“Some people have monkeys on their backs. Zootility Tools founder Nate Barr wants consumers to have monkeys in their wallets,” Ira Kantor of the Boston Herald notes:
In fact, Barr has already sold 5,000 “PocketMonkeys” worldwide to date. The stainless steel tool, which is the same size and thickness as a credit card, serves 12 functions in one, including bottle and letter opener, ruler, screwdriver and banana nicker.
A successful Kickstarter campaign netted Barr’s creation more than $27,500, at least six times what he initially asked for. Now, the 31-year-old Somerville resident is thinking mass production, having placed an order for another 5,000 PocketMonkeys with a California manufacturer to keep up with growing demand.
“I’ve never had an idea take off so well, so I’ve been surprised in that regard,” Barr told the Herald. “We’ve been selling it faster than we can make it.”
Barr, a former mechanical engineer and part-time user interface engineer at Jumptap, hit upon his concept after locking himself out of his apartment twice.
“It’s always with you. You never have to think about it,” Barr said. “The real catch is it’s technically difficult to engineer something as thin as a credit card but strong enough to do the functions you want it to do.”
PocketMonkey, which sells for $12, is also compliant with Transportation Safety Administration rules, Barr said.
“I wasn’t trying to develop something to be used in a bar fight,” he said. “I think by meeting TSA guidelines you develop a pretty innocuous product.”
It sounds remarkably useful, but it will never replace an up-to-date, factory-installed Trunk Monkey.™
(Via Instapundit.)
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