The Monolith: World's First Skateboard with In-wheel Motors

From what I understand from voodobar his bubblegum failed due to selling complete boards and not having liability.

I enjoy doing it and will be happy just to get them made.
 
Hummina Shadeeba said:
From what I understand from voodobar his bubblegum failed due to selling complete boards and not having liability.

I enjoy doing it and will be happy just to get them made.


that interesting... it could be true. I was told that there were some reliability issues. related to flier ESC and dodgy batteries etc.

I am not trying to discourage you in anyway. What I am trying to express is that if your focus is on creating the best product in the market you should not have to give it away. However I do recommend doing some special offers for early adopters as it is a great way to get product feedback so you can make improvements.
 
onloop said:
Hummina Shadeeba said:
I enjoy doing it and will be happy just to get them made.


I am not trying to discourage you in anyway. What I am trying to express is that if your focus is on creating the best product in the market you should not have to give it away. However I do recommend doing some special offers for early adopters as it is a great way to get product feedback so you can make improvements.

I would also second onloop's previous post. If you don't build in a business model that ultimately will be able to pay the basic costs not only of the product, but also the overhead and contingencies (recalls, lawsuits, warranties etc.) then at the end of the day the product won't exist for long and won't have any real impact. It's great to be passionate and selfless, but a venture premised on this is going to be short lived. I know cause I've been there many times, and also seen it play out many times.

You may sell something at cost and think you're doing everyone a favour, but the people who buy it still have the same consumer expectations as if they purchased it from any shop. What do you do when the manufacturer screws up an a large batch of hubs that only later are recognized as defective? What do you do when items you sent get lost/damaged in shipping? What do you do when people are lined up phoning and emailing you for troubleshooting / support and you just want to be left alone? At some point "enjoyment" will no longer be the operating word ;)

That said, if you do go ahead on this plan I'll surely be one of those people who buys a bunch of cheap skate hubs, since it'll surely be a lot less overhead than making our own. :D
 
i think people will be interested despite the only security being from manufacturer's defects or fraud by our using PayPal.

Im surprised at both of your responses as this wont be the first time something on ES was sold without the backing of a well developed business. Its part of what makes this place unique and great. But even the idea of making this a business is just off in the distance. I'd never considered the term "beta test" till reading it here but I guess that's what this will be. There could be kinks and I don't want to be profiting at this point. Maybe down the road when things are still rolling.
 
Hummina Shadeeba said:
Its part of what makes this place unique and great. But even the idea of making this a business is just off in the distance. I'd never considered the term "beta test" till reading it here but I guess that's what this will be. There could be kinks and I don't want to be profiting at this point.

Indeed I can guarantee there will be kinks and there's no faster way to bring these to the surface than having lots of beta testers. So your thinking here is spot on, and I'll be happy to do my share of beta testing :mrgreen:

i think people will be interested despite the only security being from manufacturer's defects or fraud by our using PayPal.

Oh people will be very interested to buy them, that's not the issue, just make sure to set expectations very clear upfront that it's an experimental product sold at cost without the conventional buyer guarantees. I think what me and onloop were getting at is that we want to make sure that you stay interested.

In any case you'll figure all this stuff out by the time you need to do the 3rd or 4th order, and in the meantime I definitely give all my encouragement. The more people out there tackling and developing inline motors for skateboard trucks the faster this technology space will develop and we can collectively iron out the best design practices and see this field advance.
 
You might consider introducing the product with a scaling pricing structure. Maybe offer the first 10 or 20 at your 'cost' price. Cost should factor in everything, including the cost of packing materials, tooling costs, sample fees and possibly even your time spent developing.

Then maybe the next 10 or 20 at a 20% markup.

This will help you kick a few early sales goals as it creates a sense of urgency in the market.

Then after you have proven sales (to the beta group) you can sell the rest at your normal retail price.

However I would suggest setting your retail price from day one and very clearly indicate how much people are saving at each stage. If people know they got the item at say half the retail price it is slightly easier to justify to them that you can't offer a full warranty or unlimited support.

Early adopters should be rewarded with lower prices, they should also provide critical feedback and they should also be aware that they may not have the same terms and conditions regarding warranty.

However I guarantee that if something is wrong with the product you will still have to come to the party with a solution no matter what terms were agreed, or what price was paid, that old saying "the customer is always right" applies wether you made profit or made nothing. People will always expect you to wear the costs of problem solving so be prepared. I experienced this with the VESC beta, when people are not happy they want solutions. So of course i offered full refunds to anyone that was not happy. I lost money on this deal and if it had of been my first ever try at selling stuff it probably would have been my last.

Regarding the scaling price technique, i used this with a recent product launch, the all-in-one carbon fiber deck for building your own electric skateboard, it worked very well and I have sold enough qty to early adopters to cover some tooling and production costs.

At the end of the day.... customer service is king and good customer service has a cost...

If you have the best products and offer the best customer service you will do well.
 
Digital Trends flashed Inboard's battery label in a video: looks like Samsung 18650-25R in 12s1p. 43.2V nominal. Why only 20 mph... Seems pretty weak, even for a direct drive.
 
Kinda lame since they say "World's First" for hub motors..
They must have scrounged the internet to make sure that it was the only *production* board with hubs.
 
Szogs said:
Digital Trends flashed Inboard's battery label in a video: looks like Samsung 18650-25R in 12s1p. 43.2V nominal. Why only 20 mph... Seems pretty weak, even for a direct drive.

That pack can only push out 20A continuous, I'm even surprise they can go 20mph with it.
 
Looks like Congrats in order for Inboard...

fast-company-logo.gif


A Skateboard Startup's Radical Ambition: Disrupting Urban Transit
("Santa Cruz-based Inboard sees a future beyond rich skaters, where it’s the Tesla of rideables and skateboards solve the "last-mile problem"."):
https://www.fastcompany.com/3066832...ic-skateboard-disrupting-urban-transportation

Ends:
Back in Santa Cruz in December, the company hosted a viewing party in a tent at the hip Hotel Paradox. The space was packed with technologists who made money over the hill, and those who wanted to make it locally. All of them looked like Inboard’s early adopters—mostly male, athletic, and sporting high-priced gear from Arc’Teryx and Patagonia. People like Corey, the Solar City executive, who by then had become another of the company's angel investors. The Sharks may have been ambivalent, but this crowd was not. "When can I get my board?" was the first question from the floor.

:)
 
but are they legit with 12s1p and those cells and those claims? good for long enough for ten seconds in the commercial. I wonder if the allow more amps to flow than the cells are rated for. 20amp continuous.
 
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