marc brodeur

Tag: consumer product

  • Brode Electrolyte Vitamins

    Brode Electrolyte Vitamins

    Brode Vitamins reinvented the sugary sports drink as an easy-on-the-go electrolyte tablet.

    As a college athlete, I had a honed sense of what it meant to be hydrated. Sports drinks had too much sugar and oral-rehydration-solutions (Pedialyte) were expensive–and quite gross tasting.

    Starting as a DIY project to reverse-engineer Pedialyte, I developed Brodes as a way to turn ORS drinks into a convenient portable tablet format. Brode Electrolyte Vitamins are now over 10 years old, and are doing better than ever.

    Brode is set up as an automated e-commerce operation, with a D2C Shopify site and Amazon listing. Fulfillment is handled by a 3PL and production by a trusted manufacturing partner.

    Tools:

    • Shopify
    • Amazon Marketplace / FBA
    • Mailerlite
    • ShipBob

    link: https://brode.co

  • Magnet Jar

    Magnet Jar

    Magnet Jar was a space-saving ultra-strong magnetic spice jar.

    I created Magnet Jar after being unsatisfied with available spice solutions.

    My primary design goals were space efficiency and speed of browsing to find the spice that you needed. I settled on a design with a side-mounted channel magnet that could be stuck to most fridges and any magnetic panel.

    This design would engage underutilized vertical space, and prominently display spices to avoid the “out of sight, out of mind” problem where spices get stuck in the back of a cabinet or drawer.

    Existing magnetic containers had magnets on the lid, which I did not like. I likewise did not find a spice rack or shelving system that I liked, which either took up counter space or did not firmly keep jars organized.

    After selling some thousands of Magnet Jars on Amazon, and earning a strong 45% returning-buyer rate, I decided to discontinue Magnet Jars in May 2020. (I assembled every jar and package by hand.) Profits were not high enough to justify the effort, and I did not see a path with enough certainty to justify expanded investment.

    Although Magnet Jar remains maybe my favorite product, and I have thirty of them on my fridge right now.

    link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ATPYMUY