Washington Business Summer 2019 | Washington Business | Page 44

how i did it
He remembers sleeping on the concrete floor with a roll of paper
towels for a pillow in front of the oven door.
“I was the fire alarm,” he said. “If something caught on fire it
would wake me up. Those are the things you end up doing to get
things going.”
help from pnnl
At a key point in the development process Khan turned to Pacific
Northwest National Laboratory, which offers 40 free hours of engi-
neering support, R&D and testing for startups through its Technical
Assistance Program (TAP).
PNNL had equipment that Khan needed for final tests that he’d
need to secure customers and further funding.
“They ran our materials on the lab equipment they had,” Khan
said. “It was the proof of concept we were looking for.”
Another key to his success was finding the right investors,
people who understood the unique needs and timeframes of
manufacturing.
“We had a lot of trust from our investors and none of this would
have been possible without their support,” Khan said.
a new idea
Carbitex’s products are opening new ways that this light, strong
material can be used.
Their product DFX, which can change its flexibility depending
on its use, goes into the mid-sole of a shoe. When someone is
walking on a basketball court or soccer field it is very flexible, but
as you go to run it acts like a track spike. That allows the athlete to
make the best use of their energy.
Typically the stiffness of the mid-sole of a
shoe will be based on an average compromise of
the use case, but Carbitex’s dynamically flexible
material changes the equation.
“It eliminates a compromise, and if you
can eliminate a compromise, you can be cost-
justified and integrated into the existing
manufacturing methods,” Khan said. “It should
be the new standard.”
find your focus
Rather than start a company with an elaborate
and highly structured business plan, Khan
suggests young entrepreneurs use a more
iterative process. Have a strategy, evaluate
it, test the assumptions on which it is based,
then regularly repeat — and continue to make
forward progress.
44 association of washington business
In his case, he had originally planned to make consumer products
with his material, but as he moved forward, he realized that his
niche would be to commercialize the material rather than a specific
product.
After developing a uniquely flexible form of carbon fiber, Khan
and Carbitex saw a world of applications for their product, from
electronics and fashion to aerospace.
A few years ago, they decided to focus on footwear, at least for
now. They see future opportunities in construction, prosthetics,
biomechanical components, aerospace and more.
made in the usa
Khan was CEO of Carbitex for six years but stepped down from
that leadership role two years ago. He remains chairman. Since last
fall, he has been based in Hong Kong to be closer to his company’s
customers in the footwear industry.
Since Carbitex has Monday morning meetings in the Tri-Cities,
Khan will ride the time difference and stay up until 1 a.m. to take part.
With unique intellectual property and a manufacturing process
that is not workforce-heavy, Khan and Carbitex are keeping their
advanced material production squarely in the United States —
in the Tri-Cities, to be precise. It’s all under one roof — office,
manufacturing facility, and labs for development and testing.
“We’re the only ones in the world that are doing what we’re
doing, so it makes sense for us to control that process and keep the
manufacturing in house,” he said.
Their biggest challenge is logistics as they work with customers in
Asia that expect short lead times from nearby suppliers who are often
just an hour or so away.