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Entrepreneur Files
X Streamline Products
UT Connection: Founders David Tippetts, BBA 87, Tim Parks BS 88, Ellen Tippets, BSW 89, Leah Parks BS 87
Location: Houston
Like many good friends, David Tippetts and Tim Parks often talked about how great it would be to invent something extraordinary and go into business together, consequently becoming very rich. But unlike most, Tippetts and Parks actually turned their dream into a reality—at least the inventing and partnering elements of it. The money, they hope, can’t be far behind.
The inspiration for their invention, called ProtekDoor, was a terrifying incident that occurred just a little too close to home. An intruder, delivering a swift kick to a locked door, made his way into a darkened bedroom, pulling a gun on the frightened young couple inside, who happened to be Parks’ in-laws.
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Though the victims of the crime weren’t harmed and the intruder was eventually captured and put in jail, Parks and Tippetts remained troubled. The couple lived on a quiet street in a nice neighborhood. They had locked their doors before retiring for the evening and turned on the alarm system. They even owned two large dogs. Yet, they had not been safe in their own home.
Upon inspecting the shattered door, the two friends realized that in order to take stress off the vulnerable frame, the lock would need to be able to absorb the impact of a violent force. “Everyone thinks that because something is metal, it’s strong,” said Ellen Tippetts, David’s wife and now the marketing director of their company. “But that’s just not true—metal is a very rigid substance that doesn’t absorb any of the shock, and metal locks give way every time.”
In 1995 Parks and Tippetts began experimenting with various prototypes, using the Tippetts’ back door as a test site. Persistence paid off, and several door frames later, they had refined a design for a lock made of a thick elastic that is easy to install and impossible to break.
Tippetts, a lawyer, and Parks, a geologist, then approached a plastics engineer to design the production version and specify an appropriate polymer. Working evenings and weekends on the details of patenting, manufacturing, packaging, and marketing their product, the two friends and their wives introduced ProtekDoor to the national market last August at the National Hardware Show in Chicago.
Since that time, ProtekDoor has appeared several times on QVC, the shopping channel. The Xstreamline team has also been successful in getting it into select Wal-Marts across the country and numerous neighborhood hardware stores, including Breed & Co. in Austin. In July, the University Co-op picked up the product as well.
Happily, the company is starting to see some cash flow, says Tippetts, which the inventors are directing back into the business for production and marketing. “Each step of the process is a lot more work than we would ever have anticipated,” he reflected. “But because we strongly believe in the product and have the support of our families, we’ve persevered.”
For more information, visit www.protekdoor.com.
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