DARKSIDE | NYMPH (10440 twisty Fet+1 flashlight w/ 4k 9050 219C)

I’m backing this and one other Kickstarter project at the moment and am so disappointed to know that I will be eating a bag of roasted crickets instead of carrying this torch as my new edc!

:frowning:

Wait, this torch gets hot enough to roast crickets?
At what range?

not expensive enough or limited to a small number to get CPF guys interested?

Bingo.

I think you have to call it a “drop” and then do a lottery and charge 5-6x more. There was also no reference to “mcclicky”, “Ti skull clip”, “custom bead” or picture of the light on a “hank”.

Sadly, kickstarter did not reach the goal.

I just wonder what is the reason why kickstarter funding is required? With working prototype, what else is required before it can be produced? I think there is still interest in this flashlight and even without kickstarter, there would be enough “early birds” willing to pay in advance and wait a few months before it’s made. To start this projects. I’ve never worked on such project, so maybe I just don’t see the reasons why it’s not possible, but still wondering anyway…

Maybe since Kickstarter takes your money up front (Hoop needed to buy some stuff to help mass production). Now that the Kickstarter has timed out, maybe a Group Buy could be started instead. If enough people would sign up for it, and be willing to pay in advance and wait for production to happen, it would have the same effect on funding. One benefit would be that there would not need to be a funding time limit. Also, some people have already stated that they don’t like Kickstarter anyway, so a direct Group Buy might draw more of those people. I would very much like to see this light (and future models) come into being, and Hoop’s business take off.

Hoop, sorry to hear that your Kickstarter project did not succeed. I think DavidEF is right pointing out your project failed within the strict time limits. Personally I still think your concept is interesting. Perhaps also good to think about or probe who is your target audience and how and where to address it best. Or like mihlit stated, how to continue with your current backers, and grow from there if that is a possibility.

Please let us know if you come up with a new idea or approach.

I would be in for a group buy

I don’t know for sure how Kickstarter handles the backers’ contact info. I doubt they pass it on to the project owner if the funding goal isn’t met. In that case, there needs to be a new “participant” list made for a Group Buy or other funding formula to happen.

+1 :+1:

I was a backer and I’d be on a groupbuy list even at a slightly higher price point.

It would probably be a good idea to post in the update tab on kickstarter. Probably would have been a good idea during the funding period too, but especially now, people who backed need some answers about what happens next.

Definitely! Maybe telling them where to go to continue following such as here.

I’m really sorry it didn’t go.

I may be wrong in this, but my impression is that you were ambivalent about promoting the project. Don’t be. Don’t look at it as nurturing a cult of personality.

Your work can only speak for itself if it has an audience. Bootstrapping that audience takes some effort and that effort happens in the open, for all to see, which can be daunting. Once you do have an audience, the audience helps get your work in front of more people.

You have a baseline now. You know what efforts you made, and you know the result. You can extrapolate from there.

A few ideas:

  • Send to a couple people who are already interested in/appreciative of your work, have an audience of their own, and will talk you up.
  • Offer them a second copy of a prototype that they can use in a give-away to promote themselves, and promote you and your project at them same time.
  • Have some stretch goals for your crowd-funding. One idea could be an “extra” that everyone gets if the funding exceeds your goal by a certain amount.
  • Another is, if possible, deliver the project sooner if threshold is met. For example, if the cost of your custom tooling can be amortized over twice as many orders, can you pay some more to get it done faster? Or, can you negotiate for faster turn around from suppliers with a bigger order?

PM me if you want to talk through some ideas.

I’m looking forward to seeing what you try next.

This, Absolutely!

I had a friend whose band did a pay-what-you want online album release in late 2005. They’d scored a gold record ~6 years earlier, but took a hiatus after their second album foundered in the midst of the music-industry’s meltdown. This was two years before Radiohead did something similar with In Rainbows. I assembled the hosting infrastructure and also helped with promotion, scoring the project its first two big boosts.

The release was a success. It was well received by critics, reached a larger audience than their second album, and earned them a respectable return on investment. It also got them a big list of people’s email addresses and zipcodes that would be helpful in planning and promoting a tour.

They made use of it when planning the tour. I’d assumed they also used it for promotion, but part way through, I found out my friend didn’t feel comfortable using the list to send out targeted emails promoting the tour :person_facepalming: . I explained to him that for every person he might annoy, there were probably 10x as many people who probably felt a bit snubbed if they found out that the band came to town and didn’t let them know. It was too late by then though. The tour did fine, but it could have done a lot better.

DON’T BE LIKE MY FRIEND! Talk to the people!

I dont have much of a following but I’m on Reddit, CPF and BLF for a good chunk of my day. I know id be down to give feedback/answer questions and even pay for a prototype. (If I had one haha)

Only just seen this thread, if I’d seen it earlier I would’ve definitely pledged for one!

I agree with many of the insightful comments here and also backed this project. I don’t come
on BLF often but am beginning to much prefer this forum to another & had a good chuckle at a comment above.
Having said that, I have been on FB quite a bit for almost 7 years & am sure a properly presented & maintained (as in regular posts to the flashlight groups) or better yet,
Starting your own group after making your presence known in the general groups
would have allowed this to gain traction & meet funding.
I have reached out to the Dev here & and never heard back & I don’t recall seeing him
post on FB although a few posts that gathered interest and comments were made.
Its almost as he went on vacation at a critical time…
I hope this project moves forward at some point as many of you do.

so what happens, will this light not be made?