Recent Gonzaga graduate on his way to $1 million company

For years, Kody Lukens wanted a better tool to help him with his attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

“The ADHD market, especially for adults, is criminally underserved,” Lukens said. “There aren’t high quality products being made for that demographic.”

So he set about making one.

Designing an upscale product is not only about supplying a niche consumer demand, “but also to create something that I knew could help a lot of people,” Lukens said. “Because most fidget toys out there, or focus tools as we call them, are made to sell in bulk at a very low price to make a couple of cents of profit off.”

Studying entrepreneurship at Gonzaga, he set about creating his own focus tool. He worked closely with his professors who also connected him with other Spokane entrepreneurs.

With their help, he founded his company, Stimara, in July, 2021. He then graduated in May of the next year. He spent much of his time tinkering with magnets and a 3-dimensional plastic printer to create more than 100 prototypes.

After finalizing a design and agreeing to terms with a manufacturer, his company’s first product was ready for the hands of consumers.

He called it Stimagz, which are 12 magnetic, oblong, plastic pieces that can be easily separated and reconnected in various orientations.

The benefit of fidgeting to help focus has been documented in many medical studies, for hyperactive individuals or not.

But the 23-year-old stated the motivation behind Stimagz simply: “If you’re comfortable, you’re going to be able to focus more. And if you focus more, you’re going to be more comfortable in your life.”

In October of 2022, he launched his first crowdfunding campaign ahead of the release of the product.

“It generated over $87,000,” he said. “It brought the business to life.”

The sum helped him pay for manufacturing costs and build inventory. After his product continued to sell, he was able to add team members and begin a marketing campaign.

In 2023, the company generated about $750,000 in revenue, he said.

In 2024, he anticipates a substantial jump in revenue from last year. This year was kicked off by another crowdfunding campaign for his second product launch that ended yesterday.

“We’ve done over half of our total revenue from last year in the past three weeks,” he said.

Around 7,000 customers have invested in the campaign to be the first to receive the Stimagz Series II.

The crowdfunding effort raised over $440,000.

“We were hoping for $100,000,” he said. “We got that in the first ten minutes.”

Lukens said the performance of the fundraiser is “game changing.”

But not long ago, Lukens questioned if his company would survive.

“The closest we ever came to going under was most definitely this past winter,” he said.

At the time, Stimara launched a product that sold poorly, the launch of the fall colors of Stimagz went worse than expected and they were in the process of finding a new location to store inventory.

Then, the “cherry on top,” he said.

Stimara received a large batch of inventory with unmistakable defects.

“We didn’t have enough money in the bank for payroll for the next three months while we waited for more inventory,” he said. “I thought that might be it.”

Lukens was out of ideas.

“I canceled all my meetings the rest of the day, and I just sat on the couch,” he said. “I just sat there all day – ruminating.”

Then it hit him: sell them anyway.

“Nike has an outlet store. Nordstrom has Nordstrom Rack,” he said. “The product was functionally intact, just aesthetically, they looked a little messed up. So why not market them as such.”

As a last ditch effort, Stimara release the Stimagz Misfits line, selling for $19 instead of the typical $30. Customers also received instructions on how to remedy the defects by using a nail-file to sand away protruding plastic.

“They were a huge hit,” he said.

Though their profit margins were slashed, the three person company was able to stay afloat long enough to rectify the manufacturing process, optimize administrative operations and acquire unblemished inventory.

Now, with the success of its recent crowdfunding efforts, morale is high.

“Frankly, I don’t have the words to describe it. I don’t think it’s fully set in yet,” he said. “I don’t know if it will for a little bit still.”

Though his company has existed for around three years, it has been a long road.

Lukens has never had a typical job, but instead has always worked for himself. From running a weekly lemonade stand in kindergarten to operating a video production company since he was 15, to just a year ago, trying to launch Stimara from his college house.

“It was the classic story of trying to start a business and putting everything I had into it,” he said. “I was eating Ramen and crossing all those items off the checklist.”

At the time, Lukens struggles to believe in himself.

“I would be on calls discussing deals worth tens of thousand of dollars with somebody like a manufacturer then hear my roommates through the door yelling like, ‘Where’s the beer?’ ” he said. “Whoever I was talking with was understanding but I felt a bit of imposter syndrome – like I didn’t deserve it.”

Today, Lukens has a strong, cohesive team that live in countries all over the world. But within a year, he plans to bring them all to Spokane and open a downtown office.

Growing up in Seattle, he has grown to love the Lilac City.

“If you reached out, local business owners or entrepreneurs are almost certainly going to be willing to talk to you,” he said. “And that’s such a different attitude than say, Seattle or San Francisco.”

Now with the proper focus tools in hand, Lukens plans to release other products that align with some of his interests.

“I just really love plants so I’m interested in branching into that,” he said. “I also want to work on sustainable honey farming and other things we’re working to get patents for.”

“We have some exciting ideas.”