Founder • Operator • Hardware Advisor
North America’s leading expert on hardware startups and scaleups
Kevin Mako built MAKO Invent from a one-person firm into an international product development company serving more than 1,500 founders, then sold it to TriMech Group and Sentinel Capital Partners in an eight-figure acquisition in 2024. Today, Kevin works directly with physical product founders through Product Startup.
Built in the real hardware world
Kevin began experimenting with entrepreneurship in high school and incorporated MAKO Invent while studying at Ivey Business School. He saw that most product development firms were built for large corporations, while inventors and startups needed a model designed around their budgets, risk, and path to market.
Over 17 years, Kevin built MAKO through cash flow, without outside investors or co-founders. The company grew to four offices and helped more than 1,500 startups around the world turn physical product ideas into viable businesses. In 2024, MAKO was acquired by TriMech Group and Sentinel Capital Partners in an eight-figure transaction. That operating experience now informs every Product Startup engagement.
An operator’s perspective, not generic startup advice
Kevin helps founders see the whole system around a physical product: the product plan, development team, capital, manufacturing, margins, channels, marketing, leadership, and eventual exit. His work is strategic and practical, focused on the decisions that prevent expensive detours and create a business that can survive beyond the first launch.
Where Kevin helps founders
- Product and commercialization strategy
- Product definition, validation, and development planning
- Crowdfunding, fundraising, and investor readiness
- Manufacturing and supply chain strategy
- Pricing, margins, and unit economics
- Go-to-market, ecommerce, retail, and sales
- Team structure, leadership, and operating priorities
- Scaling, acquisition readiness, and exit planning
- IP strategy and selecting or managing specialist firms
Founder, advisor, interviewer, and lecturer
Through more than 200 episodes of The Product Startup Podcast, Kevin has interviewed inventors, founders, investors, engineers, manufacturers, and operators about what it actually takes to bring physical products to market. He also lectures on commercialization in Toronto Metropolitan University’s Master of Engineering program and has delivered more than 50 keynotes and founder talks.
Kevin and the MAKO team earned more than 30 business and design awards. The company’s growth and product-development work earned recognition across business, entrepreneurship, and international design programs.
Background and independent sources
Building a hardware company?
If you are validating an invention, preparing for production, raising capital, launching, or scaling, Kevin can help you pressure-test the plan and make the next decisions with more confidence.
Tell Kevin what you are building, where it is stuck, and what a good outcome looks like.