If the power goes out in the middle of the night and you grab for a flashlight, there is a better than average chance you
will grab one that is made of aluminum. Most of us take for granted that this style of flashlight has always been around,
since Maglite brand flashlights have dominate the shelf space for decades. However, the story of this industry is far
more complicated than any mythology of a lone inventor toiling away in his workshop. Like most inventions the story is
filled with ingenuity, subversion, devastation, and success.
I recently got to sit down with the inventor and legend in this industry, Don Keller, who retired to Bellingham years ago.
As with all the inventors I meet, I start by asking him why? “It all started in 1964,” he says, “I was working as an L.A.
County Sheriff’s deputy, I worked nights and was tired of breaking cheap flashlights, ending up without any light by the
end of my shift.” The first part of Don’s story is like most inventors, he saw a need and worked to fix it, taking years to
find the right materials and working through many prototypes to find the right design. He laughs as he describes his first
homemade prototypes “it was a galvanized pipe that I fit over the existing flashlights we’d been issued. That didn’t work
so well, I broke a lot of bulbs trying to use it, not to mention how heavy it was!”
I sat transfixed for over an hour listening to 40 years of how this industry was created. From his first leap as an inventor
into entrepreneurship with Kel-lite in 1968, through the loss of that company in 1972, to the start of Maglite in 1979,
Don’s story holds valuable insight for those already in business as well as those considering starting. I asked him more
about what lessons he sees in his own story.
“First is persistence.” When you hear Don’s story you know this is true. Despite the devastating loss he had in being
voted out as President of his own company and the years of subversion he faced from partners in companies he worked
for as well as competition, he kept going. Often he wound up starting over entirely building new businesses, but always
learning from the mistakes he made. One of his stories makes for a great example. “My first sales force was cops, I sold
it directly to other cops, but after a few years of selling a lot but never making enough money, my partner and I realized
we needed to bring in some people with management experience. From that we learned a hard lesson about pricing.
Ultimately we had to raise our prices, something that is really hard to do successfully.” When he went to work for
Maglite a decade later, he had learned from those earlier experiences and knew that he would set up a sales pipeline of
selling direct to distributors. That strategy helped propel Maglite to $10 million in sales by its fourth year.
“Second is mentors, you will need advice and you need to find people you can trust.” He says, “Unfortunately, the
inventor doesn’t always see the value and opportunity in working with others.” I smiled at his comment and whole
heartedly agreed with him, since it is the reason I do what I do, working through the NWIRC to help other inventors like
myself and sharing stories like his. Don’s firm belief in mentorship is one of the reasons he has been an active SCORE
mentor in Bellingham for years.
“And finally, you’ve got to take the time to do the research.” He says, “With the tools and technology that are available
today, there is no reason not to get the research done. I had to spend my early years at the library with the Thomas
Guide as my bible. ” Fortunately for inventors today the Thomas Guide is available online.
*This piece originally appeared in the Bellingham Herald.