Kirk Hyust and Brian Halasinski – “Build a team, be resourceful, learn as much as you can”
When Kirk was renovating Brian’s house, he would show and talk about all his product ideas with Brian, one of which was a wrench he created. Kirk was in the process of venturing his product and was frustrated and burnt out with the amount of time and money he was spending.
He decided to partner with Brian on another product called the Smokestak and gave Brian the book “One Simple Idea” by inventRight cofounder Stephen Key to read. Together they formed a partnership and decided to follow the process of licensing instead of venturing. They dove deep into watching inventRight TV videos on YouTube and following the steps while keeping their expenses low.
Kirk and Brian decided to attend the Michigan Inventors Coalition Expo this year, where they won a free Bootcamp coaching membership. They immediately began working with coach Paul Sorenson because they already had interest for the Kirk Wrench and were needing assistance on how to move the deal forward. Paul also reviewed their marketing materials on all of their products and taught them how to properly market their ideas to companies as well as negotiate their deal!
They have the process down to a science now. Typically, they can come up with an idea, file a provisional patent application, complete their sell sheet, and be pitching to companies within 45 days. They have successfully licensed the Kirk Wrench and are now pitching three BBQ products that already have interest!
