Interview: Process Of Inventing The Twovet™ Comforter

January 31, 2012

On January 11th, I was fortunate enough to have an interview style giveaway featured on conspicuousstyle.com. Thanks again to Stacy Curran for this great opportunity!

Unfortunately, the giveaway is over but I would like to share with you an exert from the interview. Potentially this will provide motivation to the thousands, if not millions, of people who have great ideas but have not acted on them. If you have a great idea and are simply looking for some spark, check out this interview:

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself:

My name is Tim Doyle and I currently work full-time in the finance industry. At night, I am taking classes at Suffolk University towards my MBA. I currently live just west of Boston and grew up in New Hampshire. At an early age, I became fascinated with the operations of small businesses. When I have down time, I enjoy golf, snowboarding, traveling and hanging out with friends and family.

2. So you invented a comforter called the Twovet™. Tell us about it:

Over the years, my friends and family have given me a hard time for new product ideas. Similar to most people, I would think of solutions to problems that I currently had. However, none of these ideas came to fruition until the Twovet™.

Over the last few years, my girlfriend and I always fought about the number of comforters needed on our bed. She thought it was too hot in the room and I thought it was too cold. It's slightly embarrassing to admit that I was the colder one. More often than not, the female is the colder of the two. Likewise, my girlfriend was very picky about the way the bed looked, given she was studying interior design. Apparently, having three extra multi-colored twin comforters on one side of the bed, is not "aesthetically pleasing".

After the disagreements, I figured there must be a solution for this. After searching the internet in some detail for a comforter with two different thicknesses, I came up empty. From that point on, I was determined to create a comforter that provided comfort for couples with different warmth tolerances. The Twovet™ is a down alternative comforter designed with a warm (thick) side and cool (thin) side to satisfy different sleeping preferences. The name Twovet™ is the combination of the words "two" and "duvet".

3. What was your "Ah-ha" moment?

"Ah-ha" #1: After discussing this topic with friends, family and acquaintances, I realized that most couples have different sleeping preferences and there may be a need for a product like this.

"Ah-ha" #2: I made a sale to someone that I didn't know.

4. How did you go about making a prototype?

Two hours after deciding that I wanted to move forward with this idea, I drove to my parents house with a bag of materials from Jo-Ann Fabric. Thankfully my mother is skilled with the sewing machine and we had a miniature prototype created by the end of the day.

5. How can readers learn more about the product?

Feel free to check out our website, thetwovet.com. We are also on Facebook.

6. What advice would you give someone in the interior design industry that is looking to bring a product to market?

Many people get caught up with an idea. I would argue that the idea represents only 5% of the process. The other 95% is related to execution.

Create a product that solves a problem that you currently have.

Get as much feedback, as early as you can from people other than friends or family.

7. Is there anything else you would like to add?

Entrepreneurship is something that I am extremely passionate about. If there is one thing that I would like readers to take away from this interview, it is that anything is possible. If you decide that you want to invent the next product X, START TODAY! If any of your readers have additional questions or would like advice on how to get started with a product of their own, feel free to have them email me directly at tim@thetwovet.com.

To learn more about how we got started with the couples comforter, check out our About Us page.

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