From West Point to NULU: Douglas Katz on Turning Limitation Into Invention

**What You'll Learn** - Why Douglas believes the strongest inventions start with solving your own problem first, then asking how big that problem really is - How a circular saw blade in his workshop became the first prototype for a knife that reduces strain on joints and grip - What the Ability Curve™ is, and why he argues ability should be measured as a task-based scale rather than a yes-or-no label - How he brought a physical product to market by giving away ego and equity to build the right team - Real-world lessons on hearing no, protecting your idea, and getting smart on IP beyond just hiring a lawyer **Episode Highlights** - 00:00 – Welcome, and who Douglas was before the invention - 02:50 – What the Army built into him, and the one word he keeps coming back to - 14:18 – Facing a shoulder rebuild and losing the ability to cook - 15:18 – A circular saw blade and the very first prototype - 17:18 – The Ability Curve and rethinking who counts as disabled - 28:38 – Meeting Dr. No, and what it takes to sell a physical product - 39:10 – The Abilities Expo moment that changed how he saw the mission - 55:36 – NULU Navigator, and using AI as an assistant without over-relying on it **Meet the Guest** Douglas Katz is a West Point graduate, Army veteran, inventor, and co-founder of NULU, an adaptive kitchen knife company based in Chicago. A longtime lender and hobbyist knife-smith, he began building NULU while recovering from shoulder surgery that left him unable to cook. He is also the creator of the Ability Curve™, a framework for understanding how human capability shifts across age, injury, and context, and speaks on adaptive design, resilience, and universal design. **Tools, Frameworks, and Strategies Mentioned** - The Ability Curve™, Douglas's model for treating ability as a task-based scale rather than a binary - NULU Navigator, an AI guidance tool now in beta that helps people work through whether the knife fits their situation - The Ulu, the ancient Inuit blade that inspired NULU's geometry - The AT3 assistive technology program and state lending libraries. NULU says its knife is now available to try free through more than 35 state assistive technology libraries - Kickstarter as a way to test messaging and fund a first production run - A note on IP: Douglas describes the NULU patent as still pending **Closing Insight** Douglas hopes his knife outlives his name, that in a hundred years people use it without a thought for who made it, and everyone is better off for it. His story is a reminder that innovation does not always start with ambition. Sometimes it starts with pain, frustration, and the courage to rethink what others have simply learned to accept. **Guest Links** - NULU (official brand site): https://nuluknives.com/ - Douglas Katz (keynote and advisory site, his primary promoted link): https://dougkatz8.wixsite.com/douglasmkatz - Doug's personal YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@gnulou/videos - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglaskatz/ - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/d.m.katz/ - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DOUGLASMKATZ/ - Reddit (r/AdaptiveKitchen): https://www.reddit.com/r/AdaptiveKitchen/ *Watch the video version on YouTube:* https://youtu.be/CVlN1hA61iA     Download the 7-Day Breakthrough Workbook: https://bit.ly/PDIRworkbook Subscribe for more conversations with builders, creators, founders, and leaders: https://bit.ly/PDIRyoutube Get the companion book, *Unveiling the Innovator in You!*: https://amzn.to/4dmgsVW  As an Amazon Associate, Ingleside Reviews LLC earns from qualifying purchases at no cost to you. 🎙️ Subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@InglesideReviewsPodcast 📩 Connect or inquire about interviews: podcast@inglesidereviews.com   ✨ Keep innovating. Keep creating. Never stop unveiling the innovator in you.