Joan Dao did not begin her career expecting to design handbags. Her academic background was in neuroscience, and she spent time around student engineers and designers largely because she enjoyed building things. The idea that eventually became Ilesovi started with a problem much closer to home.
Dao’s mother was leaving a grocery store when two people followed her, grabbed her handbag, knocked her to the ground, and ran. The theft cost her cash, identification, banking information, and personal belongings, but Dao remembers the lasting effect more clearly than the financial loss. Her mother, previously confident and independent, became afraid to carry the bags she loved and uneasy about going out alone.
That changed the problem for Dao. Replacing what had been stolen was one task, but restoring a sense of normalcy required something else.
The Existing Products Solved the Wrong Problem
Dao initially assumed she could buy her mother a more secure handbag. She began looking at anti-theft and travel products and quickly found plenty of features, including locking zippers, slash-resistant materials, RFID protection, and reinforced straps.
What she did not find was something her mother would actually want to carry. Many existing security products looked technical, outdoors-oriented, or conspicuously protective, which created a new compromise. A woman could have more security, but she might have to give up the aesthetics and familiarity of the handbag she already preferred.
Dao saw that trade-off as unnecessary. Her goal became a bag that worked first as a handbag and happened to contain security technology, rather than a security device disguised as an accessory.
That distinction shaped Ilesovi. The bag uses biometric access, reinforced construction, cut-resistant material, location tracking, and an anti-pry frame, but Dao wanted those elements to remain visually quiet. Someone looking at the product should see a purse before they see a piece of security equipment.
A Good Idea Still Has to Become a Real Product
The earliest prototype looked nothing like a finished luxury accessory. Dao still keeps one of the first versions, made from recycled upholstery leather, hand-bent steel, and a 3D-printed locking mechanism.
It proved that the idea could exist physically, which mattered more at that stage than whether every detail was elegant. Once there was something tangible to test, weaknesses became easier to identify. A lock positioned in the center, for example, still left corners vulnerable to prying, while different materials introduced questions about weight, structure, durability, and comfort.
Dao had to learn areas far removed from neuroscience. She studied leather construction, tactical fabrics, ballistic materials, manufacturing, electronics, ergonomics, and how different materials behave when combined. Each improvement introduced another constraint because strengthening one part of the product could affect its weight, appearance, manufacturing cost, or usability.
That process changed her understanding of invention. An idea can be convincing on paper and still fail once materials, manufacturing tolerances, user behavior, and cost enter the picture.
Fashion and Security Operate on Different Timelines
Dao also discovered that technology and fashion develop very differently. A technology company may spend a year refining one major device before releasing the next version, while fashion businesses are accustomed to multiple products, seasons, styles, and faster design cycles.
Ilesovi sits between those worlds. The electronics and locking systems require the discipline of a technical product, while the exterior has to satisfy expectations people bring to fashion. Neither side can simply be treated as decoration around the other.
Customer feedback reinforced that point. When Dao described Ilesovi primarily as a secure or smart handbag, some people pictured something bulky or unattractive before ever seeing it. Once they saw the product, their reaction changed because the security features were much less visible than they expected.
That experience taught Dao that explaining an invention is part of designing it. If customers misunderstand what the product is before they encounter it, technical performance alone cannot solve the problem.
Manufacturing Became Its Own Education
Finding manufacturers proved nearly as difficult as designing the bag. Dao initially tried building in-house, then relied on introductions, favors, overseas relationships, and a series of prototypes produced through different partners.
Those efforts took her from Vietnam to Turkey and exposed another reality of physical-product startups. Manufacturers protect their relationships, quality varies, communication can be difficult, and an entrepreneur without deep industry experience can make expensive mistakes quickly.
Dao describes much of her early progress as operating through an “economy of favors.” When money was limited, relationships became a form of capital. Engineers, attorneys, manufacturers, students, and other founders who were willing to make introductions or defer costs helped move the company forward when a conventional startup budget could not.
The same lesson applied to fundraising. Dao entered the venture capital world when startup funding was abundant and initially believed a strong idea could largely sell itself. After difficult experiences pitching investors, she came to understand how different technical merit is from the ability to sell a business opportunity.
Protecting the Idea Without Protecting It to Death
Ilesovi eventually secured patent protection in the United States and China. Dao focused the patent on how the security functions work together rather than trying to own the general appearance of a handbag.
That gives the company room to develop different shapes while protecting the combination of security features at the center of the invention. It also reflects Dao’s broader view that competition itself is not the enemy. She would rather see more companies thinking seriously about women’s personal security than remain the only person working on the problem.
For Dao, the harder challenge is making security fit naturally into everyday life. People rarely want to be reminded constantly that something dangerous could happen, and products that announce fear can become burdens of their own.
Ilesovi grew from the belief that safety can be quieter than that. The product does not need to look like protective equipment to help someone feel more prepared.
Dao’s original goal was to help her mother carry a handbag confidently again. Years of engineering, manufacturing setbacks, patent work, investor conversations, and prototypes have expanded that goal, but the basic requirement has stayed the same: if a security product asks women to sacrifice too much to use it, many simply will not.
The better product is one that fits into the life they already want to live.
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