The Company of Dads Podcast
The Company of Dads Podcast
EP84: Want Your Kids To Work In the Family Business?
HOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVAN
Doug Patton is an inventor with over 200 products to his name, ranging from a biomedical device used worldwide for eye surgery to an electric candle sold by Disney. But he’s always been an involved father, to his daughter Heather and his son Sean. When she was a baby and a restless sleeper, he would get up early with her and sketch inventions with her rocking on the kitchen table. His son, who just graduated from college, has worked with him since he was 12. The three have come together to work on a passion project for Doug, a putter that brings sophisticated sound technology to golf. Listen to Doug talk about how his children came to work with him and what’s it meant for him as a father and entrepreneur.
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00;00;05;16 - 00;00;25;09
Paul Sullvan
Welcome to the Company of Dads podcast, where we explore the sweet, silly, strange and sublime aspects of being a dad in a world where men with a go to parent aren't always accepted at work, among their friends, or in the community for what they're doing. I'm your host, Paul Sullivan. Our podcast is just one of the many things we produced each week at the Company of Dads.
00;00;25;10 - 00;00;52;02
Paul Sullvan
We have various features, including the lead dad of the week. We have our community online and in person. We have a new resource library for all fathers. The one stop shop for all of this is our newsletter. The dad. So sign up at the company dads.com backslash the day. Today my guest is Doug Patton, inventor and dad. We're going to talk about his newest design, a putter for golf that he created with his daughter Heather and son Sean.
00;00;52;05 - 00;01;05;03
Paul Sullvan
Doug is the founder of Patent Design, which has created over 200 products in 20 different markets. Segments from biomedical equipment to fragrances. Welcome, Doug to the company dad's podcast.
00;01;05;05 - 00;01;10;28
Doug Patton
Well, thank you very much, Paul. I'm looking forward to our conversation today. I hope you're doing well.
00;01;11;01 - 00;01;18;24
Paul Sullvan
Also, what's the, what's the first thing you you built? What's the first thing you invented? When you think way back?
00;01;18;26 - 00;01;54;17
Doug Patton
Now, that is, a soul searching question. Because I've been inventing since I was a little kid. And I don't know how far to take this back, but I'll, I'll take it. I'll turn the, the, the dial, the time lapse dial back to, maybe, when I first started my company and I, created, a new way to inject foldable lenses into the capsular bag of your eye.
00;01;54;20 - 00;02;22;12
Doug Patton
For cataract surgery, I had the, serendipity and luck to, be with, someone called Tom Masoko, who was an innovative inventor for ophthalmic surgery. And he invented a way to put a foldable lens in the capsule bag of your eye for cataracts. Up until then, it was like an eight millimeter glass lens. And, but he hadn't invented a way to inject it into your eye.
00;02;22;13 - 00;02;43;03
Doug Patton
He had the idea of folding it, that, you know, would fold and would go into your eye and open. But there was all this energy. So I, along with him, I did my own thing called patent medical and invented, a injector and, that could inject into the eye control the fold, and it was disposable.
00;02;43;06 - 00;02;59;29
Doug Patton
I, being a young inventor, I, licensed it for mere pennies on what I could have done. But now, every surgery in the world that happens for cataract surgery uses my invention.
00;03;00;04 - 00;03;04;04
Paul Sullvan
That's pretty amazing. How many years goes at that? You invent it?
00;03;04;07 - 00;03;07;25
Doug Patton
Early, like 1984.
00;03;07;27 - 00;03;13;25
Paul Sullvan
Wow. Was your background in sort of, you know, biomedical devices like this, or how did you start as an inventor?
00;03;13;26 - 00;03;19;09
Doug Patton
I, I have never, been.
00;03;19;11 - 00;03;33;08
Doug Patton
Well, I'll be let me take one step back to take two steps forward. I was always in in athletics. Okay. I was known in high school as the jock geek. Right? I mean, football, baseball.
00;03;33;11 - 00;03;37;12
Paul Sullvan
Does that mean that you beat yourself up, or what does that mean when you're both the jock and the geeky like.
00;03;37;19 - 00;04;02;03
Doug Patton
Well, that that I would I would hang out with the football team, and, but then my real intellect was at the analytical math class where we were working on, like, calculus equations or something like that, or there was an electronics lab, a big building. It was, it was Homestead High in Sunnyvale, just for electronics.
00;04;02;03 - 00;04;15;05
Doug Patton
And to give you an idea of the, the kind of people were in there. My lab partner was Steve Jobs, who lived five houses down from me on Chris Drive. But I had the intellect side. Right.
00;04;15;12 - 00;04;17;20
Paul Sullvan
We'll see how it happened. Was he any good at it? Oh.
00;04;17;20 - 00;04;36;06
Doug Patton
He was. Oh, this is a story in itself. His dad was electronic engineer at Fairchild, and we were trying to build a Am radios, and he was coming in with lasers that he and his dad built. People don't realize Steve Jobs was an electronics genius. He built his Am radio and days, and it took me almost the whole semester.
00;04;36;14 - 00;05;13;05
Doug Patton
So that's why I knew my my forte was not electronics engineering, but but to get to the the center point of your question is that I, I always looked at, the idea of sports and intellect as one intersecting whole. I never saw it as something separated and where I would be brave and courageous. When I wanted to make a play in football and I know my body might get hurt, I would be the same way with intellectual adventure.
00;05;13;07 - 00;05;48;20
Doug Patton
I have never been afraid of designing an endoscopic robotic microsurgery system or a new flickering flame candle for Disney, which turned into a company. I just don't see borders to taking on intellectual challenges. And I it's to me, it's just it's why I do this. It's fun. It's that every day I have a new invention. Right now I have eight startup companies, and it's it's an intellectual cornucopia of of invention.
00;05;48;25 - 00;05;52;21
Doug Patton
So that's the way I've always been. Sports and intellect. Same thing.
00;05;52;24 - 00;06;06;14
Paul Sullvan
Is there a through line that when you're inventing in a very different body to have something for your eye, something a candle. You talked about fragrances. We're going to talk about the putter you made later. Is there a sort of an intellectual throughline that connects all these various? Well, if.
00;06;06;14 - 00;06;35;27
Doug Patton
There is, there is. I think one is that, you know, the book I wrote about a year and a half ago called Conquering the Chaos of Creativity, I wrote to help people, that are beginning creationists as well as advanced thinkers that kind of have lost their their mojo to be creative. And what I always valued, Paul, more importantly than the product, I designed, is the process that I created it in.
00;06;36;00 - 00;06;58;04
Doug Patton
So what I would do is I, I had probably about 20 lab books with notes of how I figured something out or how I would do it. Plus, I had all the intuitive knowledge of how I would invent over the years. So about ten years ago, I decided to write a book to to help people, to record my theories of creativity.
00;06;58;07 - 00;07;27;11
Doug Patton
And creativity involves much more than the analytics that a lot of people think about, or just the emotion. It's the psychology. It's, the actual spirituality. It's the, connectivity of your imagination to your intellect. And that is the through line. That is the connection that if you have a problem solving process that is powerful, anything is possible.
00;07;27;11 - 00;07;54;15
Doug Patton
And I like to quote, Einstein, which is one of my favorite, inventors. And he would say when he would invent, he wouldn't use math, but he was a genius of he wouldn't use language. He would use symbols and what he called architectures of thought. And that was I connected with that, because that's very similar to how I think I have this kind of creative construct that I think, and that is not based upon language.
00;07;54;15 - 00;08;18;26
Doug Patton
It's based upon kind of advanced symbols of thought. And when you're doing that, you can connect massive amounts of information much better than you can just with mathematics or language. That's a this is a discussion. Yeah. Ours discussion unto itself. We're kind of walking over the lily paths of thought, as it were. And we can't if we stay on one, we're going to sink deep into it.
00;08;18;28 - 00;08;23;04
Paul Sullvan
Yeah, I understand, but, you know, you're a father of. Do you have the toolkit?
00;08;23;06 - 00;08;27;05
Doug Patton
Yeah. My daughter Heather, and my son Sean and I, they're there.
00;08;27;05 - 00;08;27;26
Paul Sullvan
They.
00;08;27;28 - 00;08;51;22
Doug Patton
My daughter is 36 and my son is 22, and I'm about to have my first grandchild, in three months. Heather is pregnant, so I will also be a grandfather soon, which I have told them. I will be the person that is there for babysitting for taxi service. I don't care what it is. You guys want the night out?
00;08;51;25 - 00;08;58;18
Doug Patton
I am there, buddy. I mean, don't I mean, yeah, I'll probably have to, like, Yeah. So that's the deal with that.
00;08;58;21 - 00;09;05;29
Paul Sullvan
Yeah, but I think I'm a father of three. My girls are all girls, you know, six, 11 and 14 at this point.
00;09;06;01 - 00;09;07;06
Doug Patton
Those are great ages.
00;09;07;06 - 00;09;30;14
Paul Sullvan
They're great. But there are moments of creativity when you're answering, helping them answer a question, helping them solve a problem. But a lot of parenting is very repetitive and sort of the antithesis of creativity. How did you meld the two when you're building your businesses, your really creative inventor, yet, you know, parenthood is is is sort of the opposite of but what was it like being the inventor?
00;09;30;14 - 00;09;52;00
Doug Patton
Don't think so. For me, the center point and I'll just be, you know, really honest with you. Like, everyone knows this, even now when my daughter calls me or my son calls me, I don't care what meeting I'm in. Excuse me. I'm answering the phone. Okay. And that started when they were young. And, you know, they've already been always been around invention, okay?
00;09;52;02 - 00;10;05;29
Doug Patton
They grew up watching it and absorbing it. And, you know, I, I'm under the, the concept that kids don't do what you say. They become who you are. They absorb you. Yeah.
00;10;05;29 - 00;10;08;11
Paul Sullvan
They watch you, listen to you, they watch you. Yeah.
00;10;08;13 - 00;10;37;02
Doug Patton
Yeah, yeah. And, so, for example, I had a music room at the house, and I still do. And, you know, Heather ended up being in a band and, amazing Girl's band. And Sean became an amazing guitarist and trumpet player and, inventions everywhere. And I would paint. I'm also an artist. And my daughter took the course of art where she became an incredible artist.
00;10;37;04 - 00;10;58;18
Doug Patton
Just unbelievable. And, she even after she graduated from, from art school, she says, dad, I want to go to Paris with my girlfriend for a year. I said, okay, well, you have to have a job. You know, if I'm going to be there, I guess I could, you know, because I'll, I'll. We'll pay for her.
00;10;58;21 - 00;11;25;08
Doug Patton
Her apartment on the left bank, you know, everything. But she actually learned French and got a job at Musee d'Orsay. Which is, like, next to the Louvre. Is. That is the biggest, museum. As the graphic designer there. So she's. I always taught Heather to be, bold and, also fearless about about, you know, whatever she wants to do.
00;11;25;08 - 00;11;51;27
Doug Patton
And, and now, after many years, she, works at patent design doing branding, graphic design. User interface design, or I, you know, she doesn't really work for me. I more or less work for her because I created a powerful intellect, and supported it. And, she has absolutely no problem when we're talking in front of many people say, no, I don't think that.
00;11;51;27 - 00;12;14;23
Doug Patton
I think that's right. I think we should do it, and I, I am I have to tell you, I am the proudest dad in the world because she thinks she's she's laying it to me and I'm looking up at God saying thank you, that she wants to work with me. You know, that that is a major thing because my dad had a construction company and he wanted me to work for him, and it was always on his terms and one thing.
00;12;14;23 - 00;12;35;21
Doug Patton
And I could never do it. For many reasons. That's another our conversation. But, I want I wanted to make sure it's on on her terms. So, you know, we have our office in Newport Beach and, she's she lives in LA, and her husband is a production designer in Hollywood. So they're kind of linked into the Hollywood scene.
00;12;35;26 - 00;13;02;20
Doug Patton
So we even have a building for her to work at in and in LA. And the bottom line is, is that kids are the focal point have always been of my life. And same with Sean. I mean, he just graduated from SMU with, bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, and he already has a patent. He has his name on for patents, and he's worked for me since he was 12 every summer.
00;13;02;22 - 00;13;05;09
Doug Patton
And he's better than half the people here.
00;13;05;16 - 00;13;09;26
Paul Sullvan
What's he done? What did he do for you when he's working for you over the summer? What were some of the jobs that.
00;13;09;29 - 00;13;34;27
Doug Patton
He, now he's he used to do more, more industrial design work. He'd be doing, design work. But again, he took more of the scientific approach. Than, where his sister took the artistic approach. He worked on a linear a new idea for a linear peristaltic pump for infusion, and he I we got a patent, we got a patent on it.
00;13;34;29 - 00;13;53;08
Doug Patton
And he also worked on a method of, heating the back of the knee in the foot to, as a disposable to keep your core body temperature high during surgery and it normally drops. So he's done. He's a brilliant young kid.
00;13;53;11 - 00;14;00;08
Paul Sullvan
What what are the dinner conversations like at your house with these two? You know, super creative, brilliant kids?
00;14;00;10 - 00;14;22;25
Doug Patton
Absolutely. Can you put down your phone so we can talk? All right. No, they're very they have very diverse, thoughts, and we don't talk about invention at all. We talk about everything, but that. I mean, my son is an avid reader. So does my daughter. They they're. When they talk together, they're on a different plane.
00;14;22;25 - 00;14;42;24
Doug Patton
They they are, very knowledgeable of all music groups, and, and they're talking everything but like, invention, which is probably intentional, you know, but it's, it's kind of fun conversation, just like any other family, you know? But. Yeah, but I let the kids lead the way.
00;14;42;26 - 00;14;59;15
Paul Sullvan
You know, I want to get to the partner and how you work together. But before we get there, you know, you alluded to your dad and his construction company. I mean, so many in a family owned businesses, the person who created it, the patriarch or the matriarch, would love for his or her children to work in the business, but it doesn't.
00;14;59;15 - 00;15;16;14
Paul Sullvan
You know, there are tons of stories of it going wrong. Yeah. Or people being forced into something that they they, you know, really wanted to be a chef and they're making cars, you know, and, how do you think it's worked out with you that both of your kids are involved in what you're doing?
00;15;16;17 - 00;15;21;18
Doug Patton
Well, I would say,
00;15;21;21 - 00;15;52;10
Doug Patton
What I learned from my dad, in the construction company, was that. It was going to be. There was no room for me to take it the direction that I wanted. You know, he had is his, kind of a compartment that I would fit in, and I. I mean, I got really good at it. I could take a 20 yard, 630 scraper and cut plus or minus quarter inch on, ground.
00;15;52;10 - 00;16;15;18
Doug Patton
Or I could estimate, you know, I had a full sense of the company, and he wanted me to take it over. But the problem is, I was always the inventor guy. I had to always be inventing. And I had this over rambunctious thought process, and I could just never. I just couldn't do it, you know? But the point is, I probably would have if he had.
00;16;15;18 - 00;16;30;20
Doug Patton
I'll given me a space to, to grow, and I what I thought after I had my kids, I'm not going to make the same mistake. And, you know, that's part of the the cycle of life, isn't it, Paul? Where we we try to learn as.
00;16;30;20 - 00;16;34;04
Paul Sullvan
Much, hopefully, hopefully we try to learn from what didn't work in the past. Hopefully. Yeah.
00;16;34;05 - 00;16;57;25
Doug Patton
Yeah. I think it's, you know, I think it is. I think it's probably, worthy of another conversation sometime about, you know, how parents repeat their parents mistakes with their kids. And I for this one, it was imprinted on me pretty hard. So my goal has always been that I'll give them the environment and they take it any way they want.
00;16;57;28 - 00;17;29;02
Doug Patton
And, That is the key. It is allowing, your, your son or daughter to not work for you, work with you. And if you have enough flexibility with your business, allow them to say, okay, what do you want to do? How can I help you do it? Like Sean might want to? He's into medical. He went. He's getting his masters that at University of Washington now.
00;17;29;09 - 00;17;56;15
Doug Patton
And he's interested in medical robotics. And you know, he goes down I don't know if I want to do stuff that you do. And I said, well, Sean, let's figure out what we want to do together and I'll help support you. I'll put you in office, I'll give you some money and you go off on your own. Or you could work with me whatever you want, because it's all about our kids success and empowering them in a way that that supports their passion.
00;17;56;15 - 00;18;15;02
Doug Patton
And I guess the final word on that, that they're probably tired of me, saying, I said since the kids were really young. Find your passion. It doesn't matter what you do, because the people who haven't found their passion in life are a little empty. And the most important thing? Find your passion and follow it.
00;18;15;04 - 00;18;24;05
Paul Sullvan
That's wonderful where the golf come in to all of this, because obviously you had to be an avid golfer before you think to, And so how did I fit into this?
00;18;24;08 - 00;18;47;16
Doug Patton
I didn't I'm a late starter. I started in my 30s and I, like a lot of weekend golfers, enjoyed it. And I would go through times of total dedication, to, improving myself and then total abstinence out of being busy. And I fluctuated in and out of it. And, you know, my son started playing when he was six.
00;18;47;18 - 00;19;07;26
Doug Patton
You know, we go to the driving range and we hit balls and now what's kind of, both, elating and depressing for me. I'll go out with him. We just came back from Hawaii. About a month and a half ago, and he hardly plays golf, so he's like the perfect golf like physique, right?
00;19;07;26 - 00;19;31;01
Doug Patton
He's like six one, flexible, like a rubber band, and he hardly ever plays. And, we were playing at this champion tee, at the monologue on that 15th hole where you have to hit it if you're brave, it's like a 2 to 60 yard drive over the ocean, even with the wind. And he just sits up and he goes to, you know, he's his arm is flexible.
00;19;31;01 - 00;19;55;00
Doug Patton
Like, and my I'm a weightlifter still, I still lift weights like four days a week. So I have the opposite. So he he just kills it, you know. And I'm, I'm relegated now to, enjoying it. But see, the thing is, my brain keeps tinkering with technology. Right? And what bothered me about putters that that I had, first of all, they were all in my.
00;19;55;02 - 00;19;58;25
Doug Patton
Okay, let me, create a little precedence for this.
00;19;58;25 - 00;20;14;15
Paul Sullvan
Yeah. Before he do. So, let's set the scene for the listeners like, you know, non golfers. I play a lot of golf you can see in the background here. But you know, people always want new drivers and you know but really the putter you're going to use the putter more for more than half your strokes, about half your strokes and a round of golf.
00;20;14;16 - 00;20;33;02
Paul Sullvan
Yeah. And even if you're playing at the top of your game you're going to hit it, you know, 34, 36 times. It's crucial, but it's the most psychological club in your bag, maybe next to your driver, because essentially, the ball is there on the green you have. You just advanced it hundreds and hundreds of yards, and now you have to advance it.
00;20;33;02 - 00;20;35;10
Paul Sullvan
Maybe, ten feet, 20ft, 30ft.
00;20;35;11 - 00;20;37;00
Doug Patton
The hardest ten feet of your life.
00;20;37;04 - 00;20;52;18
Paul Sullvan
The hardest ten feet. And so the world is full of all kinds of variations on the potter. And people have, you know, even the pros go through this where they'll have, you know, 100 or 200 putters in the garage and suddenly the pulling out that they used in high school, and they'll win three tournaments in a row.
00;20;52;18 - 00;21;08;24
Paul Sullvan
So, so that's setting the scene for, for the non obsessive, golfer as I'm feeling you are, Doug. And I certainly am. So here it is. So now the inventor's mind comes in and you're tinkering and to tell us the story of how the, the idea for the putter. Well comes about.
00;21;09;00 - 00;21;41;02
Doug Patton
I'm always inventing. Okay, like I told you, I have about eight startups right now, and I'm trying not to create two more because it is exhausting, to take a company, you know, it takes about 3 or 4 years to take a company to success. And, but I have these on over whelming amount of ideas. And what started me with the putter was that, first of all, most of the putters I saw, at least esthetically, I thought were very ugly and were superficially conceived.
00;21;41;04 - 00;22;03;05
Doug Patton
And, and then the science behind it, I started looking at it. And, you know, I started analyzing the science of what would make the best putter. You know, and there's some simple things, you know, you know, move the weight to the outside, move it forward. Try to do, you know, look at different things. There's a lot of different theories on on how it works.
00;22;03;07 - 00;22;31;15
Doug Patton
But then I started analyzing it. I putting it into the CAD programs and even, a golf ball being a little over an ounce can create an effect on a putter. You know, that minute, minuscule little touch has a force, right? And so then I started playing with, well, I guess what would really be good is if there's some way to create a sweet spot and a center point.
00;22;31;18 - 00;22;50;24
Doug Patton
And, and so I kept I started playing in CAD with it, and then I started making prototypes. I'm looking I have a little table. There's one, two, three, there's about 12 prototypes. And I did this over ten years. Okay. I mean, I have a lot of other inventions, but I would always okay, I have some time to work on it now.
00;22;50;27 - 00;23;25;07
Doug Patton
And, I have a great factory that, that works with me. And we started prototyping because the only way to really understand it is to use the exact materials. And, I had a theory in CAD, and I started making it, and I went through probably eight versions of the final design because my goal was to create kind of like a tuning for it, that when you hit a tuning fork, you know, it's kind of like, you know, these two, rods that come up when you hit it, it goes, it has a sound.
00;23;25;10 - 00;24;01;22
Doug Patton
Well, by looking at the putter with just that, that small little ounce and a half, putter hit to the ball, there would be a harmonic force. Okay. Yeah, I tuned it to that. And the way I did it is a combination of stainless and aluminum, an open area in the center. And this, this kind of sharp point that, that emanated from the center that I did my best to create this tuning fork technology.
00;24;01;22 - 00;24;21;23
Doug Patton
So what my my goal was that when I hit it, I could feel it a little bit. And, a lot of people that have tried it for the first time have said, yeah, I can. This feels different. You have to hit it, though, right in the center. That's the deal. If you hit it off, it does. It's it messes up.
00;24;21;23 - 00;24;34;10
Doug Patton
You got to hit it right in the center. And there is, a minor. Minor. If you listen to your putter. Okay. Got to listen to it. Got a feel. It kind of be, like, alert to it.
00;24;34;10 - 00;24;41;02
Paul Sullvan
So don't don't swear at your putter. Don't swear you. But listen to everything.
00;24;41;04 - 00;25;05;01
Doug Patton
I look up, I look down at every other way, when I, miss. But yeah, I think the thing is, is that this is. I haven't had this exact conversation with anyone, to to this kind of description, but I have said that you have to stay alert to it. You have to say sensitive. A lot of people, when they putt, it's kind of like a numb experience.
00;25;05;01 - 00;25;31;28
Doug Patton
You kind of, you know, you move your shoulders and you hit it. But with this, if you if you're sensitive and you're holding the club light right, just very lightly in your hands, you can feel a little bit of a, resonance. And in that you can you can shape the ball. You can move the ball better. And, but besides that, the design of it, is something that, I worked with Heather on.
00;25;31;28 - 00;25;36;03
Doug Patton
I worked with Sean on all the FCA kind of engineering stuff, but what does that.
00;25;36;06 - 00;25;37;22
Paul Sullvan
What does that mean?
00;25;37;24 - 00;25;59;07
Doug Patton
Finite element analysis. Where where you can put it into a computer. Anything. And it will show you the effect of the collision or the stress or strain. Okay, okay. And, so, so with Heather, you know, we're trying to think of names and, we came up a lot, but I said, what about the eagle eye?
00;25;59;08 - 00;26;28;18
Doug Patton
The albatross is really an amazing one, but that just sounds so rare. But we settled for Eagle, and so we, Heather create. She does all the branding, and she's won award. There's a, award organization very prestigious in Paris, the Paris International Design Awards, and she's won many awards for the design of, the graphics for my book for my other company at room de Arte.
00;26;28;20 - 00;27;01;24
Doug Patton
And now recently for the putter. Just got it, a few weeks ago, but so she designed the the eagle from scratch, and we went through a lot of designs. And then what really transformed the design? I said, let's make the putter an icon for the eagle shape. So we have on our website this, this animation of how the eagle icon transforms to the the top U shape of the putter.
00;27;01;27 - 00;27;13;10
Doug Patton
It is basically an icon. The putter is an icon of the eagle. So it is the perfect synthesis of branding and science. Yeah. Other. And Sean.
00;27;13;12 - 00;27;25;18
Paul Sullvan
When you did, you go to your kids and ask them to be part of this. Did they just see you tinkering on this putter over the course of, as you said, about a a decade? How did they come to be being involved with easy?
00;27;25;18 - 00;27;32;15
Doug Patton
I said, Heather, well, you designed the logo. Well, you designed the branding. What do you think Sean will you work on this? Okay, dad.
00;27;32;17 - 00;27;44;14
Paul Sullvan
Oh. All right. Do they have a role? Do they ever roll their eyes and say, dad, how do you go from, you know, medical devices to a putter with, you know, something for fragrances and candles? In between.
00;27;44;16 - 00;28;02;17
Doug Patton
They just know, that's dad. Okay? That's me. And they've already. They grew up with it. I mean, I, I have designed hundreds of of things and they just assumed that that's normal with me and that doesn't every dad do that, you know, kind of house.
00;28;02;19 - 00;28;17;17
Paul Sullvan
Now, I have to ask you, what was the the reception when you, you know, surely you have golfing buddies, you know, what was the reception when you unveiled the Patton Eagle putter? Wherever you you play golf and you started rolling the rock with it on the green.
00;28;17;19 - 00;28;36;05
Doug Patton
Well, you know, Oak Creek is is my closest golf course. It's about two miles from my house. And, I, I just got the first shipment in, and I went to the putting green at the starter's desk at Oak Creek, and I started, I said, can you just let me do this? Because, well, I'll just give you ten minutes.
00;28;36;05 - 00;28;53;12
Doug Patton
You're not supposed to be here. And the two, the two guys there are, one of the guys was a club pro, and and the other guy and I said, what is that? And I said, what's my new invention, the patent eagle? I think it's a work of art that is the most beautiful putter I've ever seen.
00;28;53;12 - 00;29;10;16
Doug Patton
I go, wow. And I said, well, it's it has haptic feedback and that what the hell is that? I work with a lot of putters is just another marketing scheme. Give me this thing. And so then they left the deck and they started putting it and they go, oh my God, you could feel the ball. Hey Jim, look at this.
00;29;10;19 - 00;29;34;15
Doug Patton
You could feel it. And and they were, putting it a little bit and they actually, were I guess one of some of the first people that that bought, I said, hell, I'll just give it there, you know. So yeah, that was like one. But I have it in my office and I have like, I won't tell you whose putter, but it's a very famous, well known putter.
00;29;34;17 - 00;29;41;19
Doug Patton
And, they, they putt with that and I say, try this. And oh, my God, that other thing feels like, like a like a brick.
00;29;41;19 - 00;29;45;10
Paul Sullvan
You don't have one of, the copies of Tiger Woods Putter Day.
00;29;45;13 - 00;29;45;24
Doug Patton
Pardon me?
00;29;45;28 - 00;29;49;21
Paul Sullvan
You don't have one. A Tiger Woods is putters. The, one of the copies that.
00;29;49;23 - 00;29;51;26
Doug Patton
I, I wish I did.
00;29;51;27 - 00;29;56;04
Paul Sullvan
Oh, no. Well. Who's that? You can't leave it out. Who's a very famous person whose putter you have. I want to know.
00;29;56;12 - 00;30;20;06
Doug Patton
It's not a famous person. It's just a brand name. And I don't want I got I don't want to put a brand name down. Yeah. Because that's not, ethical, you know, to say, well, this putter, I would put them all in, actually, what I would do, I'm kind of a revolutionary. When I, I invent it seems like everything I invent is so new that it takes a long time for it to catch on.
00;30;20;08 - 00;30;33;03
Doug Patton
But, I think to say most putters fall into the same category. There's very I've got like ten putters of the most advanced ones, and none of them have thought of this idea.
00;30;33;06 - 00;30;34;00
Paul Sullvan
Yeah.
00;30;34;03 - 00;30;53;24
Doug Patton
You know, they they haven't taken this analytical approach. They've been doing things kind of like, like car companies, like, you know, they'll they'll change the, the styling on a, on a car but not improve it. Right. So everyone thinks, oh, here's the new car. Well, it's the same car, but it just has some different lines.
00;30;54;00 - 00;31;19;22
Paul Sullvan
Yeah, Doug, it's been a great conversation. You know, one last question. You've had a lot of success. You know, as an inventor, it's wonderful, that you got your kids, you know, involved, in the business, you know, through their own expertise. What's your goal going for it? Not just with this, this putter, but but, you know, as a father and as an inventor, what's your goal going forward?
00;31;19;24 - 00;31;48;15
Doug Patton
That's a big conversation. I'll just try to bring it forward right now. I just got, my daughter and her husband, the really cool stroller that they wanted for their baby shower. It's like the super one with all the, like, cool things on it. And my goal is, is to help out with my grandchild and help my daughter.
00;31;48;17 - 00;32;21;20
Doug Patton
Is to help, so my son is off to Seattle to be a, to to be a, mechanical engineering master at something. And to support that. I'm at work. I just want to wake up every day and have a mental challenge that is really, you know, it is the again, it's the process, right? I, I'm, I've been very lucky to be successful and you know, I, I the way I look at it, I retired ten years ago.
00;32;21;20 - 00;32;50;13
Doug Patton
But I do this for I just invent for fun. So I just want to invent. And if I want to get more spiritual and how I really feel, everything I invent is to help humanity. I don't do things to make, like a battery lasts ten hours longer, that where people experience it. It helps them. And to bring it back to the fold of this conversation, I hope people will get the putter and they'll they'll they'll hit it.
00;32;50;13 - 00;33;12;23
Doug Patton
And that little epiphany, wow, that feels good. You know, even little things are incredibly important in our life because as you and I know, being a dad, there's very little time for sometimes your own pleasure. You're busy giving and that little touch of the ball and hitting it into the hole is quite an extravagant feeling. That doesn't happen too often with me.
00;33;12;25 - 00;33;19;10
Paul Sullvan
You're absolutely right, Doug Peyton. Dad, an inventor. Thank you for being my guest today in the company.
00;33;19;10 - 00;33;22;15
Doug Patton
Okay, Paul, nice talking to you.
00;33;22;17 - 00;33;47;26
Paul Sullvan
Thank you for listening to the company, that podcast. I also want to thank the people who make this podcast and everything else that we do. The company that possible, Helder Moura, who is our audio producer Lindsay Decker hand is all of our social media. Terry Brennan, who's helping us with the newsletter and audience acquisition, Emily Servin, who is our web maestro, and of course, Evan Roosevelt, who is working side by side with me.
00;33;47;26 - 00;34;05;18
Paul Sullvan
And many of the things that we do here at the Company of Dad. It's a great team. And we're just trying to bring you the best in fatherhood. Remember, the one stop shop for everything is our newsletter, the dad. Sign up at the Company of dads.com backslash. The dad. Thank you again for listening.