

The Sugru story - aqrashik
http://sugru.com/story

======
ColinWright
Such a familiar story: great idea, hundreds if not thousands of hours
invested, clearly a strong market, no investor interested.

Get some sales, suddenly investors come out of the woodwork expressing
"passion" and "belief".

Been there. Bankers will lend you an umbrella when you don't need it and
demand it back when it starts raining. So many investors are similar.

But not all. The good ones are better than brilliant.

Well done Sugru - I hope you go from strength to strength.

~~~
stdbrouw
True enough, but you also have to take into account that for anything in the
physical world the risk profile just goes up up up. It took them 8,000 lab
hours to make what they wanted. It could've just as well taken them 16,000
hours to make a product that's only half as good as sugru is, not because of a
bad team or a crappy idea but because molecules simply don't always do what
you want them to do.

~~~
freehunter
Is that 8000 hours from one person, or combined? It could be 5 people working
8 hours days for 6 months, which isn't an incredibly long R&D time.

~~~
adammacleod
The going rate for just wages on a team that size for 6 months would be in the
order of 100-200 thousand, plus all the lab equipment, supplies and whatnot.

Not to mention most investors would see the idea as some form of play-dough
and balk at the idea.

~~~
freehunter
Very good point. I was thinking in terms of hours and did not make the
connection to dollars. Thanks for the reply.

------
oz
I'm not a particularly emotional guy, but something about this story just got
to me - especially the part where they launch and it's sold out in 6 hours.
After so much....so much slog...finally.

Ok. Time to man up.

BTW, notice how the story follows the classic startup curve?

<http://www.flickr.com/photos/caseorganic/6247592885/>

~~~
glimcat
Ever notice how the classic startup curve follows Campbell's "Hero's Journey"?

~~~
marshray
Oh, Sugru can redeem/avenge my father too?!

That is magic stuff! :-)

------
jrmg
I fixed a cheap plastic key fob that was snapping apart with Sugru at their
stand at the Maker Faire in Newcastle in 2010. Just yesterday, after jangling
around continuously in my pockets for a year and a half, and becoming a
substantially worn down and different keyring, it finally broke completely.

The Sugrued part, however, is still in perfect shape, and still attached to
the key ring.

------
marcusf
This is slightly OT, but if someone from Sugru is reading, the page looks
weird in Chrome. The background is very jittery when you scroll (Chrome
15.0.874.121). It stays fixed in Safari and scrolls down in Firefox, and both
look fine, but Chrome looks a bit weird.

~~~
jannes
That's because whoever coded this page decided that it's a good idea to
emulate "background-position: fixed" by updating the "background-position" of
the #main element on every scroll event. Which seems quite stupid if you ask
me.

~~~
WiseWeasel
It's probably done like that because iDevices don't support fixed positioning.
Some browser detection and different CSS/JS profiles based on browser type
would probably be warranted.

~~~
jmonegro
That's idiotic, sacrificing the majority for the minority.

------
yanowitz
Their customer support has also been great. I ordered an early batch, they
discovered it had some problems and proactively notified me, explained they
were manufacturing replacement batches and then sent me the bug fixed version.
And I hadn't yet noticed the problem.

How I wish all companies were like that.

~~~
morsch
6\. Offer surprisingly good customer service.

~~~
becasse
I was surprised when I saw:

12 minipacks in a lovely big pouch Multi-Colour 12x5g __* £11.50 __*

12 minipacks in a lovely big pouch Black and White 12x5g __* £12.50 __*

er,... that's _strange_. Why would the black-and-white ones cost one pound
more? It's just silly anyway - they could easily make them both, say _£12.00_
, and overall they would get enough revenues, and people could just choose the
colour they want!

but hang on a minute! They actually want people to take the colourful ones!
Most people are so mean, that they would rather save £1 and they don't care
about the colour - and then there are lots of nice colourful pictures for the
website. Compare the pictures on <https://www.buymightyputtynow.com/> \- how
boring are they?!

I am totally sure that Sugru is a great product, and has many more uses than
mightyputty etc., after all it's flexible! and grippy! and I will probably buy
some myself for something I do actually want to fix, but the thing Sugru are
doing the best is __* great marketing !!! __*

Well done Sugru, all the best.

------
lambada
Sounds fantastic, although given some of the examples (child-proof camera, and
dishwasher repair) the fact it's not certified as being food or child safe is
slightly disturbing.

I'd play down those two examples if it was me, until it did get certification
from a reputable source.

~~~
freehunter
Yes, the use on medical tubing made me wonder what the effects would be if the
liquid in that tube came into contact with the sugru then was applied
intravenously. Would it break down with liquids? Would it carry it into the
body? The FDA may have something to say about that use, and there _has_ to be
something sanctioned by the doctors that _is_ approved for this use case.

~~~
lambada
Nice catch, I missed the implications on that one, but you're right - seems
like a potential legal nightmare in that particular case.

~~~
AkThhhpppt
Food-safe? Not hardly: "no infection or irritation so far; in fact the site's
doing pretty well, although i had to put superglue out of the toolbox in it
yesterday. if all is still calm by next week, i will take it that Sugru
doesn't cause major immediate damage to the interior of the human body"
<http://sapiensanonym.blogspot.com/2010/07/progress-bar.html>

~~~
freehunter
I have no idea what the context behind this is, but that man is completely
insane. From reading a small amount of his site, he seems to think he's going
to get a research grant for implanting magnets in his face and shoving things
into his hands? He seems to think it's all safe, but every other post on his
blog is about how sick he is, how his hard drive is wrecked (what do magnets
do, again?), and how much pain he's in? It seems he's seeing a psychologist,
which is a good thing, but it doesn't seem to be working well for him. At any
rate, I'd hardly consider this to be a great source, considering there are
many details on his blog about how his flesh is dying where he as implanted
random objects.

There are people out there working on cyborg and transhuman technologies.
People with training, expertise, and something to fall back on besides the
NHS.

~~~
AkThhhpppt
More information can be found here,
<http://hplusmagazine.com/2010/02/11/scrapheap-transhumanism/>, or here:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-Dv6dDtdcs> The illness is pre-existing, and
the hard drive death unconnected; the size of magnet used for implantation is
too weak to affect anything stored on a hard drive. And yes, there are. Most
of them are being funded by the DoD and are doing things miles beyond the
reach of mere mortals; the rest are in Warwick's lab in Reading - in fact, on
that note:
[https://www.noisebridge.net/pipermail/cyborg/attachments/201...](https://www.noisebridge.net/pipermail/cyborg/attachments/20110120/89ccdbd5/attachment-0001.pdf)
\- the research paper on implanted magnets written by two of Warwick's
research students.

------
maguay
That may be the quickest a site has ever sold me on something ... I'd never
heard of it before this, and just ordered a pack to Thailand, and the shipping
was only £1.91 to Thailand. Now that's awesome.

~~~
pyrhho
Same. I really appreciated the little dynamic order-summary text at the bottom
of the order form. It includes your shipping city to make the text really
friendly and personal. It's probably the first order summary I've actually
_enjoyed_ reading. Little things, man!

------
dekz
Having "I have a voucher code" on your payment page is just a reminder that I
may not be getting an awesome deal and leads to me leaving the page to quickly
search, often forgetting about an impulse buy in the process.

Lovely story and marketing of the community though.

------
DanielN
God, why are physical product startups so terrible. I understand it's the
nature of the beast. But still, it's been at least 25 years since the advent
of carrier shipping and the proliferation of make-piece manufacturing
throughout Asia.

I suspect there is a billion dollars in it for someone with supply chain
experience who wants to make the Amazon of manufacturing.

~~~
muxxa
Ponoko: <http://www.ponoko.com/> aims to be the Amazon/Ebay of manufacturing.

------
bialecki
This is a such a great story. It's valuable for a lot of reasons, but I like
it simply because it's a story of success from having a passion, working hard
and persevering. Kind of the same way I don't think I could never watch too
many inspirational movies (Remember the Titans, Miracle, Rudy, etc. come to
mind), I don't think I could ever read too many stories like this.

You can't read stories like this all day (at some point you have to work on
changing your corner of the world), but having something like this once a week
is super motivating.

------
nodata
Shipping to Europe: £0.96. That's service!

(but please monitor+scale your buying page - it's often down)

------
niklas_a
Seems like an excellent use for Kickstarter. Too bad that didn't exist when
they got started!

~~~
david927
This seems like an excellent example for loosening regulations so that people
other than millionaires can invest in startups.

You want innovation? You want jobs? You want people excited about the future
again? Make this one change (combined with efforts to ensure due diligence).

~~~
spacemanaki
Honestly curious because I know nothing: what regulations prevent non-
millionaires from investing in startups? I thought that's what "friends and
family" type of financing was...

~~~
ChuckMcM
SEC rules in the United States restrict the sale of unregistered shares in a
corporation to 'qualified' investors. For an LLC or LLP you create your own
rules which you outline in the Articles of Organization and they let you sell
parts of the company to friends and family. I've seen several great links on
the pros/cons of various company organizations here and elsewhere.

~~~
jplewicke
Even better, there is a major effort underway to legalize investing in
startups by anyone. A bill (HR 2390 ) has already passed the House, and
there's draft resolution in the Senate that would do the same thing. The main
limitation will be that people won't be able to invest more than 1% of their
net worth in any given startup, and that startups can't raise more than $1
million through it.

<http://crowdfundinglaw.com/> has some more information.

~~~
ChuckMcM
Love the concept but fear the implementation. We live in a world where one
stupid person tries to feed a grizzly and gets killed, and the 'fix' is to ban
hikers / campers from the region where the Grizzlies live. The US has
temporarily lost the concept of 'personal responsiblity' and so when someone
does something poorly and pays a price, every one who could do it and benefit
are banned from participating.

This bill, if it becomes law, will survive until one stupid person loses their
1% net worth and then sues anybody and everybody because they were 'tricked'
or otherwise decieved and then the whole thing will become illegal again. The
reason the existing rules are not kicked out is because they are setup only to
screw 'rich people' who are not considered a 'protected class' by the voters.

Yes, its a bit cynical but you can see evidence of this thinking everywhere.
From banning dogs in National parks to making chemistry sets illegal.

------
danmaz74
If someone from sugru is reading; from the about page: once it has been
removed _the it’s_ packaging

------
jsilence
Well done Sugruonians!

Fixed the broken side brushes of my Deebot yesterday. With Sugru of course.
Very nice material, easy to handle, good results. Recommend it.

-jsl

------
ajays
What an amazing story!

It is interesting how much they mention "community". I have a feeling that
forming such a community of early adopters and treating them well is the
future of marketing. The days of "build a better mousetrap" may be numbered;
now you not only need a better mousetrap, you also need a community of people
who will use it and support you.

~~~
mgkimsal
difficult balance. you still need a better mousetrap to have those 'raving
fans' in the first place. only so many people will join a community (and stay)
out of pity or goodwill. The product/service still has to be _good_ to start
with. Alternatively, there has to be some belief that the product/service
_will become_ good, if it's not from day 1. But that belief can only be
sustained for so long without evidence.

------
jamesgagan
I knew I'd seen this stuff before! <https://www.buymightyputtynow.com>

~~~
asmithmd1
And this is another one, these work better because they are 2 part epoxies and
cure all the way through - no need to be exposed to air

[http://www.polymericsystems.com/epoxies-adhesives/epoxy-
putt...](http://www.polymericsystems.com/epoxies-adhesives/epoxy-putty-
tapes/kneadatite-blue-yellow.htm)

This stuff has been around for more that 30 years. What she really discovered,
more than the putty, is a new way to market the stuff.

~~~
brazzy
There's a number of significant differences:

\- Curing via oxygen exposure makes mixing unnecessary, which is a bit more
convenient

\- The cured material is elastic rather than rigid, which makes it more suited
for many applications

\- It can be cut and removed more easily

------
Zirro
Sweet story. A part fell of my earphones a few days ago, exposing the water-
sensitive internals. I think I'll order a pack of Sugru and see if I can fix
them myself :)

------
zeruch
It's a compelling story and its well presented here. I'm a fan, as I've found
Sugru works really well for extending the life of the Vibram shoes I use trail
running (although it took some practice to apply it in a way that didn't leave
me with a lumpy foot). They have a pretty neat product and service it well.

Good for them.

------
InfinityX0
Lost within the story is the amazing, powerful way they delivered the message
of how they came to be. Subtle, unique storytelling that is quite unlike
anything I've seen before in the way it was presented. Clearly, there's a
whole heaping of talented people in there - and not just an amazing product.

------
giddas
Never heard of this stuff before - ordering my first pack now!

Will be getting some for friends for Xmas.

------
ortatherox
I bought some the moment it appeared in boingboing, I still get asked about it
now

------
BadiPod
Totally cool. But I am looking for a video that shows you trying to pry two
items apart. I want to see how strong the bond is.

The video of the stack of items isn't enough to see how strong the bond truly
is.

------
gnosis
How To Make Your Own Sugru Substitute:

[http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Make-Your-Own-
Sugru-S...](http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Make-Your-Own-Sugru-
Substitute/)

------
sp332
Just checked, it's already on Hacker Things
<http://hackerthings.com/product/sugru-silicone-rubber-100109>

------
darkstar999
Can someone tell me the difference between Sugru and products like InstaMorph
(polycaprolactone)?

~~~
gnosis
I haven't tried either, but from what I've read, InstaMorph (aka "Friendly
Plastic") needs heat to melt it and make it moldable, and can be reused
indefinitely simply by re-melting it.

Sugru, on the other hand, does not need to be heated. It is moldable
immediately after opening the package, and it self-cures at room temperature
30 minutes after being opened. Once it cures, it can not be reused.

From what I've read about it, Sugru sounds very much like ordinary epoxy
putty, except that it might be softer or more rubbery than regular epoxy putty
once it's cured. Or maybe it could be called a silicone in an epoxy putty-like
form. While "Friendly Plastic" is more like ordinary plastic that's moldable
when very warm.

------
senthil_rajasek
Why is this better than duct tape? I use duct tape for a lot of these things.

~~~
jjcm
Duct tape doesn't generally provide structural integrity. I snapped some
headphones (big over the ear ones) in half the other day. Duct tape wouldn't
have held them together (or rather, it'd have just bent and not clenched my
head like they should). Slapped some sugru on, it hardened up, and I was good
to go.

~~~
ugh
Duct tape is also not aesthetically pleasing.

------
danso
I read the origin page and then immediately went to the purchase page in case
the HN rush brings their site down.

~~~
nicwest
did you see the " _OK [my name]. Just to recap, we're going to send your
[quantity] [product] to your place in [where I live]. Your email address is
[email], just in case. You’re paying via [payment method]._ " thing at the end
of the payment form? that blew my mind (simple as it is!).

------
iand
Really inspiring story

------
nirvana
Imagine if patents had been eliminated. They would have died once a big
company like 3M got a sample back to their lab.

This company exists because they were able to patent their invention.

People say that patents are bad because everything relies on previous efforts.
Well, they didn't invent silicon rubber. They didn't invent the volatile
compound that allows their rubber to cure overnight. But they did invent a new
thing.

Pretty analogous to software patents and combinations software-hardware
patents like the iPhone's multi-touch.

~~~
JoshTriplett
One of the major reasons that people oppose software patents specifically,
rather than all patents: software already has copyright, while physical
objects don't.

Also, even if a company like 3M _did_ start making the stuff (and patents or
no patents, they easily could by finding a different variation), do you really
think that would put Sugru out of business, given the kind of community
they've managed to build?

~~~
ericd
>Also, even if a company like 3M did start making the stuff (and patents or no
patents, they easily could by finding a different variation), do you really
think that would put Sugru out of business, given the kind of community
they've managed to build?

Absolutely. If not put them out of business, it would completely cripple their
future prospects. 3M has MASSIVE distribution. When Suguru finally gets to the
store in their town, why would Joe and Jane buy from some brand they've never
heard of when they've been using the 3M equivalent for a year and it's been
working great?

