A mostly young staff of 50 sits in front of computer
screens. Bikes, ridden to work, hang from the ceiling. A young visionary sets
an eager, nontraditional vibe.
The rolling toilet, though, is a clue that Quirky is a bit
different.
Quirky is an invention website that takes ideas from its
online community and makes them into real consumer products. Ben Kaufman, 24,
founded the Manhattan-based Quirky two years ago with the aim of making
invention accessible.
Though it uses the en-vogue model of crowd-sourcing, it
still relies on nuts-and-bolts creation of tangible goods. Beyond Quirky’s rows
of desks lurks a design shop, complete with a 3-D printer and various
work-shopped inventions, along with the curious leftovers of development.
“We’re probably the most old-school startup you could
possibly imagine,” says Kaufman, whose drive and know-how far outweigh his age.
“We manufacture products. We put them on a boat. We ship them to retailers.”
The very concept of ocean freight is enough to make most
Silicon Valley upstarts shiver. But Quirky is finding the kind of success
startups dream of, while still keeping its feet in real-world production.
It recently picked up $16 million in financing from Norwest
Venture Partners. Kaufman expects the site to be profitable by next year. They
are readying a move this year to a larger warehouse across town. And on
Tuesday, the Sundance Channel will premiere “Quirky,” a six-episode reality
series that documents the fast-paced life at Quirky.
“There’s a difference between your crazy scientist garage
inventor and regular people,” says Kaufman. “Regular people experience problems
on an everyday basis that piss them off. Those are what I think are everywhere.
That’s what Quirky is here to achieve, to capture those problems, those
opportunities, and turn them into products.”
Ever thought you could invent a more ergonomic dog leash? Or
create a power strip that has room for boxy plug-ins? Those are the kind of
ideas that Quirky has turned into consumer products, splitting the profits with
its inventors and members of the community (“influencers”) whose tips help
shape the final product.
On the site, users vote for the product ideas they like the
best. Every Friday, two winners are crowned. Quirky developers create the
product, and then it goes into pre-sale. If enough people commit to buying the
product, Quirky takes it to market, produced from its manufacturing base in
China (where 15 employees work).
Thirty percent of top line revenue on direct sales is shared
with the community, as well as 10 percent from indirect sales with partners
like Bed Bath & Beyond and the Home Shopping Network. Those pies are broken
up with most going to the original inventor, and various percentages going to
those who made critical suggestions.
So Quirky always has products in various stages of
development, going from idea to (if they’re lucky) store shelves. Two new
products are launched every week.
The son of a business owner and a lawyer, Kaufman became an
inventor as a teenager when he had an idea for a pair of headphones to
accompany an iPod. He persuaded his parents to lend him the money (they had to
take out a second mortgage on their Long Island home), flew to China to secure
the manufacturing, and on his high school graduation day, had his first product
in hand.
“I fell in love with the process,” says Kaufman. “That first
product, what it took to make it made me realize this is really freaking hard.
... That problem was implanted in my head. I guess from that point forward, it
was all about: Can that be fixed?”
Kaufman started his first company, Mophie, a mobile
accessory company that he sold in 2007. At MacWorld 2007, he debuted a project
that got attendees to design a new product in just three days. That breakneck
pace has continued at Quirky. In the past week, from a window display at a New
York Bed Bath & Beyond, Quirky has been challenging customers to help
create a new product in just a week.
“I love manufactured drama,” says Kaufman, making his appeal
to reality TV producers thoroughly evident. “Not in a fake way, but in a
high-stakes, put-it-all-out-there and let’s try to make something happen. ...
It shows the world that we’re going to make something happen here.”
The first episode of “Quirky” features the inventions of two
products. The Pivot Power, an adjustable electrical power strip, is Quirky’s
flagship product. The idea came from a shaggy-haired college student, Jake
Zien, and has been one of its most successful products.
Zien is ecstatic for any cash at all for his idea, while the
other inventor featured in the premiere, Andrea Zabinski, is more demanding.
She wants to see her vision for an all-in-one pasta strainer, mixing and
serving bowl (the “Ventu”) fulfilled to her liking.
“I’m always on Quirky,” says Zabinski, who runs an online
training company in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania, when she is not trying to invent
things. “Once you have success, like I think the Ventu is going to be, it’s a
little addicting.”
She says she has made more than $5,000 from her input on
other people’s inventions.
“You have to spend time there,” says Zabinski. “You still
have to work at it. Now I’m making money on other products just by voting and
influencing. I’m getting little pennies here and there, but they all add up.”
The episode tracks the problems both products faced in
production: regulator holdups for the Pivot Power, and slow design inspiration
for the Ventu. But “Quirky” the show, much like the business, is thoroughly positive
about invention. The message: Anyone can do this.
Kaufman believes similar shows like ABC’s “Shark Tank” and
the older “American Inventor” focus on the wrong aspects of invention.
“That’s not what real product development is about,” he
says. “Real product development is working with real people to solve real
problems.”
“The world’s negative,” he says. “I like it, because it just
allows us to be the positive ones.”
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