And we worked hard to get the domestic cost down as much as possible as well.”Īfter finding a manufacturing partner, the pair worked with the factory’s R&D and tooling team, spending about four months nailing down the perfect production method. “But we were happy to make the tradeoff for a partner factory we could trust. “The biggest disadvantage was cost,” Jake says. Jake said they decided to go with a manufacturer in the United States in order to avoid language barriers, reduce time and travel costs, simplify quality control, and support American jobs. “We needed…more voices around the table to brainstorm unique approaches to the specific problems we faced in certain build steps,” Jake says.Įntrepreneurs often look both at home and abroad for factories that can bring their vision to reality. The partner they chose would need to help them go from an R&D prototype to the final manufacturing build process, streamlining its production steps.
“We had to get all that we lacked,” remembers Jake.ĭespite having managed to obtain the capital necessary to produce the first run of wallets, Jake and Steve realized that it would be essential to find a partner factory who believed in their vision. The company launched its product as a Kickstarter in 2019, and since then has sold over $620,000 worth of wallets.īefore Stealth Wallet, Jake explains they’d never designed a mass-produced soft-goods product.Įven with their wallet in hand, the team knew that they faced significant challenges in bringing their prototype into mass-production. He and Steve Schmidt (CEO, Founder, and Inventor) created the Stealth Wallet, the world’s thinnest and strongest wallet. To better understand the challenges, CustomFab USA speaks with Jake Van Vorhis, the Chief Operating Officer and Co-founder of the Airo Collective.
#AIRO WALLET HOW TO#
Information such as figuring out how to design a prototype, to finding the right manufacturing partner, and knowing the necessary steps along the way are all essential to that dream’s success. Now, all that’s left to do is tease the dream out of your mind and get it mass-produced.įor many would-be inventors, this is the chasm that separates the haves from the have nots. That “ah-ha!” moment where you’ve envisioned an undeniably great invention or product that’s sure to be a success.
0 kommentar(er)
