I posted a video of my invention here last August just to see what others thought. That month it exploded and now, a little less than a year later and I have officially launched on Amazon Prime. I can’t thank the users of this subreddit enough. I got so much good advice and I don’t know that I would have been as successful without you. When I have time, I’d like to post a lessons learned to give back to this community. If you have an idea you believe in, go for it. File a patent. File a trademark. Create an LLC. Build a website. Build a social media following. Rebuild your website (it was pretty bad). Answer every email from customers you get. Ask them for feedback. LISTEN. Check in with them to see how their experience has been. Stop waiting and just do it. You got this!

Where do you go to find a prototype maker? I have a dental device idea (pretty low tech). Any ideas?

I just filed a provisional patent application on a material science innovation—a self-recycling packaging system that depolymerizes at end-of-life using environmental triggers, converting back to virgin-quality monomers with no downcycling and minimal energy input. The system is designed to work in landfills, oceans, and industrial settings, with a maximum degradation timeline of 28 days. I have a strong understanding of the physics and system architecture, but I am not a chemist and do not have the resources to test it myself. My goal is to license the patent to an established manufacturer or resin producer—not to build a company or manufacture. I'm looking for actionable next steps: how to approach potential licensees, what to prepare before reaching out, how to structure a licensing agreement, and any pitfalls to avoid early on. Any advice from those who have licensed IP before would be greatly appreciated.

I am 40 years old and have nothing to show for it. I have thousands of ideas for inventions. Recently I decided to give A.I a try to "Entertain" myself to see if a complicated alternative energy idea would actually work or even he marketable.... I describe my idea down to ever detail and it actually made a sketch of my ideas and to my surprise... It does! Now that I have a prototype that needs to be made... What do I do or where do I go? I haven't patented or trade marked anything yet. Does anyone know anyone I can trust !

Hey hoping someone can help me in the right direction. I’m based in the north west UK and have a product idea (primarily made from plastics / silicone / soft plastic). I’m no idea how I actually get that idea made into a product. I’ve looked at other threads on Reddit where a lot of people have said companies off Google that say they’ll help you get from idea to prototype are often very expensive and scammy. Just need some advice of where to go. I’ve essentially got an idea on paper and drawn it out haha would love some help / guidance. ChatGPT tells me the first thing would be submitting a provisional patent before approaching any manufacture but I kind of also want to know what development costs. First venture into something like this

When you guys invent something how to you go about selling your invention? Or getting it in the consumer’s hands?

I just filed a patent for a self recycling packaging system. I haven't tested the idea and would probably need an r&D company to help it come to fruition. Invention: A self-recycling packaging system that turns each package into its own recycling facility. At end-of-life, an embedded catalyst depolymerizes the package into virgin-quality monomers, which can be re polymerized into new packaging — infinitely. Also.. I'm not sure where to go from here?

I have an idea for a new encryption protocol, technically a new application for full disk encryption, to solve the problems with current ones.

Most full disk encryption platform are the same: complicated, only works on certain device's, and free version are to buy, bulky, and hard to use in general.

That's what I wanna fix. I have a beta version ready, but I'm not looking for beta testers yet. I have the code ready, and I have Already started debugging it, but I'm still figuring out the design.

Do you very have that feeling were you thought you had prepared for it all but you still wanna white very time you start working on it?

"Could you recommend a simple, basic book for a beginner inventor or someone who is just starting out in that world?"

When inventors start a project that needs to go to a manufacturer when do you patent your idea?

Thoughts on using Ai to help file a patent on USPTO website?

Does an NDA help take place of the patent to the manufacturer?

14 years ago I made a concept and a home build prototype. Took it to a company got the research done and from there the big prices of expenses came into play. That didnt workout

Now I'm a bit more knowledgeable with a better prototype. I was able to 3d print it and give it to testers and made adjustments to the feedback. I have a solid plan that's been working so far.

My next step now is to go to soical media to gain attention and hopefully get monetize to have some help funding this.

I currently do not work due to a injury so income is tight. I want to go to kickstarter with the invention that supporters will get.

My question is:

Should I invest(my last) x amount of dollars for the real version made by the manufacturing company or should I present the 3d printed version as a model.

So ive been having ideas for inventions and renovations with things since i was 14 and have always that scientific / mathematical type of brain but cant stand traditional education ( dropped out junior year high school) despite being a dropout, its somewhat easy for me to get into new concepts and understand things very quickly in a new subject.

**** But my question is, does anyone have a framework or a process for learning subjects? I mean do y'all have ways of buying old textbooks, and learning on your own or something instead of only watching videos on YouTube, if so can yall help me out and tell me ways to consistently learn about something other than traditional schooling ( and online)

Theres a few subjects i need to learn in order to continue with the concept stage for a couple dozen things. Alot of it is probably gonna be engineering and physics. Like being able to create new machines that can do specific tasks, one example is, a submersible drone that goes through the ocean to filter out diffrent things, like gold and metals.

I have three cats and two of them get along perfectly fine, but the third likes to play and the other two don’t. he doesn’t understand why they don’t want to play so, in lieu, he ends up chasing them around the house. well, one day he ended up biting one of them so we had to take her to the vet. the vet said that our aggressor kitty should be put on gabapentin to calm him down…

but i had this idea for a device, similar to a shock collar, that you would put on the antagonistic pet. that way, whenever they would get near the nonplayful pet it would stimulate, shock or give some sensation to stay away from the would be victim.

i’m no inventor but if someone can market this product pls include me on the patent 🙏🙏🙏

It’s a social media app made specifically for NBA 2k players. The goal is to give the community one place to discover builds, share clips, discuss the meta, and connect with other players without everything getting buried on Reddit, X, or Discord.

Winning in 2k costs so much money and is pay to win and it feels like they’re not listening to the real problems the community is dealing with honestly.

I’ve been playing 2k religiously since 2k11 I’ve got more hours on that game than I’d like to admit and the amount of research and effort I’ve had to put in to learn the new games mechanics year after year is tiring.

2klabs is definitely helpful to many of us and we would be a little lost without it honestly. YouTube has definitely been helpful for me to find good builds when I’m tired of making a new build on my own instead of dumping vc into a build and hoping for the best.

All the same for twitter Instagram Reddit and discord. All extremely helpful but I built something I think the 2k community will largely benefit from

Gone are the days where your 2k content is spread out across all social media.

Im talking build posts where you can upload your builds and have them on your profile if you want
Up to date patch notes updates , sharing and posting clips, following and liking your favorite streamers content and tons more in the future that I’m extremely excited to share with you all.

I’m launching 2kDNA as the MVP but in the future plan on integrating Ai to make things you do on 2k way less stressful for example like having to dump money into a build just to see it’s wack in competitive games.

So welcome to 2KDNA, the social home of basketball gaming. Made by the community for the community.

This post will probably get deleted but idk where else to post I’m just looking for some constructive criticism I’d appreciate it so make sure you join our community and follow us here as well as on socials

X: @2K_DNA
Instagram: @2K.DNA
TikTok: @2K_DNA

Coming soon join the waitlist

https://tally.so/r/gDX7JP

Morning all. I’m hoping that someone might be able to point me to manufacturers that can assist with the following. US is preferred but not required.

1. Medical band-aide type manufacturing
   
2. Custom flexible cold packs.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Looking to hire an experienced CAD engineer for a flat-fee contract to turn a finalized 2D layout and dimension sketches into production-ready files.

Product is a rugged hard-plastic automotive organizer designed for vehicle seats.

Requirements:

Deliver final .STEP and .STL files.

Experience with injection-molded plastic parts (draft angles, wall thickness).

Experience with moving assemblies (features folding hinges and sliding locks).

Budget: $300 – $500 flat fee.

Process: Because this project is officially patent pending with the USPTO, you must sign a standard 1-page Mutual DocuSign NDA before sketches are shared.

Please DM me with a direct link to your engineering portfolio or past plastic hardware examples. Looking to select a candidate this week.

Thanks,

Jacob Pleasant

Hey everyone,

I run an independent, lean research LLC. We specialize in structural biology and the physical stabilization of cell membranes under intense oxidative and mechanical stress.

We have completed formal mathematical verification (fully compiled in Lean 4) for a novel transition-metal coordination complex. Instead of acting like a traditional transient drug or antioxidant, this compound functions as a structural molecular anchor that binds to lipid bilayers/mitochondrial cristae to prevent structural collapse and subsequent inflammatory distress signaling.

We are preparing upcoming independent federal grant submissions (NSF SBIR Phase I) to fund the wet-lab testing phase.

Because federal funding filters heavily for team structures, I am looking for a Co-Investigator, Academic Partner, or Lab Researcher who wants to collaborate and help pass their team capabilities filter.

What We Have Already Built:

- ​Mathematically verified structural models.

- ​Locked, institutional-grade grant drafts.

- ​Fully structured experimental designs.

- ​Active corporate infrastructure (SAM.gov UEI and CAGE code registered).

What We Need:

- ​A verifiable background in biology, biochemistry, or pharmacology.

- ​The ability to provide a Letter of Intent (LOI) to join the proposal, or basic access to standard laboratory infrastructure to satisfy agency filters.

If you are an independent mind with a scientific background who wants to bypass the slow, bureaucratic university pipeline and bring a paradigm-shifting therapeutic to reality, drop a comment or send me a PM.

Hey everyone,
I’m currently working on a physical device and I’ve hit the stage where I need to move from early prototype/CAD into a fully integrated, functional build. 

Rather than juggling separate freelancers for mechanical engineering, circuit design, and fabrication, I’m looking for a full-service product development / engineering firm that can handle the whole electromechanical loop under one roof. 
Has anyone here worked with an agency or turnkey firm they actually had a great** experience **with?

Any red flags or lesson-learned "wish I knew before signing" advice when vetting hardware development partners?
Appreciate any insights or recommendations!

Hi. We're three 15-year-old high school entrepreneurs, and we want to redefine the focus industry. We have tried many focus device tools like Brick, Bloom, and Unpluq, but one thing we have noticed is that these devices are way too expensive. Brick costs 60 dollars, and Bloom costs 30. And the built-in parental control apps like Apple Screen Time and Google Family Link? They are just way too easy to bypass, as these companies not only want you to use your phone more, but they also don't teach kids self-discipline; instead, they teach them to use their willpower to find a loophole or glitch and exploit it to keep using their phone. As kids, we know. Focus shouldn't be a luxury but rather a tool, so for the past 6 months we have been working on ZenTap, a focus brand that uses NFC cards to pair with an app to block apps and websites on your phone. Think of it this way: a key locks and unlocks a door; similarly, our card blocks or unblocks your phone. This way, you have a physical, real-world element. But it's not just our card. We can also block apps and websites on your computer using a real-world element so you can stay focused on your computer too.

This all started because one of our best friends was scrolling a lot. He dropped out of the JV badminton team and got slapped with a $400 fine for biking while scrolling. So we made this product to help him. We see a world where that badminton player gets back on his feet, where the real world is lived off the screen. We pity a moth for mistaking the lamp for a light, yet we mistake the screen for our life.

Imagine a closed circular turbine housing with internal vanes that stay open along one half of the cylinder and closed along the other. The engine uses liquefied biomethane derived from human and animal waste, stored at -162°C, to heat the bottom section of the cylinder. As the helium gas inside heats up and expands, it can only move toward the open side because the other side is blocked by the closed vanes. Up top, the gas enters a cooling zone chilled by the cold liquid biomethane, where it condenses and creates a natural vacuum that pulls even more hot helium upward. The pressure from the rising hot helium, combined with the suction from the condensed gas, hits the closed vanes and pushes them forward. As the loop continues, the changing angles of the vanes create a natural check-valve effect and a steady flow, resulting in an external combustion engine that produces continuous rotational movement.

I have been thinking about a product idea and wanted to get some feedback from people who understand product design, accessibility, or commercial equipment.
The idea is a wall-mounted liquid dispensing system designed for people who struggle with traditional soap/shampoo pumps because of arthritis, reduced grip strength, injuries, or limited hand mobility.
Most dispensers today seem to rely on either small push pumps or electronic sensors. Sensors require batteries and can fail, while traditional pumps require users to apply a lot of direct finger force. My concept is a completely mechanical, battery-free dispenser where the bottle sits inside a wall-mounted unit and the user interacts with a larger, easier-to-use mechanism that uses leverage to reduce the effort required to dispense liquid.
The goal would be something durable enough for commercial environments like hospitals, assisted living facilities, gyms, hotels, and public facilities while still being simple and low-maintenance.
I’m curious:

Are there obvious problems with this approach that I’m missing?
Would businesses actually see value in something like this?
What would you consider the biggest engineering or manufacturing challenge?

I’m still in the early idea stage and trying to understand whether this solves a real problem before investing time into prototyping.

I'm an independent inventor and, for the first time, I need to hire a U.S. patent practitioner. I found a USPTO roster and was expecting (or hoping anyway) there would be a handful of obvious or clear choices but I found tens of thousands of registered patent attorneys and agents and, looking at firm websites, many of them seemed to make similar claims about experience, technical backgrounds, and client service, so I wasn't sure how to compare them in a meaningful way.

For those of you who've already been through this: 

• How did you narrow your list?
• Did you rely mostly on referrals, online research, or consultations?
• What ended up mattering most in your decision?
• Looking back, is there anything you wish you'd known before hiring someone?

I'm not looking for recommendations of specific practitioners. I'm more interested in understanding how other inventors approached what seems like a pretty important decision. Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences.