

iPod nano Watch Project Makes Kickstarter History - apedley
http://mashable.com/2010/12/17/kickstarter-ipod-nano/

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trizk
It should be noted that they have not really raised any equity capital. The
$1M are pre-orders for the iPod Nano watch, and hence is revenue. In this
sense, Kickstarter is ingeniously being used as a platform for virally
marketing the product (concept) and as a sales channel. Kudos to them for
their success.

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muhfuhkuh
Kickstarter is shaping up to be the ultimate R&D/test marketing platform. You
have an idea, you can make prototypes, you test market the prototype on
Kickstarter, the consumer speaks with their wallet, and you can either take it
to the mainstream or gracefully exit whilst giving away some "exclusive"
tchotchkes to the people who paid in.

It could also become the manufacturing version of a "pop-up store", where
potential buyers are given "exclusive" timed access to a product before it
hits the mainstream outlets. This exudes value (like the Humble Game Bundles
or Macheist) while focusing laser-sharp on just one product (a la woot) and is
compelling to our baser consumer desires for access, urgency, and exclusivity.

Could be an interesting pivot for kickstarter (or perhaps be a nice niche for
someone to exploit).

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EGreg
Actually I have been toying with this idea as a new way to produce art. Books.
Movies, etc.

Because if take as an axiom that "once it's out there, it will be copied" then
what if all the reliable money to be made was already made before the movie
was released, and at the theaters, concerts, and physical books?

You could follow the progress of movies and fund them if you liked what you
saw.

But there needs to be more incentive.

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chaosmachine
Lots of comments from yesterday:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2015076>

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6ren
Now that this idea is validated, Apple will:

    
    
        A) acquire MINIMAL and hire Scott Wilson
        B) produce their own version
        C) not enter this market...
    

As a fashionable, designed product, it seems right up their alley, and Moore's
Law says each version will get smaller. It's one of the few positions to carry
a device, that people are used to (phone, watch, wallet, purse, keys, glasses,
shoes, clothing, necklace, bracelet, ring).

BTW: How far off are facetime watches (aka _Dick Tracy wristphone_ )? BTW: LG
announced one in 2009 (multitouch, no video):
<http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,477744,00.html> and someone claims _not a
good idea_ <http://dvice.com/archives/2010/07/wrist-speakerph.php>

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StavrosK
Somewhat tangentially, kickstarter seems to be one of the most successful
startups these days, but you rarely hear about it. Why is that? They made,
what, 100k off this item alone?

It seems like a company angels would do well to invest in...

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jackowayed
Their margins aren't that high. They charge 5%, and I think ~3% goes to
Amazon, so on this they'll make ~$20k.

And since most projects are _much_ smaller, I'd guess that in an average
month, $1M is roughly the sum of all of their pledges. $20k/month is not a lot
to run a business on. So I'd guess that they've taken investment.

~~~
ryanlchan
This is incorrect. The 5% fee is actually charged in addition to Amazon's
fees. (see <https://www.kickstarter.com/help/faq#WhatFeesDoesKickChar>). This
doesn't make much of a difference in profitability (20k vs 50k still isn't a
whole lot), but it's something. Enough, at least, to keep bootstrapping.

And that's the main point of it - not to make a whole bunch of money, but to
offer a really great service. As evidence, the Kickstarter guys have been
going for a few years now, and it wasn't until very recently that they started
taking any money out. They're really passionate about helping artists,
filmmakers, and creatives find the funding that they need.

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DanI-S
Follow the link and check out the video of his trip to China, here:

[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1104350651/tiktok-
lunati...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1104350651/tiktok-lunatik-
multi-touch-watch-kits/posts/44218)

Starting around half way through they show the process for preparing the
silicone for the straps. It's absolutely mesmerising!

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acgourley
This is a great way to take a product from concept to production.

But why do people want a watch they need 2 hands to read the time with, must
be charged, and offers less functionality than most normal watches?

I guess I know the answer, watches are not really for telling time anymore,
are they.

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simonw
I saw Kickstarte mentioned in a regional South African airline's inflight
magazine today (1time) - a photography project about South Africans and their
bicycles.

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EGreg
My biggest question is, how did he get publicity? I doubt that simply putting
a project on kickstart is gonna do it.

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DanielBMarkham
This is a very good point.

We keep reading stories with business porn in the titles. Kickstarter is
totally awesome, don't get me wrong. And this is a cool idea.

But the critical question is: how the heck did one random idea get so much
movement? Because it's not just random, and it's not just generated by
quality. If there's one thing I've learned on the web, is that social sites
are somewhat deterministic.

So -- wonder what they did? Cross-promote? Blog a lot? Get some good press?
That's the kind of stuff that is truly interesting and valuable, not the one
mil in funding or even the coolness of the idea or the site.

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hop
A good product design, those renderings are eye candy for tech blogs to
repost, a great video, and people love rooting for the small guy. It's
almost... why wouldn't it get a ton of press.

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EGreg
well how would it get picked up?

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napierzaza
100,000$. Not a million.

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ugh
$941,648 (minus Kickstarter’s 5 percent cut, less then $900,000 in the end).

A million is not accurate (but neither the headline nor the article ever refer
to a million) but $100,000 is even less accurate.

