OrigAudio Hits It Big With Fold and Play Recycled Speakers Two friends create quirky portable speakers inspired by a takeout box.
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A mere three months after Jason Lucash and Mike Szymczak started their company OrigAudio, they hit the jackpot. It was November 2009, and out of the blue, Time magazine called about featuring their Fold and Play Recycled Speakers among its "Best Inventions of 2009." Inspired by a Chinese takeout box, the ultraportable product--packaged flat and made entirely out of recycled materials--can be folded into a pair of cube-shaped speakers requiring no batteries or external power. It sells for $14.99.
The day the article came out, they sold 1,500 units (before that, their daily best was 10). Just prior, they'd received an order from the Marines for 50,000 Fold and Plays, launching OrigAudio's corporate gifting division with a bang. By Black Friday, the first batch of inventory was gone--resulting in an emergency air-freight shipment from their manufacturer in China to fulfill Christmas orders.
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