know everyone's a little different, but you're going into an independent hardware store, and you're bringing some samples, and then is it a matter of, hey. Can I leave you a couple samples? Or is there a way to go, let's do an initial order, and if you like what you got, contact me. And when you sell out of these, is it something like that?
Daniel Stephenson
Well, I do a demonstration. I do an actual demonstration, show them how to use it, let them use it. And if they like it, they'll buy it right then. They're on the spot. I fill out an invoice. I leave it with them. And then I touch base back with them in a couple of months, see how they're selling.
Steven Julian
Is the demonstration to go, hey, is there a wall that you really want painted? Because I can cover that and I can do that and I'll do the cog. Only do the quarter of it. And then if you want the rest of it done, I'll...
Daniel Stephenson
No, what I do actually is I sit at home and make boards.
Steven Julian
Okay.
Daniel Stephenson
With angles on them. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I just, I'll fill up a box with them and I just hit the road. Man. With a caulking gun and a tube of caulk and a caulking finger and go sail.
Steven Julian
And then you go give them the finger. I like that. Sorry. That was my, I did one at the beginning. I've done one here at the end. I thank you for your patience and letting me have that. And it was just, it's, you've heard them all, right? At this point, you've heard them all.
Daniel Stephenson
You would be surprised at what I've heard. Well, you may not.
Noah McNeely
I'm not sure we would.
Steven Julian
Yeah. Have you listened to our show?
Noah McNeely
We've heard some things too.
Daniel Stephenson
I mean, I, I've heard them all.
Steven Julian
And, and then you were, and it's, and at least. Two of them, you've probably thought, I wish I'd come up with that.
Daniel Stephenson
Well, you know, they say, can you do this? I say, as long as you buy it, you do what you. want to.
Noah McNeely
And don't tell me about it. That's another t-shirt!
Steven Julian
Holy cow, that's awesome. All right. I'm sorry. Yeah, go, go.
Noah McNeely
I got one more. I love it.
Steven Julian
We finally woke him up. He's engaged now.
Noah McNeely
I'm still sick.
Steven Julian
I know. You're doing great. You're doing great.
Noah McNeely
Thank you. I may not remember this later. Okay, so my question, which I like to ask all inventors that are successful and on the market, what's someone who is not there yet? They're just at the, you know, making it in their garage stage, or maybe they're just at the, I have this idea on the way to work stage. What are the biggest points of advice you'd give them?
Daniel Stephenson
First thing I tell everybody is do a patent search.
Noah McNeely
Okay.
Daniel Stephenson
Do all the research you can do.
Noah McNeely
And you mean do that on your own?
Daniel Stephenson
On your own. Google patent.
Noah McNeely
Because it costs money. Exactly.
Daniel Stephenson
An NDA. Don't tell anybody what you're doing. I don't care if it's your best friend. When it comes to money, somebody may stab you in the back.
Noah McNeely
They might heap coals on your head.
Daniel Stephenson
That was somebody who told me that when I first. started. So I printed out. I went online, got me an NDA. And before I told anybody or showed anybody, I had them sign it. And then, you know, do a patent search. And it's when you're not. A lawyer, you've really got to the wordage that's in these patents. Yeah. You've got to really search it.
Noah McNeely
Oh, yeah. It's written so you can't understand it. Yeah. It's on purpose.
Daniel Stephenson
Yeah. So sometimes you can't even look it up because of the wordage.
Steven Julian
So I do want to ask you, because you said something about the NDA, and when you went to meet with, was it White Cloud? Sorry.
Daniel Stephenson
Yeah.
Steven Julian
White Light. White Light. Sorry. White cloud might be a toilet paper.
Noah McNeely
You're going to give me trouble with someone else.
Steven Julian
Yeah, white light. So, because Noah, we've had the conversation on the show about NDAs. When you go to meet with someone who's going to help you design the product.
Daniel Stephenson
Absolutely. Okay. I didn't show anybody. The only people I showed was my family.
Steven Julian
Okay.
Noah McNeely
It's such an important thing. I have an NDA that's just blank on my website. You can download it before you talk to me. That's what I tell people to do because back before I did that, it would take three, four days to get an NDA back and forth. So here it's just ready to go.
Steven Julian
So that's good advice for people developing the product and even to talk to someone like you who's going to help them. And you've said on the show, look, I'm doing what I'm doing. I'm not looking to... I'm not looking to steal anyone's idea. That would ruin your whole business. But you understand the concept of, I'll sign. That's fine. I got no problem with that.
Noah McNeely
There's two reasons. At least two reasons to do it. One is, if people are going to be dishonest, this at least provides some legal protection for that. And two, if you do get to a point where you're defending a patent down the road, you can still honestly say this was not disclosed without expectation of confidentiality. And look, I've got the paperwork.
Daniel Stephenson
Another thing I would say is I didn't do it. We hired a provisional patent. If somebody does it, that will help protect for a year from the time you do it. Get yourself in ducks. in a row.
Steven Julian
And we certainly have covered the topic of patents. And so here's a real world example of someone who's gone through it.
Noah McNeely
Even if you've got your patent, I would encourage you to do the NDA up to the point. your product's on the market. Once it's public, it's public. But even if you've got the patent.
Daniel Stephenson
And you may know better than me, once it's sold, you can't get a patent, correct?
Noah McNeely
Once it's in the public space. Yeah, that's right. It's public knowledge. You can't get a patent on public knowledge. Wow. We should ask Brock. He's the expert that we have. That's true. That's true. That's my non-legal understanding of that. So, the views expressed on this program are not legal in any way.
Steven Julian
Past performance is no guarantee of future. Oh, sorry.
Noah McNeely
This sentence is buying.
Steven Julian
So, thecaulkingfinger.com. And why wear out your finger? Just use mine. Smooths and finishes caulk like a pro. Saves your fingers from splinters and soreness. Among many other things. And I came up with two ideas and I don't have a third yet. Although we do know when you feel pressure, stop. So Daniel, thank you so, so much for coming in. I knew you'd be a great interview when I met you at the home show. You're passionate about your product. You know. It's personal to you because it is your finger on the end of the green plastic.
I love the explanation of you made it the color you did because you don't want people to lose it. Any painters know.
Daniel Stephenson
And it stands out when it's in a store.
Steven Julian
Well, there you go. See, yet another reason. All right. So people can order this directly from thecaulkingfinger.com, but also you want to shout out Sherwin-Williams, various Sherwin-Williams, Benjamin Moore, Lowe's.com, Amazon. Ace. Ace Hardware. And if anyone is going to their local Ace Hardware store and doesn't see the caulking finger, show them the website.
Daniel Stephenson
Yes, sir.
Steven Julian
Yeah, absolutely. And is there a way to get in touch with you directly through the website? Is there an email?
Daniel Stephenson
Yes, it's danielatthecaulkingfinger.com.
Steven Julian
So that's where people can find out more information. And so I'd encourage anyone listening to this that has their own hardware store, man, you need to be doing business with Daniel. If he isn't on the road visiting your store, he'll at. least do a Teams call or Zoom call and show you how it works and might even send you a sample and a cool T-shirt and other stuff. I can't wait to see other T-shirt designs in the future. I can't wait to see what your other SKUs are, a skinnier finger and maybe a toe.
I don't know.
Daniel Stephenson
They can check us out also on TikTok and Instagram. We've got a YouTube channel.
Steven Julian
The Caulking Finger.
Daniel Stephenson
Facebook.
Steven Julian
I'm sorry. This is patronizing. I apologize. Just say the name of your product one more time because I just love your accent. Thecaulkingfinger.com. There you go. See, I can't do it any better than that, Jody. That's why I'm slightly annoying as I talked about it on the air. That's where you need to go. So I'm going to get that as my ringtone, the caulking finger. I can't do it. I can't do the accent as good as Daniel. Daniel Stevenson of the Caulking Finger, thank you so much for being here.
Daniel Stephenson
Hey, I appreciate y'all having me on here. God bless y'all. Yeah, absolutely.
Noah McNeely
Thank you for coming and you too. Absolutely.
Steven Julian
Noah, we find these great guests. There's. all these great products. This is why you do what you do. There's fascinating products out there.
Noah McNeely
That is one of the reasons I do what I do. I enjoy. It's always something different every time.
Steven Julian
There you go.
Noah McNeely
That's what I enjoy about this. There are engineers in the world that will happily work on the same propeller blade for 45 years. I would drink heavily if that were me. So that's not me.
Steven Julian
Right. And thankfully you don't drink heavily.
Noah McNeely
I do not.
Steven Julian
Yeah. We we've drank some coffee and I think it showed in this episode, but yeah, so I'm having another cup. Oh, you better believe I am too. We may or may not be recording another show, depending on if you beat me up.
Noah McNeely
My goal is to not sleep for three more days.
Steven Julian
You know, okay. All right, great. I don't know if I can't, I can't top that. So I want to just encourage everybody, if you ever paint. You need the caulking finger. Trust me, it's not going to break your bank, and it also won't break your finger. Hey, there we go. I came up with my own marketing tag at. the end. I want to thank Daniel Stevenson of the Caulking Finger for being here. Noah, I want to thank you for fighting through the frogginess, fighting through the grumpiness. You put on a great show.
You asked some great questions. Thank you for letting me be a goofball. Jody, you're intrepid as always. Someone's phone is vibrating, so that means it's time for us to go. Or that might be me. I don't know. Doesn't matter. Thanks for listening. I apologize for being so more than slightly annoying today. We will catch you next time on Product Genius.