Carving Caricatures
Apr/100
Making His Mark One Blade at a Time: A Top Inventor Finds That Success Cuts Both Ways
As a child, Todd already had an inclination toward art and design. He manifested his creativity by carving miniatures out of wood and decorating them with other available objects such as dental floss. Not surprisingly, Todd chose an art major and graduated from Bowdoin College in 1989. He spent the first two summers of his college years working hard for his father, whom he considers a role model when it comes to his work ethic. “It is important that you learn the value of work in order to understand the value of a dollar.”
After several college jobs working mainly on fundraising (and drawing caricatures in his spare time) Todd found his direction at age 23. During that year he moved to Seattle and, as a result of early hair loss, shaved his head for the first time when he started his travels across country from Philadelphia. Upon arriving in Seattle he quickly found a job in a local deli. Across the street, Todd noticed a city commissioned mural being painted on the Post Office. After showing his portfolio to the artist, Todd then became his assistant for the project. Through a mutual friend, Todd met an artist for Sierra Online and soon joined that company fulltime. Additional parts of his journey included developing the game design for a business language program and working for Starwave (a Paul Allen company) before moving to Los Angeles and doing contract work for Disney Imagineering and then a short stint at Geocities. After four months with the latter, he came up with an idea that he decided to pursue no matter how nonsensical it seemed to others. “It was 1997, and stereotypes about shaved heads were starting to wind down. One day, I was rubbing my head and wished I could have a razor under my fingers and just shave by feel.” Several prototypes and meetings with attorneys later, Todd had a patented product that he named HeadBlade. Investing in a new brand was a risky venture, especially given that he had to raise $150,000 to start his business. But the alternative was untenable: “I didn’t want to be the guy who saw a head-shaving razor on a store shelf, thinking that was my idea! If you have an idea and a passion, go with it; you don’t want to be that person who sees somebody else market a product that you thought of.”
For the HeadBlade Company’s first two years, Todd ran the business online from his apartment. During the beginning sales stages, he carried HeadBlades in his backpack and sold them on the street. Several stores then began selling the product, which led to magazine coverage. “People are skeptical of the quality of products they see being sold on the street and not marketed by some form of media. Still, just because you make enough money to advertise in magazines or on TV, that doesn’t mean you should do it. Do what makes sense for your business.”
Furthermore, Todd speaks openly about unquestioned sacrifices in order to advertise and sell his product. “I have to be the guy who wears his company’s logo. I drive HeadBlade cars, and I wear HeadBlade clothes. I had an 800 number that would go to my apartment and I answered it in the middle of the night. When you’re starting a business, that is how committed you need to be.” Apart from devoting all his time and thought to brand development, Todd also took a big risk when he persuaded retailers such as Walgreens to sell his product. “They ordered 15,000 pieces and offered to sell them on a consignment basis. That meant having to invest money, paying for the production and shipment of a huge amount of HeadBlades, and then waiting for consumers to buy them so our company could generate revenue.”
Overcoming the obstacles of marketing and selling his invention became an arduous process, but Todd received a few unexpected rewards for his design of the HeadBlade. In addition to his original HeadBlade being named one of the “Top Ten Designs of 2000” by Time, it became a part of the permanent collection in The Museum of Modern Art in New York. This recognition conveyed a form of legitimacy that most products do not have, since neither is a reward for which an entrepreneur can apply. “I had a vision and pursued it even though people said I was crazy. My college professor said that everybody can critique a painting while you’re painting it because they don’t have a vision of what it’s going to look like. Once you’re done, you should give it out to the world and let them have a go at it.”
Currently, Todd’s attention is directed toward expanding the demographics of HeadBlade users. He does so by having famous athletes endorse the product, and also by engaging in philanthropy. HeadBlade supports the St. Baldricks’s Foundation—dedicated to raising money for childhood cancer research—and makes shaving for medical reasons more bearable, even fun. In several aspects, the entire brand promotes a lifestyle. “We are not a luxury; we sell a product that a guy who shaves his head uses every day. We have products that give users a more positive outlook on shaving. Our goal is to become threaded into the fabric of their lives and have the best possible impact we can.”
Mix a great idea with tenacity, and watch products born, fortunes created and lives changed.
About the Author
Written by: mmiocevi (for uwemp.com)
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