You've already heard about the mistakes I made, and how my product wasn't selling like I hoped when it finally hit shelves.
Now let me tell you what finally turned things around.
Eventually, I admitted I couldn't do it alone.
So I connected with a retail veteran who had decades of experience with consumer products.
He didn't just help me sell. Over time he became a close partner, took equity in the company, and reshaped the whole retail strategy.
His perspective completely changed how I thought about packaging and how a product actually gets noticed on a shelf.
We rebuilt everything around that, and that's when things started to take off.
The product got picked up by hundreds of stores across the U.S., Canada, and a few other countries, including hardware chains, department stores, home improvement retailers, and around a hundred Walgreens.
But he wasn't the only outside help that changed things.
Remember that redesign the manufacturer forced on me, when they took one look and said my product couldn't be built at volume?
This time I did it differently. Instead of designing in isolation and waiting to get rejected, I started working directly with the experienced engineers at my manufacturer.
They had the manufacturing experience I didn't. Together we simplified the build, lowered the cost, and made the product far more consistent to produce.
It was the same kind of outside review I'd had every day at TI and walked away from the moment I went out on my own.
Once I started getting real outside perspective, on both the market side and the technical side, I stopped guessing and started making better decisions.
Here's what I always tell people now:
Get your first version out into the world. Then use what you learn to make the next one better. You don't have to get everything right the first time. You just need a way to not be figuring it all out alone.
That's exactly why I built the Hardware Academy.
After everything I went through doing it by myself, I wanted to create the thing I wish I'd had back then.
It's a place where you can get experienced engineers and product experts to review your work, guide you along, and catch the expensive mistakes before they happen, at every stage from idea to launch.
Next, in the Predictable Launch Protocol series, I walk you through exactly how I'd de-risk a hardware product today, step by step.