Entrepreneur Sells Tailgate Party in a Box — Instagate



instagate

Prepping for tailgating parties, barbecue or picnic is often stressful and difficult. There’s all the food, a grill, utensils, beverages and other things to pack. You can’t just go.

But imagine if you could eliminate all that preparation. What if you could just arrive at a game or other live event ready to party, but without the effort that’s often involved in preparation.

That’s exactly what the Instagate is designed to  allow. As product inventor Matthew MacLean tells Business-Opportunities.biz:

“Tailgating is a lot of fun, but planning one is also a lot of work. Instagate makes tailgating and barbecuing somewhere easier and more affordable for everyone who wants to spend less time packing, prepping, and cleaning up — and more time having fun.”

MacLean claims Instagate can make prepping and cleanup easier and has everything you need to throw a tailgate party at a moment’s notice. The product provides:

  • a grill,
  • A cooler and space for up to 30 cans,
  • a fold-out table
  • tools including spatula, tongs, BBQ fork
  • cups, plates, napkins and utensils
  • a pong table and custom ping pong balls
  • ketchup, mustard, salt and pepper
  • a combination lighter and bottle opener
  • and disposable bags for cleanup.

All items are biodegradable, recyclable, or reusable, in an effort to make Instagate an eco, budget, and time-friendly option.

And all these items are folded into a 21″ x 14″ x 14″ box weighing about 12.5 pounds.

Instagate currently sells for $49 according to the company’s website.

A Kickstarter campaign for the product surpassed MacLean’s $25,000 goal on Oct. 10, 2014. And popularity of the product seems to be growing.

The product also won an award from Shark Tank host Lori Greiner on Good Morning America.

However, the current product was not MacLean’s first version. He’s been fine tuning it for some time through numerous different prototypes before settling on the final product. He focused on each problem tailgaters faced when putting together a tailgating celebration. Then he found solutions for each until he and potential customers where satisfied. And all this was done before beginning the crowdsourcing campaign, MacLean insisted.

MacLean said his process involved considerable marketing research and collaboration with designers to complete the product.

Though Instagate may not be a product for everyone, MacLean believes it fills a specific niche. He explains:

“We will not try to be the solution for everyone, but for the people who want an easier and more convenient way of tailgating, barbecuing, or picnicking — we are focused on providing the best and most creative turnkey solutions for them.”

Image: Instagate

2 Comments ▼

Aubrielle Billig Aubrielle Billig is a Staff Writer for Small Business Trends. She covers business as it is impacted by pop culture, entrepreneurs in the arts, and other topics affecting creative businesses. She has a background as an illustrator and her design page can be found at AubrielleBillustrations.

2 Reactions
  1. Great idea! Ingenuity at its finest and an environmentally friendly one to boot.

  2. I love how it uses the word “insta” with instagram – it is like it is appended with everything. But I guess that word stands for “instant” in this case.