1. The LOOP (earbud anti-tangling device).

• Author: Peterson, Eric
• Position: SMALL BIZ: MADE IN COLORADO

Architect Scott Rodwin remembers his exact inspiration for The LOOP roughly four years ago. "I was at the Colorado Athletic Club in Boulder," he remembers. "I pulled my ear-buds out of my pocket and they're a tangled mess." As he struggled to unravel the wires, another gym patron had the same thing happen, and loudly asked, "Why can't anybody fix this?"

Rodwin went home, got to work and invented The LOOP--a user-friendly disc ringed by cleats that keep wires uncrossed. Rodwin launched the patented product at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show...