First-time Crowdfunder Harnesses the Crowd to Improve the Shaving Experience

Roy Morejon:
Welcome, entrepreneurs and startups, to Art of the Kickstart, the show that every entrepreneur needs to listen to before you launch. I’m your host, Roy Morejon, president and founder of Enventys Partners, the world’s only turnkey product launch company. From product development and engineering to omnichannel marketing, we’ve helped our clients launch thousands of inventions and earn more than $1 billion in sales. Over the past 20 years, each week, I interview a startup success story, an inspirational entrepreneur, or a business expert in order to help you take your launch to the next level. This show would not be possible without our main sponsor, ProductHype, the weekly newsletter that goes out and shows you the best inventions that just launched. Make sure to check out producthype.co and join the HypeSquad. Now, let’s get on with the show.

Roy Morejon:
to another edition of Art of the Kickstart. Today, I am speaking with advisory board member of BAM Concepts, Mr. Attila Madarasz. He is the visionary regarding how the BLADEMAX solution has gone to market. He’s also put together the entire business plan, so really excited to talk about how products got launched, and how they designed the BADEMAX dispensing system, raising capital for that. It’s active on Kickstarter. Attila, thank you so much for joining us today on Art of the Kickstart.

Attila Madarasz:
Thank you for having me.

Roy Morejon:
Let’s dive in terms of giving our audience a little bit of the elevator pitch of the product that’s active right now over on Kickstarter.

Attila Madarasz:
Yeah. Shaving hasn’t really changed much over the last 100 years, and so we are here to offer technology that gives you the closest most, most hygienic, and longest-lasting shave ever, and if you’re a consumer and you’re looking to save a lot of money, which a lot of people are, that’s why startups like Harry’s have become very successful, if you’re looking to improve your skin health, or if you’re looking to improve the environment, which is also a huge topic this day, most people don’t realize that over two billion razors are discarded every year in the US alone, and they’re not recyclable, so we have a product that can help you with saving money with your own skin health, and most importantly, the Earth. It’s a great innovation. I think it’s going to really disrupt how we think about shaving and the razor industry and we’re very excited about it.

Roy Morejon:
I’m doing my part right now by not even shaving, which the audience has been following along by. But yeah, I mean, it’s pretty ridiculous when we look at the consumable space and products that are just getting reused and tossed away, and again, razors maybe get used for a few months or something like that, where again, this product that you guys have created, BLADEMAX, reduces that ability to not just waste, but continue to reuse the razors that you have in an efficient way. How did you go through the initial ideation stage of figuring out that this product was a needed solution all the way to where it is now?

Attila Madarasz:
Right. Well, a couple of things, first of all, our technical director, Bill Hitchcock, he’s the creator/inventor of the solution itself, and he’s kind of like an old 30-year-old buddy of mine. He’s kind of like a mad scientist, always working on projects. This one really intrigued me because at first I was skeptical myself and I’m a partner now, and I tried it. I could not believe that you had that first-shave-sharp feeling when you shave it lasts for the few days, sometimes the first week. Well, I was going on week two, week three, week four, week five. Three months into it, I was still experiencing that first-shave-sharp experience, and it just blew my mind.

Attila Madarasz:
Once we talked about it a little bit more, he explained to me, he actually put science into the ideation. He looked at what actually is causing degeneration for blades. If you ask 10 people, nine will say, “Oh, it has to be just the wear from shaving through your hair follicles. It starts to get dull and then it’s time to throw it away and get a new one.” Guess what? That’s precisely what the razor companies want everyone to think because they’re smart and they’re in the business of replacements, right?

Roy Morejon:
Of course.

Attila Madarasz:
Yeah. After taking a much closer look at it, Bill actually realized that the blade was not wearing away, there are actually things building up on the razor blade, and the biggest part of that was actually mineral deposits. Most people don’t realize this, but all of your tap water across the country has natural minerals contained in it like calcium and many others, and when that air dries, it starts to form microscopic stalagmites on the leading edges of every razor.

Attila Madarasz:
Now, you will never see it with the naked eye, but you certainly will start feeling that after a couple of weeks, and when you have that razor burn and that cut, nine times out of 10 it’s because of that buildup, not because the razor has been dulling, so by creating this patented solution, we are now able to pretty much surround these minerals on a molecular level, whisk them away, and leave behind a hygienic clean surface, which enables the razors to have a much longer shelf life, and to have a much better shaving experience while you’re using that razor.

Roy Morejon:
Amazing. Just got an education on that. I know when one of my previous episodes, we had the creator of U1, which is a water purification device, and we talked about how bad tap water is. Again, it’s very interesting that it’s affecting razors, and likely all sorts of other things in our homes, right?

Attila Madarasz:
Correct, yes.

Roy Morejon:
Let’s talk about the launch and crowdfunding in general. How did you guys decide that crowdfunding was the right approach to take this product to market and get initial feedback on it?

Attila Madarasz:
Well, I had the privilege of meeting Louis Foreman probably 12 to 14 years ago, I can’t remember exactly, and so I’ve always kept track of him, and when we had this new ideation, the first name and company that came to mind was Enventys Partners because I knew of the full turnkey solutions you guys can offer, and so we actually sat down and met with Louis.

Attila Madarasz:
To be honest with you, I’d not heard much about crowdfunding a couple until about three or four years ago, and he sat down and explained the concept to us. It really is something that I think came to the forefront because of technology. We all know that social media and technology can really spread word like wildfire, whether it’s good or bad, in this case for a good reason, and we thought it was a very innovative way to raise money. We all have our daily careers and lots of financial commitments, and it’s hard to use a lot of our own money for something grand as this project, and so we thought, “Okay, let’s have the public see if they like the concept and let’s have them help us raise the funds to go into production and beyond,” and so it made perfect sense to go this route.

Roy Morejon:
Why do you think more corporations haven’t latched on to using crowdfunding as a way to gauge initial interest of new products that they’re coming out with?

Attila Madarasz:
That’s a really good question. I think that crowdfunding is more for the entrepreneurial-spirited person. I think corporations, they tend to have a lot more resources, whether it’s deeper pockets, or sister companies, or some sort of affiliation where they have funds available if they want to do something new in terms of a launch, but a lot of entrepreneurs like me, you have a family man with a lot of obligations, it’s risky to put your neck on the line, and so you want to do it in a way that’s, of course, you have skin in the game, but you also take advantage of technology, and let the public decide whether a product is going to be successful or not, and so we’re here doing that today with the campaign.

Roy Morejon:
Yeah. I mean, it’s my wish that I wish more corporations would use it just in the case of, again, not being wasteful, right?

Attila Madarasz:
Right.

Roy Morejon:
There’s likely less stuff we need. All of the things are out there for the most part. They should be embracing their crowd, at least, and seeing if this is the right idea that they bring to market before shoving it on the store shelves and just making people buy it, or just getting discounted and clearance after all, and it just becomes waste in the rest of the world.

Attila Madarasz:
Well, it certainly is a great litmus test to see if the marketing pitch as well as a concept you think will be accepted by the consumer, so from that aspect, I think it’s a no-brainer for validation.

Roy Morejon:
Exactly. Well, let’s talk about the design because I think you’ve got a really unique design on the product. Could you talk about that process in terms of different iterations and then deciding what actual features to include in the initial launch?

Attila Madarasz:
Yeah, fantastic question. There’s two things that we had in mind. Number one is will not get instant gratification with BLADEMAX. It takes time to feel the essence of the technology, to see the value behind the fact that you will extend a life for not just weeks, but even months. Most people buy on emotions on impulse, and so it’s going to be challenging to do that with something that takes time to feel this, and so I thought, “Listen, we had to create something substantial that you see, you can feel put on your bathroom counter, and instantly have something to prove that you invested in something really cool,” and so the first part, that was the first reason to invent the dispensing system, which we also worked on with Enventys Partners in the design of it.

Attila Madarasz:
The second reason for it was, is we knew that even though BLADEMAX brings all these values, if it requires extra work by the consumer, then what you do today, which today, you shave, you rinse, you put it to the side, and you move on, you go to work, and do whatever. I didn’t want someone to sit there and have to hold the razor at one hand, spray with another, check it out, make sure it’s all okay. Then it’s extra work, and most consumers don’t want to do extra work, even though there are benefits. With the system, you don’t do any extra work. You shave, you rinse, you deposit into the dispensing system, you walk away, and everything happens automatically, so you’re getting value without any extra effort, any extra work, and at the same time, you have something cool, innovative, and modern that you can display in your bathroom that it doesn’t take up much real estate, but still serves a purpose, and there’s your instant gratification. The second hand, after weeks, you will see the secondary gratification, which is the results of BLADEMAX.

Attila Madarasz:
Now, one of the things I want to mention on the dispensing system, we are so confident that you will get weeks and weeks and months of life out of your razor that we actually designed in a digital ascending counter to show you how many weeks have gone by with that particular razor so you can see the results for yourself over time. It’s funny, with the beta testers that we had, it actually becomes an internal competition to see, “Doggone, how much life can I get out of this razor?” I have beta testers coming to me, “Hey, man, I got four months, I got six months. I got five months. This is amazing. I need some more test samples to do it again.” This whole concept, I think, helps to reinforce the excitement of this technology, if you will, without extra work.

Roy Morejon:
Which is always helpful for people these days leading busier and busier lives. You brought something up interesting in terms of the beta testers. How did you go about finding that first group or community to be able to tap into and look for early feedback to maybe make changes or make improvements on the product?

Attila Madarasz:
From 2019 to 2021, I was kind of in a career change, and then also the pandemic came a little bit later on, which didn’t help things too much, unfortunately, but I’ve been living in Charlotte since the late ’90s, and so I really wanted to get more in tune with the entrepreneurial space, the startup community, if you will, and there are a lot of fascinating people around Charlotte to meet, and so I got to know a lot of people during that period through various meetings and events, and I literally just built relationships, and I would explain and pitch this concept.

Attila Madarasz:
Most of the time, people were so intrigued that they wanted to test it for themselves, and so I got a good number of beta testers just from others like myself at the time who were working on a startup concept. You notice in these communities that everybody wants to help each other succeed, and in this case, they want to help me by being part of this beta test, give us feedback by surveys, and so forth.

Attila Madarasz:
By the way, we did this for four months, and we had a whole list of questions and surveys each month, and at the very end as well, and at the end, we scored a 3.5 out of a 4.0 scale in terms of the effectiveness of it in terms of the concept, and so that led us to feel that we really had something good and exciting here. Then we actually took the concept, the liquid technology, to a third-party lab, and had it validated from a scientific point of view as well, so it wasn’t just our words and beta testers’ words, it was actually the scientific community validating this stuff actually works and prevents the buildup of deposits, which again, is the number one reason for the razor degeneration.

Roy Morejon:
Amazing. I love that. Get out there, network, go meet with people, men that are all growing facial hair for this made the most sense, obviously, but certainly the female crowd as well, needing the razors, survey, get feedback, make iterations, keep them constantly updated on your progress, launch the campaign, and Charlotte’s definitely come out as the top community backing this project, so it’s great that you’ve been able to tap into the local audience there.

Attila Madarasz:
Yes, yes. Speaking of females, sometimes they’re more excited than men because let’s face it, they have more real estate, especially in the summer months to shave, they have their entire leg sometimes, and they have to deal with these razor burns and cuts sometimes more often than men, and so for them, it’s a lifesaver. It really is. They love it.

Roy Morejon:
Amazing. Well, what’s been the biggest surprise so far with the campaign? I know it just launched less than a week ago, but interested to hear some of the takeaways that you’ve had thus far.

Attila Madarasz:
Yeah, so I’m always amazed about how technology can reach the world. I know that working on this campaign, I have access to this dashboard that shows the traction and progress per country around the world, and it just amazes me to see that you got people interested in the European country, people interested in Asia, of course, the United States, and so it really reinforces that if you’d use technology in the right way, you’ll reach a lot more consumers in a much bigger audience than the traditional methods of just basic press releases, and this and that. We all find ourselves, even though I always preach to my kids not to be on their smartphone, I find myself always looking on Facebook on unique products that are out there, and it truly is a way to grasp an audience. I can’t wait to see the end results. I think we have 26 more days or 28 more days left in the campaign and so everyone is really looking forward to see the results between now and then.

Roy Morejon:
Absolutely.

Attila Madarasz:
Yeah.

Roy Morejon:
Well, Attila, this has been amazing. This has going to get us into our launch round where I’m going to rapid-fire about six questions at you. You good to go?

Attila Madarasz:
Sure, absolutely.

Roy Morejon:
Let’s do this. What inspired you to be an entrepreneur?

Attila Madarasz:
Well, I’ve been both an entrepreneur and a corporate guy my whole life, but the entrepreneurial piece I like is that you have the ability to bring a vision to life year away, right? There’s pros and cons to both the corporate lifestyle, entrepreneurial lifestyle. I actually like to have blend the both together because the corporate lifestyle gives you a lot of discipline that you need to be successful, in fact, but entrepreneur just allows you to, and especially in a market like the US, where anything is possible, it allows you to make a vision reality. We take this country for granted. I come from an immigrant family and so I’ve come to realize that things can be harder in many other parts of the world and so why not take advantage of the free market and see what you can do with it? I’ve been very proud over the years and the past to be able to be part of things like this.

Roy Morejon:
Amazing. If you could meet with any entrepreneur throughout history, living or dead, who would you want to have a cup of coffee with?

Attila Madarasz:
That’s a great question. I actually follow Richard Branson a lot, Sir Richard Branson. He’s built a huge empire. One of the things I see from him is he does a wonderful job of being, even though he’s a leader, he is the number one ambassador for the Virgin Atlantic brand, and so he’s always doing Goodwill activities. He’s always talking about his people. He’s always emphasizing how much the people make the difference for his success, and I’ve seen that in my career, too. You can lead a lot of initiatives, and have a lot of great ideas, but if you don’t have the people backing you with the vision, with the inspiration, with the motivation, you’re nothing, and so I’ve learned that lesson from him and the way he leads his organization and his interest groups.

Roy Morejon:
What would be the first question that you would ask him?

Attila Madarasz:
I would ask him is, “How do you maintain the energy level to do this day in and day out?” I mean, we’re talking about a small little startup here in this case, and he’s got a mega force of a organization globally, even going into space, if you will. How do you keep a level head and stay calm and collected, which he always appears to be whenever he is interviewed, and not become overwhelmed and keep your cool? I did read that he has some morning rituals that he does exercising the first thing and meditating and things like that, and so I try to do a couple of those things myself, and it does seem to help.

Roy Morejon:
Nice. Any book you would recommend to our listeners?

Attila Madarasz:
Yeah. Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Dr. Travis Bradberry and Dr. Jean Greaves. Emotion is good, and it’s very important, especially when you’re a entrepreneur, because you want to demonstrate and put your emotion into everything you do, but you have to know where to draw a line if emotions start to take the better of you in terms of making sound decisions in terms of how you carry yourself in terms of becoming overwhelmed as a human being, and so going back to what I said about Richard Branson, emotional intelligence really helps you to compartmentalize things in your life so that you keep a level head and you make the best decision, not only for a business, but even for you personally, and I always say that if you have a stable, calm, collected, personal life, then your entrepreneurial or corporate life goes much more smoothly, and a lot more effectively, and so it’s a fine balance, and so for me, that’s always important to maintain.

Roy Morejon:
Nice. Top three skills that you think every entrepreneur needs to succeed?

Attila Madarasz:
Number one, communicate, be able to network and get out and meet people. You just never know where you’re going to meet the person that’s going to be your next important contact for your next endeavor.

Roy Morejon:
Yep.

Attila Madarasz:
Number two, keep a sound mind and body. I think mental and physical health is important to keep going and to keep pressing forward in whatever initiative you’re working on.

Attila Madarasz:
And three, don’t forget about yourself and your family. I think that if you have a stable personal life, and if things are relatively in good order, then you have the energy and the willfulness and the energy, the excitement level to get out there, and really give positive energy to the world because I’ve learned through the years that if you give to the world in a positive way, eventually things will come back to you as well. It’s kind of a cliche, but it really does happen.

Roy Morejon:
Amazing. Last question in the launch round, I know the campaign just launched, and this is your first one, but very interested still to hear your take on what does the future of crowdfunding look like.

Attila Madarasz:
I think that it’s going to become more and more mainstream. I think that we are going to be ever so connected with so many different technologies, I mean, if I look at my teenagers, almost all their communication for everything is through technology, and whether we like it or not as being the old school generation, that’s the wave of the future for connecting for building relationships, whether it’s for your private life, whether it’s for business, and I think that you can have a fine balance in taking advantage of that in a fruitful way. I think that, yeah, it’s going to be, I think, popular for many years to come. I think if I look at myself, I didn’t even know much about crowdfunding until about three or four years ago. However, it’s been around for correct me if I’m wrong, for at least eight to 10 years, maybe?

Roy Morejon:
Yep.

Attila Madarasz:
I think that entrepreneurs like myself and my partners who are driving this, the more you do these kinds of activities like we’re doing today, the more you spread the word to the general public about this concept, I think the more it will gain in popularity, so I think it’s just now cresting towards the epitome of this concept.

Roy Morejon:
Well, I look forward to more folks getting out there and getting the word out there. Attila, this has been amazing. This is your opportunity to speak directly to the audience. Give them your pitch, tell them what you’re all about, and where people should go to check out BLADEMAX.

Attila Madarasz:
Yeah, absolutely. Razors have been around for 100 years. Most people are under the false impression they go dull very quickly. It’s time to make the industry honest. It’s time to get the true value out of your razor. It’s time to help the environment. It’s time to save money. Heck, we’re dealing with inflation these days, and why not improve your own health as well? If you like any of these aspects of our concept and of BLADEMAX as a product, give us a try. You will not be let down. You’ll become a huge fan and we be very grateful for everyone to spread the word after they get the chance to experience BLADEMAX.

Roy Morejon:
Amazing. Audience, thank you for tuning in make sure to visit artofthekickstart.com for the notes, transcript links to the campaign, everything else we talked about today, and of course, big shout-out to the crowdfunding podcast sponsor over at ProductHype, the top newsletter for new products that just launched. Attila, thank you so much for joining us today on Art of the Kickstart.

Attila Madarasz:
Thank you as well. Enjoyed it.

Roy Morejon:
Thank you for tuning into another amazing episode of Art of the Kickstart, the show about building a better business, life, and world with crowdfunding. If you’ve enjoyed today’s episode as much as I did, make sure to show us some love by rating us and reviewing us on your favorite listening station, whatever that may be. Your review really helps other founders and startups find us so they can improve their craft and achieve greater success like you, and of course, be sure to visit artofthekickstart.com for all the previous episodes. If you need any help, make sure to send me an email at info art of the kickstart.com. I’d be glad to help you out. Thanks again for tuning in. I’ll see you next week.