You probably know Marvin Weinberger as the energetic new leader behind coworking space Venturef0rth, or the founder of commerce company American Certified.
But before that, he was inventing all-purpose, survivalist tools. (And before that, he was cofounding the legendary Philly tech company Infonautics with a young Josh Kopelman, but that’s another story.)
Weinberger hasn’t dropped his inventor roots: his latest tool is the Lil Trucker, a pocket-sized tool that’s kind of a Swiss Army knife for the apocalypse. Or just for a camping trip when you want to impress your friends at your handiness.
The tool has already raised more than $105,000 on Kickstarter, surpassing its $25,000 goal several times over. (Weinberger assembled a marketing team for the campaign. They got a lot of press hits.) If you pre-order now, you can get the tool for $15 cheaper than market rate.
Order by June 5
Weinberger has been working on the Lil Trucker for more than two years, doing much of the prototyping at Washington Avenue makerspace NextFab.
The tool also has this gem of a marketing video, produced by Edan Cohen and shot in New Jersey.
It also has Philly Startup Leaders president Rick Nucci’s stamp of approval:Â “If you would have told me that one of the finest doomsday prepper accessories was invented right here in Philadelphia by our own Marvin Weinberger, I would have said you are crazy,” he wrote on the PSL listserv. “Well it’s true.”
Later, on the PSL Slack, he added: “I recommend the leather sheath so you can rock one right on your hip.”
All right, we see you, Nooch.
