Martin Cooper Quotes

We built the iPod in weeks. It had to be what I thought it was going to be because there wasn't time for endless refinements.

Everything about my journey to get Spanx off the ground entailed me having to be a salesperson - from going to the hosiery mills to get a prototype made to calling Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. I had to position myself to get five minutes in the door with buyers.

Designing a product and understanding how it filters through into the market and into the rest of the company is very important to me.

Manufacturing is more than just putting parts together. It's coming up with ideas, testing principles and perfecting the engineering, as well as final assembly.

So I went for engineering, specifically product design, which I enjoyed.

My background was computer science and business school, so eventually I worked my way up where I was running product groups - development, testing, marketing, user education.

I want to explore the existing manufacturing abilities of Indian companies and create products together.

I had to learn everything about manufacturing, patents and how to run a business, and eventually I came up with an prototype that worked.

The only way anyone's going to succeed is to build the product.

Everyone wants an iPhone, but it would be impossible to design an iPhone in China because it's not a product; it's an understanding of human nature.

I love taking an idea... to a prototype and then to a product that millions of people use.

My focus is incredibly narrow. I can't talk with any authority other than design and development of product.

It's all about producing products people want.

The way we want to look at it is we would like to do end-to-end design in India. We've invested for many years, and so at some point, to do end-to-end product in India is very much a possibility.

Each time I invent something and have it manufactured, it's so incredibly exciting that I can't imagine ever wanting to stop. Envisioning new products is easy for me. I just don't have enough time in the day to design them all.

To create something you want to sell, you first study and research the market, then you develop the product to the best of your ability.

It's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them.

My favorite days are the ones where I deal only with my own team, design, marketing, working on the next accessories collection.

My sweet spot is figuring out how to make a product that people love and how to refine it to make them love it more. All the rest is business noise.

There's a strength to being able to look at products through a customer's eyes, but it is also dangerous.

I have a responsibility to the people who work for me, the manufacturers I work with. There is no point to clothes that don't sell.

The process of building a part doesn't really stop.

I'm looking for best practices constantly. Apple has beautiful design, beautiful product, incredibly functional. But mostly it's about picking product, getting behind it, marketing it and introducing it to a customer. What they've done just inspires me.

Hammer down product fundamentals first. Make sure you've got something that works before doubling down on promotion and marketing. Create a groundswell of organic support, and only then leverage PR and advertising to spread the word.

I don't micromanage, but I do care deeply about every product we make. Every one goes through me, and I try most of our products before they go to market, including our John Paul Pet flea and tick shampoo. If I don't like it, it's not coming out.