Turn your idea into something real you can show, test and raise on.
I take an idea from a sketch or a description to an evaluated, buildable concept and a working MVP — a prototype that proves the core function and is good enough to put in front of users, investors or a crowdfunding audience. With the structure, rhythm and honesty of someone who's taken award-winning products to the shelf.
What an "MVP" actually means for a physical product
"MVP" comes from software, and in hardware it gets used to mean everything from a rough proof-of-concept to a first production run. Left vague, that's exactly how projects blow their budget. So we pin it down before we start.
For a physical product, an MVP is a working prototype that proves the core function and is good enough to put in front of real people — users to learn from, investors to convince, or a crowdfunding audience to win. It is not the finished, manufacturable product; it's the smallest real thing that earns you the right (and the evidence) to build that.
We agree exactly which level of "working" you need up front, so there are no surprises about what you're getting:
From idea to a thing in your hands
An evaluated concept
Your idea developed into a concept that actually works — pressure-tested for feasibility, cost and manufacture, not just how it looks.
A clear brief & spec
The requirements written down properly, so every later decision has something objective to be measured against.
A working MVP
A prototype at the fidelity we agreed — the real, demonstrable thing you can test, show and raise on.
A plan to production
A clear route from the MVP to a manufacturable product, with the future baked into the early design so nothing has to be torn up later.
Structure and rhythm, not chaos
Most of my clients are doing this for the first time. What helps most isn't just the engineering — it's a steady, honest process that keeps momentum without letting the excitement run ahead of the evidence.
Discovery & de-risk
We start small and paid — usually a Feasibility Study — to prove the idea holds up and to scope and price everything that follows. No big commitment on day one.
Concept development & evaluation
I develop the idea into real, buildable options and we weigh them honestly — feasibility, cost and experience — so we choose a direction for the right reasons, not the loudest opinion in the room.
Fail-fast prototyping
We prototype quickly and cheaply to answer the real questions, learning fast and keeping momentum — with future manufacture considered from the start, so progress never has to be undone.
A working MVP + a plan
You end with the demonstrable MVP we agreed and a clear route to production — ready to test, pitch, or move into full product development.
A deceptively simple idea, done properly
My first design-engineering product for Ooni looked like a simple plastic tray. Underneath sat a knot of competing constraints — fridge sizes across regions, nesting, injection-moulding limits, tolerance stack-up. Rather than iterate blindly, I modelled the trade-offs and made the calls before cutting steel. It's sold for over three years — and the geometry is the single most-praised thing in the reviews. That's the whole game: get the hard thinking right early, and the product feels effortless to everyone else.
Clear on both sides
What you bring
- → An idea or rough concept — however early. If it's barely more than a thought, we start with discovery.
- → A sense of who it's for and what "success" looks like for your MVP.
- → Openness to honest feedback — including if the idea needs to change.
How I work
- ✓ Engineering-led: I take a concept and make it real. For heavy aesthetic styling I bring in a specialist industrial-design partner.
- ✓ Scoped, gated phases — you see and approve the cost before each one.
- ✓ Happy to work under an NDA from the very first conversation.
- ✓ Everything explained in plain terms — no hiding behind jargon.
Common questions
Ready to make your idea real?
Book a free introductory call and tell me about it. We'll talk through where you are, what a sensible first step looks like, and how to get you to a working MVP without wasting a penny on the wrong thing.