Designer/Co-founder of 2 humans and 1 business (@N_Product)

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Episode Overview

Dominic Coballe is the co-founder of N-Product and shares the real challenges of building a physical product, the importance of good design, and the maker movement.

Dominic is a designer by trade and N-Product practices the Slow Goods movement, where objects take time to craft, are composed of quality materials and last a lifetime, or two.

“It was a 'holy shit' moment for us, that we were sitting on this thing, that we were thinking that we were going to blow-out all the competitors, and then someone came and then ate our lunch... literally.”

Some Of The Questions We Ask

0:52
Where are you from, what did you study and how did your passion for entrepreneurship start?

2:40
Since 2011 you have been working on N-Product with your wife. What is N-Product?

4:14
You call yourself the “practitioner of the Slow Goods movement”. What is the Slow Goods movement? How is it different from any other creation methods?

7:09
One of the first products you created at N-Products was called the “Deckster” - a watch band for an ipod nano. How did you come up with the idea?

18:14
At the time, there was no Kickstarter in Canada. How did you launch the product? Can you take us through the process and major phases?

26:12
What’s the one thing you have always wanted to build, but couldn’t?

27:19
What lead you to create your own products and what do you think of the growing “Maker” movement?

33:42
Can you share one funny or unbelievable story about yourself and/or your companies that very few people know?

36:01
What devices do you use most often and what apps/tools/books are you obsessed with right now?

What You Learn In This Episode

• How Dom came up with the idea for the Deckster and learned about a competitor on Kickstarter.
• How challenging it is to launch a physical product company.
• Why design and marketing are so critical to small businesses.
• How Dom was able to meet Gary Vaynerchuk at a key momement in N-Products history.
• And more!

Important Links

Here are some of the most important links and resources mentioned throughout the show.

Twitter Handles & Websites

Dom on Twitter
N-Product on the Twitter
N-product on the Web
Tyler Copeland on Twitter
Franco Varriano on Twitter

Books & Apps

Netflix
Instagram
Facebook
Asana
Basecamp
Wunderlist