Nearly eight years ago, the idea came to Cal State Long Beach alumnus Matthew Martin after weeks of listening to his mom’s squeaky closet door.
Martin and his best friend, senior accounting major Ryan Beck, used that idea to win first place and $10,000 in CSULB annual Innovation Challenge in April. For the challenge, Martin and Beck submitted details and plans for their company, Glyde Tech, as well as an invention that fixes squeaky doors.
However, the $10,000 prize didn’t come in the form of cash or check. Instead, it came in professional advice, services and contacts that would help the two students get their company up and running.
Built with household tools in his own backyard, Martin said his invention uses “permanent magnetism to reduce frictional drag on moveable objects,” such as sliding doors and windows. It can make a 100-pound door feel like it weighs 30 pounds, he said. It also improves security and insulation, and it can be applied to existing appliances.
Although Martin had built a working prototype the day after he had the dream, building a marketable and profitable company has taken much longer.
“I can tell you, winning the competition was one thing, but starting an actual business is something completely different,” Beck said. “Now that we are free to do what we want with the company, there are no guidelines anymore.”
Beck met Martin at the beginning of the fall 2010 semester in information systems 301, a business communications class.While working together on multiple class projects, they quickly became best friends.
Then that December, on an end-of-the-semester snowboarding trip, Martin approached Beck with a business proposal, but Beck wanted nothing to do with it.
“He approached me again and told me the invention, and I basically thought it was the stupidest idea ever,” Beck said.
But when Beck learned more about the Innovation Challenge, he got on board. Together, they spent 2,000 hours throughout the next year preparing for the challenge and entered the competition as one of the 21 teams.
They were eliminated without making it to the final four but when one of the teams dropped out, the duo was next in line.
Now they spend most of their time trying to get the company up and running. Martin graduated last spring but Beck is still trying to balance the business and school.
“I’m hitting roadblock after roadblock after roadblock,” Beck said. “The other day, I’m talking to the CEO’s and sales directors of these manufacturing companies. Like, ‘Hi, I’m Ryan Beck. I’m a nobody but I have something you might be interested in.'”
Last week, they found success when they took their product on the road to a convention in Vegas.
“The response that we got from companies was incredible,” Martin said. “We found several companies that are interested in licensing our product.”