Aim –
Get rich quick
Success –
Hmm…
Truth –
The truth is somewhere inbetween!
This isn’t an entirely altruistic project, however the intention is that there are benefits beyond my own bank account!
There are so many audio developers in the world, making cool stuff, for themselves, who have no plans as to releasing to a wider audience.
So, frequently, i feel, humanity (or at least a bunch of audio nerds!) misses out on “cool stuff” ™ because there is a bunch of difference beteeen building a 1-off working unit, and bringing a project to market for “the masses” (again, lets not get carried away here!) to buy.
And what is my part in this?
Well, say youre a developer, and youve made something cool. You might have it mounted up behind a bit of card in your rack, or maybe youve bought an expensive panel from one of the multinational corporates, but you would like to scale… Or maybe you are not even that bothered by the money side of things, but you would like other people to be using your design? Whatever, it doesnt matter. The reality is its a bit (not a lot, but a bit) of hassel and expense. Pcbs are cheap, but the panel, the website, the shipping setup – if someone isnt obsessed with chasing the $$$ on their product, i feel that it often falls by the wayside. Which is a shame.
If you have a fully working product that you would like other people to use, either if you have plans of early retirement in the carribian, or if you just want to share with the world, my offer is simple –
Ill help you make your product look pretty. This normally involves us getting together a front panel, me cutting it and printing it, without charge, and sending it you.
You test out your build with the panel, make sure everything is correct, take some nice glossy photos, and do a decent write up, with a fully verified BOM. (this bit is important – you may know how your device works, but ill need *all* the information to allow someone who has never met you to sucessfully build your unit)
At this point, when we are both 100% certain that what we have is a fully finished / polished product WITH full documentation, you can order some pcbs (remember, pcbs are not big money at all) and ill make up some panels for the unit.
You send me the pcbs, retaining full ownership of them, and i sell them all and run off to the bahamas wire you back the money as they sell. In full. With no “take” (paypal has their cut, obviously, but i make absolutly nothing off the sale of your pcb.
So, whats in it for me, apart from the feel good factor?
I sell the metal. Im a metal worker primarily. Thats how i make my wage.
So this is a truely colaborative adventure. Symbiotic, if you want to get all sandle-wearing on it. I make no money from your sale. You benefit from having a trouble free sales pathway (you will still need to support your product with its end users), i benefit from selling some metal, and the world (again, synth geeks!) benefit from being able to build cool stuff that they would never otherwise be able to lay their solder singed fingers on!
Whats to say im not just going to run off to the bahamas with your pcbs?
Absolutly nothing. The whole thing is based on trust. Mail some of the other people involved here, and see how much ive stolen from them, and make your own mind up! : )