Being an independent brand in this world of globalization is increasingly difficult. That’s why whenever I come across another founder on the same journey, we have an instant bond.
A small group of folks started an informal Slack group spearheaded by Tom and Dan from Studio Neat about six years ago that evolved slowly over time and has become a place for us to share design ideas, challenges we're facing, and just generally talk shop.
There were several attempts to put together a retreat so we could all meet in person, but things kept falling through for one reason or another, mainly due to Covid.
But this year we finally made it happen. Once again, Tom and Dan took the lead organizing things and arranged for an event in Austin where over a dozen founders came together in September.
The fact that nearly every active member of the makeshift group took time away from running their businesses to travel across the country and meet in person was really inspiring.
Amazingly enough, every single founder had transitioned company from a Kickstarter project into a sustainable business , including Creighton from Manual, who launched the very first product on Kickstarter.
It was great to share stories and get to know each other better. But despite having such amazing design talent assembled, one thing was clear – everyone struggled in one way or another with marketing. And it was getting harder.
See – the formula that works for advertising is to make products for as a little as possible, and spend a lot to sell them, often times more than the cost of the product itself.
But most of us were doing the opposite: making products that were better than they needed to be in pursuit of an ideal design.
While we didn’t have many short-term solutions, one thing we thought could be helpful is to introduce each other's brands.
It would be awesome if you could support them and help ensure manufacturing doesn't become a race to the bottom in terms of price and quality.
What do you think? Would you like to see a collab with any of them? Leave a comment and let me know...
A small group of folks started an informal Slack group spearheaded by Tom and Dan from Studio Neat about six years ago that evolved slowly over time and has become a place for us to share design ideas, challenges we're facing, and just generally talk shop.
There were several attempts to put together a retreat so we could all meet in person, but things kept falling through for one reason or another, mainly due to Covid.
But this year we finally made it happen. Once again, Tom and Dan took the lead organizing things and arranged for an event in Austin where over a dozen founders came together in September.
The fact that nearly every active member of the makeshift group took time away from running their businesses to travel across the country and meet in person was really inspiring.
Amazingly enough, every single founder had transitioned company from a Kickstarter project into a sustainable business , including Creighton from Manual, who launched the very first product on Kickstarter.
It was great to share stories and get to know each other better. But despite having such amazing design talent assembled, one thing was clear – everyone struggled in one way or another with marketing. And it was getting harder.
See – the formula that works for advertising is to make products for as a little as possible, and spend a lot to sell them, often times more than the cost of the product itself.
But most of us were doing the opposite: making products that were better than they needed to be in pursuit of an ideal design.
While we didn’t have many short-term solutions, one thing we thought could be helpful is to introduce each other's brands.
- Studio Neat: Tom Gerhardt and Dan Provost
- Some of my favorite products are made by Studio Neat. I've got the Mark One, Mark Two, Panobook, Material Dock Glif, and more.
- Ugmonk: Jeff Sheldon
- I consider Ugmonk a sister company with how often we chat. I've got two full set-ups of his Gather system and use Analog every day.
- CW&T: Che-Wei Wang and Taylor Levy
- When I grow up I want to be Che-Wei and Taylor. They built a full shop in their NYC basement and are some of the most creative artists/inventors I know of.
- Freewrite: Adam Leeb
- Adam has created a whole new category with his distraction-free writing tools. They're beautiful, and unique!
- Distil Union: Lindsay Windham and Nate Justiss
- Lindsay and Nate are OG Kickstarter creators and the nicest folks you'll meet. Check out their wide variety of products!
- Cotton Bureau: Nate Peretic
- Nate sells cool screen print design shirts and a wide variety of other custom objects!
- Manual: Craighton Berman
- Craighton is one of the most interesting people I've ever met. His products are wide ranging (To give you an idea, I have his french press, bookends, and flower pot stand). Plus, he created the first Kickstarter product ever!
It would be awesome if you could support them and help ensure manufacturing doesn't become a race to the bottom in terms of price and quality.
What do you think? Would you like to see a collab with any of them? Leave a comment and let me know...
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