Jared Joyce has some big ideas. And one of them is about to hit the market. It’s a revolutionary twist on an old classic. Almost everyone in Bozeman has a multitude of these products in their cabinets at home. You probably even have one or two at work. But none are as cool and easy to use as Jared’s.
Jared’s big idea? A water bottle. But this is not your grandfather’s water bottle. The “Titan” water bottle has a high-tech lid that opens with one finger and seals off completely when you release it. There’s no screwing and unscrewing lids, no squeezing, no sucking on straws and mouthpieces. And the on-off lever doubles as your carabiner clip, making it easy to attach it to your pack without extra hardware.
Plus, all Titan water bottles are Bisphenol A (BPA) free, so they are safe to use with hot liquids and will remain safe even as the bottle ages. BPA is a chemical that is associated with many of the products we buy, particularly those polycarbonate water bottles made so famous by companies like Nalgene. There is growing evidence that BPA is leaching out of these products and into the food and liquids we consume daily. BPA has been linked to a variety of health risks, including cancer. Even companies like Wal-Mart have taken steps to rid its shelves of products containing BPA. Though the tests are not conclusive, many people are tossing their old Nalgenes to the side in favor of BPA free alternatives.
Jared came up with the idea for the Titan when he was in college. He was frustrated with all the effort it took to screw and unscrew his Nalgene lid each time he needed a drink of water. Leaving it open wasn’t an option, fearing that whatever liquid was in the bottle would end up spilling all over dozens of hours of architecture drawings. He decided there had to be a better way. So he started designing a better water bottle.
It has taken years of prototyping and testing. “I created over 100 prototypes before I found a system that created the perfect marriage between mouthpiece comfort and flow rate.” And now he feels he has it. Jared describes his water bottle as “One Hand Operational, Chuggable, Carabiner Clipable and BPA Free.”
Joyce realized that lots of good ideas go down in flames because they don’t have the financial backing and the marketing know-how to get them into the hands of the public. He tried a variety of routes to get his idea into the water bottle market. “I took my idea to Nalgene and Camelbak, two of the biggest players in hydration delivery systems today. They would have nothing to do with it.” They told him that people think of water bottles as “disposable.” They said no one would pay more than $15 for a water bottle and at $25 per bottle, the Titan is more than twice what a polycarbonate bottle from Nalgene costs. “So I decided to bring the Titan to the market myself.”
“I partnered with a company called UTS, which makes, among other things, 2 million water bottles a year for Wal-Mart. They believed in my idea enough to back it in the hopes that Wal-Mart may pick it up someday.” Joyce also has the help of one of the biggest players in retail today – Amazon.com. For a nominal fee, Amazon will warehouse, pick, pack and ship Jared’s Titans at no added cost to the consumer. “This allows me to concentrate on what I do best – inventing.”
The Titan will be available to the world on Amazon’s website beginning in July. “After I establish proof of sales through my online campaign, I can begin selling to the likes of Wal-Mart and REI. It’s all about distribution. It’s a funny game. You have to be established before you even get off the ground.” But he is confident he has a product that everyone will want and a distribution chain that is ready to deliver.
So what’s up next for Jared Joyce, Inventor? “We’ve got an office supply product coming to market in August and a no-tools-required furniture joint system that should be out in one to two years.” It’s ground-breaking stuff and it’s happening right here in Bozeman.
You can pre-order your first-edition Jared Joyce signature model or learn more about the Titan and the man behind the bottle at titanwaterbottle.com.
-Matt Parsons
