No one likes to feel stack, especially by your cloud, but the IBM cloud is the most open and secure public cloud for business. It can manage all your absent data anywhere. Smart loves problems, IBM, let's put smart to work, visit, IBM Dot, com, slash the. Welcome to a brand new weak, capsizing school. This is your host critical about I'm so excited because we are just eleven Besides away from hitting one thousand Are you guys, I'm so humble and we'll talk a little bit more about that advocates closer for now, is for us to have excited about that and am also excited to work on this story today. Story because features too long time, friends of mine who have achieved an incredible success. In designing and manufacturing a practical camera accessory funding. It too, save level on Kickstarter and they deserve all their success. So no doubt theirs

factor of mystery in luck at the kind of goes into which crop up in campaigns really take off. I just as there isn't a book publishing world and lots of other industries, but not just one factor nuts, one. It's outside you control, the ones that are within your control are the product. Up. The campaign had everything you do in the weeks or even years before you go to people with a product in a campaign. So that's the trifecta you're. The only secret formula have success, not that led to this blogging accessory raising more than four hundred thousand dollars on Kickstarter, say all about it. Now, by the way I note not detract from the story it up, but in late breaking news, the chinese Trade WAR and no unilateral tariffs that the current administration has imposed is actually acting them in a very real way, so these guys we're not gonna have to pay a premium for exporting the fact that they have already designing created. So it's still a huge success by just one to highlight the fact that these things to actually have a real impact on people's lives. So maybe I'll say more about that at some point as well, but for now excited to bring you the story, blogging

Three raises boarded and fifteen thousand seven hundred and forty eight dollars stated story is coming right up. Poplin runs the blog pie cast, can community known as smart, passive income killing the woodchuck owns a video production company. They worked together for years on various projects and built Patsy Youtube Channel together in the summer of twenty seventeen the attended, an event. The bid summit it was appropriately for video bloggers were often on his bloggers. They noticed that a lot of people there were using a piece of equipment that wasn't meant for blocking. It was called the gorilla upon a flexible, try, piper cameras, but not really one for video and not ideal for handheld Moat patent Kilo got to talking about how the repurchase use of the pot didn't actually work that well bloggers tended to bin the Gorilla pod into us.

Curve, so they could extend their cameras out and away from them to get the best angle of themselves, while keeping their arm out of a shot. Setting the gorilla down is time consuming and unsafe. The expensive gear typically attached. It was we're. Seeing talented people use the wrong here, just because there wasn't a good alternative and the more they talked pattern. Begin to imagine what that good alternative would be. What would it look like how it feel and how would it function it's running just a market they spotted for other people? He was a problem. They wanted to talk to themselves also both pad and Caleb had a Our experience with digital products, which in a lot of ways, are a lot easier than making a personal product. They saw the departure as a challenge alerting opportunity, hand there. Next adventure Half the fine was learning something new, but there was a whore a lot of work to be done. They hired product dot com as products, not product, p, r, o you product outcome to help him design, prototype and connect with potential manufacturers

The first seven months of prototyping was done in the: U S using three printers in Utah and eventually transition to China. The product team had a lot of details, including building out the supply chain entirely. Use batteries and companies they knew about before they eventually went to look for specific tripod manufacturers until Caleb went to China recently at the tail end of the process, he hadn't ever interacted with any other factories for manufacturers himself. The agency handled everything. So what's the big deal with the actual product? Well, it's called switch pot and it works with any camera from a phone to a dsl. Are it simplifies video making like the name implies you can switch between hand held in tripod modes and back again in seconds. The devices lightweight compact and nearly indestructible their promises that it will save you time between shots. So you can focus more on shooting it less. On messing around with your gear pattern, Caleb launch the switch pot kickstarter campaign on January, twenty nine, twenty nineteen and they

Their hundred thousand dollar funding goal in less than twelve hours all day long. They kept refreshing the page amazed at the response. They celebrated in the evening in frugal style, eating pizza with their families and the pledges didn't stop at the end of the first day by the end of a whole campaign, they raise a total of four hundred and fifteen thousand seven hundred and forty eight hours And then they went back to waiting on everything to be finalized, those seven different prototypes than the final manufacturing, we're tale of travel to China to see the factory for himself. They delay the launch multiple times to wait for the perfect timing which at the time was frustrating, but now convinced it paid are being used to the immediacy of the digital world. They also had to learn to be patient with the design and prototyping process. After all, this isn't an epoch. It's a real product has been manufactured in it, factory. One thing they say they might be differently would be to have more prototypes on data campaign launched nor have it in the hands of more Youtube areas during the campaign. Also, if you want to do something similar,

making the waters and manufacturing products based on an opportunity you identify. Caleb has some advice per year. He says we would it Can you research what you're getting into a heavily? I just a small amount of research. A lot make sure you're really saw me someone's problem, significant group of people's problem. In fact, not just your own also talk to people in your talk. Get ask why what their currently using isn't serving them. Well then, make a prototype or M M Bible product and start having people use that we started with low cost prototypes. Our first ones were made of cardboard or just reprinted before we had any made out of metal, keep the project simple and don't include too many thousand whistles, because anything, you add, complicates or possibly breaks what you ve already figured out. Some good advice there

and with such a tremendous, responds to the campaign, they now have a large number of products to deliver. Their goal now is to finalize and ship more than five thousand switch pots after that will be working with retailers and continuing to sell them in their own store. Well, as I said, huge huge success here, I have so much respect these guys were so excited to see how well this campaign did and something I didn't mention the episode they ve. I alluded to it a little bit in the beginning, I didn't talk about specifically key to their success. Is that Pat and Caleb have both been building community for a long time. So, in addition to nailing the concept and really taking their time to design process, I think this is a major factor and major contribution toward their big success, and you might think okay well great you know, you're, saying that part of the way they are able to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars is because they were known, but it's really gonna catch because they earned this attention. Like nobody,

along and just anointed them for anybody else in the world of online influence. Pat has made more than fifteen hundred podcast episodes like I'm coming up on a thousand now what Pakistan, fifteen hundred and both he and Caleb are really focused on giving that, in fact, has new book super fans and personally help to me in terms of being more intentional with direct reader or listener relationships to talk about it prevents awhile back, but in case you missed it knew, but from Pat all about maintaining these relationships, I think it's wonderful model, it's kind of how about my business as well, so we should only cover the notes bait. The key point, if you aren't known in the way the pattern Caleb were no, you could still have a big success in this field. It might not be ass big. It might not be forty thousand dollars, but that's ok, because now they have to fulfil five thousand orders, which is also no small project. So lots of lessons here both in terms of the concept designed to manufacturing and also, as I said, community building, I'm not a blogger myself, but if I was, I would be checking out this which, by back that would have already priority.

Thanks so much for listing today. I hope you enjoy this episode. Inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is better. They shone out Links to everything I mentioned pad and kill the product, etc are at sight of school dot com, slash, nine, eight nine. This episode, nine hundred and eighty nine talk about my fifteen uttered a catch up the path problem, as he keeps making episodes What can be done about that anyway I'll be back again to Morrow? I hope you'll join me again. My name is critical about this is sort of school. from the onward projects.