Orange County, California-based husband and wife product designer team Tom and Tracy Hazzard have spent more than 20 years living and designing together. Most recently Tom and Tracy have added to their resumes some impressive credentials (as if their credentials weren’t already mighty impressive).   They can now add being 3D Print Product Designers, podcast hosts and authors of IP Battle Scars, Lessons and Evasive Tactics to their list of joint credits. As if that’s not enough, Tracy recently launched a cool new column called By Design for Inc. magazine!  While this inventive couple have taken a lot of their own ideas to market they wanted to help others do the same. For clients they solve the problem of what to make, how to make it stand out and what it takes to make it competition-proof. Talk about knowing your customer!  Collectively Tom and Tracy have designed and developed over 250+ retail products that generate more than $750 million dollars in revenue. They hold over 35 utility and design patents themselves with an 86% commercialization rate, which is double the USPTO-reported national average.  This power pair knows what it takes to fight Goliath for patent infringement and win… and why it’s not worth it (their experiences are even featured in an entrepreneurship course at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management).  Join us as Tracy talks about their path and tell us what it takes to get your ideas into the marketplace. In this episode of the Cash Flow Diary podcast there are lots of lessons about problem-solving and developing systems that make your business work far better than it does today.  There are some similarities between what Tracy and Tom do and what you as a real estate entrepreneur will do. They solve problems, they have to align the new idea with a particular market, they have to stay on task, they have to stay focused and they have to make go/no-go decisions. Oh, and they need to have an exit strategy in place at the get-go.  You’ll want to grab a pen and paper for this episode, because this one has some really fresh information. If you’ve ever had a great idea for a product, you will want to pay really close attention. Learn more. Listen now.