"Some businesses are planned out methodically, others take on a life of their own. For Joshua Esnard, the inventor of the Cut Buddy, a plastic hair template that sells for $14.99 on Amazon, it was the latter. He’d invented the simple device, which allows a user to keep sharp lines in a haircut, as a teen. A year ago, Esnard, 30, was working at Broward College, and running a side business selling the patented Cut Buddy out of his Fort Lauderdale garage. Then he commissioned a YouTuber called 360WaveProcess to make a video, the video went viral, and orders started pouring in. Esnard quit his job, and today sells the Cut Buddy on Amazon, Ebay and elsewhere, with sales of around $700,000, and, he says, significant profits. In an interview that has been edited and condensed, Esnard spoke about scrambling to fulfill orders after the video went viral and fighting back against knockoffs."
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestreptalks/2017/02/15/inventor-of-the-cut-buddy-paid-youtubers-to-spark-sales-he-wasnt-ready-for-a-video-to-go-viral/#1bb09ab4798a
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestreptalks/2017/02/15/inventor-of-the-cut-buddy-paid-youtubers-to-spark-sales-he-wasnt-ready-for-a-video-to-go-viral/#1bb09ab4798a