75 - Finding a Balance of Entrepreneurial Superpowers | feat. Alex Fine

75 - Finding a Balance of Entrepreneurial Superpowers | feat. Alex Fine   Cheat Sheet Designing a product for a customer and designing a product for a manufacturer to create are two different things. Customers want features and benefits and manufacturers want it to be made of only one part. Designing and building a prototype is equally different from designing a product to be made thousands of times. Some contract manufacturers will take your prototype design and translate it into something they can use for mass production, but that is not ideal. You will want an industrial design engineer in your corner. If industrial engineering is not your forte, you can partner with a firm, or find a kickass cofounder. If you do, your chances of delivering on time go through the roof.   About this episode Most of the people that call me for advice or to hire me to run their campaigns are visionaries. They have big hearts and bigger dreams. But oftentimes they lack the skills in another area of business that is crucial to the success in the market they have chosen to tackle. In consumer technology crowdfunding, the skills deficit I most often see is in the nitty gritty detail work of industrial design and engineering. You can have a great idea, execute a crowdfunding campaign on it perfectly, raise a ton of money, and then be screwed trying to manufacture. What is the solution? Partner with people who have the skills you need. Chris Prendergast partnered with an industrial design firm for JamStack. Today’s guest, Alex Fine, is a sex therapist with a Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University. Alex brought her passion for human sexuality and partnered with an MIT mechanical engineering grad, Janet Lieberman, who brought extensive product design experience. Together they cofounded Dame Products and have raised over $1.2 million dollars over two campaigns for two different, cutting edge, sex toys. The original, Eva, raised $575,000 in 45 days on IndieGoGo in 2014. Their latest, Fin, raised $394,000 in 30 days on Kickstarter in late 2016. The balance they raise with IndieGoGo's InDemand service. In this episode, you will get some hints on what makes their partnership work well. When you are done listening, ask yourself, “do I have all of the skills necessary to pull off my vision?”. If not, then get to work finding partners.   Resources Mentioned Dame Products Eva on Indiegogo (includes InDemand earnings) Fin on Kickstarter Survey Monkey