Dude Living sits downtwith the founders of Luminoodle™
You don’t have to be a camper or an outdoorsman in order to appreciate the Luminoodle – but it certainly helps. An ingenious all-purpose lighting device that is just as useful for backyard cookouts as it would be for treks out into the wilderness, the Luminoodle provides amazing illuminating power in a unique and innovative package. If the current crop of portable lighting solutions doesn’t exactly deliver the power, performance, and flexibility you are looking for, get ready to get your hair blown back by the Luminoodle.
The Luminoodle is manufactured by Power Practical, a Salt Lake City based outfit started by David Toledo and Paul Slusser in 2012. The concept of the company was born during a camping trip when the two friends realized that the campfire they had built was doing a poor job of keeping them warm, with most of the heat produced simply dissipating into the air. Right then and there, the two came up with the idea of the PowerPot, which utilized energy in a more efficient manner. The two also made plans to start up a company that would utilize their extensive material science and business marketing experience with their love of camping, and Power Practical was born.
With Caleb Light later taking on the role of VP, Power Practical was established with the goal of becoming a “powerful” business” offering a variety of “game-changing products” to the market, Power Practical followed up the early success of the PowerPot with a number of other products that made full use of their combined ingenuity and business élan. The Luminoodle is one such product, and several months before it went into production, it had already garnered a sizeable number of potential buyers eager for its release.
The Luminoodle – Practicle Outdoor Light Solution
What is the Luminoodle and what does it offer over all the other portable lighting devices on the market today?
The Luminoodle is one of the few truly “all-purpose” lighting solutions, capable of handling a variety of indoor and outdoor applications with equal ease. It looks similar to a standard set of string lights, but that’s about as far as the comparison goes. The Luminoodle is built for durability, with ultra-advanced material that makes it light and flexible, and yet still rugged enough to withstand most any use. The individual lighting strands measure five feet in length, and are totally waterproof.
The Luminoodle offers an unparalleled degree of flexibility and versatility. The string light design makes it possible to hang or wrap the lights with ease, and they are magnetic as well. This means that the lights can be attached to most metal surfaces quite securely without the need for twist ties or any other mooring devices.
The Luminoodle can also be placed into an included transparent bag, essentially turning it into a globe light. When used in this manner, the Luminoodle provides much more focused light, and can be used for settings where direct lighting is preferred. The glowing globe effect is also quite visually impressive, so the Luminoodle could just as easily serve as decorative purpose as a functional one.
As versatile and as convenient as the Luminoodle is, perhaps one of its biggest draws is its sheer illuminating power. Up to 20 times brighter than a comparably-sized set of Christmas lights, the Luminoodle could easily handle most any indoor or outdoor lighting needs.
For something this bright, you would normally expect to have to use a mains power source, but the Luminoodle delivers all this performance via rechargeable power. The device can be charged via the USB port of your laptop computer or mobile device, or it could be powered off a USB battery pack. This makes it a convenient and easy lighting solution for remote use. It is pretty power efficient as well, providing as much as six hours of performance from a single charge.
The Luminoodle is amazingly simple and easy to use, and its versatility makes it ideally suited to settings wherein other lighting solutions simply wouldn’t work. Because of its waterproof design, it can be used in the wettest weather, or even on deep-sea fishing trips. It is light enough to hang from the inside of a tent, where most lighting solutions that provide equivalent illuminating power would simply be too large or too heavy to be feasible. The option to use it as lighting strands or an illuminating globe also shows just how much thought went into providing a truly all-around lighting solution that works effortlessly.
The origins of Power Practical
That the Luminoodle so neatly addresses many of the common concerns of both outdoorsy types and the more “stay-at-home” inclined should come as no surprise. Like many of Power Practical’s products, the Luminoodle is after all a labor of love for two professionals committed to delivering a range of quality products suited to their own needs. In fact, most of the company’s personnel are former Eagle Scouts, with extensive experience with all sorts of outdoor scenarios.
And with the company founders spending equal time in the drawing room and the Great Outdoors, Power Practical is the right company to introduce such a line of innovative products.
The kick starting of Power Practical
The Luminoodle, like the Power Pot before it, was funded via a Kickstarter campaign. As for the reason for the success of their Kickstarter-funded projects, Caleb attributes it to the quality and usefulness of their products. Caleb especially emphasizes the need to have “an interesting product” and to create quality content. For those planning on their own Kickstarter projects, Caleb also advises startups to encourage people to go to their campaigns, whether they are product launches or publicity events.
“Successful projects create their own media attention,” according to Caleb, “and (most of it) is organic.”
David also advises would-be entrepreneurs to find ways to address the common concerns of Kickstarter campaigns, which are: funding, fulfilling, and actually creating the business.
The Future of Power Practical
What does the future hold for Power Practical?
According to Caleb, the company is currently working on re-designing the website. Acknowledging that Power Practical is “a changing company”, David predicts a cash-positive flow by the end of 2015, owing to the company’s steadily increasing revenues. The company is also poised to add more products to the Power Practical line, including a residential hot water heater, and a fast-charge battery called the “Pronto”. Along with the Luminoodle, these products are expected to cement Power Practical’s reputation as the foremost provider of quality powered solutions.
Power Practical in closing
When asked what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur, Caleb and David had a few choice words to say. For Caleb, having “the right team” is crucial.Citing the importance of having access to different people with complementary skills, Caleb said that the presence of a good team is a prerequisite to formulating a business plan and actually going for it.
As for David, who got his start in the business at the age of twenty one, he always goes back to what an MBA friend of his told him back when he was just starting out: “execution trumps ideas”.
“(Most) people who create a technical product are afraid of having their ideas stolen,” David said.
Citing the need to keep pushing on, David advises fledgling entrepreneurs not to worry too much about this, and simply get out there and execute the idea. Judging from the success of the Luminoodle and all the other products in the Power Practical line, it appears that Caleb’s and David’s ideas on managing a business are right on the money.
Power Practical is allways running givaways and contests on their page, at this time they are running a $1000 worth of gear giveaway. Take a look at their ever evolving line of innovative products over at http://powerpractical.com/
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