That seems to be one strategy. For us, we had about 500 people who filled our very first user research form and we kept a target of minimum 300 orders to be able to manufacture the units and at least break even. Turns out, not even half of the 500 folks read our crowdfunding launch email. We didn't have any money to spend on paid promotion. So we then did everything, from posting on relevant social media channels to trying to get articles written about us by blogs to cold emailing people who I thought would like the product - and one of them did who offered us the FOSSUnited grant! I guess whatever works best for your product/campaign.
I think I remember seeing a comment on another HN post today about startups/cos. that the people who say they'd spend money and those who do can be an order of magnitude off. In any case, fortunately you do have a product now which is good (and looks nice too!) :)
Sorry I don't get it. Do you mean people spend huge amounts of money to promote the product? And thanks! Just wanted to make a minimum lovable product.
No, what I'd meant in that comment is that estimates can be very off despite trying to get the most accurate numbers. Unfortunately I don't have any practical experience so take whatever I saw with a grain of salt.
I might have had an option to "pre-book" with a small but significant (say $49) deposit for those who'd say they'd pay for it right when you ask them. - it can help push them to commit. I'd imagine spending more on (targeted) ads could also help thought it would ofc cost more too.
Don't worry, the product is pretty lovable. I'd definitely buy it if I had a job (still studying).
(OP here) Update: We sold out the first batch of paperd.ink! Thanks to each one of our supporters, we managed to pull this off because of you. As next step, we would love to talk with the users once they have paperd.ink in their hands. And for those who missed out, you can drop your emails or keep a track of our social media to be updated. Thanks again!
PS: I will reply to the pending comments shortly. Sorry things have been busy here (our website crashed twice in the last 5 hours).
Thanks! One unit will have a devboard (PCB) with e-paper display connected on the front side. And there's also the enclosure set which has a front panel, back panel, 4 buttons and 2 stands (check this to get a better idea https://docs.paperd.ink/docs/3d-files/assembly/). We don't send assembled enclosure with devboard, that is DIY.
Sure thing I'll add in FAQ soon. If you do not want to solder then https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09FLDCJCB is a good option as the connector is directly compatible with paperd.ink. But it has a lower capacity.
For a higher capacity, we recommend https://www.adafruit.com/product/258 but you will have to cut and swap the connections since the connector is of the opposite polarity.
