EP 94: 24 year old invents music through teeth with Rob Burke

78.83 - 102.584

Our product, which is built into a mouth guard, lets coaches use their headsets to talk to any player they want and the players hear the communication through the mouth guard. Very interesting. So walk me through, why'd you start this? When did you graduate school and how'd you get into it? I actually left school, had some job offers and just wanted to do my own thing.

103.164 - 127.673

I went to Pratt Institute for a year and a half for industrial design and fashion design. Hold on. What was the largest job offer? What was the biggest job offer you turned down? Nothing like, Specifically that I recall, I worked for MakerBot, the 3D printer company for a while, but mostly just to work with other startups.

127.693 - 146.596

But did you have like an offer letter though that was like, okay, Rob, we're going to pay you 60 grand for a year and get this much equity. And you were like, no, I'm going to do my own thing. No, I left school for other job offers and to do my own thing. Got it, got it. Okay, so mind talk. So where is it now?

147.116 - 171.478

Again, describe a little bit about how it works and then how much does it cost you to make and how are you selling it? Yeah, so we went through the Tech Wildcatters Accelerator Program, a 12-week accelerator program in Dallas, Texas. And it was in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security to provide wearable technology for first responders.

171.839 - 200.961

So we're going with the athletes first and then applying it to also anything with a respirator or mouthpiece. And You know, right now we are figuring out manufacturing and raising a seed round to cover manufacturing and hiring. So we can make the devices for $20 and we're selling them for $149. Okay, so it costs you $20 to make, you're selling for $149, and how many have you sold so far?

356.277 - 361.162

You don't come from a big supply chain background from Apple or something. How'd you figure out how to produce this thing?

468.114 - 483.083

And just so everyone listening in, TopTribe, so you know what that means, that means he's not actually selling equity in his company. He's selling essentially debt that has an interest rate, Rob, probably of what, 6% or 8%? That's standard? Six percent interest rate.

483.324 - 502.092

And eventually, when Rob builds this company into the empire that it will be, because he's a talented guy and he's a sharp guy and he's a winner, he's going to build it really big. And that convertible note's going to then transition into their Series A when they raise an equity round. And the note holders will then get equity in the company at the valuation set by the Series A investors.

502.112 - 527.7

Is that right, Rob? Yes, that's correct. Cool, cool, cool. Okay, so what's next? Have you closed your first investor in the $1.7 million? Do you have any of it closed? How do you manage all that? We have some soft commitments that are dependent on some of the prior art searches. other due diligence work. So I can't legally say we've closed anything yet, but very getting very close.

528.481 - 550.819

Well, how much can you, how much, how much can you say you've unlegally closed? A hundred thousand. Nice. Good. So that's momentum. Yeah. So, what are you, like, take us inside of one of these VC meetings. I mean, are you saying we have X amount already committed? Like, are you making them tell you why they should be behind your company? Or are they, like, are you begging them?

550.839 - 572.541

Are they begging you? I mean, what's the dynamic like? Well, one thing we are working on is the best way to showcase the technology because it's When someone does put in a mouth guard prototype and they hear the music or I can talk through a phone and they can hear how clear the audio is, that's what really sells it.

658.777 - 670.728

Listen, this is really exciting. You are on an adventure that a lot of top tribe members are thinking about. They're students. They might want to drop out. They're looking to get into a new business. They're thinking about product design. You are in it. So people are going to want to follow you.

844.864 - 872.95

We'll have to check that out. Okay, so you're hustling your butt off. Rob, are you single, married? Do you have kids? No answer. That means you're secretly married. All right, make a note. Just write down 1510. That's the timestamp. We'll cut that out. Rob, are you back? Yeah. Okay, just write down 1510. It's okay. So I'm just going to pick up on the next question. We'll edit that part out.

873.931 - 889.633

So Rob, I want to know if you're building all this in a healthy way or not. Yes or no, do you get eight hours of sleep every night? I aim for seven and a half. I don't usually get that. So I get about six hours of sleep. And are you married, single? Do you have kids?

890.592 - 917.463

single just turned 24 and really kind of a night owl and a morning person kind of sleep i have sleeping problems yeah you're you're you're like a 1 a.m to a 7 a.m kind of guy is that right And so you guys will also enjoy, Rob spent a lot of time with Dane Maxwell and a lot of the other guests we've had on the show.

917.483 - 937.322

If you go back to episode number two, I speak with Dane, who created the foundation. And that's now done over $5 million. Rob actually lived in a house, in Dane's house, with a big group of entrepreneurs. It sounds like it's a lot of fun. That's why you guys are getting no sleep, right? Oh, yeah. Pool parties, you know, lots of that stuff. All of it. Yeah.

937.927 - 966.943

I mean, now I'm in Dallas, Texas, so there's always just lots of entrepreneur stuff going on. Good. Well, hey, last question here, Robbo, the famous five. Take us back four years. If you wish your 20-year-old self knew one thing, what would it be? It would be to ask more questions and find a way to... create physical products and do design work without creating time for money. I love that.