Posted October 02, 2012
(leeched off from RPGCodex's Kickstarter thread)
It's quite a long thread, so I'll let you guys read it for yourselves:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/831303939/hanfree-ipad-accessory-use-the-ipad-hands-free/comments
But if you don't want to click on the link or read through the whole thread, here's the letter published by the developer himself (which is supposed to be for backers only, but one backer was kind enough to put it up in the comments thread):
==================================================
"Dear Kickstarter backers,
.
Everyone is wondering one thing. What has happened to Seth? and will Hanfree ever become a real product? At this point I am saddened to say that the answer is no. I started designing an iPad stand 12 months ago, I was so confident in the idea, I wanted to align myself with this exciting new piece of technology, I saw a need in the marketplace and had a strong desire to create a new user experience. I risked everything to launch this idea, I even sold my beloved VW golf, and a Breitling I had inherited from my father to get this idea off the ground. I put my heart into this project, we hired videographers and marketed the idea like crazy, reaching thousands of people through blogs and television. We hit the streets of San Francisco and New York handing out hundreds of flyers on the day the iPad 2 was released. I had no idea of the challenges we faced, just the blinding zeal of a first time entrepreneur. My attitude was so optimistic I felt as though we could figure out any challenge, and solve any design problems. So what went wrong? How could we have failed to deliver when it seemed like we had plenty of funding, a smart design team, and a functioning prototype. I am embarrassed to admit this failure completely falls on my shoulders.
.
There are multiple reasons; This project was way beyond the scope of what my experience and my teams experience could execute on... With the main issues being the technical engineering complexities and just too many parts.... The Glif (http://kck.st/bb6Tuu) was one piece of rubber and metal nut, that was genius. Our prototype of Hanfree seemed simple at first, it consisted of a base, bent bar, socket joint and case. I oversimplified it in my head and with the design of our initial prototype. The final design contained 11 distinct components, and only 3 standard parts (the bolts). Ultimately designing each of these components took much longer than anyone on the team had anticipated. Another shortsighted mistake was due to my gross underestimation of the real cost to bring an idea to market and mass produce a product. If we reflect upon that for a moment here are some numbers for a bare minimum 1000 unit order to give you a better understanding of the scope of our project. After reading this keep in mind that in the manufacturing world, no one even wants to talk to you, unless
your order is for 5000 pieces.
.
Kickstarter & Amazon payments fee 3,500
Packaging 4,000 (Thats for XXL pizza boxes and bubble wrap, seriously.)
Stainless Steel bar components 12,000
Screws and hardware 1,700
Die cut metal base 8,000
Plastic tooling cost for ball and socket and pivot point 35,000
iPad cases 3,500
Assembly and sonic welding 4,000
Avg USA and International shipping 17,000
Total 88,700
.
So we came to this sizable total, and Juan and I continued to blaze forward thinking we would split the difference we needed to make up with personal and family loans. I was sure that with the amount of interest we generated from the project it would be easy to get an investor on board, especially if we could have the product before Christmas. As the weeks passed we continued to miss our own design deadlines. We kept on saying, Ok we have to order this ball and socket joint in two weeks from the plastics manufactures and we would get the 3d printed prototype parts and be devastated to find they still weren't working correctly. The iPad would sag, the tilt angle would be to shallow, the part would flex and wiggle, the parts would be too thick and take to long to cool for manufacturing... The complications went on and on and on. We would resolve one issue that would in turn create another. The parts continued to need adjustments and the manufacturing estimates continued to increase, as the parts became more and more complex. Then our September 1st goal to order our plastic parts from the manufactures past, and it started to feel like we were on a giant sinking sailboat bailing water with a tiny pale. The daunting reality of this project being too expensive for us to finance personally and the potential of this project failing started to creep into our minds. Just like a floundering tech startup, the moral of the team sunk like a submarine to the bottom of the ocean. The individual team members level of commitment to the project clearly hit an ultimate low. I was criticized that I acted completely different when I received the funding, and I admit that was partially true, because my friends in some sense became my employees, rather than my partners. I made the mistake of paying one member and not another, without openly discussing it among us and this eroded our trust, started to break down our communications, and ultimately dissolved our ability to function as a powerful team. I can assure you my intentions were 100% directed to solving the issues in the design and moving the project forward, though good intentions are not enough on their own, it takes good business strategy, and a rock solid plan and better leadership than I could offer.
.
Then about seven weeks ago came the final blow, the internal issues mainly around who was getting paid and who was volunteering their time, the contracts between team members and the percentage of ownership each of us were entitled to within the company started to erupt like a volcano. I really wanted to help out my friends, and I was trying my best to allocate money to them fairly while at the same time tightening the reign on the quickly dissipating kickstarter funding. The contract negotiations were drawn out and sadly completely froze further development of Hanfree. Unfortunately they ultimately broke the team apart and damaged our personal friendships. I was willing to share the profits of future sales but certain members of the team wanted considerable chunks of equity in the company. I wasn’t in a place to give away equity because I was in the middle of negotiations with foreign investors who would assumably take a large stake of equity because they would essentially be swooping in to save the project and fronting the much needed capital. I know it sounds like a movie, and totally preposterous, because we didn’t even have a real product yet, but its all true... and after six weeks of agonizing frustration and zero progress, the damage was done and our team parted ways. I want to quickly admit that this was ultimately all my fault. I kept thinking to myself it was shortsighted of me to launch an idea rather than a fully resolved design, I shouldn’t have paid my friends, it was my lack in experience, leadership, or project management, I should have hired a professional engineer; but I was charging forward with this idea; that this experience would benefit us all and we would share this amazing process and gain the knowledge of taking an “idea” to a fully realized mass produced product. I had been struggling with all of these issues and the weight of failing on all my backers began to press down upon my shoulders and I felt like I was slipping into a mild depression. I started to do Yoga, twenty eight days of consecutive classes and a short visit to see my family restored my attitude and helped me glean perspective from the project as a whole. I didn’t know whether or not I wanted to disclose all of the details to my bakers because it is very personal and sounds like a ridiculous soap opera. But I feel like I owe it to you, this is Kickstarter and you were generous enough to support me and my idea.
It's quite a long thread, so I'll let you guys read it for yourselves:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/831303939/hanfree-ipad-accessory-use-the-ipad-hands-free/comments
But if you don't want to click on the link or read through the whole thread, here's the letter published by the developer himself (which is supposed to be for backers only, but one backer was kind enough to put it up in the comments thread):
==================================================
"Dear Kickstarter backers,
.
Everyone is wondering one thing. What has happened to Seth? and will Hanfree ever become a real product? At this point I am saddened to say that the answer is no. I started designing an iPad stand 12 months ago, I was so confident in the idea, I wanted to align myself with this exciting new piece of technology, I saw a need in the marketplace and had a strong desire to create a new user experience. I risked everything to launch this idea, I even sold my beloved VW golf, and a Breitling I had inherited from my father to get this idea off the ground. I put my heart into this project, we hired videographers and marketed the idea like crazy, reaching thousands of people through blogs and television. We hit the streets of San Francisco and New York handing out hundreds of flyers on the day the iPad 2 was released. I had no idea of the challenges we faced, just the blinding zeal of a first time entrepreneur. My attitude was so optimistic I felt as though we could figure out any challenge, and solve any design problems. So what went wrong? How could we have failed to deliver when it seemed like we had plenty of funding, a smart design team, and a functioning prototype. I am embarrassed to admit this failure completely falls on my shoulders.
.
There are multiple reasons; This project was way beyond the scope of what my experience and my teams experience could execute on... With the main issues being the technical engineering complexities and just too many parts.... The Glif (http://kck.st/bb6Tuu) was one piece of rubber and metal nut, that was genius. Our prototype of Hanfree seemed simple at first, it consisted of a base, bent bar, socket joint and case. I oversimplified it in my head and with the design of our initial prototype. The final design contained 11 distinct components, and only 3 standard parts (the bolts). Ultimately designing each of these components took much longer than anyone on the team had anticipated. Another shortsighted mistake was due to my gross underestimation of the real cost to bring an idea to market and mass produce a product. If we reflect upon that for a moment here are some numbers for a bare minimum 1000 unit order to give you a better understanding of the scope of our project. After reading this keep in mind that in the manufacturing world, no one even wants to talk to you, unless
your order is for 5000 pieces.
.
Kickstarter & Amazon payments fee 3,500
Packaging 4,000 (Thats for XXL pizza boxes and bubble wrap, seriously.)
Stainless Steel bar components 12,000
Screws and hardware 1,700
Die cut metal base 8,000
Plastic tooling cost for ball and socket and pivot point 35,000
iPad cases 3,500
Assembly and sonic welding 4,000
Avg USA and International shipping 17,000
Total 88,700
.
So we came to this sizable total, and Juan and I continued to blaze forward thinking we would split the difference we needed to make up with personal and family loans. I was sure that with the amount of interest we generated from the project it would be easy to get an investor on board, especially if we could have the product before Christmas. As the weeks passed we continued to miss our own design deadlines. We kept on saying, Ok we have to order this ball and socket joint in two weeks from the plastics manufactures and we would get the 3d printed prototype parts and be devastated to find they still weren't working correctly. The iPad would sag, the tilt angle would be to shallow, the part would flex and wiggle, the parts would be too thick and take to long to cool for manufacturing... The complications went on and on and on. We would resolve one issue that would in turn create another. The parts continued to need adjustments and the manufacturing estimates continued to increase, as the parts became more and more complex. Then our September 1st goal to order our plastic parts from the manufactures past, and it started to feel like we were on a giant sinking sailboat bailing water with a tiny pale. The daunting reality of this project being too expensive for us to finance personally and the potential of this project failing started to creep into our minds. Just like a floundering tech startup, the moral of the team sunk like a submarine to the bottom of the ocean. The individual team members level of commitment to the project clearly hit an ultimate low. I was criticized that I acted completely different when I received the funding, and I admit that was partially true, because my friends in some sense became my employees, rather than my partners. I made the mistake of paying one member and not another, without openly discussing it among us and this eroded our trust, started to break down our communications, and ultimately dissolved our ability to function as a powerful team. I can assure you my intentions were 100% directed to solving the issues in the design and moving the project forward, though good intentions are not enough on their own, it takes good business strategy, and a rock solid plan and better leadership than I could offer.
.
Then about seven weeks ago came the final blow, the internal issues mainly around who was getting paid and who was volunteering their time, the contracts between team members and the percentage of ownership each of us were entitled to within the company started to erupt like a volcano. I really wanted to help out my friends, and I was trying my best to allocate money to them fairly while at the same time tightening the reign on the quickly dissipating kickstarter funding. The contract negotiations were drawn out and sadly completely froze further development of Hanfree. Unfortunately they ultimately broke the team apart and damaged our personal friendships. I was willing to share the profits of future sales but certain members of the team wanted considerable chunks of equity in the company. I wasn’t in a place to give away equity because I was in the middle of negotiations with foreign investors who would assumably take a large stake of equity because they would essentially be swooping in to save the project and fronting the much needed capital. I know it sounds like a movie, and totally preposterous, because we didn’t even have a real product yet, but its all true... and after six weeks of agonizing frustration and zero progress, the damage was done and our team parted ways. I want to quickly admit that this was ultimately all my fault. I kept thinking to myself it was shortsighted of me to launch an idea rather than a fully resolved design, I shouldn’t have paid my friends, it was my lack in experience, leadership, or project management, I should have hired a professional engineer; but I was charging forward with this idea; that this experience would benefit us all and we would share this amazing process and gain the knowledge of taking an “idea” to a fully realized mass produced product. I had been struggling with all of these issues and the weight of failing on all my backers began to press down upon my shoulders and I felt like I was slipping into a mild depression. I started to do Yoga, twenty eight days of consecutive classes and a short visit to see my family restored my attitude and helped me glean perspective from the project as a whole. I didn’t know whether or not I wanted to disclose all of the details to my bakers because it is very personal and sounds like a ridiculous soap opera. But I feel like I owe it to you, this is Kickstarter and you were generous enough to support me and my idea.
Post edited October 02, 2012 by lowyhong
