Inventor appears on new Steve Harvey show
Pflugerville resident Mike Bradford wears many hats: father, husband, software developer and inventor. Now he can add showman to that list.
Bradford presented his invention, the Wonderffle Stuffed Waffle Iron, on a new show, “Steve Harvey’s Funderdome,” on ABC. His appearance on the show, which aired last month and is available online at abc.go.com, showcases his original cordless cooking device.
A former welding engineer at General Motors, Bradford said he conceived his invention while having lunch with friends a few years ago at an Austin diner. His friend ordered chicken and waffles, which led him to ponder a way to cook stuffed waffles that people could eat on the go.
He searched online but couldn’t find an iron that combined ingredients the way he had envisioned. So, as he said on his website, “I decided to finally make use of that mechanical engineering degree I had earned many years prior and started designing one myself.”
Bradford said he first heard of the show through an email sent by a local entrepreneurial group. He happened to get the message the same day he got laid off from his job.
Bradford sent the show’s casting coordinator an email with a link to a website he created for the invention. While it piqued the interest of the show, Bradford was pondering whether to open a food truck and start cooking waffles or manufacture and sell the waffle iron.
“I decided to go with the waffle iron and left the waffles to the real chefs,” he said.
During the audition, he said the crew vetted his idea and told him about how the show works. “They want people to be very interactive,” he said.
While expecting automated laughter from the audience, Bradford said he was pleasantly surprised to hear genuine enthusiasm from the crowd. The applause and cheers, he assured, are real.
“They were prepping me during filming and told me about the importance of showing enthusiasm for your product,” Bradford said. “But I didn’t know until much later if I was going to be on the show.”
Bradford said he wasn’t necessarily fixated on making it into the show as he was preparing to launch his business from home. He secured a business loan and partnered with a manufacturer in Frisco to build produce the waffle iron. With support from the Small Business Administration and the SCORE Association, he wrote a business plan and received mentorship to help guide him through the process.
For Bradford, it was never about having his 15 minutes of fame so much as having a way to launch a successful business, whether through the traditional route or via the TV show.
“I really just wanted to work hard and validate the money and time that I’ve invested in the product,” he said.
Interacting with Steve Harvey was another perk. “Comedy just goes through his bones,” Bradford said of the show’s host. “I could tell he cared about the contestants.”
Bradford said he aims to take on his creation as a full-time gig, but for now he works remotely for a California-based software company.