Houston innovators: How to succeed in product development

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There's no quick and easy path to product development. However, these tips should help set you up for success. rawpixel.com/Pexels

Product success is not accidental. It takes a lot of time, tools, and commitment before one can create excellent products with market success. Creating the product itself is a huge milestone, but it's also just the beginning of the journey. It takes commitment, dedication and perseverance to successfully bring a product to life and get desired ROI.

Today, we will walk you through what you should do to increase your odds of success in bringing your product idea to life.

How to get comfortable with being uncomfortable with pursuing your product idea

You will not always feel comfortable pursuing your dreams. Likely, challenges are bound to discourage you and you will have moments of doubt on your way to success. You need to have that North Star guiding you, and one of the first steps to having that star is to firmly believe and know that this product is what you want to work on.

Ask yourself if you are comfortable with not developing that product idea. If you discover that even a thought of not giving it a try makes you feel sad — try to understand why, write it down, and get ready for the journey. Equally, it is better to pull out from the start if you are comfortable with not working on such an idea. More so, don't make the plan too hard on yourself. While it is applaudable that you are getting it right, you shouldn’t see yourself as a failure if something goes wrong, especially if it's your first product. Thus, you should see the process as an experiment. Having a contingency plan will help you navigate failures. It is dangerous to put all your eggs in one basket like regular investments, so think of ways on how to utilize the developed resources in other avenues or explore that avenue simultaneously. Have an exit strategy if things go south. Knowing how to repurpose your resources is very crucial.

As we mentioned in a previous guest column, How to Take Your Product From Idea to Reality, having a board of directors or Advisors with experience in the product field is a huge plus. Build trust with them, because trust is the currency of business. They will always be by your side in the moment of doubt. Schedule a meeting with them, one or twice a month to share the progress and have brainstorming sessions.

Finally, you must learn to trust the process. Don't put too much of your focus on the final product, be open minded at every step of product development. Knowing the process and what to expect next lets you stay ahead of the game. Following the Product Development Map mentioned here [https://lanpdt.life/pdp], you will stay focused while maintaining some flexibility.

Plan on How to Minimize losses if  product development will not go as planned

At every major point of product development, developers must have a review of their set milestones and evaluate the next step which might be an investment or involvement of a new contractor or partner as an example. Make sure to set those milestones with measurable values which will help you with go/no go decisions.

When you notice that the results are deviating from the set goals (and they will), you only have to take action in minimizing losses. And making the stop decision not at a late stage. One of the ways to minimize losses is to sell resources to similar companies or those who share the sma target audience with you. It is a smart way to make enough profits to cover your losses. In the same vein, you could try to repurpose your resources to other ventures or sell the idea on Flippa-like sites. Or you could share knowledge with others as a coach or mentor in the form of a course. In essence, you must be able to think on the spot and also learn to diversify.

What tools can I use to feel more confident to start working on the idea?

Developers need tools that can help them develop their ideas better. You can get tons of information and resources online, some of the tools worth looking at are Realizr, Notion, and our favorite Demand Metrics.

Every product developer preferably needs to acquire skills in CAD, Photoshop, etc. And if your idea relates to developing an app, you should learn some basic JavaScript, however we recommend a zero-code approach for testing MVP. Getting to know the basics of 3D printing is also fantastic. And Calipers with other measuring tools are equally important.

What if I don't have enough money right now?

It's okay not to have everything figured out at the moment. You don't need to have the whole sum at the beginning. You are in a marathon and not a sprint. The most practical step is to manage your income and see if you have monthly spare to invest in your idea. If you can get partners who love your idea, you can ask them to join you and ensure you have a cash reserve.

If the capital is insufficient, you can get in touch with investors and search for grants since you're just starting. A conventional loan is the least preferred option, be careful with that.

On top of this, you should gear up and participate in pitch competitions. But make sure to practice repeatedly before attempting to convince sponsors.

Final thoughts

No successful entrepreneur has ever been made by doubting themselves. If you are not convinced about your products, how do you intend to sell that idea to prospective investors and customers? Hence, the very first step is to get comfortable with your yourself and your capabilities.

Above all, trust will take you far in business. Make sure you deliver on your promises and watch yourself blossom into something big. Good luck bringing your ideas to reality and solving the world's problems.

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Onega Ulanova is the founder of OKGlobal and partner at LA New Product Development Team.

Product development is not easy, and there's no one right way to go about it. Here are some tips and considerations to take into account. Photo via Getty Images

Houston innovators: Tips for turning your product idea into a reality

guest column

Successful entrepreneurs are strategic business people. It is one thing to conceive an idea and another to know how to bring it to the market. In a competitive world, you must learn to think ahead of other entrepreneurs. This is the only way to stay on top of your game.

Here’s a guide on how you can pursue that great idea.

How to go about your product idea development if it’s not your primary business

Not every product developer or inventor designs products for a living. It may be the case that product development is a side-hustle for you. However, you should look before you leap. It is not in your best interest to dive straight into product development without first mapping out a plan.

The first step is to carry out comprehensive research on the product you want to design. Online, there's an abundance of information on similar products. Also, you get to see companies that have tried to create similar products and failed. Take out a notepad and write down why they failed.

Next is to find how to include such a project in your schedule. You must be able to keep track of the progress and also set milestones. In addition, new developers must learn to measure gaps in their skills and resources. So, you can write out what you need to do to cover these lapses.

After you have learned the basics of developing a new product, you should talk to experienced developers to guide you. Just make sure that your notes and reference materials are organized.

Later on, you can develop a plan with milestones where you have to define your responsibilities. You must make a list of one-time and recurring tasks to see what can be delegated or outsourced.

How to determine if your idea is worth it

It is unwise to spend time, energy, and resources on a project that will most likely not materialize right from the onset. Hence, you should probe the potential of a product and know if the idea is worth pursuing.

First, new developers ought to do a proper guestimate on the market size of a product. You've got to determine the Total Addressable Market (TAM) and the Serviceable Addressable Market (SAM). But note that these are not the only indexes to guestimate. Once the guestimation is done, you should estimate your potential sales and profits. This is a smart way of decoding what amount to pump into your project as capital. And don't hesitate to check out market data about trends looking upward.

If your products have already been developed, you should try to sell them on platforms like Etsy or launch a Kickstarter. This process is called Pretotyping or pre-sale launch. You are merely testing the interests of potential customers and acceptance of your products on the internet.

​How to develop a plan for creating a product

Having a plan helps you achieve your goals faster as an entrepreneur. If you are set to draw out a plan for your project, using the LA New Production Development Team's product development map is a good idea. Also, some pre and post-production activities and expenses will go a long way in determining the success of your product. Some of these considerations include legal, marketing, and other factors.

When entrepreneurs find it hard to succeed, it is not because they are not brilliant. In most cases, new developers lack consistency. You must determine how much time you can allocate to a project per week and ensure you meet that target. And don't beat yourself up when it's taking longer to develop a product. It usually takes time to turn in excellent products if you are not yet a professional.

Moreover, you need to talk to potential engineers and manufacturers to find out lead times. Then you can look forward to the best time to launch your new products. You may decide to make Christmas sales or consider other strategic events.

​How to find providers for product development

Remember we said earlier that you can’t develop a product alone if you want the best? You need business partners that you can collaborate with. Developers need to consider what kind of areas they need help with. It could be Marketing, Sales, Engineering, etc.

Your next assignment is to write a job description for each of the potential partners/suppliers. This is to let you have a clear understanding of what you need from each of them. At this stage, you have to make Google your best friend. Open your PC and search for the best partners you can ever get. They are all over the internet, including Quora, Reddit, Linkedin, Facebook groups. And you can also rely on the words of mouth of professional developers, accelerators, and incubators about potential partners.

How to define the end goals of product development

Before committing to product development, there are metrics and indicators you need to set for yourself. Knowing when you would stop product development motivates you to target milestones in your career. If the product idea is not sustainable, you shouldn't even consider making it your primary source of income.

You also have to estimate the lifetime of your product. When will you need to raise additional capital, if need be? Likewise, you must determine what it means to you if the project is successful or not.

How to set yourself up for success

Funding is the backbone of any successful project. You should be on the lookout for perfect investors or clearly evaluate your monthly allowances for the project (like a spare cash). Notwithstanding, you can waste money on a product if the project suffers attention. Your energy should be channeled towards actualizing your goals as a developer. I cannot overemphasize why you have to create a special time for your project.

And, of course, things might not go as always planned. It is a given that entrepreneurs experience challenges in their journey. There will be bad days just like the good days. But tough times don't last; only tough people do. So, you have to stay motivated and keep your head in the game.

Wrapping up

Having a plan is crucial if you must survive and succeed as an innovator. Sooner or later, you will encounter some challenges. But these challenges will be a walk-over for you. And why is that? This is because you would have identified such bottlenecks and also mapped out how to navigate them right from the beginning.

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Onega Ulanova is the founder of OKGlobal and partner at LA New Product Development Team.

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Rice lands $15M U.S. Army award to launch next-gen wireless research center

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The U.S. Army Research Office has awarded Rice University $15 million to establish a new center for next-generation sensing and communications.

The five-year research center—dubbed the Center for Large Aperture Secure Sensing, Imaging and Communications (CLASSIC)—will unite researchers from universities and national laboratories to develop advanced antenna technologies for future wireless systems. Edward Knightly, the Sheafor-Lindsay Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rice, will lead the center that “combines expertise in wireless networking, antennas, radar, artificial intelligence, circuits and physics to address growing demands on wireless systems,” according to Rice.

“The challenges we’re tackling require advances that span physics, hardware, communications and computing," Knightly said in a news release. “By combining those strengths in a single center, we can accelerate the development and demonstration of technologies that would not be possible through individual efforts alone.”

Joining Knightly will be Ashutosh Sabharwal of Rice, Sensen Li of the University of Texas at Austin, Hou-Tong Chen of Los Alamos National Laboratory, Danijela Cabric of UCLA, Josep M. Jornet and Tommaso Melodia of Northeastern University, Daniel M. Mittleman of Brown University, and Willie Padilla of Duke University.

Industry partners include Booz Allen Hamilton, Intel, Keysight, Lockheed Martin, MITRE, Northrop Grumman, Qualcomm and Raytheon.

CLASSIC researchers will investigate how large-scale antenna arrays (ELSAAs) can expand the capabilities of wireless systems where technology is limited.

ELSAAs use thousands of coordinated antenna elements to direct radio waves. Researchers aim to develop ways to use the technology to help maintain steady communication when signals are blocked or disrupted and to detect and generate detailed images of concealed objects.

Along with ELSAAs, the center will work to develop sensing techniques for threat detection, study wireless jamming and build resilient high-speed wireless networks. Researchers will ultimately validate the technology in labs and via drone-based field trials.

CLASSIC will also work on developing an AI-driven modeling framework that will simulate complex electromagnetic environments in real time.

“This award demonstrates Rice’s leadership in tackling complex national research challenges through collaboration across disciplines and institutions,” David Sholl, executive vice president for research at Rice, added in the release.

UH scores $18M NIH grant for chronic disease research

research funding

The University of Houston has received a coveted $18.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to launch a program to address the root causes of chronic disease.

Only 22 institutions nationwide receive this NIH award, and the 5-year process aligns with the newly established UH Health’s mission to expand healthcare innovations in Texas and beyond. The initiative will be housed in the UH Population Health department.

"This generous funding allows us to directly confront the root causes of chronic illness that place a heavy burden on so many families," Dr. Jonathan McCullers, vice president for health affairs at UH, said in a news release. "With the recent launch of UH Health, we have an unprecedented opportunity to translate scientific discovery into healthier outcomes for our communities by bringing together experts from across the university to improve health where it matters most.”

Through the program, UH researchers from different areas of expertise will work together to address the challenges of chronic illness by looking at biological, social and behavioral factors.

According to the university, chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, strokes and others are the leading cause of illness, disability and death in the U.S. They account for 90 percent of the nation’s $5.3 trillion in annual healthcare spending.

Bettina Beech, chief of population health and translational science at UH, serves as principal investigator for the program.

“Chronic disease management largely happens during the 8,700 hours each year that people are not visiting their healthcare provider,” Beech added in the news release. “While healthcare is indispensable, it only accounts for 20 percent of how health is created — genetics accounts for another 10 percent, and the other 70 percent is determined by behavior, social conditions and environment.”

With the funds from the grant, UH will also be able to expand research infrastructure, add to community partnerships, support complementary research, and invest in early-career investigators, according to the news release. UH also aims to develop solutions that could help ease the economic burden of chronic disease.

Report: Where Texas ranks among best and worst states to live in 2026

Texas Talk

After earning its worst-ever ranking last year, Texas has improved slightly on an evaluation of the best states to live, but it's still at the bottom of the pack.

Each year, WalletHub's analysts compare all 50 states using 51 livability metrics to measure their affordability, economy, education and health, quality of life, and safety. Factors that were weighed include the cost of living, homeownership rates, population and income growth rates, wealth gaps, public school system quality, road quality, crime rates, and many others.

The Lone Star State landed at No. 36 in 2026, making it the 15th worth state to live right now. That's on par with its 2024 ranking, and it's a two-spot improvement over its 2025 performance.

While Texas residents can brag about living in a state with the No. 1 highest number of restaurants per capita and the 7th best quality of life in the country, that's about it. Texas earned middling-to-poor scores among the four remaining livability rankings: safety (No. 33), affordability (No. 35), economy (No. 37), and education and health (No. 40).

Here's how Texas fared in other nationwide rankings in the study:

  • No. 27 – Income Growth
  • No. 30 – Housing Costs
  • No. 39 – Percentage of Population in Poverty
  • No. 42 – Percentage of Adults in Fair or Poor Health
  • No. 46 – Homeownership Rate
  • No. 49 – Percentage of Population Aged 25 and Older with a High School Diploma or Higher
  • No. 48 – Average Weekly Work Hours
  • No. 50 – Percentage of Insured Population

Texas has a lot of work to do to improve its livability for all of its residents, but especially for women, according to several other 2026 WalletHub studies. Texas is the fourth-worst state for women, the ninth-worst state for working mothers, and the seventh-worst place to have a baby based on limited access to maternal and pediatric healthcare.

At the very bottom of the report is New Mexico, ranking 50th overall, with Louisiana (No. 49), Mississippi (No. 48), Alaska (No. 47), and Arkansas (No. 46) rounding out the bottom five.

After holding on as the No. 1 best state to live for a few years in a row, Massachusetts now ranks No. 4 and was overtaken by Idaho (No. 1), New Jersey (No. 2), and Wisconsin (No. 3). New Hampshire rounds out the top five best states to live.

WalletHub's top 10 best states to live in 2026 are:

  • No. 1 – Idaho
  • No. 2 – New Jersey
  • No. 3 – Wisconsin
  • No. 4 – Massachusetts
  • No. 5 – New Hampshire
  • No. 6 – Wyoming
  • No. 7 – Utah
  • No. 8 – Minnesota
  • No. 9 – Pennsylvania
  • No. 10 – Florida
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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

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