Ximena Otalora

Having ideas is part of being human. We notice problems. We imagine better ways of doing things. We look at an everyday object and think, Why doesn’t this exist? or There has to be a better way. Some ideas disappear as quickly as they arrive. Others stay with us. But having an idea and turning that idea into a real product are two very different things. Over the years, I’ve met countless people with genuinely interesting ideas who never acted on them. Sometimes they didn’t know where to...

You have an idea. You’re excited about it. You can picture the product. Maybe you’ve sketched it on paper, talked about it with friends, searched online to see if something similar exists—or perhaps you've already contacted someone about making a prototype. And now comes one of the biggest questions: How much is this going to cost? It’s an important question. But after years of working in product development, I believe there is another question that should come first: What should I actually...

Most products begin in a surprisingly simple place: Someone has an idea. Maybe you noticed a problem. Maybe you imagined a better version of something that already exists. Maybe the idea came to you in the middle of the night and you immediately reached for your phone to write it down. At that moment, the distance between the idea in your head and a finished product sitting on a store shelf can feel enormous. And it is. But it becomes much less intimidating when you understand that product...