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23.2 ROAS needed: realistic?

MRiabov

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Sup,

So I'm in the process of putting my invention to Kickstarter, here is a couple of renders

IMG_20231015_224924_609.jpg

It cooks food by a press of a button.

So, I've made a couple of estimations, and to fund my project on Kickstarter, I need 34800€.

The way Kickstarter works is that if the goal is not reached I get nothing.

...

And to get that kind of funding I need ad dollars. I've made some estimations, and I can do food delivery for about 7$/h here in Slovakia. If I work 7 hours a day, 30 days a month I can get to whopping 1500$.

Which is both good and terrible. But, if you do the math 34800/1500, I need around 23.2 ROAS just to hit the goal.

I've read how powerful press mentions (and Kickstarter front-page) can be, and maybe I can get 10k in free publicity. "talk to the right people" as one Fastlaner has said"

Problem is still, is getting 23.2 ROAS even realistic?

I've recently done product design, Kickstarter design, Web design, engineering of my product, but I don't know if someone would be willing to pay me for the "problem-solving" skills on this level.

Possible to bootstrap? Is such ROAS from good/decent renders possible?

It's not easy, but I'm committed... I'm also afraid I won't be able to test as much creatives because with ppc ~2$ I'll be able to get only 750 clicks... And if 100 clicks is statistically significant it's only 7 creatives.
 
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Trismigistus

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Sup,

So I'm in the process of putting my invention to Kickstarter, here is a couple of renders

View attachment 51900

It cooks food by a press of a button.

So, I've made a couple of estimations, and to fund my project on Kickstarter, I need 34800€.

The way Kickstarter works is that if the goal is not reached I get nothing.

...

And to get that kind of funding I need ad dollars. I've made some estimations, and I can do food delivery for about 7$/h here in Slovakia. If I work 7 hours a day, 30 days a month I can get to whopping 1500$.

Which is both good and terrible. But, if you do the math 34800/1500, I need around 23.2 ROAS just to hit the goal.

I've read how powerful press mentions (and Kickstarter front-page) can be, and maybe I can get 10k in free publicity. "talk to the right people" as one Fastlaner has said"

Problem is still, is getting 23.2 ROAS even realistic?

I've recently done product design, Kickstarter design, Web design, engineering of my product, but I don't know if someone would be willing to pay me for the "problem-solving" skills on this level.

Possible to bootstrap? Is such ROAS from good/decent renders possible?

It's not easy, but I'm committed... I'm also afraid I won't be able to test as much creatives because with ppc ~2$ I'll be able to get only 750 clicks... And if 100 clicks is statistically significant it's only 7 creatives.
Is the kickstarter to build a prototype?
 

MRiabov

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Is the kickstarter to build a prototype?
And to ship the products too. I have the CAE model, I'll then talk to engineers like @EngineerThis.

To build the prototype I'll need about 9k$. Another 27k are in order to fulfil the products needed to cover the first 9k.

Here's a simple financial estimation I've done a couple of weeks ago: Google Sheets

Really, the model is built out, and I see how people light up when I talk that I'm going to create it. That's why I'm committed to do it, and I'm going to fight like hell to make it happen.
 

biophase

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Sup,

So I'm in the process of putting my invention to Kickstarter, here is a couple of renders

View attachment 51900

It cooks food by a press of a button.

So, I've made a couple of estimations, and to fund my project on Kickstarter, I need 34800€.

The way Kickstarter works is that if the goal is not reached I get nothing.

...

And to get that kind of funding I need ad dollars. I've made some estimations, and I can do food delivery for about 7$/h here in Slovakia. If I work 7 hours a day, 30 days a month I can get to whopping 1500$.

Which is both good and terrible. But, if you do the math 34800/1500, I need around 23.2 ROAS just to hit the goal.

I've read how powerful press mentions (and Kickstarter front-page) can be, and maybe I can get 10k in free publicity. "talk to the right people" as one Fastlaner has said"

Problem is still, is getting 23.2 ROAS even realistic?

I've recently done product design, Kickstarter design, Web design, engineering of my product, but I don't know if someone would be willing to pay me for the "problem-solving" skills on this level.

Possible to bootstrap? Is such ROAS from good/decent renders possible?

It's not easy, but I'm committed... I'm also afraid I won't be able to test as much creatives because with ppc ~2$ I'll be able to get only 750 clicks... And if 100 clicks is statistically significant it's only 7 creatives.
What part of the tender is the product?

How is it different than a microwave? What is your selling price point?
 
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The-J

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It is realistic, I ran Facebook ads to a Kickstarter campaign some years ago with a much higher ROAS than that.

I probably wouldn't recommend it though. The Kickstarter succeeded (raised some $246k) but the project failed. Luckily for the business owner, his main business was already doing quite well.

Plus, that Kickstarter had a lot going for it. We ran ads to a warm list & lookalikes of the list. So of course the ad campaign was going to do well. They also used another agency that was not spending money on ads but using earned media. So ROAS in this case is misleading. The earned media combined with the ads combined with the warm list led to a successful campaign.

I don't recommend you go down this route. I'd wait on the Kickstarter. Think bigger & longer term. If the vision you see is "get any meal cooked for you, in your home, at the touch of a button", consider that delivery apps and microwave dinners do this already for a much lower fixed cost & with a much more consistent result. Are you gonna make me buy the raw ingredients, too? Am I gonna have to clean the machine? How much power does it use? Is there some other advantage to your machine?

People "lighting up" at the idea is not market proof.

I would recommend fleshing out the idea a little more with the help of (1) experts with domain experience in food preparation and (2) people who would be in the market for this. To get to the vision you want, you're going to need a lot more time and a lot more help.
 

MRiabov

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What part of the tender is the product?

How is it different than a microwave? What is your selling price point?
That, black thing in the back.

Because it cuts, peels, boils and fries for you. It does everything you would do in a kitchen, but you don't have to participate in it. Hungry and don't fancy cooking? Literally just come to it, select the recipe, and 30-60 mins later you'll have a ready dish.

1200$/piece
 

MRiabov

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It is realistic, I ran Facebook ads to a Kickstarter campaign some years ago with a much higher ROAS than that.

I probably wouldn't recommend it though. The Kickstarter succeeded (raised some $246k) but the project failed. Luckily for the business owner, his main business was already doing quite well.

Plus, that Kickstarter had a lot going for it. We ran ads to a warm list & lookalikes of the list. So of course the ad campaign was going to do well. They also used another agency that was not spending money on ads but using earned media. So ROAS in this case is misleading. The earned media combined with the ads combined with the warm list led to a successful campaign.

I don't recommend you go down this route. I'd wait on the Kickstarter. Think bigger & longer term. If the vision you see is "get any meal cooked for you, in your home, at the touch of a button", consider that delivery apps and microwave dinners do this already for a much lower fixed cost & with a much more consistent result. Are you gonna make me buy the raw ingredients, too? Am I gonna have to clean the machine? How much power does it use? Is there some other advantage to your machine?

People "lighting up" at the idea is not market proof.

I would recommend fleshing out the idea a little more with the help of (1) experts with domain experience in food preparation and (2) people who would be in the market for this. To get to the vision you want, you're going to need a lot more time and a lot more help.
Nope, the machine is cleaned during and after the cooking. Which means that you can use it full-auto, never ending cycle of food prep. You can use it to feed entire families with... Well, a touch of a button.

What other alternatives, over The Kickstarter then? I'm working 9-9 on this project for 3 months already. I won't be able to bootstrap the 11k I need, not as fast as selling the product at least (7 months of food delivery on something unproved is a deathly waste of time). VCs declined one by one, because the project is pre-revenue.

I mean, I've tried other ways... But it is selling-ready. Of course, not everything is perfect, but it's... Damn, it's ready enough for it!
 
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Trismigistus

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Nope, the machine is cleaned during and after the cooking. Which means that you can use it full-auto, never ending cycle of food prep. You can use it to feed entire families with... Well, a touch of a button.

What other alternatives, over The Kickstarter then? I'm working 9-9 on this project for 3 months already. I won't be able to bootstrap the 11k I need, not as fast as selling the product at least (7 months of food delivery on something unproved is a deathly waste of time). VCs declined one by one, because the project is pre-revenue.

I mean, I've tried other ways... But it is selling-ready. Of course, not everything is perfect, but it's... Damn, it's ready enough for it!
It sounds pretty badass, do you know if it will actually work? Or will the prototype confirm that?
 

MRiabov

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It sounds pretty badass, do you know if it will actually work? Or will the prototype confirm that?
It does, I've linked how the product works (the core of the machine) on the INSIDERS.

There will be one make-it-or-break-it hermetisation issue I will absolutely need to address with engineers, but everything else is (should be) working.

But i have PTSD from previous failures, so I will go makret first.

The hardest part will be getting people to understand how this isn't a larger and uglier microwave. (I am in this audience)
Microwave can't cook you a salad! And it also can't cook you a soup, from raw, unpeeled ingredients!

To microwave something you need something. And this is what makes all the cooking.

Damnit, is it not clearly communicated? I should take this as a huge red flag because it's not the first time I hear this...

I am designing Kickstarter images right now.
Screenshot_2023-10-16-00-37-55-601_com.figma.mirror-edit.jpg
On the sides of the machine there will be tables ripe with different foods, and beautiful dishes.

But isn't it clearly communited? Damn..
 
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machinistguy

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It does, I've linked how the product works (the core of the machine) on the INSIDERS.

There will be one make-it-or-break-it hermetisation issue I will absolutely need to address with engineers, but everything else is (should be) working.

But i have PTSD from previous failures, so I will go makret first.


Microwave can't cook you a salad! And it also can't cook you a soup, from raw, unpeeled ingredients!

To microwave something you need something. And this is what makes all the cooking.

Damnit, is it not clearly communicated? I should take this as a huge red flag because it's not the first time I hear this...

I am designing Kickstarter images right now.
View attachment 51902
On the sides of the machine there will be tables ripe with different foods, and beautiful dishes.

But isn't it clearly communited? Damn..
I find the concept pretty easy to understand... I just wouldn't trust it to work unless you have working models. Also if it does what you say it does idk why you're going after consumers and not restaurants, the ROI vs a human chef would be outstanding... If it works.
 

Trismigistus

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It does, I've linked how the product works (the core of the machine) on the INSIDERS.

There will be one make-it-or-break-it hermetisation issue I will absolutely need to address with engineers, but everything else is (should be) working.

But i have PTSD from previous failures, so I will go makret first.


Microwave can't cook you a salad! And it also can't cook you a soup, from raw, unpeeled ingredients!

To microwave something you need something. And this is what makes all the cooking.

Damnit, is it not clearly communicated? I should take this as a huge red flag because it's not the first time I hear this...

I am designing Kickstarter images right now.
View attachment 51902
On the sides of the machine there will be tables ripe with different foods, and beautiful dishes.

But isn't it clearly communited? Damn..
Nice, Im gonna join INSIDERS after nov 11 probably. To your idea, it sounds to good to be true. You make it sound like it has no limitations. Is that true? Will it truly be able to prepare anything? But if you can pull it off then I'm sure people would love it.
 

The-J

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Nope, the machine is cleaned during and after the cooking. Which means that you can use it full-auto, never ending cycle of food prep. You can use it to feed entire families with... Well, a touch of a button.

What other alternatives, over The Kickstarter then? I'm working 9-9 on this project for 3 months already. I won't be able to bootstrap the 11k I need, not as fast as selling the product at least (7 months of food delivery on something unproved is a deathly waste of time). VCs declined one by one, because the project is pre-revenue.

I mean, I've tried other ways... But it is selling-ready. Of course, not everything is perfect, but it's... Damn, it's ready enough for it!

Your best bet is to somehow get a company in this space to bring you onboard to get the product built without a dime of your own money. You'll give up control and ownership, but just like other users in this thread, I have no reason to believe that your product is anything but a dream. You have to prove that it works.

You say you need money to prove that it works. Why would you, on a constrained budget, build a better one than a company with the resources to get it built efficiently and effectively? (Not all projects are better off with more capital investment, so I'd expect you to have a serious answer for this)

In the US back in the 19th-20th centuries, a popular way for people to get rich was to take ideas like the one you have and get them patented. Most of these patents were purely speculative and expired unused. But some of them worked out and produced fortunes. So there is a precedent, albeit an old one, for coming up with ideas like yours & protecting them without ever having to build them. This method of making money isn't as popular anymore, but at least 2 forum members I know of have had success licensing inventions that they didn't have to produce. (Book: One Simple Idea by Stephen Key)

When I was your age, I had this genius idea to produce leads for plastic surgeons using a special system that I was going to build myself. But I didn't know how to build it. I tried to sell it to surgeons before it worked and none of them wanted it. If I had simply sold them ads management or rank-and-rent, I would have done much better. But I didn't know what I didn't know, and I didn't know how to do those things.

I bet you could put one of these machines together yourself in your spare time. It would be shoddy, and it would take a long time, but you don't know what you don't know.
 
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biophase

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It does, I've linked how the product works (the core of the machine) on the INSIDERS.

There will be one make-it-or-break-it hermetisation issue I will absolutely need to address with engineers, but everything else is (should be) working.

But i have PTSD from previous failures, so I will go makret first.


Microwave can't cook you a salad! And it also can't cook you a soup, from raw, unpeeled ingredients!

To microwave something you need something. And this is what makes all the cooking.

Damnit, is it not clearly communicated? I should take this as a huge red flag because it's not the first time I hear this...

I am designing Kickstarter images right now.
View attachment 51902
On the sides of the machine there will be tables ripe with different foods, and beautiful dishes.

But isn't it clearly communited? Damn..
Yea this machine makes no sense.

Are you saying that if I wanted a salad I could throw in a head of lettuce, garlic, a tomato, an onion, and chicken breast, and a salad will come out of it? I don’t have to peel an onion or garlic?

You haven’t clearly communicated anything you just said it’s a machine that will cook everything for you, which is a very broad generalization. I’m sure you have a bunch of limitations that the machine will not be able to do.
 

biophase

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That, black thing in the back.

Because it cuts, peels, boils and fries for you. It does everything you would do in a kitchen, but you don't have to participate in it. Hungry and don't fancy cooking? Literally just come to it, select the recipe, and 30-60 mins later you'll have a ready dish.

1200$/piece
If your truly does all that $1,200 each is way too cheap. It should be around $10,000.

Honestly, I don’t see how you would get this off the ground without spending a couple hundred thousand dollars if not millions.
 

Mikkel

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The reason people don't seem to understand this is because it sounds to good to be true.

Maybe you have cracked the code, but without proof of concept, people won't believe you and people won't invest in or buy your product.

This project seems incredibly expensive to build a full prototype, let alone get these things manufactured on your own, if this thing actually works.

Have you actually built a working version? Do you have real life prototypes that prove this concept works?

If the above is a yes, then I think you should pair with a larger company and license this product as stated above. Could you be the top 50 richest man in the world if you could get this off the ground by yourself? Sure. But the likelihood you could get this off the ground by yourself is slim to none if you make $1,500/month unless you have an incredibly successful Kickstarter campaign. Even with a successful plan, you can easily fail with poor execution.

Think of the alternative, licensing. You can leverage a highly effective and efficient system that is already built and in place. The company would use their resources to build your product. They will use their national/international distribution channels to sell to a huge number of people as soon as it is ready to sell. You don't have to run a massive company, you already have someone doing that for you.

If the product is as good as you say it is, you will probably have no need to work another day in your life with the amount of money you would make from royalties.

If you are so inclined to invent more products, you would be more than likely to fund all future projects independently.

This is all assuming this product works. To prove that to people, you would have to show a real demonstration.
 
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Man if there's a machine that can peel veggies, assemble a salad, and actually MAKE all the food from raw ingredients...

it's worth 30 grand.

But, it can't. There is no way.

Is Elizabeth Holmes your CEO?

1697428061712.jpeg
 

MitchC

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You have 2 options:

1. Find an investor and convince him to give you $10,000 for a prototype and then try and sell that prototype to @Johnny boy for $30,000.

2. Put this on the shelf and start something that can cashflow today with $1100, like a $50 product.

I'm not being funny either, there is no other option. There is no world in which you take $1100 and make this work on Kickstarter.

Also, how is this different from a thermomix? I don't know much about them but I'm pretty sure that's what they do.
 

MRiabov

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Yea this machine makes no sense.

Are you saying that if I wanted a salad I could throw in a head of lettuce, garlic, a tomato, an onion, and chicken breast, and a salad will come out of it? I don’t have to peel an onion or garlic?

You haven’t clearly communicated anything you just said it’s a machine that will cook everything for you, which is a very broad generalization. I’m sure you have a bunch of limitations that the machine will not be able to do.
It does have limitations, yes... So, the most basic limitation, is that the product must be homogeneous.

Homogeneous - "consisting of the same kind; alike."

So, if you stir the product it will be the same. So if you stir a soup it will still be a soup. But you can't just stir a cake, because a cake has layers.

Can it peel unpeeled onions? Yep it can. So there is a "input box" with 5 different input holes. You can put whatever you want in those holes.

Put an unpeeled onion into one, and it will be sent to peeling, and then cutting. Put a chicken breaks and it will be sent to cutting, and boiling or frying (on your preference) systems.
A garlic is probably a bit too extreme, but if you just peel one for a couple of seconds you'll still be saving like 5-10 minutes of time
 
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biophase

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It does have limitations, yes... So, the most basic limitation, is that the product must be homogeneous.

Homogeneous - "consisting of the same kind; alike."

So, if you stir the product it will be the same. So if you stir a soup it will still be a soup. But you can't just stir a cake, because a cake has layers.

Can it peel unpeeled onions? Yep it can. So there is a "input box" with 5 different input holes. You can put whatever you want in those holes.

Put an unpeeled onion into one, and it will be sent to peeling, and then cutting. Put a chicken breaks and it will be sent to cutting, and boiling or frying (on your preference) systems.
A garlic is probably a bit too extreme, but if you just peel one for a couple of seconds you'll still be saving like 5-10 minutes of time
How does the machine peel an onion? Does it work on any shape or size onion?

I ask because I was listening to an AI podcast about robots and how there are teams of people trying to figure out how to make a robot do a simple task such as peeling a carrot. They talked about the different shapes and textures and hardness of food. If a carrot is too long or curved a little the robot hand isn’t gentle enough to do this properly. That’s why I just don’t believe your machine will be able to do what you say.

Too many variables in dropping random shaped food into a machine and expecting it to account for them.
 

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That, black thing in the back.

Because it cuts, peels, boils and fries for you. It does everything you would do in a kitchen, but you don't have to participate in it. Hungry and don't fancy cooking? Literally just come to it, select the recipe, and 30-60 mins later you'll have a ready dish.

1200$/piece

This is a much better explanation than "It cooks at the touch of a button" because everyone will immediately think "You mean like a microwave?"

It sounds great by the way, if you can truly throw potatoes in there and it will peel and chop them how you like, that in itself would probably make money. But cooking as well? Wow, if you get it right (meaning function and price), you could be onto a winner.

How are you so sure it will work? Are you a product engineer?
 

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Get some paper and write down the different options you have for moving forwards with this.

Each option needs pros, cons, assets required. Maybe the stages you’d have to work through.

The point of Fastlane is you do something difficult. This looks pretty tough but also amazing.

You also need to work on how you communicate what this thing does. Everyone here is confused. Find someone who knows nothing about it, show them your marketing, correct their understanding and then use that conversation to rewrite your marketing.

Two biggest objections in this thread:
1. What does it do?
2. Will it actually work?
 
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Too many variables in dropping random shaped food into a machine and expecting it to account for them.

The cutting edge of robotics competitions right now are to see what team of scientists can make a robot that can handle the most random shit in a fulfillment center scenario.

Robots today are surprisingly bad at picking up a wide range of objects.
 

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How does the machine peel an onion? Does it work on any shape or size onion?

I ask because I was listening to an AI podcast about robots and how there are teams of people trying to figure out how to make a robot do a simple task such as peeling a carrot. They talked about the different shapes and textures and hardness of food. If a carrot is too long or curved a little the robot hand isn’t gentle enough to do this properly. That’s why I just don’t believe your machine will be able to do what you say.

Too many variables in dropping random shaped food into a machine and expecting it to account for them.
These guys reckon they've cracked it! Although I don't think it chops.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKCVol2iWcc
 

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Get some paper and write down the different options you have for moving forwards with this.

Each option needs pros, cons, assets required. Maybe the stages you’d have to work through.

The point of Fastlane is you do something difficult. This looks pretty tough but also amazing.

You also need to work on how you communicate what this thing does. Everyone here is confused. Find someone who knows nothing about it, show them your marketing, correct their understanding and then use that conversation to rewrite your marketing.

Two biggest objections in this thread:
1. What does it do?
2. Will it actually work?
Okay, so I've done the analysis, and...

Judging the situation from my POV, @Johnny boy, @The-J are basically telling me to assume that I won't be able to sell the product via Kickstarter because people won't trust me enough to build a prototype.

If that holds true, with trying to sell I will waste the next 1-2 months building the backer pre-launch and selling the product.

If that is false, however I will spend the next 3-4 months engineering and building my product, all whole barely scraping by, and the output will probably be a prototype. Then I will spend 1-2 months building the list and selling it. 5 months more of broke struggle

...

Tough choice. Subconsciously I know I must build, but consciousness (and PTSD from previous businesses) says "go sell, and if you won't you can waste hours,again."
 
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Last edited:

biophase

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Okay, so I've done the analysis, and...

Judging the situation from my POV, @Johnny boy, @The-J are basically telling me to assume that I won't be able to sell the product via Kickstarter because people won't trust me enough to build a prototype.

If that holds true, with trying to sell I will waste the next 1-2 months building the backer pre-launch and selling the product.

If that is false, however I will spend the next 3-4 months engineering and building my product, all whole barely scraping by, and the output will probably be a prototype. Then I will spend 1-2 months building the list and selling it. 5 months more of broke struggle

...

Tough choice. Subconsciously I know I must build, but consciousness (and PTSD from previous businesses) says "go sell, and if you won't you can waste hours,again."
To me it’s an easy choice. If you believe you can make this prototype you spend 5 months broke and then live the rest of your life as a multi millionaire.

But I also agree with others. Crowdfunding won’t work because your product is not believable at this point.
 

Trismigistus

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Okay, so I've done the analysis, and...

Judging the situation from my POV, @Johnny boy, @The-J are basically telling me to assume that I won't be able to sell the product via Kickstarter because people won't trust me enough to build a prototype.

If that holds true, with trying to sell I will waste the next 1-2 months building the backer pre-launch and selling the product.

If that is false, however I will spend the next 3-4 months engineering and building my product, all whole barely scraping by, and the output will probably be a prototype. Then I will spend 1-2 months building the list and selling it. 5 months more of broke struggle

...

Tough choice. Subconsciously I know I must build, but consciousness (and PTSD from previous businesses) says "go sell, and if you won't you can waste hours,again."
I have no business yet, still working on its launch, with that being said here's what I think. If you have the confidence in it, which it seems you do, build a prototype first. Work out all the kinks that may arise, before you potentially waste customers money on it (pre sales). Prove it can do what you say it can do. Then if it can, I bet people will be lining up to throw cash at you. You may be broke but it sounds like youve been broke so whats the risk? If you sell this before proof of concept then you are potentially soiling the reputation of your product. Save some cash, build a prototype, rub it in all the naysayers faces. Then if it ends up being a bust, then youll know before you take other peoples money.
 

MitchC

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To me it’s an easy choice. If you believe you can make this prototype you spend 5 months broke and then live the rest of your life as a multi millionaire.

But I also agree with others. Crowdfunding won’t work because your product is not believable at this point.
Yup, this idea isn’t going anywhere, I can assure you no one else will bring this to market in the next 6 months

If you want to make money faster than that, just pick another idea
 
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