Bear Creek graduate wraps his mind around a successful invention

Published 10:14 am Friday, November 14, 2014

Brandon Saw, an 18-year-old freshman at the University of Pennsylvania, wants to erase the conventional ways to use desks by transforming them into white boards.

Yes, others have sanded, painted, sanded and painted desks to turn them into erasable surfaces, but why sacrifice a desk or spend all that time?

Saw — a graduate of The Bear Creek School in Redmond — has invented a removable dry-erase surface, customized to fit any rectangular desk. With the Wrap, users peel the paper backing, stick it on a desk and the entire surface becomes dry erasable.

“When I saw the dry erase paint, I thought it was cool, but it’s pretty tough for the everyday person to have, such as people in offices and classrooms,” Saw said. “Wrap is the answer to those problems — all you do is peel, stick and apply.”

Saw came up with the idea a couple weeks before going to college this past summer, and decided to create a prototype within the first week of school. He introduced Wrap to his roommate, Andrew Theiss, who is now helping Saw with the marketing research and promotion of Wrap for sales.

“He wouldn’t tell me what it was for a while,” Theiss said. “He kept talking about the idea and when he finally told me, I wanted to be a part of the project and he let me come on board.”

Saw and friends went through around 16 prototypes before finally coming up with their final product. Once it became usable and finished, they launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise $4,000 to cover production and equipment costs.

Kickstarter is a platform that allows independent users create a fundraiser to launch their projects through a goal and a deadline. So far, 44 percent of campaigns have reached their goals through Internet users who donate to a cause.

“The funding goes to equipment and fixed costs and other things we need to start producing,” Saw said.

The Kickstarter fundraiser for Wrap started on Nov. 6 and four days after, the crew reached more than 89 percent of its goal.

Wrap is not only accessible and removable, Saw said, but a tool for inspiration.

“Wrap has the potential to boost creativity and collaboration,” Saw (left) said. “You work a lot more efficiently by writing your thoughts quickly, and I find that my entire desk is usable to function and it makes me more organized.”

He also said Wrap helps avoid waste.

“A lot of the times we need scratch work done with homework or writing down a phone number,” Saw said. “We rip out a sheet of paper, write down something and we toss it out, creating waste and that is what Wrap also eliminates.”

Saw and Theiss have used Twitter and Facebook in their cause, and contacted family and friends to help spread the word.

Saw’s dad, John Saw, supports his son, but also recognizes that he needs to build his own success.

“I haven’t purchased anything,” John Saw said. “I don’t want to be that dad — I want to see what he can do on his own and I’m more watching and encouraging him.”

He’s watching over the Kickstarter campaign from afar, and said at first he was skeptical.

“I first preferred he (Brandon) focused on school,” John Saw said. “But now I am very proud of what he has done. He has always been a motivated and driven kid and when he has a goal, he will do whatever it takes to get there and seize opportunities.”

With his determination, Saw has spent many hours on his invention and has learned that business is not as easy as it appeared to be.

“I put maybe 40 hours a week,” Saw said. “It is basically like a job and I have sacrificed even my weekends for Wrap, but it has been worth the hard work, especially since we have the success for our campaign.”

As a partner and friend, Theiss has also spent quite a bit of time helping out with the project, and recognizes Saw’s efforts to remain successful.

“Last week was a lot of work, but Brandon definitely does so much for Wrap and is involved in everything — even social media,” Theiss said. “He works hard and I just try to help whenever I can.”

The Kickstarter campaign will remain open until Dec. 6. For the crew, Wrap has created not only a business opportunity, but a rewarding experience, as well.

“It has been gratifying to see how other people take interest in something I thought of in the shower,” Saw said. “This experience is one of a kind and I have learned so much from starting my own business and learning the positives and negatives of my first project.”

You can check out Wrap’s website at www.wrapmydesk.com and also the Kickstarter campaign here.

Jacky Graham is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.