“We see community work as the most important. Hosting meetups, advising entrepreneurs, and creating a lot of content are beneficial ways to give back.”
Background
David Keller studied industrial design at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design while working as product manager for a military air force company. He wanted to push himself and searched for the next step in his career.
That next step was at Keter, one of the largest plastic companies in Israel. At the same time he was completing a degree in design management, which helped, as his job involved designing plastic toys and other products.
There, David met his two future partners. The three realized they individually brought skills in design, product, and technology, that together could and would prove to be a force.
The start of Prime.total
In 2011, identifying the need for a turnkey solution in terms of creative services, David and his partners founded Prime.total product design, an award-winning technology design boutique specializing in connected platforms, IoT, wearable electronics and consumer products.
David and his cofounders saw that in the Startup Nation, with its growing amount of startups, there was no company offering design in terms of business model, response time, etc. — things that are especially crucial when entering the US market.
This is Prime’s unique value proposition and the reason that the company has grown so much. The firm acts as a mini VC, taking equity in the companies they work with. They feel that this approach conjures passion, which leads to success for everyone involved. They’ve gone from 3 to 12 employees, have big companies as clients, and most hardware startups in Israel get in touch with them because of their unique process.
The process is structured and brings more value. They run user testing, framing, manufacturing research and more, to learn standards. This way the design will not only look nice but most importantly, sell.
As David says, “We’re stubborn, but it’s justified. We wouldn’t let a company compromise on details when we know it would only hurt them.”
Tip for startups
Launch as fast as you can. The first product is not meant to be perfect; it just needs to attract users and prove the concept.
Leave your ego at home. If you’re not going to listen to anyone, no one will want to listen to you and nothing will get done.
