Quote:
Originally Posted by rogthefrog
It matters in terms of things to order, options on offer, etc. Lean = remove everything you do not need to make product x. You don't need 2 colors.
How can you calculate everything to the cent when you have no idea whether any guitar will sell? If you build 10 and they sit around for a year, you have to calculate other things like storage costs, opportunity cost for your capital (spent on 10 unsold guitars instead of earning interest or whatever), etc. You can't. When you have a project this big, you just can't. Simplify.
Respectfully, if you did know what you're talking about, then you wouldn't be begging strangers for money unsuccessfully. Studying things on the internet isn't the same thing as the decades of real-world experience this thread has offered you.
Prove it.
You have three things to prove to the world before you can reasonably expect to get investors excited.
1) that you are able to make guitars on par with or better than existing guitars in the marketplace. The bar is very high. Your existing guitars are nowhere near that level. And it's not about money--French polishing the tops or making exact cuts in your rosettes doesn't cost money.
2) that there's a market for your CF guitars. You just need to make one and sell it. Not raise money to make 10 or 100. One. Making it isn't enough. You have to find someone willing to give you money for it.
3) that you have good judgment and can be trusted to manage the investment judiciously.
You haven't done those things yet. And unlike people like Ned Steinberger, Gary Kramer, Leo Fender, Ken Parker, David Schecter and many others who've successfully started music businesses after their first one made it big, you unfortunately don't have a proven track record of delivering high-quality products, so the bar is extra high for investors to get excited, because the risk (that their money will be lost) is much higher when investing in vaporware from an unknown dude when they can just go to a store and buy an Ovation or Martin or whatever.
I get it--it's hard to start something from absolute scratch. I've started businesses; some became very successful, some failed. In every one I believed our product was worth investing in and paying money for. But the market spoke and sometimes said that wasn't true.
History is littered with failed inventors. Having an idea is only the beginning. Execution is what matters.
This thread is evidence to the contrary.
Please don't take this personally. I'm sure you're a super guy and you have a lot of drive. But as someone who's received investment advice (and occasionally investment money) from some of the best investors in the world (people who backed or founded Google, Facebook, Netscape, PayPal, etc), drive and an idea aren't enough. You have to show proof you can focus and deliver on one thing exceptionally well.
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The calculations i mentioned are about the crowdfunding campaign, I limited it at 108 units, and i have calculated everything per guitar, so 1 calculation for 15 units, a new calculation for 16 units, 17 units, and so on. I know exactly how much i couls spend on tooling, regardless of howmany guitars would be sold in this crowdfunding.
I am not beggin people for money, i am offering a guitar that will be better then a 3000 or 4000 euro A brand for 1400 euro, i fail to see how that makes me the bad guy.
It is very unreasonable of you to call my model vapor wear. Vapor wear by definition has no working prototypes like i have (3x). Vapor ware is like a scam bitcoin miner that will never come, a fotoshop image "give us money and we will start inventing this". I have a validated concept so it has absuolutely nothing to do with vaporwear.
My prototypes sound fantastic (not 1 single bad review), only the finish quality needs to go up (which it will very easaly with an investment).
You say, just build one, but you cant do that with additive manufacturing. You need to setup the system before you can make one. Make the plug, make the molds. You never make such an investment for just 1 unit. I would not be watching youtube movies about guitar building if i had an actual mold (my mold is dead), but i would be building 1 flawless guitar. ---> this costs money.
As i said many times i don`t have money, at all. I chose not to go on vacation for 10 years and stuff like that, that is how i got 3 prototypes. 1 year i would build a nice worksurface, and then i was out of the game for another full year...
I really dont know why i keep coming to this site. I`m just a guy with an intention to build amazing guitars, the best that i can build myself. I keep getting slammed on this site for no reason. I am being treated as if i was an oompa loompa but i am a genuine willy wonka and my original candy flavor tastes amazing, the gumball just looks a little rought right now, thats all. This guitar model is 10 years ahead of anything on the market right now. When i was the only one saying this, it was highly subjective. But then it was tested by many guitar players, people i never met. Including a grammy winning guitar player... people that know what they are talking about. You play my prototypes and you say, wow this is amazing. I would rather have the sound and need an upgrade in the finish quality then a high gloss thing that sounds like crap.
This model is good and i will go all in on it. I will sell every posesion i own and hold dear in this world if that is what it takes to be able to start building.
I dont come here to battle, i come here to post facts about what i`m doing and how.
I told you how i made a crypto currency that sends money in 7 seconds and did 65k, i can not code but i made it happen. I tought myself how to build a virtual reality game in 2 months without any coding experience ever. It works and its awesome. I developed the worlds first adaptive virtual reality controller on fumes that moves into your hand when you grab something ingame. I was talking to VC about a 2 million dollar virtual reality project but i went back to guitars because it was my true passion. If i say that i will learn or do something, i will do it and i will teach myself new skills. I have been tested and i was called very gifted (a gift and a curse, i see chrystal clear what i can do and how, but no resources). You may see 1000 problems, the entrepeneur sees a 1000 challenges and pushes on relentlessly. This model uses the same principles that made the cryptocurrency a succes, you look at whats available, and you offer something that doesnt exist yet.
All those names you mention had a venture capital investment, amazing quality is not done on nickels and dimes (my budget). PRS had 500k in 1985. Aristides in the Netherlands had 2 million euros investment, and so on. People want me to make a flawless guitar with **** tooling, this is not reasonable, you will never ever find a leak in your vacuumbag without a 500 dollar ultrasonic leak detector. I cant even buy that if i save 1 year.
This model wil not be amazing quality in every little detail without an investment, its really that simple. You say Google, Facebook, Netscape, PayPal, all tech companies, the most funded startup segment in the world. You say prove it. i say somebody invest a 100k and i will make a company that does 50k per month without employees.