What they do:
Make hook and loop fasteners for hundreds of uses.
Inspiration:
Swiss engineer George de Mestral returned from a hunting trip when he noticed pesky little burrs sticking to his jacket, socks, and even his dog. He put the burrs under a microscope and noticed they had tiny hooks which caught on the loops of his wool coat. That’s when he got the big idea to replicate nature with similar hook and loop fasteners.
About the business:
Today, the Velcro brand of hook and loop fasteners has hundreds of uses and is found world wide. They're used in everything from medical equipment to automobile interiors and even in NASA’s Space shuttle.
Jake Zien was a 17 year old with a quirky idea for a flexible power strip. Ben Kaufman was a 19 year with a start-up and a vision of harnessing ideas just like Jake’s.
Now, thanks to Kaufman’s invention crowdsourcing site Quirky, Zien and other inventors like him are seeing their products go from sketchpad to store shelf faster than they can say “perpetual royalties.”
Searching for comfort from the heat, Steven Villegas altered a pair of army surplus pants into a legless skirt, optimized for the working man. He called it the “Utilikilt.” His utilitarian man-skirt quickly became a surprise hit with construction workers, bikers, and other unlikely customers. On the latest episode of The Why Didn’t I Think of That? ® Podcast, we put the spotlight on this up-and-coming entrepreneur.
The Why Guys speak with Villegas about his unique product on this week’s Why Didn’t I Think of That? Podcast.
Wouldn’t it be nice if there were some sort of community where artists, tinkerers, geeks, and inventors of all shapes and sizes could pay a small monthly fee and have access to expensive, technical tools, as well as a work space in which to operate?
Well, actually, there is. It’s called TechShop.
Harry Coover, the man who invented Super Glue, has passed away at the age of 94. His discovery actually came about by accident…
This entrepreneur invented a way to help his distressed customers — and start a new industry — at the same time. Hear the story of auto mechanic Ernest Holmes and the invention of the Tow Truck.