LineShark making steady progress
It’s been steady progress over the last six months for the guys at LineShark Audio, but things are about to take off in a big way.
We caught-up recently with Jed Eaton, the technical part of the founding duo that also includes Jonathan Mayer, who is the sales and marketing guru. The childhood friends with a passion for music teamed-up to build a company around a technology that helps musicians unleash the power of their mobile devices and disrupt the traditional thinking in the industry.
We profiled the company (https://www.teknovation.biz/2012/11/05/throttleup-finalist-lineshark-helping-musicians-power-mobile-devices/) last November prior to Tech 20/20’s “Entrepreneurial Imperative” conference where Line Shark tied for first place in the “ThrottleUp!” competition.
Unlike many entrepreneurs, Eaton and Mayer did not give-up their full-time jobs so, as Eaton says, “This (LineShark) is my night job.” He adds that he regularly asks, “Is there anything today that I can do to move it forward?”
The answer since winning the November competition is pretty clear. Easton says he’s been working on the design for the housing, “vetting and communicating with manufacturers.” LineShark has settled on its design and has ordered a fully functional housing that was scheduled to arrive in late May.
“If we are satisfied, we’ll order another 10 and give them to area musicians to test,” Eaton explained. These individual tests will help them understand if any modifications are required.
“We’re on the cusp of having something really good,” he said.
Over the next few months, LineShark plans to launch a Kickstarter campaign to sell up to 1,000 units.
“The game is changing,” Eaton notes, shifting from design to manufacturing and sales. “We will be selling product before the end of the year.”
Eaton expects the investment that he has made in LineShark to pay significant dividends over the long-term. “What we are learning is the ability to make a product from start to finish,” he says, adding that the knowledge gained “opens-up new product opportunities.”
We asked about the significance of the name LineShark. Eaton said that musicians are familiar with the terms “Line-In” and “Line-out” used in industry that describe the flow of signals through an audio device. The LineShark is an interface to any Line-In or Line-Out, allowing the audio signal to be passively recorded or actively modified by any capable smartphone or tablet.
Eaton said that, in fact, he wants the company name to become a verb in the vocabulary of musicians.
“I’m hopeful for a day when I don’t have one job during the day and another at night,” Eaton says as he contemplates ideas that he can turn into products from the knowledge and experience he has gained.
