Joshua Lifton says:12:36 PM Of make them by hand. :)

sheffieldnick says:12:36 PM How do you keep backers happy, provide regular updates, etc. and still get actual work on moving the project forward? ;) Do you *need* someone dedicated to the communications?

Eric Moyer has joined this room.12:37 PM

Arsenijs says:12:37 PM I like this question, would like to know this myself =)

doug.leppard says:12:37 PM for one I designed around an existing enclosure worked well for the MVP

Joshua Lifton says:12:37 PM Hi, @Arsenijs :)

Joshua Lifton says:12:37 PM Someone has to own communications, but that shouldn't be their only job.

Joshua Lifton says:12:38 PM You have to be super responsive.

Joshua Lifton says:12:38 PM And super upfront about your status.

Joshua Lifton says:12:38 PM Don't hide anything or brush problems out of sight.

Joshua Lifton says:12:38 PM I recommend a meaty update at least once a week during the campaign and then at least once every two to four weeks afterward until you deliver.

Radomir Dopieralski says:12:39 PM you mean people like to see how the sausages are made?

Joshua Lifton says:12:39 PM Updates can be pics of your process, lamentations of delays, high fives of reaching a milestone, etc.

Joshua Lifton says:12:39 PM Yes.

Shayna says:12:39 PM Next Q also from @Jarrett : "How do you plan for FCC testing?"

Radomir Dopieralski says:12:39 PM provided they are all-organic artisanal sausages, I guess

Shayna says:12:39 PM Hah

Arsenijs says:12:40 PM Hi, @Joshua Lifton !

Joshua Lifton says:12:40 PM Here are some examples I particularly like: https://www.crowdsupply.com/sutajio-kosagi/novena/updates https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop/updates

Joshua Lifton says:12:40 PM @Radomir Dopieralski Yes, this is Portland, after all. :)

sheffieldnick says:12:40 PM What do you think about setting a maximum number of orders during the campaign, so you don't accidentally have a run-away success and all the logistical/management problems of suddenly running a $1 million company?? lol

Joshua Lifton says:12:40 PM FCC testing is another question we get a lot.

Shayna says:12:40 PM Unlabeled (Maybe that one's @Oluwatobi Oyinlola ?) but along with @Jarrett 's Q there's also "Is FCC/RF emission testing required for small batched of products?"

Shayna says:12:41 PM batches* rather

Joshua Lifton says:12:41 PM I won't give certification advice here, but I'll say that many projects choose not to get it and treat their product as a development kit instead.

Arsenijs says:12:42 PM Have there been any problems with that approach?

Joshua Lifton says:12:42 PM On the other hand, some products require it. For example: https://www.crowdsupply.com/ugl/ultimate-hacking-keyboard/updates/emc-pre-compliance-testing-successful

Joshua Lifton says:12:42 PM No problems that I know of, but it has to genuinely be a dev kit.

sako0938 says:12:43 PM From what I read, just putting the board in a box doesnt count as a kit

Joshua Lifton says:12:43 PM @sheffieldnick Regarding capping the number of units, that's certainly possible on CS, but we also have a way that is usually better.

Radomir Dopieralski says:12:43 PM where is the threshold?

Arsenijs says:12:44 PM What if being a development kit is one of the device's purposes?

Joshua Lifton says:12:44 PM That way is to build your production schedule into our system so that the delivery date automatically changes based on the number of orders placed.

sheffieldnick says:12:44 PM That sounds good :)

Shayna says:12:45 PM From @David : "What safetly requirements are needed for high-voltage electronics? i.e. Jacobs Ladders etc"

Joshua Lifton says:12:45 PM Be safe?

Joshua Lifton says:12:45 PM I advise being safe.

Shayna says:12:46 PM Well put

Joshua Lifton says:12:46 PM We are about to ship a power supply (https://www.crowdsupply.com/envox/eez-h24005) and they included a warning in the box.

sako0938 says:12:46 PM Did they get UL listing?

Joshua Lifton says:12:46 PM No. It's a kit you have to put together yourself.

Radomir Dopieralski says:12:47 PM inside the box, "if you can read this, you are risking an electric shock" ;)

Joshua Lifton says:12:47 PM :)

Joshua Lifton says:12:47 PM Of course, Crowd Supply deals with products that generally aren't going to be found on the shelves of Target.

Shayna says:12:47 PM From a mysterious anonymous author: "What sort of advice does crowd supply typically provide to projects on pricing?"

Todd says:12:47 PM so the paper is itself electrified? ;)

Shayna says:12:48 PM don't read it and you'll be fine

Joshua Lifton says:12:48 PM Dealing with someplace like Target and their customers is a completely different story.

Joshua Lifton says:12:48 PM Regarding pricing, we are strongly opinionated. :)

Joshua Lifton says:12:48 PM We have two reasons for this: we want the project to succeed and we want to sell the product afterward.

Joshua Lifton says:12:49 PM We usually examine the BOM and suggest pricing accordingly. The final decision is the creator's, of course.

sako0938 says:12:50 PM Any rule of thumb markup rule?

sheffieldnick says:12:50 PM Do you subscribe to 2.5x COGS or similar?

Joshua Lifton says:12:50 PM Depends on the product and actual price range.

sheffieldnick says:12:51 PM Do you recommend selling with very little profit during a campaign to get the interest, and then increase prices for future orders? Or aim to pay wages and keep the lights on from day 1 ?

Joshua Lifton says:12:51 PM For most products, you'll want to offer a nice discount during the campaign, ramp up the price for pre-orders, ramp up again for retail sales, and have enough margin for some channel partners.

Joshua Lifton says:12:52 PM @sheffieldnick the main value of crowdfunding is quick market validation, so I lean toward the former, but not so far that you are losing money or regret doing it.

Shayna says:12:52 PM Another Q w/r/t UL listing from @sako0938 : "UL listing or CSA listing is expensive, and not always required for home users, is it worthwhile to do before crowdsourcing or after crowdsourcing has validated the product?"

Christopher Niemöller says:12:52 PM Example: BoM is $120, competitors are selling at $800 to $2k, would you go for 2k with a bit more functionality?

Radomir Dopieralski says:12:53 PM you can't say "I'm sorry, we miscalculated the price, here's the new one", can you?

Joshua Lifton says:12:54 PM @Christopher Niemöller I'd go for $800 (or less) out of the gate with more functionality and then move up to $1500 for retail.

Joshua Lifton says:12:54 PM @sako0938 depends on a lot of things.

Joshua Lifton says:12:55 PM For many people, they don't need the money, they just want an easy way to release the product, so they might have already paid for it.

Joshua Lifton says:12:55 PM If money is the main concern, I'd build it into the funding goal.

Christopher Niemöller says:12:55 PM Yes, thats my view right now

Christopher Niemöller says:12:55 PM I've developed all hardware and software

sako0938 says:12:56 PM Use it as a selling point, we need these margins in order to have a certified product in the end

Joshua Lifton says:12:56 PM @Christopher Niemöller You will receive a shipping confirmation email with a tracking number when your order ships. If you have more questions about shipping, please take a look at:

Joshua Lifton says:12:56 PM Weird.

Christopher Niemöller says:12:56 PM oO

Joshua Lifton says:12:56 PM Sorry about that - paste buffer mishap. :)

Christopher Niemöller says:12:56 PM No worries

Radomir Dopieralski says:12:56 PM EVERYTHING IS FINE PLEASE PROCEED

Radomir Dopieralski says:12:57 PM NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT

sako0938 says:12:57 PM !

Joshua Lifton says:12:57 PM What I meant was: @Christopher Niemöller: https://www.crowdsupply.com/launch :)

Shayna says:12:57 PM Hah, last but not least, @Radomir Dopieralski asks "If I have my own funding and potential distributors, does it still make sense to use the crowd funding?"

Joshua Lifton says:12:57 PM Hey, that could have been way worse than it was. :)

Joshua Lifton says:12:58 PM @Radomir Dopieralski Funding and distributors != fast market validation, so yes.

Shayna says:12:58 PM :)

Joshua Lifton says:12:58 PM Also, with market validation comes a great user base of advocates and early adopters.

Joshua Lifton says:12:59 PM It's amazing how supportive people can be when they back a project early on.

Joshua Lifton says:12:59 PM Also, you can get some really interesting partnerships coming out of the woodwork.

Joshua Lifton says:1:00 PM For example, the CORE2 campaign (https://www.crowdsupply.com/husarion/core2) is a nice robotics platform for individuals, but it's had two large companies whose names you'd recognize approach them as well because of the campaign.

Joshua Lifton says:1:01 PM There's a big difference between working on a neat project and announcing a neat project to the world.

Christopher Niemöller says:1:02 PM Thanks, I guess what I'm missing is a nice video and marketing :)

Shayna says:1:02 PM That's all for the spreadsheet -- Thank you so much @Joshua Lifton and everyone hanging with us & submitting questions!

Joshua Lifton says:1:02 PM We do videos and marketing. :)

Shayna says:1:02 PM Go launch your stuff on www.crowdsupply.com :)

Joshua Lifton says:1:03 PM Thanks, @Shayna and everyone else. Feel free to ping me for other questions.

Jarrett says:1:04 PM thanks, @Joshua Lifton!

sheffieldnick says:1:04 PM Many thanks @Joshua Lifton - that was very interesting!

Jarrett says:1:04 PM I've got one more question!

sako0938 says:1:04 PM Thanks, had never heard of it before, and it seems like a good way to launch open source products!

Joshua Lifton says:1:04 PM Yay. Thanks.

Radomir Dopieralski says:1:04 PM thank you

Joshua Lifton says:1:04 PM @Jarrett shoot.

Jarrett says:1:04 PM could you add a "next"/"back" button on backer updates? :D

Jarrett says:1:04 PM like: https://www.crowdsupply.com/kosagi/novena-open-laptop/irc-channel

Arsenijs says:1:04 PM Thank you, very informative!

Joshua Lifton says:1:05 PM @Jarrett That's a good idea. Adding it to the list.

Joshua Lifton says:1:05 PM We actually have a lot of plans for our project updates features - stay tuned.

Jarrett says:1:05 PM woo

Jordan Bunker says:1:06 PM Thank @Joshua Lifton!!

Joshua Lifton says:1:06 PM Heading out for some lunch. I'll check in again when I get back. Thanks again all!

Jordan Bunker says:1:06 PM errr, Thanks!

Shayna says:1:06 PM Thanks again @Joshua Lifton !