Yamodo began with a few friends sitting around the table trying to entertain one another while doodling on napkins at a bar. After a couple hundred napkins having been relegated to doodles of all sorts, we knew we were on to something. That instance led my company, Idea Storm Products, on a development path that would take us from the original idea of a table doodling game for restaurants, to a full-fledged game found in all types of stores. Funding was initially thru credit cards and personal savings until Yamodo became strong enough to support its own production efforts. These days, we are slowly growing the brand and planning for Yamodo to become the next big thing.
September 18, 2009
Yamodo is different from all other games because it is not only outrageously fun, but stresses creative collaboration instead of an individual winner. The social interaction and collaborative spirit is not only refreshing, but a welcome change to the world of “winner-take-all” games. Friends will play while socializing, or an individual may play at their desk to relax from a busy day. As a social ice-breaker, the game's inviting design and fun characters promise to have people talking in no time. It is also a must for family game night, and has even proven successful in educational settings. In addition, the game’s website is a unique extension and marketing tool that allows the community of players to upload and share their original creations.
Inventor: Bill Phelps
Bill Phelps graduated from Virginia Tech with a bachelor’s degree in industrial design. Since then, he has enhanced his professional career by teaching design courses in Australia, establishing a product consultancy, and working for a variety of entrepreneurial companies. Bill’s passion for products, people, and creative opportunities has been the driving factors in his career choices. Bill’s design background is tempered by a strong business and entrepreneurial drive that is enhanced by a hands-on approach to all aspects of a job.
Currently Bill is finishing his MBA at Pace University while growing his startup company, Idea Storm Products.
It was originally invented while sitting in a bar while a friend and I attempted to entertain my then girlfriend (now my wife). She is actually included on our patent since she was part of the original creation.
Heel Shields are a nifty little unisex device that slides easily on to the drivers shoe while seated in the car. Heel Shields are made of plastic and are covered in animal skin embossed vinyl.
Heel Shields protect the shoe, car mats and pant legs of drivers from the damage caused by driving. Entering your car you deposit bits of glass, rocks, sand and other debris onto your car mats effectively turning your car mats into sand paper in the exact spot where you rest your foot to drive. The motion of the driver’s foot ruins the leather finish of the driver’s shoe.
Heel Shields protect the drivers shoe from this damage and it protects the car mats from damage because the driver can now rest their foot comfortably on the Heel Shield instead of pressing their heel into the car mat to protect their shoes.
In the winter months, a pant leg placed between the Heel Shield and the shoe is protected from soaking up the moisture from the snow soaked mats. Heel Shields will also protect the shoe and pant leg from wet mats after car detailing services.
A beautiful yellow pair of Stuart Weitzman designer shoes was the inspiration for the creation of Heel Shields! I scoured the City of Chicago trying to find a pair of this yellow shoe in my size. When I finally found a pair – I didn’t wear them right away. Noooo, I saved them for a special occasion.
When I stepped from my car, the first thing said to me was: “what is that black stuff on the back of your shoe.” I was DEVASTATED! This was my first experience with BLACK HEEL. (BLACK HEEL is the syndrome caused by unprotected driving).
Once the shoe is damaged in this fashion – the smooth leather rubbed off revealing the bumpy second layer – it cannot be repaired.
In the large sizes, if you damage the ‘color for the season’ you may not have the opportunity to repurchase the shoe to replace the damaged shoe. And, the color for one year is not going to be the color for the next year – there is no way to know when the color will be back. When you buy a shoe to match an outfit – if you damage the shoe the outfit looses its fashion edge. So, I decided I needed to create a product that would protect the shoes and boots of drivers – men and women and be easy to use.
The most important product feature I determined the Heel Shield needed was it had to slip on and off. If I had to attach it to my ankle or use any type of strap or hook, I knew I would not use the product. After many different prototypes were tried, I finally came up with the final prototype - the Heel Shield was born.
Inventor: Krystal McAllister
Inventor is a college educated woman, with an Information Technology background who wanted to try her hand at being a business woman. Her grandfather and all of his sisters had owned businesses when she was growing up and it seemed that even though they worked hard they had lots of satisfaction.
Her mother wore four or five inch heels all of her life and that inspired the inventor to also want to wear heels. From the time she received her first pair of heels, the inventor basically only wears heels.
Starting out at Bakers and similar stores, the inventor eventually graduated to designer shoes. It was her love for the comfort and beauty of designer shoes that spurred the invention of the Heel Shield.
I was wearing Heel Shields on my shoes during a women’s conference – a black one and a white one. While seated at lunch, all of the ladies were talking about their various businesses. When I mentioned my business – they ladies all started laughing. It seems that they saw the Heel Shields on my shoes and thought they were a new fashion trend I was a part of. Several of them said “you could pull that off – but I certainly couldn’t.” So if you forget to take your Heel Shield off – people will just think it is a fashion trend in the making.
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Susan says:
Sep 18, 2009 at 10:57 am
It does look like lots of fun!
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