Episode 6: Public Displays of Development
November 6, 2026 · 35 min
Four of Ryan's own product ideas, from 10-year-old concepts to one that's already selling, put through the Kill it, Fix it, Scale it framework in public.
Behind the scenes
Prototypes, product shots, and the occasionally embarrassing old video from each product.
Squish League
CleanSideOut
Tabletop Shuffleboard
Three Letter Lounge
Links from this episode
-
Three Letter Lounge on Etsy -- airport collectibles. Collect the places you fly.
- Chicago Toy & Game Fair
- People of Play: inventor pitch events and POP Week
- The Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club (Chicago)
- Lakeside, Ohio: home of the National Shuffleboard Tournament
-
Docky's Mercantile: the Hamiltons' summer shop in Lakeside
- Episode 5: 5 Ways I Actually Use AI to Develop Physical Products
- Product Margin Calculator: check the 5–6× rule on your own product
About this episode
Recorded on location at People of Play week and the Chicago Toy & Game Fair, this episode is Ryan's first round of "building in public." Instead of a polished success story, you get the messy middle: four real products he's developing right now, where each one stands, what's blocking it, and an honest call on whether to kill it, fix it, or scale it.
Along the way: why cut-and-sew doesn't scale the way injection molding and printing do, how channel choice can decide a product's fate, how Ryan uses AI to simulate game rules hundreds of times, and how a window seat into Detroit turned into a product that sold 12 units on Etsy in its first two and a half weeks.
Episode outline
Why build in public?
Most people only see the finished product or the Shark Tank win. Ryan shares his ideas before he knows whether they'll work, IP risk and all, so you can learn from his decisions in real time. Plus a quick report from People of Play, where inventors pitch games and toys to companies like Spin Master and Thames & Kosmos for licensing.
1. Squish League · Verdict: Fix it
A soft, plush football printed to look like a real vintage ball from five or ten feet away. A South American prototype was ready to go until tariffs broke the cost structure. Target price is $19.99–$29.99, which probably means overseas production because plush cut-and-sew gets no cheaper at volume. The name may be more valuable now in the "year of the squish," and licensing the idea to a bigger toy company is on the table.
Lesson: Production, marketing, photography, and sales costs all stack up, which is why so many inventors license instead of launching themselves.
2. CleanSideOut · Verdict: Fix it
A reversible pillowcase that flips to reveal a clean side, inspired by a van full of athletes resting on pillows that had been on who-knows-what floor. A new prototype was made by Carolina Creative in Greenville, SC, the country's oldest bandana manufacturer. Because it's basically four sewn rectangles, it can be made domestically. The goal is a spring launch, possibly through crowdfunding, aimed at the summer camp market.
Lesson: Channel choice matters. This product is hard to explain in a retail package but easy to show online, so it's being designed as an online-first product. Still to solve: patterns, colors, and how to make the clean side obvious. Future extensions could include laundry hampers and travel pillows.
3. Tabletop Shuffleboard (name TBD) · Verdict: Get it to market
Lakeside, Ohio, where the Hamiltons run Docky's Mercantile in the summer, is a shuffleboard town. It hosts a national tournament, and Ryan's daughter is a two-time national junior champion. This dice-based tabletop version uses eight small discs and a board of about 18" × 6". It's a strategy and luck game, not a flicking skill game. Ryan used Claude to simulate 500 games at a time while tuning the rules so scores wouldn't end in blowouts or deep negatives, and to build a playable digital version.
Lesson: A niche product can still succeed. The parts (discs, dice, board, score pad, muslin bag) can likely all be sourced in the US. The target is to have it in the shop by next summer, maybe sooner.
4. Three Letter Lounge · Verdict: Scale it
Collect the places you fly. UV-printed wood airport tiles showing runway and terminal layouts, in 6" ($25) and 12" sizes, with a "did you know" fact on the back. Over 50 airports are available, and custom tiles are offered. The whole thing went from idea to Etsy in about a weekend, using Claude to turn public map data into clean designs, plus a Claude-to-ChatGPT-to-Claude workflow for listing images. It sold 12 units in two and a half weeks.
Lesson: Broad appeal plus easy customization make this one scalable. Airport retail (like Hudson News) is a real opportunity, but concessionaire margins would require overseas production. Next step: marketing through Pinterest and building Etsy reviews.
The scorecard
Nothing gets killed this round. Squish League needs a cost fix. CleanSideOut needs creative direction and a clean-side signal. Tabletop Shuffleboard just needs to get to market. Three Letter Lounge is ready to scale with the right sourcing.
Your turn: If you were being brutally honest, which of these would you kill?
Should your idea be killed, fixed, or scaled?