We Said No. Two Years Later, We’re Partners.

Two years ago, inventor Heather Sinclair submitted an invention to Invention City for a Brutally Honest Review.

Her idea was called the Stay and Go Retractable Pet Leash. The concept was straightforward: take a conventional retractable leash and redesign the handle so it could function like a carabiner. Instead of having to hold the leash all the time, a dog owner could clip it around a table leg, railing, fence, chair, or other secure object when appropriate.

We liked the problem Heather was trying to solve. We weren't convinced by the invention.

As part of our review, we looked at competing products and prior patents. Our conclusion was that similar solutions were already available and that the opportunity wasn't strong enough for Invention City to pursue a licensing deal.

We told Heather so.

A "No" Isn't Always the End

A Brutally Honest Review is exactly what the name says. Our job isn't to tell inventors what they want to hear. It's to give them our best assessment based on what we know at the time.

Heather could have stopped there. She didn't.

She believed there was something about her idea that we weren't fully appreciating. We suggested that the next logical step would be to ask consumers. Heather agreed and hired us to conduct a consumer survey.

The results surprised us.

People responded to the concept more positively than we expected. The survey gave us new information and caused us to reconsider our original assessment.

We changed our minds.

That's an important part of the invention business too. Being brutally honest doesn't mean being stubborn. When new information comes in, you need to be willing to reconsider your assumptions.

From Stay and Go to ClipWalk®

Today, two years later, Heather and Invention City are partners bringing her invention to market under a new name: ClipWalk®.

A lot has happened in those two years.

We've manufactured the product. Patents have been issued, with additional patents pending. ClipWalk® is now listed on Amazon.com, Walmart.com, and The Grommet. We recently exhibited the product at SuperZoo, one of the biggest trade shows in the pet industry, and we expect ClipWalk® to be available through Chewy in the coming months.

But one of the things that gives us the most confidence isn't a patent, a retail listing, or a trade show.

It's watching people see ClipWalk® for the first time.

When people see how easily the leash handle opens, wraps around an object, and clips back together, they light up.

There's a little bit of magic to it.

That's something every successful new product needs. You can describe a product with words and pictures, but the best products have a moment when the customer immediately understands the benefit and thinks, That's clever. I could use that.

ClipWalk® has that moment.

Inventing the Product Is Only Half the Battle

We're proud of what Heather and Invention City have accomplished over the past two years. But we're also realistic about the challenge ahead.

The hard part now is making enough people aware of ClipWalk® while maintaining enough profit to build a sustainable business.

That's not just our challenge. It's the challenge facing almost every new consumer product today.

Years ago, a product like ClipWalk® might have been launched with direct-response television advertising. A compelling demonstration could reach millions of people, generate immediate orders, and create awareness that drove customers into brick-and-mortar retailers like Walmart.

That playbook doesn't work the way it once did.

Today's marketplace is more fragmented and more crowded than ever. Consumers are spread across Amazon, Walmart, Chewy, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Google, traditional retail, and dozens of other channels. Getting attention can be expensive, and advertising costs can quickly consume the profit on a physical product.

There is no longer a simple formula that says, "Spend X dollars here and sell Y units there."

You test. You learn. You adjust.

And you keep going.

Sometimes the Market Knows Better

The ClipWalk® story has already taught us something worth remembering.

Our first answer was no.

Heather didn't ignore our feedback, but she didn't let it be the final word either. Instead, she took the next reasonable step and gathered more evidence. The consumer survey gave us information we didn't have before, and that information changed the direction of the project.

Two years later, ClipWalk® is patented, manufactured, selling through major online retailers, attracting attention at one of the pet industry's biggest trade shows, and moving toward additional distribution.

There's still a long way to go. Like every new product, ClipWalk® ultimately has to prove itself in the marketplace.

But when we demonstrate it and see people's faces light up, we're reminded why we changed our minds.

Sometimes an inventor sees something before everyone else does.

Heather did.

And we're proud to be on the journey with her.

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Have an Invention Idea of Your Own?

Heather’s journey with ClipWalk® started with a Brutally Honest Review and our first answer wasn’t the one she wanted to hear. But the review helped identify the next step, and that next step changed our minds.

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