EPISODE 3 - BRADY SCHRODER
Welcome to the Impulse Spotlight where we meet with product development professionals and shine a light on the products they are most proud of.
In this episode, we talk with Brady Schroeder, an avid outdoorsmen with an advanced background in product design.
Brady is currently Vice President of engineering at Veer Gear, a company that helps children get outside and into the wild by designing products with parents in mind.
Brady started Veer Gear in 2017 combining his experience designing mountain biking equipment and juvenile strollers.
The Veer Cruiser, was the first product released by Veer and it revolutionized the traditional children's wagon for a modern world. Giving parents a better vehicle to transport their children and outdoor gear in rugged environments.
In today's show we discuss the innovative design choices that made the Veer Cruiser a new product to the world of outdoor equipment and the hurdles of independently designing a product without the benefits of a large company at your back.
Show Notes:
Click here to see the Veer line of products.
Podcast Transcript:
In this episode, we talk with Brady Schroeder, an avid outdoorsmen with an advanced background in product design.
Brady is currently Vice President of engineering at Veer Gear, a company that helps children get outside and into the wild by designing products with parents in mind.
Brady started Veer Gear in 2017 combining his experience designing mountain biking equipment and juvenile strollers.
The Veer Cruiser, was the first product released by Veer and it revolutionized the traditional children's wagon for a modern world. Giving parents a better vehicle to transport their children and outdoor gear in rugged environments.
In today's show we discuss the innovative design choices that made the Veer Cruiser a new product to the world of outdoor equipment and the hurdles of independently designing a product without the benefits of a large company at your back.
Hey, Brady, welcome to the
show.
Hey, Troy, nice to see you.
So I started impulse 25 years ago with only 3 years of experience in product development. Tell us how you got into product development.
Well, after college I moved to Los Angeles from Ohio to work in aerospace and I was working on satellite products and my hobby at the time and still was cycling, largely
mountain biking at the time. And I came across the opportunity to work for a mountain bike suspension company called an products, so I took that job and turned my passion
into my career. Throughout that process , I learned to love or I learned how much I love product development and making and inventing, and actually the best thing is when
you get to use your own product that you designed and developed, so there is no greater pleasure than bombing down a trail on suspension that I made.
Yeah, that is awesome . So what is your current role in what kinds of products do you develop?
Current role is VP of Engineering at Veer Gear, and that is a company that Andrew Nick and myself started in 2017 , and what we make is gear for families , what that means is
strollers , wagons, making coolers, beach shade, beach play pins, chairs , wide variety of things that a parent family will use pretty much anywhere they go. So the active
family, we are making the products for them and.
Very cool. So tell us about the product that you want to talk about today, like and why did you choose that 1 in particular ?
Sure , sure. Well, that would be the Beer Cruiser, which is our called our Hero product for Veer gear and it was the first product we launched in 2017 . So that was a stroller
wagon that was new to the world and a new category to the world. Andrew and I both used to work for Go. And so we knew each other there and are very familiar with the
juvenile products. And what it takes to engineer and what it takes to bring 1 to market, that being said, of course, starting a company and bringing a capital intensive product
to market is no small feat.
So tell us a little bit more about the product, like what are some of the key features or innovations or, you know, just things that differentiate it from other things in the market.
Whoever's probably familiar with the typical folding wagon, that would be what we call the accordion style wagon, where you got the front and back and they come together
just like an accordion.
Mm hmm. Mm hmm.
We did not do that. We created a wagon that folds flat. And so and what is innovative about it, of course, is it sort of frames when it when it is open, you have an upper rim
that gives that is a lot of structure, and this upper rim allows us to attach items to the wagon such as an infant car seat. Canopies it turns into a bassinet with it as well. But
we also. The methodology of folding and the methodology of the way the consumer interacts with it, we applied for a handful of patents and they were all approved within a
couple months , which anybody who is dealt with US . Patent office would be like, well, I would never get done in a couple months. You know, if you get it done in 5 years , you are doing pretty good and the reason was and we asked actually it is like, hey, what is going on, why did this get approved so quickly and they said, well, you nothing else like this. So we created a whole new category, a whole new classification of products in the US . Patent office from this product that was that innovative from their perspective.
Yeah. That is awesome . Where there any like different or interesting technologies or materials or methodologies that you guys used or discovered why you develop the
product.
Well, this is where, you know, as the engineer on the product background comes into play a lot my background coming from the performance sporting goods business and
then into the juvenile products world and so much of making a stroller was always about. Plastic and trying to keep costs low in ribbits. Well, we did not really want to do
that. I wanted to make a really robust frame or what I call the foundation of the wagon. So I I leaned on my background with frames and and basically bicycle frames . So our
frame is very similar if you look at it and some of the details of the design, you can see the similarities in the cousin, call it a cousin to a bicycle. So my sporting goes
background influenced a lot of the design decisions . So I would not call that like new materials or anything. It is just thinking differently about how to make a juvenile product.
Interesting . So we have helped design literally thousands of products and every 1 of those journeys has been a little bit different. So walk us through the journey of
developing this product like what were all the steps involved to get from idea to product on the shelf?
Well, you know, that is always a meandering path. You know, I always say to people when they see the final product, it is like it is so easy to see how it was a good idea
when the product is done. But of course, of course from idea to product is never a straight line, it is a bunch of meandering , and you think you got a good idea and you go
down this 1 street you get so far and you recognize that there is a better way and you come back. So there was no did not do anything different. So this was largely done in
2015 , 2016 . So 3D printing was not readily available for the home consumer. All home designer. So you had to use a lot of, you know, machine shops and that kind of stuff,
which is expensive , so minimize that to the to the maximum because we are self funded at that time.
I would say it is just the same thing, try to start with the system design and then attack the subsystems and then bring it together and you get a little bit of that iterative
process . Because you got to figure out how the frame folds well, first you start with the system , how big is it all that fun stuff, and then what are the primary systems that
have to be engineered, and you try to attack each of them individually, put them together and then iterate because the early prototype says , I am sure you can attest never look like the final product. Especially when you are making something new, right, a lot of times when you got a product that you are sort of using as a baseline or a reference, but then it is a little bit easier because someone is sort of giving you a direction to head, but when you got to figure out all those directions yourself, it is a little more challenging.
Right ? Yeah, I mean , you kind of reference strollers and, you know, it is like, well, we have this fold from 2 years ago, let us use that fold and put some new features and
benefits on it. That is a whole different project than we are starting from scratch , and you know, we are going to design this literally from the Ground up so
Exactly .
So what the timeline look like for the project?
Well, so the first prototype actually started in 2014 got the first prototype probably let us just call it january 2015 and then march 2016 is when we we started looking for
suppliers , found a supplier in March of 2016 . And then we were shipping product august 2017 . So basically all of 1516 and 2 thirds of 17 to call it 3 years from idea to
shipping ground up new product.
Okay. And like that whole time was spent design, prototype design, prototype design, prototype.
No, this was all all sort of done on a part time basis. So you had that going on. It was the moonlight.
So, I mean , it was but it was not like a 100 % , you know, 40, 50, 60 h a week kind of thing.
No, yeah, no.
Okay, got it. So tell us about the team that put this together, how many people were involved and, you know, what were their roles?
Well, it was Andrew Bowman who it was his idea and found in the company he brought me on, so I engineered it and then we had Launch helped us with some of the design
on what it would look like and some color studies. And so I do not know if you know them. That was Jason Began and Neil Varmanoff. So they helped with the ID side of it.
You said the Launch , that is the name .
That is pretty much. I launched product development. They are based out of Georgia here. Yeah.
Cool.
Small team.
So, literally, like, what, 3 or 4 people?
Yea. They made it look cool.
You made it work and they made it look good.
It is pretty much the way to say it.
Yeah, cool. We get that a lot too, like we make it work, but other people make it look good, yeah. So what were some of the key milestones or achievements that you and
and the team reached during the development?
Say, the big milestone that that took it from out of the category of something we want to do to something we are doing is when we found our supplier and we started really
making rapid progress. So that is when you know at the up until that point. We had a functional prototype, we knew exactly what we were doing and how we were going to
do it, but we still had to cross the TS and.the eyes on the design. And so they they helped on that a lot and making the tooling to actually make functional product, but the
key milestone was starting with the supplier and getting them to buy into it, which was another significant task.
Interesting . So that kind of leads into my next question. I mean , like I said, we have been involved in designing thousands of products. There is always some kind of
challenge that come up that comes up. What was the biggest challenge for you and your team like developing this?
Well, I think the 1 thing that you always got when you build a prototype and you got the old **** moment, so we did have 1 **** moment where we thought maybe the whole
thing would just fall down. And that was in the juvenile products industry. 1 of the challenges is, of course, safety that parents always assume assume safety. But as a
designer engineer, we have to ensure safety. And so we made 1 of our prototypes and we found an issue with a fundamental problem with the design that at that time where
it created a crush for for a child's hand set us back a couple months . But of course, you know, we obviously found a solution, but I would say that was probably the biggest
challenge and followed by finding a supplier, Andrew and I spent a week in Asia going from factory to factory and that was an educational experience because it is 1 thing
when you go to a factory as a member or an engineer from a larger company, because you immediately have standing if you are an engineer at a large company, but if you
are just 2 guys traveling around Asia with a big box and a prototype.
You do not get the same amount of attention.
Interesting .
And so I would not say we were blown off, but we were blown off.
Yeah, interesting. I have like in all the years of doing this, I have never heard that. That that is really interesting.
Well, it is 1 thing, you know, if you are going to make a say a phone case , right, it is a single part. Very easy to find a vendor to do that, but when you are going to make an item with hundreds of parts and you got to invest, you know. 500 to $700,000 in tooling. Well, any any supplier that is willing to take that on has to be willing to. Or has to understand that it may very well go south,
Interesting . So you have mentioned prototyping several times. What kind of prototyping processes did you use during the development?
Well, at the time was largely machine shops and prototype houses based out of Asia because they were more affordable.
Okay. Like a lot of CNC stuff or 3D printing?
Items that would emulate an injection motor part.
So shifting gears a little bit before we wrap up, what are the some of the trends that you see kind of emerging in product development based on your experience and the
things you have seen?
So it accelerates largely because of 3D printing. It does not really change the product development process . In my my way of thinking or the way we do things, but it allows
you to get to the solution faster because I can hit print and have a part tomorrow rather than go through the whole order process and have a part in 2 or 3 weeks, and so of
course, that allows you to make more mistakes or fix your mistakes faster depending on your perspective. So obviously, the threed printing is the biggest thing. I think I would love to see more domestic manufacturing comeback back when I was in Los Angeles, everything I could do within like a 10 or 20 mi radius from our factory. Everything was domestically made and that was just in the, you know, 25 years ago. And I think part of that if that comes back, then that will be more of the acceleration to get product to market faster and what that also allows you to do as a product developer or as a company is to take a little bit more risk because if it is closely if your manufacturing hub is close to your inventory or your market, well, then you can have a smaller inventory so you can have greater cash flow to do more, right, if you got to buy a lot of inventory from Asia , your money is tied up and so you your your ability to do stuff is is constricted to a certain degree.
Yeah. Sure . It is tied up and sitting out in the water.
Yes.
Like, do you. Are you hopeful or do you think like we might get some of that back in the States , some of the manufacturing ?
I think I think between the States and Mexico there is it is certainly I think it will probably more so in Mexico than in the States , but it depends on what we are talking about.
Obviously, the automation and everything is is key to being able to do most anything.
Yeah, yeah. It would be awesome if we could get, you know, cost competitive production here in the States , but I guess we will see.
Yeah. Well, when you know, it was not that many years ago where you are paying 20 to $25,000 to ship a container. So that is a lot of course that that will kill the
business long term, but
Yeah. Yeah.
There is a lot of money tied up in inventory and shipping that can be redeployed even for higher labor.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It will be interesting to see where where all that goes.
I think so.
Yeah, if if you could go back in time and change 1 thing about developing the product that you have been talking about, what would it be?
About the Veer cruiser ?
Yeah.
Well, that is always a question to be asked.
Well, I guess the answer to that question is things I have already addressed . So a lot of that is focusing more on service and the ability to rework an item. So the original
product used a lot of rivets that I have. We have since replaced with bots so that a consumer can repair replace so, you know, a typical juvenile stroller or or something .
Obviously parents do not care to keep those. You know, your kids are out of the strollers . The stroller goes away, but a wagon a wagon is a wagon, you know. You you can use a wagon no matter what age you are, so as your kids grow out of the wagon as a stroller wagon, it is still a a useful tool for you around the house or whatever.
Take us to the ball or whatever, yeah.
Yeah. So so then that makes it being serviceable is more important than not, especially, you know, if you are spending a significant amount of money for the wagon, it is a
shame to throw it away if something goes wrong. So service ability would be the answer to your question.
Cool. So you have had a pretty extensive career in product development and reflecting on all of that, all the challenges and successes and everything you have seen. What
words of wisdom would you share with somebody looking to make an impact in the product development industry?
Get your hands dirty, do stuff, fix cars , you know, do not do not sit behind a computer and try to learn everything, get out there and actually do something , build something ,
whether it is wood, whatever, use your hands , understand how machinery works, understand how to make stuff. Including electronics, not just mechanics .
That is good stuff, yeah. So awesome . This this has been great. Is there anything before we wrap up? Is there anything else you want to mention with regards to the Cruiser or just product development in general?
Uh, no, no. I think that may be a plug go for, you know, go v com
Yeah, that was my next question.
Check out our products. Can find more more about it.
So you said go to Veergear.com. Yeah, we will make sure to put that in the notes down below and anything else that you wanted to mention or talk about before we wrap up.
Know, maybe maybe you could expand a little bit about some of your stories, you know.
Which ones?
Well, it is like you have made hundreds of products. What was your most interesting 1 ?
Wow. I think I would have to go back to this is this would be like over 20 years ago, there was a swing, a juvenile swing that I worked on and literally a guy sat right here next to me, he was the inventor of the swing, and we worked on like all these polls and what we had fishing line and like all kinds of things, just trying to work out a very efficient swing. Basically drive mechanism . That was that was 1 of the at least at least from an early young engineer did not know very much. That was 1 of the most exciting things I worked on and then probably the most I do not know, interesting or exciting is the right idea, but have you heard of the cord, buddy?
The what?
The Chord Buddy. Yeah, so it is a device that you put on the neck of a guitar and it is got 4 buttons and those buttons, you push the button and it creates a cord. So you to play a de cord, you
push a button, and then if you play a G cord, you push a button, so the guy that developed that came up with his name is Travis Perry, he ended up being on Shark Tank, and got a deal and, you know, all this stuff and, you know, we were just he just called he is just a good old boy from Southern Alabama and was like, Hey, you know, can you help me develop this? And we just were like, Sure , we will help, we will help you out and he ended up getting a deal and, yeah, I have got all kinds of stories about that product actually launched on Shark Tank in January like early February of 2012 , which is when the Super Bowl was in Indianapolis
Okay.
And Mark Cuban was in town and again, making a long story short, we got down to where Mark Cuban is doing a viewing party. And I have got a cord buddy in my hand and I said, Hey, can you sign that? And he looks at me, he is like, Where did you get that? I am like I designed it and he he is kind of like, No, you did not. I am like I helped
Travis design it. And he takes it back into the, you know, the VP area and, you know, we just sit there and, you know, talk for, I do not know, 15 , 20 min and just had a great
time and yeah, so that was that is probably the coolest, you know, result of a product we helped design. So so but, yeah,
It is a good right? So is that still on the market?
Oh, yeah, it is still in market. Yeah, you could Google it right now. I am sure it is core, but
Yeah, that is interesting.
Yes, it is got to be core.
So I said the point is to learn how to play guitar, right?
Yes, so Travis's whole point. He was a teacher. He actually played guitar. He was like on tour with Garth Brooks and all that stuff, but he the hard part is you have to form a
chord and strum . And he is like, well, if I could take 1 of those 2 out, you can learn faster, so instead of learning to form the cord, you strum right and push a button to form
the cord and and then eventually once you learn a strum . 1 of the key features of the design was, okay, now you take the D tab out and you form the D tab with your fingers
and do the other other fingers with the button and progress. And then you take the next tab out and the next tab, and the next thing you know, you are playing all 4 chords on
your own, so it is kind of a learning teaching device.
Yeah, that is cool. That is cool. I like it. I like it.
Yeah, no doubt.
Well, cool, this has been awesome . Anything else we should know about or talk about or?
No, no, you know, it is just engineering. It is takes you all over the place.
Yeah.
So, it is it is a great career to be in. I think a very, you know, interesting your story made me think of 1 when I was at you know, it is like what interests me most
about anything is just in curiosity, right? It has to be interesting and get bored quickly. So I am I did this 1 job. I was at Boeing working on a temp chemical laser, so they
were putting a chemical laser in the C 130 aircraft for the so is what it was and so it was a tactical laser to, you know, fire it people on the ground from the air. And that
was pretty, pretty interesting just from the complexity of that and, you know, putting a chemical plant on an aircraft . And we were using so we used what was it, liquid helium
to cool it, so I had a liquid helium circuit and liquid chlorine liquid iodine. And then height, liquid hydrogen peroxide, which from like what you buy at the grocery stores, I think 0.2 % , this was 100 % , and so if it gets it gets exposed to the
atmosphere to like, immediately explode.
Oh, wow.
Yeah. Always having problems to solve that you have to think and research and, you know, it is not just doing the same thing over and over again, every every day is different.
Yeah. Yeah. It is. It is a very interesting career. Well, great. It is been great talking to you. I appreciate you doing this. And like I said, I will I will put the the notes for where they can then look at the Cruiser online in the
show notes and we will talk to you soon.
Excellent . Sounds good, Troy. Thank you.
Thank you.