59. How to Bootstrap a BIG, EXPENSIVE Invention Idea with Sam Baker

Enjoy this episode where entrepreneur, Sam Baker breaks down how big ideas start in small places.

https://www.wrigglebrew.com/?srsltid=AfmBOooFxiGbDj3YAdt1igfsdgdWr8oNuvYGAxuEW6Bi0UCAVZJQdZs1

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Episode Title: How Inventors Bootstrap BIG Invention Ideas (Work > Money)
Podcast: Invent With Me
Season 2 – Sponsored by the Invent With Me Patreon

Description:
Too many inventors believe their big idea won’t go anywhere unless they get funding first—but what if the secret to success is putting in the work before the money ever arrives?

In this episode of Invent With Me, your hosts Marcus and Grant sit down with Sam Baker, the founder of WriggleBrew, to unpack the gritty, honest truth about bootstrapping a real invention from zero to launch. Sam shares the real story—not the polished startup fairytale—of how he turned a dorm-room idea into a viable business without waiting around for a big check.

From using garages as labs to building a product in layers, this episode walks inventors through six actionable steps to move from concept to income. We dive into the hidden advantages of being resource-limited, how to develop grit, why many inventors waste time chasing validation and funding instead of traction, and the critical skill of pivoting when your initial idea doesn't go according to plan.

If you’ve ever felt stuck because you “just need money” to start, this episode is a wake-up call—and a masterclass in the value of doing over dreaming.

Highlights include:

• Why having limited resources is a superpower in the early invention phase
• How real intellectual property is in the work, not just the idea
• How Sam built his product step-by-step while holding down other commitments
• The emotional traps inventors fall into when comparing themselves to well-funded competitors
• When and how to take on funding—without losing control
• Why your garage is more powerful than you think

The Invent With Me Podcast, where each week we help aspiring inventors and product creators to turn their innovative ideas into reality. Join us on youtube to have the ultimate show experience! www.youtube.com/@inventwithme

Transcript

00:00:13:05 - 00:00:15:03
Unknown
the first thought they have is,

00:00:15:03 - 00:00:16:21
Unknown
I need to get a lot of money fast.

00:00:23:20 - 00:00:28:07
Unknown
Always.

00:00:41:19 - 00:00:42:17


00:00:42:17 - 00:01:15:15
Unknown
Good morning, inventors. And how are you? Look, just a quick note before the show. Season two of the invent With Me podcast is brought to you by the invent With Me Patreon. Odds are you've been listening to the show for a while now, and you need more information. And I don't typically agree with a paywall unless it's a situation in which there's not enough time in the show, or there's just more tender love and care needed to get you to the successful point with your invention, where you want to beat the signup process is incredibly straightforward.

00:01:15:15 - 00:01:38:08
Unknown
Just go into the show notes, click on the link for the Patreon and sign up via their Safe Payment platform. $6 month connects you to the discord, which is stacked with current inventors as well as other professionals and myself. And together, all of us are going to make sure that your dream becomes a reality. All right, guys, remember I took the punches so you don't have to.

00:01:38:08 - 00:01:42:23
Unknown
And enjoy this episode. Brought to you by the Patreon. Thanks.

00:01:43:04 - 00:01:56:05
Unknown
Hey guys, welcome to the Invent With Me podcast. And these are the six steps to turning big ideas into real revenue with Sam Baker. How are you doing today, Sam?

00:01:56:07 - 00:02:06:12
Unknown
Good to see you, man. Wriggle brew. I mean, that's just a fascinating name. I'm intrigued. Can you give us the high level overview? What is wriggle brew and what do you guys do?

00:02:37:22 - 00:02:44:12
Unknown
Interesting. Cool, man. Cool. So, that all sounds great. I know there's no way it started this way.

00:02:44:12 - 00:02:52:13
Unknown
So let's go there. So all of us inventors were going to start small, and then we're going to start thinking big later. Take me back to when this was small.

00:05:45:17 - 00:06:00:19
Unknown
And in the beginning, when you're looking at. Wow, taking on an operation like that, it must have seemed like a mountain to climb, right?

00:06:00:21 - 00:06:46:09
Unknown
Yeah. So that brings us to step two. How do we build a big idea in layers? So did it ever seem impossible?

00:07:04:13 - 00:08:31:05
Unknown
Yes.

00:08:47:05 - 00:08:59:19
Unknown
What do you have to say to people who have a seed of an idea? Kind of like. Well, you had it when you were a kid and you approached your friend in college, and he thought it had wheels. What do you have to say to the people who, in that stage,

00:08:59:19 - 00:09:14:12
Unknown
the first thought they have is, I need to get a lot of money fast.

00:09:14:14 - 00:09:19:01
Unknown
Always.

00:10:02:01 - 00:10:15:11
Unknown
Right. Right. Yeah.

00:10:40:22 - 00:11:21:18
Unknown
No, Sam, that's not what we want. We're inventors. We have a good idea. We want to get paid right now for it. Why?

00:11:21:20 - 00:11:46:23
Unknown
Do you think they also think this is a really good idea? I bet someone else is thinking this right now, too, and I need to capitalize on it before they do.

00:11:47:01 - 00:12:17:09
Unknown
Probably not. And you know, the work is the real intellectual property. That's that's something that you have that your competitor won't.

00:12:26:10 - 00:12:55:07
Unknown
Good for you. You didn't.

00:12:55:09 - 00:13:15:02
Unknown
Absolutely, man. Incredible. I love that you said it that way. And that kind of brings us to step and part number three. Bootstrap. Like you mean it. So the hidden advantages of being resource limited. We've touched on it a bit, but, I mean, really take me back to those days where it's like, hey, I need hey, we got the garage that's always free.

00:13:15:02 - 00:13:31:11
Unknown
All of us inventors have a garage, whether it's you or a buddy, I don't care. But then we need a piece of equipment. Then we. Then we need a little bit of material. Then we need a time to test. Then we need. We try to think of the excuse. Oh, well, I can't work because I'm an inventor now I need this.

00:13:31:11 - 00:13:58:05
Unknown
So talk to me about the hidden advantages of being resource limited.

00:13:58:07 - 00:16:01:00
Unknown
Right.

00:16:01:02 - 00:16:19:13
Unknown
Yeah, absolutely. Dude, that's so cool. Love to hear that, because, honestly, we had a discovery call, and I was like, oh, this is, this is a kid who, he had this idea, and he was the teacher's pet at his university, and someone set him up with a lab, and someone set him up with a funding.

00:16:19:13 - 00:16:33:01
Unknown
But reality is, you went through a lot of grit before you got to funding, which we'll get to in a little bit.

00:17:12:21 - 00:18:06:03
Unknown
But one day, you're going to have a really passive business, and you're going to go down to the Florida Keys four days a week, right?

00:18:06:05 - 00:18:16:08
Unknown
Step number four. Being willing to pivot. Sam, have you ever had to pivot on your entrepreneurial journey?

00:18:16:10 - 00:19:01:09
Unknown
Do tell.

00:21:16:17 - 00:22:18:06
Unknown
Right. Absolutely. And that rolls us into, step number five. Be wise about the money you take on sometimes us inventors, we do get influx with cash. As you said, it's never free. It's never easy. Maybe sometimes there's strings attached. So can you talk to me about funding with wriggle room?

00:22:18:08 - 00:22:27:11
Unknown
Yeah. Yeah.

00:22:27:13 - 00:23:05:13
Unknown
Hold on. Why did you blow through it so fast?

00:23:05:15 - 00:23:39:01
Unknown
Oh, God.

00:23:47:17 - 00:23:54:12
Unknown
No.

00:23:54:14 - 00:24:28:19
Unknown
Right.

00:24:28:20 - 00:25:06:19
Unknown
Cool.

00:25:17:08 - 00:25:48:01
Unknown
Yeah, sure.

00:25:48:03 - 00:26:28:06
Unknown
Wow.

00:26:28:08 - 00:26:39:12
Unknown
Yeah.

00:27:05:11 - 00:27:29:12
Unknown
Just to entertain the grant.

00:27:29:14 - 00:27:33:17
Unknown
Wow.

00:27:33:19 - 00:29:02:23
Unknown
Really?

00:29:03:01 - 00:32:14:13
Unknown
Interesting, interesting. And while we're still on, you know. Step five. The the. Be wise about the money. I know this about you. We spoke about it, and I feel the same way in my business. Explain to me how revenue like sales, actual real dollars and cents that you earn, how that's the best money for learning and growing and earning.

00:32:14:15 - 00:32:30:14
Unknown
And then you. Then you have that. Oh, I'm a big boy now. Moment. Right. It's like it's no longer cool ideas. It's revenue and beyond revenue. Then it gets into profit. And that's a whole other thing.

00:32:30:16 - 00:32:38:17
Unknown
No, you're making revenue.

00:32:38:19 - 00:32:47:05
Unknown
You know.

00:32:47:07 - 00:32:58:08
Unknown
Yes.

00:33:15:19 - 00:33:34:08
Unknown
Yeah.

00:33:34:10 - 00:34:00:19
Unknown
Correct. It's not reinvested. Yeah, yeah, I'm dealing with that a lot this year. The difference between revenue and profit. Revenue is ego profit is is actual business. That's big boy stuff. And this is, Well, yeah, you can sell, $50 bills for, for 25 bucks, and you can do $1 billion in revenue. Yeah.

00:34:30:09 - 00:34:58:08
Unknown
Oh, gosh. Yes! Yeah.

00:34:58:10 - 00:35:20:20
Unknown
Yep. It's. It is the absolutely most gratifying thing. People, if you have one takeaway from this, write it down. It's going to be that email where somebody says, God, I love this product. And you'll you'll have you have faith. You will have those super fans, I call them the crazy 100. You know, the those people who really latch onto what you're doing and compliment you on that.

00:35:20:20 - 00:36:02:15
Unknown
And man, that really drives you forward and your with your make becomes your North star. Cherish them.

00:36:02:17 - 00:36:19:19
Unknown
Yeah, right. Yes. Yes. So important.

00:36:24:20 - 00:38:05:15
Unknown
Yes. All right. So that rolls us into step six. You know, big ideas. How do we, as small inventors tackle big ideas and eventually you have to build out a staff and a culture. So talk to me about the benefits of, hey, I don't have a lot of money to throw at this, but I can perhaps build a culture in which we thrive.

00:38:05:17 - 00:39:23:02
Unknown
I'm so busy. Don't reach out. Yeah.

00:39:23:04 - 00:39:53:12
Unknown
Amazing.

00:41:14:19 - 00:41:32:00
Unknown
Absolutely. Absolutely. Love that. And for you. Before we wrap up for everybody watching on YouTube, you know, you got me. What's with the suit of armor here, buddy?

00:41:32:02 - 00:41:56:08
Unknown
That's awesome.

00:41:56:10 - 00:42:06:14
Unknown
Very engineered man. You're quite a fabricator. Among other things.

00:42:06:16 - 00:42:23:04
Unknown
Oh, that's so damn true. I don't even want to get into that. All right, man. Cool. Well, look, I'm going to let you hang up, and I'm going to close out the show. I really want to thank you for being here today. I found a lot of actionable takeaways here. I found a lot of clips that I'm going to pull out of here that are going to do pretty well on social media.

00:42:23:10 - 00:42:32:18
Unknown
So thank you again, Sam. Yeah, I will talk to you later. And I appreciate it, buddy.

00:42:32:20 - 00:42:51:12
Unknown
All right, man. See you. Wow, what a cool guy. Okay, so bootstrapping big ideas. A lot of you have come to me with that. Hey, I have something so big I can't handle it. Well, this guy took on becoming a fertilizer company, and he's doing it piece by piece. All right. Hey, guys, if you're watching on YouTube, subscribe.

00:42:51:12 - 00:43:01:17
Unknown
If you're listening, be sure to like and rate the show. Remember, Sam and I took the punches so that you don't have to take advantage of that. And we'll see you on the next one.

00:43:01:17 - 00:43:05:22