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24 Year Old Makes $345,000 in 2 Months..

JDx

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ZF Lee

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Check out their profit while you're at it.

Rocket Internet sucks and the market knows it. They stick around for maybe 24 months in any given market and then have to "raise more capital" or sell out, total wannabe's. Save yourself time and stick to what you know. Rocket Internet are typical Germans, not a grain of ingenuity between them.
Agreed. But you have to give them credit for the hustle and the actions they took to at least gain a following or traction for their copy-startups. Their German copy of eBay got bought by the real eBay for some reasons...I imagine that even copy can be a threat to a real entity provided it serves customers as well as other businesses, Fastlane aside.

They usually deploy teams of three for their startups products, according to the article. One team has a CEO, CTO and COO. Quite compact team structure, should cover up pretty much of the scopes of a typical startup. Although Rocket Internet has been blamed for 'killing innovation', I just can't help but admire the defiance towards Silicon Valley in such an organization.
 

happybhoy

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Einstein was born in Germany, as were a lot of other smart people.
That was a bit rude to say the least. The world could learn a thing or two about productivity output from Germany.
 
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Walter Hay

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Sure it sucks, but this is business and as others have said this kind of thing should be expected by now.

What I'm more interested in is how this guy bought the product to market so quickly. I was under the impression that Antsy Labs (the Kickstarters) designed and developed the fidget cube from the ground up.

Is this not the case? Did they take an already existing product in China and alter it slightly?

If they did design it from the ground up, how did the copycat get ahold of the design and mass produce it so quickly?? If this is the case, that's pretty impressive.

So many questions... Can anybody chime in?

*I actually received my fidget cube in the mail today. It's pretty addictive.
This highlights the dangers of having new products made in China. I have frequently posted warnings to the effect that if you send a new design to China for development or manufacture, it is highly probable that competitors will have the product on the market before you even receive your prototype.

If the product requires assembly, you could have components made by different manufacturers in China, none of whom should be allowed to know the end use. If there is a risk that they could work it out - don't do that.

What are your alternatives?
  • Ship components to your home country and assemble them there. This obviously has its limitations depending on the type of product.
  • Have the Chinese manufacturer sign a NDA? - Waste of paper.
  • Have the product completely made locally? - Potentially, but not necessarily high cost, but a lot safer if appropriate protection measures are taken.
  • Have the product made in a low cost country where IP rights are protected? You might be surprised if you think outside the square and research product costs in countries that you probably regard as too expensive. Think Germany, Italy, Australia, and others.
I teach product sourcing and importing, but I always say look around your home country first.

Walter
 

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I understand that this is part of business, but this is not a person that I would want to associate with.

This is my thought as well.

I realize there is a huge sentiment of "execution is all that matters!" from many people here but personally no matter how good this guy is at executing, he's not someone I would even want to share even the name of my company with.

There's a lot of people I've talked to from this forum and elsewhere who have products I'm passionate about that I think I could either out-execute on, or at least compete very competently with. I've chosen 100% of the time to give those product categories a wide berth. I would much rather be known as the guy you can always trust to talk shop with in confidence rather than the guy who can 'kill you on execution'.

A lot of people have shared a tremendous wealth of information with me over my short few years doing this and I personally find it very important that every single one of them knows I'd never put a knife in their back.

I do realize that every niche under the sun has competitors you are fighting with but I feel there's a huge difference between the type of person who chooses a niche they love or feels they can add value to and competes aggressively in, and the person who decides to look for people who have already put in the time, money, marketing, risk, and just jumping in front of them with a giant "haha I got here first, choose me instead" sign. It's not really commendable.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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Instead of writing a long dissertation that reflects my opinion, I'll just say this: If this guy signed on to be an INSIDERS, I'd promptly refund his money and say "Sorry, not interested, please keep your cash."
 
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G-Man

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I realize there is a huge sentiment of "execution is all that matters!" from many people here but personally no matter how good this guy is at executing, he's not someone I would even want to share even the name of my company with.

I have to admit I have that sentiment in the sense that I just have to live every day in an industry where nothing is ever truly original. It's packaged food, not tech.

That said, wouldn't want to be that a**hole or have him at the desk next to me. Being able to look at yourself in the mirror has value, too.
 

Walter Hay

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What I am reading here almost restores my faith in human nature.

Like JALT, I am privy to a lot of confidential information provided by people seeking my help. If one is working in a particular niche, and the second one asks about the same product/ suppliers etc., I can't answer with specifics.

Thanks to all those who uphold ethical principles.

Walter
 
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vinylawesome

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"We can afford to lose money — even a lot of money. But we can't afford to lose reputation — even a shred of reputation."

-Warren Buffett
 

Ninjakid

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Buddy Guy Eh
To all the "well he got there first, he deserves it" people on tis thread,

This guy basically took what could have been a good product, and found the cheapest possible way to have it manufactured, which happened to be some factory in China which may or may not have even delivered, and introduced the market cheaper, low-quality products.

I guarantee you this guy had no intention on providing value, or a genuine service to people. He just took someone else's idea and had the shittiest possible version made because it would yield him the most profit with him being able to do the least amount of work. This guy is clearly scum.

The lesson here: keep your plans SECRET because of F*ckfaces like this.
 
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Drew D

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Can they not patent the product before putting it on kickstarter?
 

johnwmintz

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My wife bought me one of these for Christmas. That is the risk you take with putting your idea out there before you have it established and patented. I have this idea for a SaaS but that's about all I will share with anyone outside my circle.
 

luniac

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Hmm i don't know... i'm not convinced this guy is scum.
Is he scum because he executed a publicly available idea faster than the original guy?
You'd really not let him get INSIDERS subscription MJ? didn't know capitalism was so morally conscious.

Does poaching clients also make one scum?
 
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MakeMoreMoves

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The big problem was that it was already on alibaba for easy access. Not gonna lie, I actually searched alibaba when I first saw the fidget cube and it was right there. On amazon too. They can lose it all with the lawsuit for the bed thing. I don't know why the kickstarter original didn't wait till he actually had a patent.
 

ZF Lee

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This is my thought as well.

I realize there is a huge sentiment of "execution is all that matters!" from many people here but personally no matter how good this guy is at executing, he's not someone I would even want to share even the name of my company with.

There's a lot of people I've talked to from this forum and elsewhere who have products I'm passionate about that I think I could either out-execute on, or at least compete very competently with. I've chosen 100% of the time to give those product categories a wide berth. I would much rather be known as the guy you can always trust to talk shop with in confidence rather than the guy who can 'kill you on execution'.

A lot of people have shared a tremendous wealth of information with me over my short few years doing this and I personally find it very important that every single one of them knows I'd never put a knife in their back.

I do realize that every niche under the sun has competitors you are fighting with but I feel there's a huge difference between the type of person who chooses a niche they love or feels they can add value to and competes aggressively in, and the person who decides to look for people who have already put in the time, money, marketing, risk, and just jumping in front of them with a giant "haha I got here first, choose me instead" sign. It's not really commendable.
True that. I think it's healthier that way.

I think a Fastlane business that thrives on goodwill and valuable relationships instead of dominance over competition can not only be made passive easier, but also LONGER.

Lots of 'warrior' businesses that fight to the top are quickly pulled down by their rivals one way or another. Competition never worked for me even in school. The costs of 'war', like stress, rivalry and strained resources, always far outweighed the results.

'The hardest conquest there is, is not of land or country, but of the conquest of hearts of people.'
 

MoneyDoc

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To be honest.. that 24 year old saw an opportunity and executed. Not sure why the majority of people in this thread are bashing him.

Morals? Let's be honest, if you were in his position and you saw such an opportunity, you wouldn't capitalize?

The product was not patented while in the kickstarter phase. So all the original creators did was give this 24 year old market validation. I, on the regular, search kickstarter for ideas and market validation. It's a great resource just like Amazon is for market research.

And lastly, that product was not original to begin with. Many don't know, that product was introduced and selling in Korea way before China got its first mold of the product.

Now if this was an original, patented product, this would be a different discussion. But it wasn't, it was a generic product.
 
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MoneyDoc

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To all the "well he got there first, he deserves it" people on tis thread,

This guy basically took what could have been a good product, and found the cheapest possible way to have it manufactured, which happened to be some factory in China which may or may not have even delivered, and introduced the market cheaper, low-quality products.

I guarantee you this guy had no intention on providing value, or a genuine service to people. He just took someone else's idea and had the shittiest possible version made because it would yield him the most profit with him being able to do the least amount of work. This guy is clearly scum.

The lesson here: keep your plans SECRET because of F*ckfaces like this.

With all due respect, I do not agree with your thoughts at all. Calling him a F*ckface is not right at all. At least call him a smart F*ckface...

Nothing wrong with a cash flow business. Imagine what he can do with the $300k now. A lot of people start with cash flow businesses to generate funds to use on a real business. Look at Amazon, you think all those private label brands are offering top of the line products? No, they're not. They are sucking out as much cash as they can from Amazon so they can focus on building a real brand.
 

luniac

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With all due respect, I do not agree with your thoughts at all. Calling him a F*ckface is not right at all. At least call him a smart F*ckface...

Nothing wrong with a cash flow business. Imagine what he can do with the $300k now. A lot of people start with cash flow businesses to generate funds to use on a real business. Look at Amazon, you think all those private label brands are offering top of the line products? No, they're not. They are sucking out as much cash as they can from Amazon so they can focus on building a real brand.

exactly, and what da fuk is big deal about FIDGET CUBE, a plastic cube with buttons, give it to a todler.

Easy as hell to replicate, i applaud for his initiative.

I think people are just salty at how easy he made 300k
 

MakeMoreMoves

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Wait, how does a 24 year old have 70K around. Didn't say he loaned it or anything.
 
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rpeck90

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exactly, and what da fuk is big deal about FIDGET CUBE, a plastic cube with buttons, give it to a todler.

Easy as hell to replicate, i applaud for his initiative.

I think people are just salty at how easy he made 300k

Agreed 100%

They put on Kickstarter because they thought they'd create their first batch of customers. The guy went direct to festivals etc so I don't see the problem.

All the butthurts on here talking about reputation etc, you want to look at Warren Buffet's early career....
View: https://youtu.be/w-eX4sZi-Zs?t=1471
specifically Dempster Mill. He also did some dodgy things with insurance, the float from which he used to fund many of his longer term investments.
 

Damon143

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What the F*ck man is that real? I'm so jealous about it I think even if I work hard this whole year I can't earn as much as that. I want to meet this guy in person and I want to know his secret on how did he do that.
 
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amp0193

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Look at Amazon, you think all those private label brands are offering top of the line products? No, they're not. They are sucking out as much cash as they can from Amazon so they can focus on building a real brand.

haha, guilty as charged.


:smile2:
 

Ravens_Shadow

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To be honest.. that 24 year old saw an opportunity and executed. Not sure why the majority of people in this thread are bashing him.

Morals? Let's be honest, if you were in his position and you saw such an opportunity, you wouldn't capitalize?

Now lets be honest, he's a 24 year old dipshit who can't come up with an original idea on his own. And no, I think a good amount of us wouldn't capitalize on something like this. Its like if MJ posted that he's starting to sell limo key chains to limo drivers, and it just so happens he's making millions on it. Are you gonna say, "well shit, i see the opportunity, i better execute on this!"? Same exact situation except less personal. I certainly wouldn't ever trust you with any of my business plans.

This isn't to be confused with providing value. Providing value could mean you see a competitors product. Source it, make serious improvements in functionality/quality and then sell it. He just wanted a quick buck.
 
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MoneyDoc

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Now lets be honest, he's a 24 year old dipshit who can't come up with an original idea on his own. And no, I think a good amount of us wouldn't capitalize on something like this. Its like if MJ posted that he's starting to sell limo key chains to limo drivers, and it just so happens he's making millions on it. Are you gonna say, "well shit, i see the opportunity, i better execute on this!"? Same exact situation except less personal. I certainly wouldn't ever trust you with any of my business plans.

This isn't to be confused with providing value. Providing value could mean you see a competitors product. Source it, make serious improvements in functionality/quality and then sell it. He just wanted a quick buck.
I don't think you understood my post. You made an example of MJ selling keychains. Was the kickstarter guys selling this product or were they raising funds? There's a big difference. No patent, no sales, nothing. Why shouldn't someone else execute when the market validation phase is already done for you?

I share business ideas/plans with people on the daily. Why should I whine if someone executes before me? That's my loss. I told them my idea/plan, they didn't ask me for it.

Again, you probabaly don't know, but this product was in the markets way before any of this happened. It was not an original idea to begin with. So again, what wrong did he do?

Wanted a quick buck? What's wrong with that? Not all businesses are meant to provide real value. What good do private label brands selling the same Chinese product serve? What value are they adding? They make hundreds of thousands per month though? So we should call them all scumbags? Hell, my private label brand has grown exponentially this past year. I don't provide any real value at all rather than another product.

Nothing wrong with a quick buck to generate cash to work on a real business.
 
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MoneyDoc

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No.
We're all is his position each & every day.
Again, that wasn't the point. My point was that people are bringing up morals and ethics as if he stole an idea. He did not. There was no idea here. It was a preexisting product. All he "stole" was market validation - nothing wrong in that.

Apple showed a demand for touch screen smartphones. Now all smartphones are touchscreen. Should Apple sit and whine over that? No, because the other companies are doing nothing wrong.
 

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