Shelf is an AI-guided design tool that walks creators through the early-stage soft goods manufacturing process and generates factory-ready assets — including a tech pack and SVG pattern file. It removes the time, cost, and confusion that stops amateur designers from getting physical products made.
Pattern generation — the ability to produce a usable pattern from a design concept was the single most requested feature.
Workflow today
Designers start with competitor examples and open-ended inspiration prompts. The path from idea to factory-ready file is fragmented and manual.
Key insight
Design input should remain open and prompt-driven — the tool shouldn't over-constrain the creative stage.
Recommended connections
The Factory Buffalo, Sew Valley, ISAIC, and technical designers focused on streamlining production timelines.
Interview 02 · ISAIC Detroit
Head of Innovation, ISAIC Detroit
Gap confirmed
The jump from idea to finished product is one of the industry's biggest pain points — designers are underprepared, and manufacturers can't engage until minimum documentation requirements are met.
Pivot insight
The most valuable version of Shelf supports the technical designer — reducing hours on tech pack creation, digital patterns, and material sourcing — rather than going directly to the end customer first.
Technical requirement
Focus on agnostic DXF files compatible across Gerber, Pathfinder, and other systems. AI-generated BOMs are immediately identifiable as non-technical work by experienced manufacturers.
Market opportunity
The US economy runs on small brands. Larger companies already have overseas supply chains. Shelf's opening is with small entrepreneurs who need a path from ideation to domestic production.
An AI-guided design tool that walks creators through early-stage soft goods manufacturing and generates factory-ready assets — including a tech pack and SVG pattern file. Validated through customer interviews with industry experts at Open Threads and ISAIC Detroit.
02Product development
Tori — Your time management assistant
Tell Tori everything you need to accomplish and by when — she builds a plan with deadlines, an active timer, and adjusts in real time as things change. Focus without the overhead of managing your own schedule.
Pulls time entries from Notion, calculates hours, and generates a branded client invoice as a .docx file. Built to run my own consulting billing — reusable as a Claude prompt you can adapt for yours.
04Market research · Interactive tool
Competitive Pricing Dashboard
Interactive HTML dashboard for mapping competitor pricing across any market. Built live for two clients — see the WorkSmart research and MDW fractional GTM analysis as working examples.
A 9-element pitch framework that turns a rough business idea into an investor-ready strategy document. My actual process, built into a reusable Claude prompt — run it yourself with any idea.
Invoice Generator
Paste into Claude with Notion connected to generate a client invoice from your time entries.
You are a billing assistant. I need you to create a client invoice.
1. Search my Notion for time entries for [CLIENT NAME] from [START DATE] to [END DATE].
2. For each entry, pull the date, task description, and hours worked.
3. Calculate each line item: hours x [HOURLY RATE].
4. Write outcome-based descriptions (e.g. "Strategy session and kickoff" not just "call").
5. Generate a professional invoice as a Word document (.docx) with:
- FROM: [YOUR NAME / COMPANY]
- BILL TO: [CLIENT NAME]
- Invoice number, date, due date (15 days out)
- Line items table: Date | Description | Hours | Rate | Amount
- Subtotal and Total Due rows
- Payment instructions section
6. Save and share the file.
Replace all [BRACKETS] with your own details before running.
Platform Strategy Builder
Paste into Claude with your business idea — builds a 9-element framework first, then expands into a full strategy doc.
I want to build a platform strategy for [YOUR BUSINESS IDEA].
STAGE 1 - Generate a 9-element pitch framework:
1. CLEAR PROBLEM - What broken reality does this solve?
2. UNIQUE SOLUTION - What does this product do? Who is it built by and for?
3. TARGET MARKET - Who are the customers? Include TAM, revenue size, growth signal.
4. HOW YOU MAKE MONEY - Revenue model with a 3-year arc (Year to Milestone to $ARR).
5. TRACTION - What proof points, prior work, or relationships exist?
6. GO-TO-MARKET - Phase 1 / Phase 2 / Phase 3. Start with network before scaling.
7. TEAM - Who is behind this and why are they uniquely qualified?
8. IMPACT AND VISION - What does the world look like when this wins?
9. CTA - What is the specific ask right now?
Keep each section to 2-5 punchy sentences. End by asking what to sharpen.
STAGE 2 - Only after I approve, expand into a full platform strategy doc.
Tone: confident, mission-aware, data-forward, never hedging.
My idea: [DESCRIBE YOUR BUSINESS IDEA IN 2-3 SENTENCES]
