Chris Guerrera and Carmine Denisco – Wild Business Growth Podcast #241: United Inventors Association

Make sure you have your ducks in a row before you launch a product. Otherwise, you’re going to waste a ton of time and money. That’s the story of this week’s Wild Business Growth Podcast guests, Chris Guerrera and Carmine Denisco. Chris and Carmine are the leaders of the United Inventors Association (UIA). Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and your other favorite podcast platforms.

• Episode Summary & Player
• Full Transcript
• Show Notes
• Wild Business Growth Podcast Summary

Episode 241: Chris Guerrera and Carmine Denisco – United Inventors Association

Chris Guerrera and Carmine Denisco, leaders of the United Inventors Association (UIA), join the show to share their journey from childhood inventions and paper routes to developing products for entrepreneurs around the world. Hear how to come up with a product idea, manufacture your product, when to get a patent, how to approach inventory and batch size, and the shocking thing Chris did on Good Morning America. This episode covers everything from Lean Six Sigma to coaching youth sports. Here’s a small sample of what you will hear in this episode:

• How did Chris & Carmine meet each other
• What was Carmine’s first impression of Chris
• How do you become a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt
• What are Gembas and Kaizens
• Injection Molding
• What are the most common challenges inventors run into on the manufacturing side
• Confirmation Bias aka “Invention Bias”
• What’s Chris’s dream car

Connect with Chris and Carmine at UIAUSA.org, ChrisGuerrera.com, and EarmarkSourcing.com.

Enjoy the shoooooow! Check out the show notes below for much more detail. You can also find the full transcript here.

Show Notes

• Intro & Inventing
  • [0:30] Email me at to save time with your high-quality podcast and use it as a business-building tool
  • [0:40] Connect with Chris and Carmine at UIAUSA.org, ChrisGuerrera.com, and EarmarkSourcing.com
  • [2:14] Nabisco
  • [2:46] Batman & Robin
  • [2:58] When did Carmine first get interested in inventing
  • [3:40] When did Chris first get interested in inventing
  • [4:38] Entrepreneurs
  • [4:45] Waterbury, CT
  • [5:08] Greg Branstetter – Wild Business Growth Podcast #18: President and Founder of Hippo Direct, Our Family Business
  • [5:23] What did Chris learn from his paper route
  • [6:18] Was he able to finish the Sunday route before the NFL (National Football League) games
  • [6:34] How did Chris & Carmine meet each other
  • [6:50] UIA (United Inventors Association)
  • [6:54] National Hardware Show
  • [8:07] What was Carmine’s first impression of Chris
  • [9:01] Ford, BMW

• Manufacturing for Inventions
  • [10:14] Where did Chris get interested in manufacturing
  • [11:38] How do you become a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt (LSSMBB)
  • [14:04] What are Gembas and Kaizens
  • [14:12] SMED (Single-Minute Exchange of Dies)
  • [15:21] NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing)
  • [15:45] What got Carmine thinking more globally for manufacturing
  • [16:47] MBA (Masters of Business Administration)
  • [18:01] What countries does Carmine like to manufacture in
  • [19:48] I would fail
  • [20:22] How do you manufacture your product
  • [20:38] Injection Molding
  • [21:11] Super Potty Trainer on Shark Tank
  • [22:58] Patent
  • [24:08] Walmart
  • [24:10] Punk’d
  • [24:48] New York Yankees
  • [25:00] Minnesota Vikings
  • [25:23] Shoutout, Dana! New York Giants
  • [25:31] Post-it Note
  • [25:53] Should you get a patent
  • [26:21] Provisional Patent Application (PPA)
  • [26:51] USPTO (United States Patent and Trade Office)
  • [27:16] Patent Attorney
  • [28:49] What are the most common challenges inventors run into on the manufacturing side
  • [30:38] Stocks
  • [31:33] How should inventors think about their initial batch size
  • [31:39] Inventory
  • [32:40] Sign up for the Podcasting to the Max newsletter at MaxPodcasting.com/Newsletter and receive How to Edit Your Podcast in Audacity
• Inspiration & Creativity: Invention
  • [34:20] How do you come up with new product ideas
  • [36:34] What are your next steps after you come up with a product idea
  • [38:10] Confirmation Bias aka “Invention Bias”
  • [38:34] Shoutout, Patent Freaks!
  • [39:28] Holy patents
  • [39:57] What does Chris like to do outside of work
  • [40:08] M8
  • [40:18] TYCO, Aurora Race Tracks
  • [40:56] What does Carmine do to keep his mind fresh

• The Unusual: Pet Peeves, Quirks, and Weird Talents
  • [42:01] What is Chris’s biggest pet peeve
  • [42:58] What’s a quirk he has
  • [43:18] Salary
  • [44:17] Good Morning America (GMA)
  • [46:43] What was going through Chris’s mind when it happened
  • [47:38] What’s a Weird Talent he has
• Rapid-Fire Q&A
  • [48:37] Ferrari F8, M4, 650i Convertible, M6, X5, Porsche 911
  • [49:16] What’s the biggest difference in living in the cold vs. in South Carolina
  • [50:58] Super Bowl LIII
  • [51:13] Skyway
  • [51:42] How do you be a good youth sports coach
  • [54:42] Connect with Chris and Carmine at UIAUSA.org, ChrisGuerrera.com, and EarmarkSourcing.com
  • [55:41] What are Chris’s Final Thoughts
  • [55:52] Yogi Berra
  • [56:46] Follow the Wild Business Growth Podcast and tell a friend about the podcast. And show love (or roast me) by leaving 5 stars on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify
  • [57:11] Check out the Wild Business Growth Podcast on Goodpods, where you can see what your favorite people are listening to
  • [57:12] Connect with me on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn @MaxBranstetter
  • [57:14] Save time with your high-quality podcast. Email me at to bring your podcast to life and use it as a business-building tool
  • [57:20] Sign up for the Podcasting to the Max newsletter at MaxPodcasting.com/Newsletter and receive How to Edit Your Podcast in Audacity
  • Theme music: Freestyle Percussion Magik – “Jungle Tribe” – provided by Jamendo

What is the Wild Business Growth Podcast?

Wild ideas. Wild growth. Every Wednesday morning a new entrepreneur joins the Wild Business Growth Podcast to share the wildly creative and unusual ways they grew their business – and teaches you how to do it, too. Hear the minds behind WordPress, Stacy’s Pita Chips, Drybar, the voice of Bart Simpson, and more wild stories. Hosted by Max Branstetter (that’s me), Founder and Podcast Producer at MaxPodcasting.

How do you start a podcast?

Interested in starting a professional-sounding podcast for your brand, but don’t want to deal with the time commitment of all those behind-the-scenes details? I’ve got you covered. Email me at to save time with your high-quality podcast and use it as a business-building tool.

Thanks for listening to Chris Guerrera & Carmine Denisco on the Wild Business Growth Podcast. To hear more Wild stories like this one every Wednesday morning, follow the Wild Business Growth Podcast and tell a friend about it. Then quiz each other on Lean Six Sigma. Until next time, Let your business Run Wild…and Bring on the Bongos!!