In this episode of Art of the Kickstart, we spoke with Darya Forutanpour, Founder and CEO of Blanktech and her father Babak Forutanpour. Together they created Blanktech, a weighted blanket designed for full functionality while reading or lounging. They looked at the market, filled with known brands and created a product that combined the features they wish had existed in one product. Listen to learn their process from idea through prototyping to launch. This father-daughter has deep admiration and care for one another, and that translates into a thoughtful product Short on time? Here's what we talked about. After an idea, it’s time to do market research to make sure it doesn’t exist. Especially when the idea is a fairly simple one, make sure that you’re creating something new, or a new iteration on a concept. Darya and Babak prototyped most of the product close to home, here’s how they went about it. Babak’s launched products before, but says finding the right partner was a key to success. He found that partner was his teenage daughter. Links Blanktech's Kickstarter Campaign The Blanktech Website Note: As an Amazon Associate, Art of the Kickstart may earn a commission from qualifying purchases. Sponsors Art of the Kickstart is honored to be sponsored by ProductHype, the leading crowdfunding newsletter. Publishing weekly, ProductHype showcases five of the best, most innovative and exciting crowdfunding projects in an absurdly unique way. Their audience of more than 300,000 crowdfunding fans regularly back featured products and eagerly awaits the newsletter to learn about the new ideas that creators are bringing to market. Learn more about having your project featured in ProductHype, or join the HypeSquad today! Transcript View this episode's transcript Roy Morejon: Welcome entrepreneurs and startups to Art of the Kickstart, the show that every entrepreneur needs to listen to before you launch. I’m your host Roy Morejon, president and founder of Enventys Partners, the world’s only turnkey product launch company. From product development and engineering to omnichannel marketing, we’ve helped our clients launch thousands of interventions, and earn more than $1 billion in sales over the past 20 years. Each week, I interview a startup success story, an inspirational entrepreneur, or a business expert, in order to help you take your launch to the next level. This show would not be possible without our main sponsor, ProductHype, the weekly newsletter that goes out and shows you the best inventions that just launched. Make sure to check out producthype.co and join the HypeSquad. Now, let’s get on with the show. Roy Morejon: Welcome to another edition of Art of the Kickstart. Today, we are starting super early in the morning because I am super excited to speak to Darya and Babak Forutanpour, founder and CEOs of the Blanktech. Darya is a junior in high school. Yes, she has started super young, which I am really excited about. They’re in San Diego, California. In her free time, she enjoys lots of things, but mostly solving problems in novel ways. She’s joined by her dad, Babak, who helped with the prototyping and manufacturing process.