Making Something From Nothing: Kristen Carbone Of Brilliantly On How To Go From Idea To Launch

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

…Time. Starting a business takes exponentially more time than I originally thought. And that timing of when you’re spending extra time isn’t always convenient. An investor might want to talk during your cousin’s baby shower, or you might need to do a customer service support call in the middle of your child’s holiday concert. I had no idea how much I’d be giving up to start this business and how I’d have to reframe my priorities.

As a part of our series called “Making Something From Nothing”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kristen Carbone.

Kristen Carbone is committed to making the lives of the people around her more comfortable, fulfilling and beautiful. After a decade long career working in curatorial departments in Museums across New York and New England she founded Brilliantly, a platform dedicated to meeting the long term, quality of life issues faced by women who’ve had an experience with breast cancer.

A writer, public speaker, and solution finder, Kristen serves on the Advisory Council for the Breasties, and is a member of Dreamers & Doers, The Fourth Floor, Female Founders Community. In addition to her work at Brilliantly, Kristen is an avid jigsaw puzzler, gardener, and list maker. She currently resides in Providence, Rhode Island where she lives with her two children and enjoys gardening, jigsaw puzzling, and sharing meals with loved ones.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?

I was born and raised in Buffalo, New York. When I think back on my early life I feel beyond grateful to have had two loving parents and an older brother. Growing up in a safe and stable environment was the foundation for my ability to take big risks- like starting a business.

I attended public school until college, at which point my roommate told me that I was at our private college to “fill a quota of public school kids.” Since then, I’ve felt like I had something to prove. College was the first time that I remember really putting in effort to achieve a goal- I graduated a year early and have continued to try and make my own path both personally and professionally ever since.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Seize the day, then let it go.” — Marty Rubin

This saying resonates with me because I have a tendency to inventory all the things that I didn’t get accomplished in a day rather than all that I’ve achieved. There are days where I’m a tornado of productivity and others where I feel accomplished for just getting a meal on the table for dinner with my kids. I am working on being more intentional with my time, seeing each day as an opportunity to achieve something and not beat myself up about the things (dishes, laundry, getting to inbox zero.) that fell through the cracks while I work towards large, strategic goals. I think I’ve got the “seize the day” part done, but letting it go is a challenge.

Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

I hope this doesn’t come across as a glib, but I reread the book A Girl Named Zippy pretty much every year because it makes me laugh out loud. I heard the author, Haven Kimmel, speak years ago in Portland, OR where she admitted it was her least meaningful of all her books. However, it’s my favorite. It’s mundane and profound. It’s funny and heartbreaking. It’s quite simply the story of a girl and her tenacity, and for me that’s the most inspiring thing around.

Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. There is no shortage of good ideas out there. Many people have good ideas all the time. But people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. Can you share a few ideas from your experience about how to overcome this challenge?

I am hopelessly optimistic and once I had an idea that really had legs (you can ask my friend Noam about the dozens of ideas ahead of this that simply didn’t have a chance), I wasn’t going to quit until it came to fruition.

Besides optimism and stubbornness, having a true and genuine passion for the mission behind your good idea is essential. It keeps me motivated to dedicate so much time, attention and money to starting a business.

The reason I was able to start a business, quite separate from the will to keep going and connection to the community I intended to serve, was the expertise of literally dozens of people. One of the first things I did when I decided to start Brilliantly was form an advisory board. Having people helping and keeping me accountable allowed me to set a north star and support creating a strategic plan to get there.

Often when people think of a new idea, they dismiss it saying someone else must have thought of it before. How would you recommend that someone go about researching whether or not their idea has already been created?

Google! Just this morning I was on a webinar that helped founders prepare for fundraising and the host asked “have you googled your problem and solution?” The very first thing when you have a good idea is to behave like the consumer you’re trying to reach. What would you do if you had the problem your product or service is hoping to solve? Where would you look? What would you search for on google? What stores would you look in? What blogs would you read? Doing all those things helps you understand the competitive landscape and if your idea is unique within that.

For the benefit of our readers, can you outline the steps one has to go through, from when they think of the idea, until it finally lands in a customer’s hands? In particular, we’d love to hear about how to file a patent, how to source a good manufacturer, and how to find a retailer to distribute it.

That sure is a big question! I could honestly write a full-length book to answer it too. But here’s an attempt at the highlights.

First, get a really good lawyer. Find one who you like, who gets your idea and has worked with start ups before. Ideally this person will be able to help you with forming your company, planning out how to capitalize, and guide you through protecting your idea. That will likely lead to finding more lawyers. I had one for trademarks and have done work with three patent attorneys- two of whom were also trained engineers. And don’t be afraid to ask them questions like if you can defer payment or if they give discounts for startups.

If you’re making a product and can’t do it all yourself, you’ll want to find the right set of engineers for the job. I needed an electrical and mechanical and software engineer plus an industrial designer and needed them to have some experience with medical devices. Just like finding a lawyer, finding a group or firm or person who is excited about your idea and has a fair contract is going to take some effort. It’s even better if they want to form a strategic partnership or invest in you.

Branding! Brand early. It’s worth developing a clear visual brand and accompanying language for investors (if you’re pitching) and for customers. A simple set of guidelines will help you keep things looking and sounding smart right from the getgo and will also allow you to grow into a larger visual treatment as needed. There’s no deed to develop a whole brand bible from day one, but you might want a font and colors and some social media/pitch deck templates to make your life easier. Doing the process to find the right brand will also force you to articulate your mission, vision, ideal customer and probably your personal brand, all of which will be helpful going forward.

The last thing I’ll say here is form an advisory group. Make an honest and unapologetic list of the things you suck at or areas where you lack expertise and find people who are experts at those things. Ask for strategic support, ask for emotional help, and get advice that allows you to circumvent the common pitfalls and mitigate risks.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started Leading My Company” and why?

Probably none of this is surprising, but here are my five things:

1. Time. Starting a business takes exponentially more time than I originally thought. And that timing of when you’re spending extra time isn’t always convenient. An investor might want to talk during your cousin’s baby shower, or you might need to do a customer service support call in the middle of your child’s holiday concert. I had no idea how much I’d be giving up to start this business and how I’d have to reframe my priorities.
2. Money. Back in 2017, I thought that I’d be able to get this off the ground for around 50k. So far I’ve raised almost a million dollars and am about to start raising money again. And that isn’t because I’ve spent frivolously. Infact I’ve had over $250k of donated time and services from friends who are experts, advisors and designers. It quite simply costs a lot to develop a hardware device.
3. Pandemic. Wouldn’t we all have liked to know that the pandemic was coming?! There are so many things that get in the way of even the most carefully laid plans. The pandemic was a reminder that no matter how hard I work, sometimes things are out of my control. If I had known it was coming, I would have adjusted my plans, but looking back, I’m pretty proud of how things have turned out since 2020.
4. Lonely. Being a solo founder is lonely. It is really difficult to share the struggles with friends or family who haven’t been in this position. I am now happy to report that I have a few different accountability groups of founders who share in this struggle, but I would have sought them out sooner and struggled less if I had a sense of how emotionally challenging the process was going to be.
5. The upswing. There was a moment in 2019 and then again in 2020 when I couldn’t see a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. I wish I had known, like truly known, that things would get a little tiny bit easier. I still face new challenges everyday, but the success I’ve encountered since product launch has given me new energy and enthusiasm for continuing my efforts.

Let’s imagine that a reader reading this interview has an idea for a product that they would like to invent. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?

Many of the first things I’ve already touched on- like finding a lawyer and contractors to help make your idea come to life. But the very first thing to do is understand if your idea is actually a good one. The way to do that, no matter what idea you have, is to do some research. That starts with an exhaustive landscape search to see if you can differentiate your idea from what’s already out there. And if you believe that your idea is indeed unique, then it’s critical to start talking to potential customers. I can’t emphasize this enough- talk to as many potential customers as possible. Understand the pain point you’re trying to solve. Ask what other things they’ve already used to solve for it. Find out how much they have spent on those solutions. Learn where they purchased those things. Inquire about what they wish was different about the products they’re already using. And lastly, ask them about the impact- if that problem got solved well, how would their life change? Once you’ve confirmed product market fit and know all of those answers, you know pretty much every part of how to start a business.

There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?

Great question. I think this totally depends on the idea and the founder as well as how much money is available. I am a non-technical founder so I needed consultants to help me build my product. If I was an engineer, I would have absolutely tried to build the first MVP on my own or with minimal help because it would have saved quite a bit of money. That said, working with a group of people allows for a diversity of ideas and for you to leverage the experience, skillset and network (because you’ll need help producing and manufacturing your product eventually) of the consultants or firms you use. If you’re going to hire someone, make sure you have a really great contract agreement that protects you and your idea in case the working relationship doesn’t go well. And, I like to always start with a short project as a test to see if someone is a good fit before bringing them on long term.

What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?

Those are just two of the ways to fund a business. I think we often hear about those two particular examples because they’re the most extreme and in some cases exciting. Who doesn’t love the story of someone like Sara Blakley who built Spanx all on her own? There’s also something really seductive about hearing about a company that got millions from VCs and then experienced explosive growth. There are many, many other ways to fund a business. There are grants, family foundations, angel investors, bank loans, debt financing, and strategic partnerships. Oftentimes it will be a combination of sources and not a binary decision like bootstrap or VC. It takes a lot of research and soul searching to decide on what funding helps your business and fuels the lifestyle you want. No matter what, getting that money from any source is going to take a lot of time and effort.

Ok. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

Making the world a better, more comfortable place has been my objective from the get go. My most sincere hope is that the products I make, the conversations I have, the events I host and the connections I foster all create a positive impact. If I ever encounter any financial success, I hope to invest in other female founders trying to solve pain points in a new, creative way.

You are an inspiration to a great many people. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

I don’t know exactly how this would work, but I’d love to figure out some way of helping people (myself included) really understand that we can define ourselves in ways other than through the things that have happened to us. I talk to a great many people who have been affected by illnesses who fall into the trap of letting that control the way they think about their entire being and their place in the world, which is of course easy to understand. There are little and big reminders of our physical and emotional health experiences everywhere- scars, daily medications, behavioral patterns, etc. I’ve also talked to a number of people who seem to be able to transcend that and move into a new way of thinking about themselves or defining who they are. I hope that becomes something teachable, actionable and accessible to everyone because I believe that reframing our thoughts might make a great many of us live happier.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

Tim Ferriss! I read his book, The Four Hour Work Week, when my son was born in 2008 and managed to implement many of his suggestions to maximize my time as a working mom. Then I used his Four Hour Body plan after my daughter was born a couple of years later to drop my baby weight and get my BMI back to where my oncologist recommends. I’ve been following his career, books and podcast for as long as I can remember and have a copy of Tribe of Mentors that highlighted and dog-eared on my bookshelf. I love his no-bullshit approach to solving problems and think he’s a wonderful interviewer. I would love an opportunity to talk with him.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.