Here's the best-case scenario for you as a product designer seeking financial success: You see a need for a new product; design it; get it manufactured; then a monster retailer like a Wal-Mart or Home Depot picks it up, then the factories and freight trains start humming.

But just how, exactly, does all of this happen? Obviously it's a very idiosyncratic process, but for a tale of good business hustle you oughta read this Times article on Vanessa Troyer and Chris Farentino's Architectural Mailboxes.

Troyer and Farentino spotted an upcoming trend way back in the '90s, accurately predicting that more and more people would begin regularly ordering goods through online e-tailers like Amazon. And they realized that those consumers would probably feel more secure if their mailbox was of the locking drop-box variety, which the duo then designed. (Stealing mail is a federal crime in the 'States, and if you live in a neighborhood that actually has front lawns and mailboxes, chances are your neighbor's not going to risk his CPA license to pilfer your Flowbie; but perceptions are everything.)

In any case, due in large part to Troyer's hustle, Architectural Mailboxes is now carried by Costco, Lowes, Target, and yep, Home Depot.