i3 - January/February 2016 - 84

BY GRACE DOBUSH

INNOVATION IN ACTION
CTA'S 2015 INNOVATION
ENTREPRENEUR AWARDS

he Innovation Entrepreneur Awards
(IEA) program sponsored by It Is
Innovation (i3) magazine and the
CTA Small Business Council, was created
in 2012 to recognize one business executive and one business with revenue under $30 million that demonstrate
innovation and dedication to the industry. For 2015, a new startup
category was added.
But the field was so rich with contenders that the judges selected two
startups to win the inaugural prize. This year's award winners are creating the future of consumer technology across America: Trident Case
CEO Hong Lip Yow; Acoustic Sheep, the maker of SleepPhones; sports
video startup Whistle Sports Network; and supercapacitor-based energy
storage and battery enhancement technology Paper Battery Co.

AcousticSheep, Innovation Entrepreneur Award,
2015 Small Business of the Year
Back in 2007, family physician Wei-Shin Lai was
having trouble sleeping. "I would get phone calls at
3 AM from someone with a medication question or
from a parent about a sick child, and it would be really
hard for me to get to sleep afterward," she recalls. She
didn't want to take sleeping pills, because she had to
be sharp the next day. She tried listening to music, but
headphones were uncomfortable in bed.
She and her husband, game developer Jason Wolfe, bought some
speaker components and fabric, and Lai hand-sewed prototypes. After
a week of trials, they created a headband with built-in speakers, and it
worked like a charm.
Lai and Wolfe made the first 500 SleepPhones on a sewing machine on
their kitchen table in Erie, PA, and then set up a website. They were sold
out by Christmas. Customers wrote about how SleepPhones helped them
come off sleeping pills, stay calm during chemotherapy treatments or save
their marriage to a snorer.
Today, AcousticSheep has sold more than half a million SleepPhones
and Lai hopes to hit one million in 2016. The company also offers soothing sounds with an iPhone app, and next up is an app that senses when
you're restless to help you fall sleep. "When people ask me if I'm still a doctor, I say I'm helping more people now as a CEO than I could as a doctor,"
Lai says.
Lai quit her job as a doctor last year and today AcousticSheep has two
dozen employees. "For us to win this award is incredible because I consider myself an accidental businessperson," Lai says. "For me it's now a life
passion to try to grow the company and the brand so it turns into a legacy."
At CES 2016: Sands Expo, Booth 73166

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016

Hong Lip Yow, Trident Case,
Innovation Entrepreneur Award,
2015 Small Business Executive
of the Year
Live with impact. That's
Hong Lip Yow's goal for his
business as well as his life.
The CEO of Trident Case
aims to protect consumers'
mobile devices while giving
back to the community.
Trident is known for its protective cases made
from compostable bio-enhanced plastics that
meet military standards for drops, vibration, dust,
sand and rain. Based in Ontario, CA, the organization manufactures cases for more than 100
devices, but Trident isn't just a case manufacturer,
it's a solutions company. Trident can help anyone
with a great idea create 3D files and partner on
the manufacturing.
Yow founded the company in 2010 spending
the first nine months focusing on design. The first
product launched at the end of 2010, and by 2011
the company had $9 million in sales. Yow expects
to close out 2015 with about $15 million in sales,
with a 2016 goal of $35 million. That growth
will come from Yow's next big idea: smart cases.
Trident is developing protective cases that can
communicate with the devices they protect and
integrate with attachments.
Trident supports various charitable causes
through its partnerships including Autism
Speaks. Trident Case also creates cases with
officially licensed U.S. Armed Forces insignia and
branding. Trident makes about 30 percent of its
products in the U.S., and Yow hopes to increase
that to 80 percent.
Growing up in Malaysia, Yow was influenced by
his father, who ran a lumber shop and instilled in
him a responsibility to the local community and
his employees. "Giving back to the community
by creating jobs is what we want to do," Yow says.
"Winning the Executive Innovation Entrepreneur
Award is validation that we're doing something
people recognize," he says. "It's a great honor." At
CES 2016: LVCC's North Hall, Booth 6106

I T I S I N N O VAT I O N

http://www.tridentcase.com/ http://www.acousticsheep.com/

i3 - January/February 2016

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