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128 Birch Street
Boston, MA, 02131
United States

(617) 390-4076

Invent Boston designs and develops original products to add science + whimsy to  every day tasks at home.   Our first product is a Two Minute timer, Two Minute Turtle, a visual timer. The Two Minute Turtle helps children and adults focus on two minute tasks such as brushing teeth, physical therapy, taking a shower and speaking (practicing a presentation or learning a language).

Invent Boston™, Home of the Two Minute Turtle Timer™

Invent Boston™ blog offers tips and stories by parents, for parents of children ages 4-12 to make toothbrushing and other healthy habits at home, more fun. We write about simple tactics to help kids do what they like to do-touch, seeing, play games and strive for independence. We recommend products to help stay healthy while being kids. We share stories to transform daily healthy habits from something kids resist (for example, toothbrushing, handwashing, toilet training, organizing, taking time-out or pausing, yoga, and taking turns) into something children are motivated to do independently, without parents’ reminders. The original physical product Invent Boston has designed for families is the new light-up Two Minute Turtle Timer, an analog, interval toothbrush timer to make brushing teeth fun for kids. Kids like to press the button, follow the flippers and brush until all the lights blink—the Victory Lap signals to brush the tongue.

12 Steps to Start-up. Step #1 and Introduction

Virginia Berman

How an Old Plot of Land Scared, Seduced then Revealed the Secrets of a Start-Up 

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Introduction

It was a typical March in Boston, 2004 when we purchased our home. The ground in our newly acquired yard was muddy, brown, and with very few signs of life. From what I could see, it looked like one more big, unfinished project, needing our attention, ugly shrubs beneath overgrown vines. I was pregnant, exhausted, and not interested in it. So I ignored it, let it be.  

Now, it’s been over 15 years since that first year.  In March the yard still is muddy, brown, and lifeless. This is New England after all, but come April, the backyard starts to transform. It can even feel peaceful there.

It—and we—have evolved with the seasons. With my husband, Michael, we tackled 1 new project a year.  And with work and many years, our garden has turned a corner, grown finally, into something beautiful. 

Metaphors have their limits. But this one, growing an organic garden, has helped when I needed to know where to turn in my start-up. Growing a garden metaphor worked better for me than a more common one for start-ups: the fast rocket launch.  So I’m reviewing this process of tending our old yard, to find parallels and uncover the secrets to a successful start-up. 

Early on, the garden needs work. It’s hard to just look at it but it’s a good way to see what you have.

How could an old plot of land help shape a new start-up? 

First, cultivating a garden AND pursuing a start-up instill similar feelings. Initially, I feel overwhelmed. Next...scared, then drawn in, and ultimately, won over. Gardens and start-ups are needy things. But all that labor and love, they end up giving back entirely new ways to express, see and live. 

Both a start-up and a garden, fill a void. Despite their wild natures, they grow roots, take shape and...with luck, bloom around and within us. I hope these gardening lessons offer encouragement as you face a challenge beckoning you.  

Note: Timing on the 12 steps

This approach to a start-up is nurturing and organic, more female, than the conventional start-up metaphor, rocket launch--a quick, powerful, straight. This is not a complete guide nor is it a formula with the 12 steps. These are, however, 12 lessons from our real experiences in my garden.  This is Growing a garden took us 12 steps--each step took us about a year. Your garden (or start-up) may take more, or fewer, steps and the steps may happen in different order.

The Format of 12 chapters

Each chapter has 1 step, 1 lesson. Each lesson has 2 parts.  The first part of the lesson refers to growing a garden and the second part of each step, is the corollary lesson for growing a start-up.  To help keep track of which section you are on, the start-up business section is in italics.

WHAT IS OUR START-UP?

The name of our start-up is Invent Boston. Invent Boston designs physical products to help make every day healthy habits more fun at home. The focus is on time management and habits  starting with an interval timer. Our first product is the Two Minute Turtle Timer, a light-up timer that shows children where to brush their teeth and for how long while giving children a sense of independence and fun.  The start-up is currently one full time person (me) with contract help and volunteers. We aspire to grow large enough to support a team working full time on it.

Spring’s first blooms

Step #1: OBSERVE the garden.

DON’T DO anything

See what GROWS where you are.  

Moving into an old house in March in Boston meant we had a complete growing season in front of us.  Right away we could see what plants came up and were already planted.  We simple watched.

Photo: seeing Spring’s first bloom

But that’s not easy. Buying a home brings out the “New House Hormones”.  That’s the instinct to move our stuff in quickly and work long hours to make the place feel like our own. Fortunately, I was pregnant — happy to refrain from working at all in the new yard.


This worked out. How else, but by sitting back and observing, can we truly see what is there? Which colors, textures, where the sun‘s rays reach across the yard in Spring and Summer, where pools of rainwater form, how much slope in  the  land , where weeds thrive, which critters call it home, and which parts of the garden are visible from the windows inside the home. 

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Note: for urban gardens especially, before planning anything, it’s best to have the soil tested for lead and other pollutants.  In the USA, your local state agricultural extension office can help. 

Step#1 for start-up: Before forming a business, Take stock of your skills & time

Find my true North, my direction. What was I doing at work and home when I felt most fulfilled?  When did it feel like my skills were used to their fullest?  When was I contributing most and satisfied with my work? Why?  These are tough questions that take time and reflection.

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true north

find your direction

To help me grapple with these questions and answer them, I formed a Clearness Committee. I recommend this  free tool from the Quaker tradition before taking a dive into a big change. The Clearness Committee uses the power of honest and active questions from caring friends to help you listen to yourself.  I chose 4 trusted   friends to ask me questions,   listen to me for 2 hours.  The one rule: they  cannot give any advice. One thing I knew before going into it was that after 17 years at my job-I hoped before too long to begin different work with new experiences, ideally work I could shape and build.   

But should I leave my decent job without having another one? Generally, not a wise move. My job brought security, identity and community.  How long could our family go without my income?  How would it change our lifestyle while we built the business?  What would I do for work if this start-up did not work out?  The Clearness Committee is a simple tool and one of the 3 Things to Do Before Quitting Your Job.

3 things to do before you quit your job

After decideing that I would indeed quit it took another 3 years to prepare for that and then actually leave and go full-time into the start-up.