Saturday, October 20, 2012

Too Hip To Kick It?



Both JJ and I are huge fans of Kickstarter. Is Kickstarter a fan of us?  Not so much.



In order to get things moving with the phono corrector we decided to try Kickstarter and offer up a few units at a reduced cost to get the EMIA ball rolling.  Ultimately the EMIA model has the units being sold through dealer network so the final price will need to take that into consideration.  However with all of our capital at risk we decided a few of the early ones could "squeak out the back door" at a reduced price to ramp things up.  We did need a means to draw a line in the sand to protect us in the future.

Kickstarter seemed to be the perfect venue to draw that line.  We jumped through all their hoops and they declined us providing a list of smaller hoops we needed to jump through.  We thought we did pretty well, hell JJ even played "Ed Wood" and uploaded a video!  Alas we were declined again.  They did do us the favor of allowing a public preview of the declined project so we ask you to take a peek and tell us where we went wrong.  (the video alone is worth the price of entry)

Our Kickstarted project.
 

Here is a list of the "special guidelines" we were required to meet.

• A functional prototype must be shown. If an adequate demonstration requires video, a video demo must be included in the project description or project video. Still images alone will not suffice.



check...

• Simulations of functionality and photorealistic renderings are prohibited. Products can only be shown performing actions that they're able to perform in their current state of development. No exceptions.


sure sounds like music to me... maybe a picture of the bling on the back panel would convince them.



• Detailed information regarding the creator's background and experience must be included in the bio or project description.

our bios say it all... anything more would be BS.

• A thorough manufacturing plan must be described. Details should include steps taken in the product development process up to the point of project launch as well as production and fulfillment plans post project success.

working prototypes.... done.... playing as I type.  delivery by Festivus is a promise not to be taken lightly.

• Creators can only offer one of a single item or one sensible unit of multiple items. For example, if you had a drinking glasses project, you could choose to offer 1 glass per reward tier, or if a set makes more sense, 1 set of 4 for each tier. You could not offer 1 glass in one tier and 4 in another tier.


check.  single item, single tier.  Do they really want to be a place to hawk $25 T-shits and $50 record bags?

Unfortunately, this project did not satisfactorily meet these requirements, which means we are unable to accept it. This isn't a judgment on the quality of this project, just a reflection of our focus.Ahh... Focus.  That must be it.

I guess that means we need to refocus and offer up the same deal here.  The quantity is limited to 6,  4 commitments are needed for the "deal" to go through.  As a plus since Kickstarter will not be getting their 5% the price is now $2400.

Comments below secure your place in line.  Private correspondence will hash out the details if needed.

peace,

us




8 comments:

  1. I don't know what their problem is.
    Seeing those naked prototypes is enough for me
    to beg for a place in line.
    Well, maybe it's that picture on the wall.
    Some thing about addiction........

    ReplyDelete
  2. I don't think Lower Manhattan cyber-hipsters like compactrons, yo....shouldn't have mentioned 6J11!!

    Actually they probably didn't even know what the damn thing is..."phono corrector" is a bit of an arcane, if technically correct, way to refer to such a device.

    "Phono amplifier" or simply "preamp" would have been more accessible to those digital age whippersnappers!

    Kickstarter or no, I heard the thing and it is a kick-ass phono corrector.

    ReplyDelete
  3. J-ROB is correct and they likely don't even know what phono is either. Perhaps you should try record instead of phono or perhaps even big black cd.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just say "ANALOG, duuuuude" and they'll catch on.

      Jackson usually talks like this anyway.

      Zero Bling duuuude....

      Delete
  4. Wait, I think you applied to "Kickstand", the place where projects go to get parked. You guys should really do this on your own without the traditional "third party retail model". You can do this with the "artist" model.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm good for one as long as you don't sell so many that the 99% get them too....

    Willard

    ReplyDelete
  6. thanks everyone! we have sold MORE than we planned... and in only a couple of days!

    now to meet that Festivus deadline...

    Peace,
    Me

    ReplyDelete

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