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When hardware Kickstarters ship

engineering.koalasafe.com

31–40 of 91 posts

Re: When hardware Kickstarters ship

#31

Hardware fulfillment has improved considerably since kickstarter became a preorder store for established companies[1] with lots of money[2], rather than a place to support individuals with project ideas at the prototype stage. [1] https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/597507018/pebble-time-a... [2] https://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/technology?r...

I know what you mean. Around the time of our campaign these guys [1] were on every major news website in Australia (paid ads, not stories). Their marketing budget must have been huge. I've heard Sony launches stuff under different names too just to test the market.

It does have one positive side effect though - more people come to the platform.

[1] https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nonda/get-your-macbook-...

Re: When hardware Kickstarters ship

#32
post #30

Nice clickbait title for advertising their own product concealed as a 3 sentence "retrospective", good thing HN allows submitters to change titles to something more descriptive and less clickbaity than the original... On the postitive side, the product itself looks quite sleek. I could use some of the features myself to limit my own time on HN, or the time my wife spends on facebook.

We're always happy to change baity titles if someone suggests a better one.

The post is a bit lightweight, but that's made up for by the substantive discussion. The author clearly struck a nerve. It's ok for that to be rewarded with a top spot on HN, even if the post is promoting something.

Re: When hardware Kickstarters ship

#33
post #12

I've shipped one hardware product on Kickstarter [1] and I'm in the process of fulfilling the second [2]. Lessons I've learned are: 1. Design with your factory. Finding a good supplier is important but the real work starts once you've shaken hands. Your factory is your greatest resource as a presumably inexperienced hardware designer. It's like having an expert-level consultant work on your project for free, so take…

The Rideye looks great. Is that based off the keychain cams widely used in R/C video? Like the 808 #16 or the Möbius?

Re: When hardware Kickstarters ship

#34
As someone with over 30 years in hardware + software + mechanical product design and manufacturing one thing that always bothers me on Kickstarter is the dishonesty of funding goals.

Now, I do realize quite a few project owners come at it without the product manufacturing experience. I definitely get that part. Yet, I don't see it as an excuse. People need to do due diligence and get numbers closer to reality.

I remember one of the first (if not the first) RGB LED light bulb project (don't remember the name), perhaps two years ago. I think they went out with a raise target of $50K. If I remember correctly, they ended-up raising nearly $2MM.

The instant I saw that campaign I knew that if they raised anywhere south of somewhere between $1MM and $2MM there was no way in hell they'd be able to get the project done and delivered. The required iterations covering DFM (Design for Manufacturing), mechanical, electrical, firmware, tooling, environmental testing and regulatory testing would burn cash as if it were free. In hardware, each iteration cost real money --and potentially lots of it. $50K was not going to make a dent.

If they go into it knowing the funding goal will not be sufficient and are banking on exceeding it, they are simply not being honest.

My scam alerts go off immediately when I see such a severe project-to-funding-target mismatch. And that's why I call it "dishonest". It could also be "naive" but, again, it's the old "ignorance of the law isn't an excuse" situation. If you are going to go on Kickstarter with a hardware project and have no prior experience in manufacturing, do everyone a favor, do your homework and set a funding goal that will not have you scam your supporters out of money when you burn through it too quickly and can't deliver.

Re: When hardware Kickstarters ship

#35
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Out of curiosity, did you end up shipping to the rest of your Kickstarter pledgers for [1]?

Yes, all pledges were fulfilled and the product is now shipping through our website and retail channels.

Are you finding any significant amount of "post kickstarter" orders?

Re: When hardware Kickstarters ship

#37

As someone with over 30 years in hardware + software + mechanical product design and manufacturing one thing that always bothers me on Kickstarter is the dishonesty of funding goals. Now, I do realize quite a few project owners come at it without the product manufacturing experience. I definitely get that part. Yet, I don't see it as an excuse. People need to do due diligence and get numbers closer to reality. I reme…

It's probably the number one question we get asked now rebootthesystem, by people in our network who considering KS. It's a catch 22. Aim too low, you can't deliver (unless you get additional capital... which might be the point), aim too high, people don't believe you'll get there, project fails.

It's because of these incompatible goals that projects will keep going to low and keep posting eulogies on HN.

Re: When hardware Kickstarters ship

#38

Clicking the green "Learn more" button on http://koalasafe.com/ scrolls the page to the next section in Chrome and Safari, but does nothing in Firefox and IE11. I filed a webcompat bug: https://webcompat.com/issues/1570

Thanks mate. Admittedly we don't typically test with those browser when we push changes. :|

Re: When hardware Kickstarters ship

#39
post #33
post #12

I've shipped one hardware product on Kickstarter [1] and I'm in the process of fulfilling the second [2]. Lessons I've learned are: 1. Design with your factory. Finding a good supplier is important but the real work starts once you've shaken hands. Your factory is your greatest resource as a presumably inexperienced hardware designer. It's like having an expert-level consultant work on your project for free, so take…

The Rideye looks great. Is that based off the keychain cams widely used in R/C video? Like the 808 #16 or the Möbius?

That was the original design intent, since the 808 camera provided all the video recording functions I needed. I thought I would just buy a bunch of cameras and make some carrier boards for them. I was just out of college at the time, and my coworkers recognized my naivety. They suggested I contact the 808 manufacturer for a custom board spin, and that opened my eyes to the world of mass manufacturing in China. To make a long story short, I completely redesigned the product for scale [1] and that's the version I shipped to my backers.

In retrospect, the original version which I presented on Kickstarter would have been a miserable failure of a product. I was lucky to have backers who supported me and provided invaluable feedback through a few months of delays while I finished the redesign.

[1] http://www.rideye.com/

Re: When hardware Kickstarters ship

#40
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, all pledges were fulfilled and the product is now shipping through our website and retail channels.

Awesome. I asked mainly because after being hit by a car, I'm definitely in the market for a product like yours.

Email me at cedric@rideye.com and I'll send you a coupon code!
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