MAKING ONE: ON THE CARE AND FEEDING OF IDEAS. Give yourself permission ; Clear space in your head ; Write it down right away ; Protect your ideas with a notebook ; Peruse the patents ; Honor mother necessity ; Start close to home ; Work with what you've got ; Go on a "junket" ; Find your tribe ; Take a cue from the CueCat ; Determine if you idea is a good one ; Discover brainstorming ; Brainstorm with a group ; Hone your drawing skills to develop your ideas ; Pick the best view for your sketch ; Draw a concept sketch of your invention ; Try your hand at classic drawing exercises ; Meet Dr. Nakamats ; Hear inventor's thoughts on ideation ; Dive into computer-aided design (CAD) ; Get the full benefit of CAD ; Learn how computers think about solids ; Make your first 3D CAD model
THE PROTOTYPING CYCLE. Ride the prototyping spiral ; Work toward major milestones ; Check out famous prototypes ; Make it quick and dirty ; Save time with off-the-shelf building systems ; Tap the power of your paper printer ; Set your prototype aside ; Come back to it ; Try and try again ; Ask the big questions ; Start learning how to make stuff ; Match material, method, and scale ; Crank up some mechanisms ; Know what you're getting into ; Assemble an inventor's tool kit ; Meet the laser cutter ; Find one in the wild ; Make your first laser-cut parts ; Don't shoot your eye out ; Meet Steve Sasson ; Get the big-picture view of electronics ; Imagine water flowing ; Learn electrical terms ; Get comfortable with components ; Build your first circuit ; Rev up the actuators ; Meet Limor Fried ; Make your invention move ; Bone up on basic mechanical design ; Build a lazier Susan ; Improvise a power source ; Get prototyping tips from the masters
THE TESTING PROCESS. Test in the real world ; Pay for hard science ; Conduct qualitative testing ; Host a focus group ; Find some good testees ; Master the questionnaire ; Craft your user stories ; Dissect a competing product ; Don't get caught in the iridium trap ; Meet the 3D printer ; Pick the best printing method ; Buy or borrow a 3D printer ; Print you first 3D model ; Hunt for 3D models online ; Meet Meg Crane ; Start out in software ; Get to know embedded systems ; Try out a development board ; Speak your computer's language ; Decode different programming languages ; Program your first board ; Don't reinvent the wheel
SELLING ONE: FINDING FUNDING. Join the crowdfunding craze ; Take it to the bank ; Check out the top kickstarters ; Get an angel on your shoulder ; Play the venture capital game ; Call Uncle Sam ; Decipher financial statements ; Start your business plan ; Avoid crashing and burning like the Zano ; Pick a crowdfunding platform ; Run a winning crowdfunding campaign ; Make a killer kickstarter video ; Just add cats ; Meet Helen Greiner ; Get industry advice on getting funded ; Meet Peter Homer
SWIMMING WITH THE SHARKS. Listen to the grapevine ; Protect your brand ; Protect your hardware ; Protect your software ; Protect your posterior ; Discover the first patent laws ; Start a company (in Delaware) ; Pick the best type of business for you ; Protect your people ; Drill for profits better than the Drake Oil Well ; Meet Julio Palmaz ; Understand what's patentable ; Know your patent types ; Stall with a provisional patent application ; Enforce your patent ; Apply for a utility patent ; Nail your patent specifications ; Meet Bre Pettis
MAKING IT PRETTY. Show some ID ; Understand the importance of styling ; Get inspired by classic designs ; Remember usability ; Opt for functionalism ; Get to the Holy Grail: The works-like-looks-like prototype ; Practice human-centered design ; Enhance your ergonomics ; Consider CMF ; Discover the Pantone System ; Go old school with foam modeling ; Explore different modeling materials ; Sculpt a mockup in foam ; Craft details like a scale modeler ; Meet Ayah Bdeir ; Get inspired by leaders in design
MAKING MANY: DESIGN FOR MANUFACTURE. Treat industrial and manufacturing design as one step ; Learn from the locals ; Watch how it's made ; Consider kitting ; Find a factory ; Make things easy to make ; Take a trip down the assembly line ; Master manufacturing processes ; Stamp parts with a four-slide machine ; Geek out on specialized machines ; Go local or overseas ; Assess life cycle ; Practice design for disassembly ; Embrace the tenets of ecodesign ; Get to know PCB fabrication ; Learn what lives inside a PCB ; Find facts on datasheets ; Design your own printed circuit board ; Wield a soldering iron like a pro ; Meet Samantha Rose ; Say hello to the CNC Mill ; Meet papa, mama, and baby bear ; Play it safe when CNC milling ; Mill you printed circuit board ; Buy or borrow a PCB mill ; Get manufacturing tips form pros who know
WORKING WITH A MANUFACTURER. Insist on a pilot build ; Be smart about quality control ; Drop a BOM (bill of materials) ; Run a final design review ; Pay a visit to the plant ; Get the backstory on injection molding ; Avoid Nike's ethical manufacturing woes ; Seek certifications ; Prevent highway robbery ; Meet the injection-molding machine ; Mold it right ; Check out the world of plastic parts ; Cast a themoset facsimile part ; Meed Ashok Gadgil
SUPPLY-CHAIN MANAGEMENT. Choose parts with an eye to supply ; Outsource outsource outsource ; Put a bar code on it ; Count parts with a counting scale ; Run a tight ship ; Manage your inventory with software ; Take a lesson form LEGO ; Pack a pallet ; Avoid Apple's Power Mac problems ; Manage your warehouse space ; Pick a warehouse floor plan ; Pack a kit
SELLING MANY: MAKE IT TO MARKET. Sell the right product ; Set the right price ; Grok basic marketing dos and don'ts ; Be seen in the right places ; Sell your product as seen on TV ; Promote online ; See the flaws in the jewel case ; Pitch you product to influencers ; Understand package design basics ; Discover different packaging types ; Ace your product's packaging ; Get marketing tips form the pros ; Meet Massimo Banzi
CUSTOMER SUPPORT. Don't be that guy ; Help those who help themselves ; Help those who ask for help ; Humanize and empower support staff ; Set up a call center ; Heed the ten commandments of customer support ; Exceed expectations on social media ; Let software help manage customers ; Don't confuse service with sales like Comcast ; Plan a killer instruction manual ; Show don't tell ; Write simply and clearly ; Make an instruction manual ; Balance online and in-the-box help ; Meet Eric Stackpole
SELL OUT...OR SELL ON. Pick your moment ; Look for a hired gun ; Prep before selling ; Perform a SWOT analysis ; Set the best value ; Find the right buyers ; Negotiate like a pro ; Study up on massive IPOs ; Decide if you should stay or go ; Cash out with an IPO ; Give licensing a go ; Be savvy about selling ; Study up on mergers and acquisitions ; Sell you company ; Ask for an NDA upfront ; Meet Lonnie Johnson.