Vision to Venture - Product Development for Founders

The game ‘The Floor is Lava’ will resonate with any business founder who has tried to bring an innovative product concept to market. Realizing a product vision is one of the most complex processes in the business world, made more so by the sheer unpredictability of the product development path when breaking new ground.

A quick internet search will tell you most hardware startups fail due to underestimating the product development process, issues with scaling to mass production, running out of money or simply failing to understand the target market’s needs or desires. And there’s a book to cover any one of these. 

Whipsaw has helped clients navigate almost all of the processes involved in translating a napkin sketch into a highly resolved, beautiful, and functional product that people want; priced to drive a healthy business. Projects like Tonal, Gridstack, and Ceribell are great examples of products and experiences we’ve designed that have launched into the market. True zero-to-one product design and development where its the founders and the Whipsaw team from the beginning.

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Redefining Home Fitness: Tonal
Aly Orady’s vision for Tonal was ambitious: to create the first digital strength training system that combined the versatility of a professional gym with the convenience of home fitness. Turning this concept into reality required tackling complex engineering challenges, including a compact design, a software-controlled motor capable of simulating a wide range of exercises, and intuitive mechanisms for seamless usability. By carefully balancing form and function, the team developed adjustable arms, ergonomic touchpoints, and an approachable design language to redefine the fitness experience. Through meticulous prototyping, testing, and refinement, the final product emerged as a groundbreaking solution that not only captured the home fitness market but also propelled Tonal to a $1.6B valuation. Today, Tonal stands as a leader in its category, setting a new standard for smart strength training systems.

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The biggest singular risk and source of unpredictability in product development is always invention. Disruptive ideas often present the most exciting opportunities, but they need the A-team at every step. Still, this buzz, this tightrope walk, makes the creation process so rewarding when you build the right team, bringing expertise, innovative minds, and experience together to make the magic happen. As consultants, we do just that for our clients, and we’re lucky to get that buzz every week as we develop a design vision and technical strategy that charts the best course. 

With all the risk and cost pressures involved, the right strategy is vital. Turning vision into venture requires a complex and evolving strategy to guide daily decision-making while meeting the myriad of business considerations. Doing so requires foresight, empathy, market vision, technical awareness, risk and stakeholder management. Rather than the steady, procedural development typical of larger corporations, product development with start-ups and founders requires tweaking a strategy to make the most significant impact and impression when investment is needed next; and knowing how best to use the available capital to reach the next stage when the slightest miscalculation can sink an entire venture. 

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From Vision to Venture: MXXY
Drew Dawson and Nicolas Belgum envisioned a hydration system that could adapt to athletes’ real-time needs—a dual-reservoir solution capable of mixing fluids on the go. The challenge was transforming this idea into a functional, durable, and user-friendly product. By focusing on both the athlete’s experience and technical precision, the team developed an innovative rotary valve mechanism for precise fluid mixing, leak-proof and reversible reservoir bags for easy cleaning, and a compact, ergonomic design tailored for extreme conditions. Launching a GEN 1 product allowed for early market validation, laying the groundwork for the GEN 2 Flexx™, which refined every aspect of usability and performance. Today, MXXY’s hydration system has earned accolades from professional athletes and everyday users alike, establishing it as a standout innovation in its category.

There are two vital components to persuading investors to dig deeper: Confidence and Belief. Tailoring a great technical strategy to divide funds effectively across design, engineering, technology development, and proof of concept should give you the ‘confidence’ but save enough of your budget for building ‘belief’. You need a great story. It’s not enough to show some sketches and a tech demo to build belief. Your audience must be guided in interpreting the work in progress with a carefully crafted narrative. How will this product transform the lives of the target users and, therefore, be a compelling purchase? What will it look like in the hand? The more polished your communication of the user and product journey is, the less doubt there is and the less imagination an investor needs to picture the concept vision as a viable venture. Your investors need to be not just believers but evangelists - showing instead of telling helps close that gap.

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A Recap

Understand the Complexity of Product Development

• Acknowledge the unpredictability and challenges of realizing a product vision, especially when breaking new ground.
• Anticipate hurdles like scaling to mass production, running out of capital, or misaligning with target market needs.

Focus on the Target Market

• Conduct thorough research to understand the needs, desires, and pain points of your target users.
• Design products that address clear, validated problems to ensure market demand.

Assemble the Right Team

• Build an "A-team" of experts with complementary skills in design, engineering, and market strategy.
• Collaborate with experienced consultants or partners to bring innovative ideas to life efficiently.

Develop a Strategic Roadmap

• Balance short-term and long-term goals with an evolving strategy that adjusts based on feedback and progress.
• Prioritize impactful decisions that align with funding milestones and business objectives.

Prototype, Test, and Refine

• Use iterative prototyping to validate designs and improve functionality, usability, and user experience.
• Incorporate feedback from real-world testing to refine the product and meet user expectations.

Tell a Compelling Story

• Create a polished narrative that illustrates how your product transforms users' lives.
• Showcase polished visuals and prototypes to reduce investor doubt and inspire belief.

Balance Risk and Innovation

• Embrace the inherent risks of invention but mitigate them with a well-defined technical and business strategy.
• Focus on making strategic decisions that maximize the return on investment while minimizing potential pitfalls.

Leverage Early Market Validation

• Consider launching a GEN 1 product to gather feedback, validate market interest, and build a foundation for future iterations.
• Use early adoption insights to refine subsequent versions and strengthen product-market fit.

Persuade with Confidence and Belief

• Divide funds strategically across design, engineering, and proof of concept to build investor confidence.
• Save budget for crafting a polished pitch that enables investors to envision the product’s potential impact clearly.

Make Investors Evangelists

• Present work in a way that inspires not just belief but enthusiasm and advocacy from investors.
• Use compelling storytelling, prototypes, and clear communication to turn investors into champions of your product vision.