Douglas Katz is a West Point graduate, a disabled Army veteran, and a culinary enthusiast. 

The problem for Doug was that, like millions of those who suffer from limited mobility, he struggled to use kitchen utensils that require upper extremity strength. 

Aided by friends and other veterans, Doug took to his workshop to invent a new type of kitchen knife — the NULU knife — the first product in a series of “adaptive” gear he plans to introduce.

Ergonomically made, the NULU blade is located beneath the handle, allowing users’ shoulders, arms, and hands to remain neutral, reducing stress on their joints. NULU delivers a better cutting experience and makes cooking accessible for everyone.

Doug is utilizing Kickstarter to crowdfund the NULU knife.

If you’d like to see the NULU knife in action, visit the product’s Kickstarter page at tinyurl.com/MMR-Knife. There are less than two weeks before Doug’s Kickstarter campaign closes, so if you’re looking for a great holiday gift for family and friends — or for yourself — the time to act is now. 

Doug’s story is an inspiring example of how innovation, perseverance, and purpose can drive entrepreneurial success. By addressing real-world problems, building a solid team, and staying committed to a greater purpose, Doug exemplifies the potential of entrepreneurship to change lives — not just for customers but for communities as well.

Monday Morning Radio is hosted by the father-son duo of Dean and Maxwell Rotbart.

Photo: Douglas Katz, NULU Knives
Posted: December 2, 2024
Monday Morning Run Time: 43:51
Episode: 13.25

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Franz Owen “Frank” Armbruster was the most colorful guest that host and award-winning journalist Dean Rotbart ever interviewed. Literally. 

Joining Dean in his Denver radio studio in 2013, Armbruster, an extraordinary inventor, came dressed in a furry pimp hat braided with a floral lei, tie-dyed suit, matching rainbow-colored shoes, candy-striped socks, and a bushy, all-white Santa Claus beard.

83-years-young, Frank invented or created 96 products, including the Guiness record-holding bestselling game, Instant Insanity.

Frank had a stroke and passed less than a month after his interview. But each April, in honor of Frank’s birthday, Dean fondly recalls Frank’s infectious can-do entrepreneurial spirit and insights.

Photo: Frank Armbruster, Inventor
Originally Posted: February 25, 2013
Best of Monday Morning Radio Update: April 26, 2021
Monday Morning Run Time: 37:15

Do you have what it takes to be the next Thomas Edison or Nikola Tesla? You might just be surprised.

Filip Valica, a freelance engineer and founder of The Product Startup, specializes in empowering small business owners and professionals – especially doctors – to succeed at do-it-yourself product development; coaching first-time inventors along a 16-step path from idea, to prototype, to manufacture, and ultimately, to shipping.

Join Filip and host Dean Rotbart as they explain how you, too, can turn a product idea into a profitable reality.

Photo: Filip Valica, The Product Startup
Posted: March 6, 2017
Monday Morning Run Time: 38 minutes 48 seconds 

The odds that would-be inventors will cash in their innovations for a giant payday are astronomically small.

Each year tens of thousands of Americans – driven by a hunger to make life a little simpler or more rewarding – aim to bring their innovations to market. The vast majority of them fail. For more than 30 years, InventHelp, a Pittsburgh-based inventor service company, has aimed to improve the odds for their inventor-clients.

This week on Monday Morning Radio, InventHelp’s Nicole M. Lininger, who has worked for the company for more than 13 years, recounts some of the savvy methods used by the lucky few who do beat the long odds. Hint: Persistence pays.

Discover why you MUST have your own Wikipedia profile and how to generate one. Read Dean Rotbart's groundbreaking series here.

Photo: Nicole Liniger

Posted: April 27, 2015

Monday Morning Run Time: 28 minutes 23 seconds 

Most experts offer advice on how to get off the daily work treadmill.  Entrepreneur Steve Bordley makes his living encouraging small business owners and professionals to get on the daily work treadmill.  Literally.

Bordley is the inventor of TrekDesk, a specially designed treadmill desk that allows users to conduct their daily affairs - whether they're graphic designers, accountants or salespeople -- all while walking slowly on a treadmill.

Bordley and TrekDesk have become global sensations, as more and more otherwise sedentary executives recognize the health benefits of walking while you work. Bordley is this week's mobile guest on Monday Morning Radio.

Bordley is interviewed by Wizard Academy faculty member Dean Rotbart.  Dean and wealth management expert David Biondo are co-hosts of Business Unconventional. The one-hour radio newsmagazine debuted in October 2011 on News/Talk 710 KNUS AM in Denver.

Be sure to follow B. Unconventional on Twitter: @BUnRadio and subscribe to Roy H. Williams's Monday Morning Memo.  The best things in life really are free!

Photo: Steve Bordley
Posted: August 18, 2014
Monday Morning Run Time:  33 minutes  31 seconds

Want to learn how to generate free publicity and social media "buzz" for your business?  Schedule a one-hour phone consultation with Monday Morning Radio co-host Dean Rotbart: 1-303-296-1200.  Limited slots still available this month.  

This week's guest on Monday Morning Radio: Franz Own "Frank" Armbruster.

This week’s guest on Monday Morning Radio, produced in cooperation with Business Unconventional, is Dawn Miracle, owner and founder of Hot Straw. Dawn’s 8-month-old company, Hot Straw, is one of thousands of small businesses across the country that are bypassing bankers, Wall Street and so-called angel investors, preferring to appeal directly to the public at large to raise the money they need to grow their businesses.

Miracle is interviewed by Academy faculty member and graduate Dean Rotbart and by David Biondo, a veteran financial planner and successful entrepreneur. Rotbart and Biondo produce Monday Morning Radio and serve as co-hosts in cooperation with Business Unconventional on 710 KNUS AM in Denver.

Dawn is using a popular crowdfunding website, www.IndieGoGo.com, to alert prospective supporters throughout the country to her current fundraising campaign.

On IndieGoGo, Dawn is asking the public to “donate” a minimum of $10 to her company, in exchange for getting a sampling of her products and the satisfaction of knowing that they are helping an up-and-coming entrepreneur succeed. As of Sunday evening, October 14th, she has only reached about 40% of her goal.

[Read more about Dawn and her crowdfunding campaign in Dean Rotbart's Examiner.com column: http://www.examiner.com/article/denver-entrepreneur-down-to-her-last-48-hours-to-raise-18k-via-crowdfunding]

Necessity, we are told, is the mother of invention.  But when Steve Ellenburg and his brother, Mark, first dreamed up the Wrist Rocket slingshot 60 years ago, it was revenge they had on their minds.

Steve, now 71 years old, tells the tale of his journey as a successful inventor on this week's Monday Morning Radio.  Steve will be the keynote speaker on October 6th at the Fourth Annual Mother of Invention Regional Conference in Denver.  

Steve is joined in a quick-paced roundtable discussion by Rita Crompton, founder of the Inventors' Roundtable and the progenitor of five successful businesses; Ian Osborn, inventor and founder, Wild Ideas Light Company; and Homer Hudson Hillis, Jr., co-founder of HHH Enterprises in Abilene, Texas.

Homer is a frequent student at the Wizard Academy and a regular contributor to the weekly Business Unconventional radio newsmagazine, heard in Denver Sunday mornings on 710 KNUS AM radio.

The Monday Morning Radio inventors' panel is led is by fellow Academy faculty member and graduate Dean Rotbart and by David Biondo, a veteran financial planner and successful entrepreneur. Rotbart and Biondo serve as co-hosts of Business Unconventional .

Be sure to follow B. Unconventional on Twitter: @BUnRadio and subscribe to Roy H. Williams's Monday Morning Memo.  The best things in life really are free!

Monday Morning Radio - Run Time:  22 min  48 sec
Photo (L-R): Ian Osborn, Wild Ideas Light Company; and Steve Ellenburg, President & CEO, DPM Associates, LLC.