Jess Sports
When I was about twelve, I came up with the idea for the Caño Cage, a modular soccer cage designed for training, small sided games, and backyard play.
My dad helped me turn the idea into a real product and taught me throughout the process. I worked tournaments and events, spoke directly with customers, helped with installations. Jess Sports went on to generate more than $100,000 in total company revenue, and I personally brought in more than $20,000 in sales.
It was my first experience turning one of my own ideas into a product people actually paid for.
Caño Cage™ product overview
The original eight-page brochure, covering the idea behind the cage and all three product series. Click any page to see it larger.
From idea to backyard
The Caño Cage went from an idea to prototypes, fabrication, tournaments, customer sales, and eventually installations in people’s backyards.
Being involved throughout that process gave me an early look at everything that happens between having an idea and getting a product into a customer’s hands.
- Idea
- Physical product
- Fabrication
- Events
- Customers
- Installation
The three series
Gladiator
Ninja
Hero
What I did
- Came up with the original Caño Cage idea
- Helped develop and test the product
- Worked tournaments and events
- Spoke directly with potential customers
- Personally brought in more than $20,000 in sales
- Helped with customer installations
$100K+
$20K+
~12
What stayed with me
Jess Sports was the first time one of my ideas became something real enough for someone else to buy.
I was about twelve when it started. The projects have gotten much bigger since then, but I still love the process of taking something that starts as an idea and figuring out how to make it real.