O

ur

Story
2019
2024

Get to know a little about the founder and how Product Refinery came to be.

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Company Photo

From the Beginning

Lucas, entrepreneurial and a formidable wrestler, launched a custom line of wrestling headgear and apparel at 18. During his tenure at Columbus College of Art and Design, Lucas put his academic background in Industrial Design to the test to design his sports gear line. There, he became passionate about product development and the intricacies of making premium goods. In the process, he began to see the hundreds of different touchpoints needed to successfully design and manufacture an excellent product. As a Builder by nature, he used his first product launch as a learning experience to optimize and streamline the manufacturing process and began his journey into the world of Product Development.
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Small Steps Forward

While studying Industrial Design and Entrepreneurship at the Ohio State University, Lucas took his experience in developing his wrestling gear line and pivoted his focus from wrestling to tech with the creation of the Juiceboxx, a hard plastic case for MacBook chargers that prevents fraying at the critical weak points where the wires connected to the box containing the AC adapter. With this new product, Lucas was able to launch his first successful Kickstarter campaign and win Ohio State University's Undergraduate Business Plan Competition two years in a row.

After finding success with his new flagship product, Lucas founded a team of creatives to create Launch Labs, a firm dedicated to bringing products to market in the same way that he was able to bring Juiceboxx to market. While there, he and his team worked to launch new products, but what was once hundreds of different touch points per product scaled to thousands and the team eventually dissolved after failing to meet the demands of the present market.
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Digital Adaptation and Scaling

Despite the closing of Launch Labs, Lucas continued to gain momentum in the world of product design through his work with Funded Today, a crowdfunding agency that specializes in building successful campaigns for already designed products. There, he designed dozens of crowdfunding campaigns for clients and was naturally promoted to Senior Designer.

The Birth of Neumodern Creations

Having started in the trenches working on the supply chain for his wrestling headgear, and later working on the front-end of consumer acquisition and marketing campaigns, Lucas had the pieces of the bigger picture and wanted a way to put them together. When Lucas had started with his wrestling headgear, created Launch Labs, or with his time at Funded Today he wanted more than anything to have a partner that would be able to take care of a product's lifecycle from end-to-end. So, with his years of experience, he set out to build a solution for a market that desperately needed a one-stop-shop for product development.

Success Means Growth

As the founder of Neumodern Creations, Lucas hustled and won client contracts with product inventors from various industries. Grypmat, one of Lucas' first clients, partnered with Lucas to build a global brand for mechanics that found financial success via Kickstarter with over 125k in presales, which eventually made it to Shark Tank, and is one of the biggest brands in the world for Tool Mats and kits. Additionally, Lucas took it upon himself to provide coaching and support to entrepreneurs where he shared his experiences working within the Product Development industry and connects individuals to relevant partners to allow them to build sustainable product based businesses.

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Building a Team to Define Product Refinery

Actively connected in Ohio through various roles and participation in community events, Lucas wanted to evolve his business into an organization that provided all of the services he was already providing creators under one roof. The impetus for finally building the team and beginning Product Refinery happened in 2019 in Koh Samui, Thailand. There, he met with Alex, and the two, excited by the idea of building a Concept-to-Consumer coterie, set off to expand and grow the refinery.

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Make to Market

Alex, a graduate of the Ohio State University as well, arrived at his expertise in marketing from a non-conventional background. Having studied International Relations while at school, he quickly found a passion for international economics and sustainable products that would create a positive impact in the world. Having started his career with tech startups and small businesses in Columbus, Alex eventually transitioned his career internationally to design and develop the marketing strategy for a tech startup in the home security space. From there, he set off to write a book about his experiences to Thailand, and while the book was never finished, he quickly became passionate about Lucas' vision for Product Refinery.

Clients as Partners

With a few projects underway, Lucas and Alex began to provide support for Lady Liberty Drinking, inventors of the Kong Beer Bong. Originally starting as client to relaunch an unfunded campaign they had previously fallen short of the goal, Kong Beer Bong, with the support and guidance of Product Refinery, scaled their small business into a multi-million dollar operation within a single year.

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Experience in Design

As a seasoned Industrial Designers, Nathan & Jeremy have worked on projects of all kinds. From personal projects focused on sustainable systems, to massive corporate product lines, they have the experience and understanding of what it takes to produce a premium product in any industry. Their partnership with Product Refinery allows our team to provide a world class design treatment to every idea that comes through our door, while keeping our client's budgets in mind.

Untangling International Logistics

Having spent five years traveling around Asia to acquire partners and build a supply chain network for clients, Lucas met Nicolas Tseng. Now Nicolas is Product Refinery's Overseas logistics manager and is an integral part of the Product Refinery ecosystem. With over a decade of supply chain management and manufacturing logistics experience Nicolas is on the ground with our manufacturing partners overseas to guarantee that the highest quality products are produced and that their integrity is maintained from the manufacturer all the way to our client's customer's hands.

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Refining the Refinery

Together, under the leadership of Lucas Williamson, Product Refinery is a Creative Coterie of Product Development expert that allows individuals to Design, Make, and Ship their ideas to a global audience. As a one-stop shop for product development, Product Refinery's team of industry experts in their fields have a collective half-century of experience to share with clients.

Our team is unified by the ambition to provide clients with the ability to produce excellent products efficiently, and without the need of sourcing various different partners and suppliers. Building tomorrow's markets is no longer a painstaking process.

We Design, Make, and Ship Products, Refined.