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In NYC for a week (holidays), I thought it would be a great opportunity to visit Quirky, this interesting company that “makes invention accessible.” I’ve already written about Quirky a number of times, both in English and in French, and I was excited to get visit their office on Thursday night, and to attend the product evaluation session, or “Quirky Eval.” The photos are by @maelroth and me – only mine are bad in quality.

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Thursday evening was not only a regular product evaluation session, similarly to those that happen at Quirky every week, it was also an official presentation of the WINK product line, co-created by Quirky and GE. This product line intends to create “products that are smarter because of the power of the Internet and the simplicity of mobile apps,” as Quirky.com/GE explains, and now has half-a-dozen of products on market.

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After getting a couple of explanations about the Wink products and the other Quirky products displayed at the office’s entrance, we walked through a couple of interesting rooms and workshops, seeing 3D-printers in action and shelves full of Quirky product prototypes. This is how the products seen above start to take shape…

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Just before Quirky Eval started (“at 7PM sharp” because it is being broadcasted live online) we could see the back scenes of the multimedia performance… an impressive tech room in which everything happens (see below). Then, at 7PM, Ben Kaufmann started the show – literally.

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During one hour, Ben Kaufmann presented community ideas (a laundry basket to bath babies, a French coffee press with Grinder, an easy-to-grab bowl, a tray with built-in glass rack…) and lead the discussion around their usefulness, market potential and problem-solving potential. During the discussion, it happens that he googles for alternatives or existing market solutions, and after about 5 minutes of debate, he asks the crowd whether Quirky should make it or not. Hand raised… “Yes, we will make this!” Applause.

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The company’s founder has an undeniable talent for public speaking, involving the audience and making things happen. Not only does his company make things happen, allowing wannabe inventors to have their ideas on the shelves of Target or Bed Bath & Beyond, but he’s also a decision-maker, a charismatic, funny and rousing decision-maker. I’m not sure it’s easy to cope with on a daily basis (for employees) but it definitively makes things happen!

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I mean, Quirky has raised 90+ million dollars from Andreessen Horowitz, Quirky partnered with GE and with Home Depot, its products are sold at major retailers in the US and in France… it’s quite an impressive track-record for such a young company. I don’t want to be overly positive and enthusiastic about Quirky, but what I saw definitely impressed me. And, if you want to follow next week’s Quirky Eval, it will be in French 😉 Just tune in to http://www.quirky.com/live

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Related links:

• Don’t Call It Crowdsourcing: Quirky CEO Ben Kaufman Brings Invention to the Masses (Forbes, April 2012)
• Reinventing Invention: Quirky Lets You Be a Modern-Day Edison (Mashable, March 2013)
• GE + Quirky + Inventions = A Dubious Deal (Forbes, April 2013)
• Quirky: pragmatic patenters or patently absurd? (PandoDaily, August 2013)
• Quirky Lays Off Its CRO And Revokes A Big Employee Perk In October (Business Insider, September 2013)
• Is This the World’s Most Creative Manufacturer? (Inc., October 2013)