8 Eyewear: From Idea, to Launch, to Growth (And Quitting the Job)

[Vick]

a ladies frame will require new molds for a smaller fit. maybe in the future

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[ddzc]

So something interesting happened today at my 'Cog' job.

We started a new project at work, right after Splinter Cell.

Apparently we have to prepare for E3(seems like there's always something to prepare for). So they instituted a new holiday policy up until then.

It almost made me sick. Not sick for me, but sick for all the people in this office.

From March to E3 (June 10) NO HOLIDAYS for anyone. Everyone is too focus on E3 debut. Which of course entails people to work overtime and weekends through out that time period, not all the time, but it will be freequent near the end, especially for programmers.

What has happened to this industry. It used to be fun to make games.

Now it's just become this coorporate monster. It grips onto people and literally strangles them at times. Then later on there like, oh sorry about that, here's a little bonus and how about 2 days off for working 14 hour days and weekends for 6 months. The way people are treated here is brutal, and most of them seem to be oblivious to the fact.

It seems like theres always an excuse too, always an upcoming event, always a push.

I feel sorry for some people here, because I know they don't like the system, but there too scared to try to leave it. I feel even more sorry for the younger people coming in. They have no idea what's ahead of them.

But who knows, maybe they'll enjoy it. It could be worse.

It's just sad to look around. I can lift my head 2 inches and see 100's of EXTREMELY talented people, you have to be talented. All of them have the ability to create great things, especially the coders.

I look around sometimes and feel kinda sad for them, because I know there talents are being leveraged by the uppers, you know, the people who have no talent, the people who get promoted simply because management likes them.

So much talent in this office it's scary. There's a concept artist who sits in front me, his name is Nacho Yague, here's his work >http://nachoyague.net/

Look at the artwork this guy can do, he's amazing, watching him paint is crazy. Yet he chooses to sit at a desk all day being told what to do and taken advantage of. Maybe he likes it, i dont understand why though. Imagine if he choose to draw a comic book for example. Leveraging his unique talent for himself.

Our office is littered with talent like this.

Any coder in this building could build an app in a week. These guys are briliant. Yet they don't.

And management has the right to say to these extremely talented people, 'Sorry, no holidays for you for 5 months'.

I understand that most of the people here may enjoy what they are doing, I mean were making games. But deep down, I know they would rather have more free time with there families.

As far as I'm concerned.

If management did there job properly, they wouldn't need steal time away from the people who do, do there job properly.

Personally though, I don't really care what they do to ME anymore. I'm beyond that now.

Because I know I'll be done this year.

I tend to smile more now.

I see this all the time, very sad indeed but a lot of people I know don't have that entrepreneurship mindset, and they don't care of it either. Just the other day I was talking with someone from my work, they're scared about job security b/c of the many layoffs happening. They don't care to upgrade their skill sets, they don't want to do more work, challenge themselves in the workplace. He's 45, been at the company for 15 years and just wants to retire in the same position and company. I want to be the total opposite of this person. You'd be surprised of how many gifted people are like this. They just want an easy job sitting on their a$$ and something with relative security, even though nobody really is.

I worked for Rogers head office many years ago. I personally knew many people who were "celebrating" 30, 35, 40 year work anniversaries. They're all below management positions still but happy because they see that retirement package oh so much closer. I looked at these people and said to myself, that's not going to be me. They have anniversaries every 5 years...unfortunately, my 5 years was coming up and I was working towards getting out of there for 2 years with no luck. The 5 year milestone came, I was depressed as ever that day while 30 team members were "celebrating" with a cake and all. I got a $150 gift certificate to Rogers. My manager said, in 5 more years you get an extra vacation day and $250 gift certificate. I told him that's not happening. I quit 2 mths later. I'm currently working for someone but as a consultant. I'm much happier b/c I'm not stuck in the on ramp any longer and that much closer to the fast lane.

Sorry for the rambling, can't wait to see these sunglasses...I'll personally be driving over and picking up a pair from you once completed

 

[Vick]

I'll personally be driving over and picking up a pair from you once completed

@ddzc do you pack heat? or work in a postal office? my wife is kinda shy against strangers from the internet coming to our home

send me a friend request on Facebook. I'd prefer to get to know you before, giving you the address of our home

 

[Rem]

OK so you want to feel better. You aren't the only one who gets negative and bad comments about your product. There will always be haters and skeptics. Here is an example. On a forum I have been providing information about our company and being as transparent as possible. He told me in a previous post my miner prices were way over inflated. He still doesn't get what it is we are providing. With all the software and the ease of the rigs. Although i have told him this isn't just hardware. Here is his response:

Overly inflated? Lets look at your 800KH/s system, which is $1500. That is about $800-900 worth of hardware @ newegg prices. Hell I could buy a brand new system that does 800KH/s off of ebay for $1k, and get paypal protection and get to see what other buyers think of the systems by reading the sellers feedback.

I wouldn't even care about your over-priced items, but for the simple fact that you are saying you are developing ASIC and will trade it in for free. That angers me. No one bullshits a bullshitter.

To everyone else who is considering purchasing from rumatech, I would advise you to goto ebay.com and type in "scrypt mining rig" and look at the prices and read the feedback from past buyers - you are certainly going to get a better deal.

And as for Carnth "reviewing" your units - that is just buying a moderator's favor.

TLR: These units are vastly overpriced and there will never be ANY "ASIC" devices from this "company." Alpha Tech is a scam and as far as I am concerned, so is this one.

Not to derail your thread but this is something we all must face. After you spend all your time focusing and trying to add value and pouring your heart and soul into a start up company you get someone who just comes in and acts like a real dick.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[benh]

What an awesome thread. I am about 8 pages in and I am going to come back and read the rest later. I know military approval has been talked about but have you looked into getting CSA approval? At my job a lot of people need sunglasses but they have to be CSA approved. Forklift/loader operators all over Canada and the states would love to be able to wear these at work.

 

[ddzc]

@ddzc do you pack heat? or work in a postal office? my wife is kinda shy against strangers from the internet coming to our home

send me a friend request on Facebook. I'd prefer to get to know you before, giving you the address of our home

Sorry, didn't mean to pick it up from your place lol. I can meet you or you can ship them over. I don't mind supporting a fastlane business, especially if it's one I like

 

[PeeVee]

So something interesting happened today at my 'Cog' job.

We started a new project at work, right after Splinter Cell.

Apparently we have to prepare for E3(seems like there's always something to prepare for). So they instituted a new holiday policy up until then.

It almost made me sick. Not sick for me, but sick for all the people in this office.

From March to E3 (June 10) NO HOLIDAYS for anyone. Everyone is too focus on E3 debut. Which of course entails people to work overtime and weekends through out that time period, not all the time, but it will be freequent near the end, especially for programmers.

What has happened to this industry. It used to be fun to make games.

Now it's just become this coorporate monster. It grips onto people and literally strangles them at times. Then later on there like, oh sorry about that, here's a little bonus and how about 2 days off for working 14 hour days and weekends for 6 months. The way people are treated here is brutal, and most of them seem to be oblivious to the fact.

It seems like theres always an excuse too, always an upcoming event, always a push.

I feel sorry for some people here, because I know they don't like the system, but there too scared to try to leave it. I feel even more sorry for the younger people coming in. They have no idea what's ahead of them.

But who knows, maybe they'll enjoy it. It could be worse.

It's just sad to look around. I can lift my head 2 inches and see 100's of EXTREMELY talented people, you have to be talented. All of them have the ability to create great things, especially the coders.

I look around sometimes and feel kinda sad for them, because I know there talents are being leveraged by the uppers, you know, the people who have no talent, the people who get promoted simply because management likes them.

So much talent in this office it's scary. There's a concept artist who sits in front me, his name is Nacho Yague, here's his work >http://nachoyague.net/

Look at the artwork this guy can do, he's amazing, watching him paint is crazy. Yet he chooses to sit at a desk all day being told what to do and taken advantage of. Maybe he likes it, i dont understand why though. Imagine if he choose to draw a comic book for example. Leveraging his unique talent for himself.

Our office is littered with talent like this.

Any coder in this building could build an app in a week. These guys are briliant. Yet they don't.

And management has the right to say to these extremely talented people, 'Sorry, no holidays for you for 5 months'.

I understand that most of the people here may enjoy what they are doing, I mean were making games. But deep down, I know they would rather have more free time with there families.

As far as I'm concerned.

If management did there job properly, they wouldn't need steal time away from the people who do, do there job properly.

Personally though, I don't really care what they do to ME anymore. I'm beyond that now.

Because I know I'll be done this year.

I tend to smile more now.

@Vick I know what you mean. I am at a slow lane job for and working on my fast lane nights and weekends for now. Ever since reading @MJ DeMarco 's book I just cannot view the world the same anymore. When I get to the point where I need to take on employees I will definitely be sure that people have a work/life balance. To your point, making games should be fun and if it is fun that drives creativity. At some point in companies the customer and the people that put their heart and soul into realizing someone else's dream is lost on the chase of $$. We have to chase building our product in a way that it enhances the people impacted by it and in my book that is customers and employees.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MJ DeMarco]

How should I handle these types of comments?

I wouldn't handle them at all -- IGNORE, unless it is specifically product related...

"I bought your glasses and dropped them ONCE, they broke!"
"The lenses are really poor..."
(That kinda stuff is probably actionable.)

"Looks like overpriced shit made in China"
"Wow, what kinda douchebag would buy these?"
(Trolls, nothing actionable.)

Market feedback needs to form a consensus. One or two comments does not make a consensus.

For me, I rarely engage negative comments. The only negative comments that have value are the ones direct from customers. For example, people who read my book could say "Too verbose, long-winded, etc." which I would probably agree, and react that I need to improve in this area.

 

[Phillipbro]

Packaging concpets.

View attachment 6664
Packaging Final.

View attachment 6665

Hey Vick, great progress the glasses look great. I was wondering how did you go about designing the box? Was it outsourced online? Or you developed the design using software?

 

[Vick]

Hey Vick, great progress the glasses look great. I was wondering how did you go about designing the box? Was it outsourced online? Or you developed the design using software?

Thanks, I did the designs using Photoshop and 3D software packages.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Rem]

"Looks like overpriced shit made in China"
"Wow, what kinda douchebag would buy these?"
(Trolls, nothing actionable.)

Probably not the China comment but MJ did you get a lot of trolls when it came to selling your book?? I can't imagine anyone trolling on a book they never read. But I wouldn't be surprised.

 

[Rolfp2]

Vick - this is one of my favorite threads to follow on here. Love the look of those glasses.

$120 reserved locked in. Good to go. Definitely don't want to raise the price.

But you could - Have a LIMITED EDITION premiere version (maybe different color scheme/type) for $249 - $300. I'm talking this thing gets a nice a$$ box, little numbered certificate card, whatever. Just make it limited and push that. Could just be a one time color scheme. Once it's gone, it's gone.

Either way good luck!

That's definitely something I'm sure plenty of people are guilty of falling for, regardless of whether it's "worth it" or not. I've got several high-priced "limited production (#XX out of #XXX)" or "limited edition" items simply because I thought it was neat that there were only a few in existence.

 

[Vick]

Ya I'm thinking of doing limited editions in the future.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Vick]

Here's a shot of the 3D Rapid Prototype they sent me to test the fitting. The print they sent is kinda crappy and printed in a yellow plastic, with black marker, not really something I would like the community too see, which is why I haven't showed it yet. The print isn't meant for looks, it's meant for testing the fit. Anyway, I grayed out the image and took an angle where it doesn't show any of the flaws from the print. Thought I should share this, it is part of the process. The fit was perfect.

 

[Vick]

Trying to stay busy, this is turing out to be the longest 6 months I have ever had to endure.

Anyway, as soon as I hit my goal of about 30,000$ in revenue I'll be able to place another order. The next order will include 8 new colors options. As well as our original 8 colors. So my 2nd order will be 1600 in the Original colors and 1600 in the New colors, totaling 3600 units.

While those are being manufactured, I'll still have around 1000 units left from the first run to sell. Give or take 25-50 or so because of the pre-order discount sales.

Below are some new color concepts for the 2nd run. A few of them are definite, like the Gloss Black, Orange one and the Black/White/Black one.

 

[MyronGainz]

Trying to stay busy, this is turing out to be the longest 6 months I have ever had to endure.

Anyway, as soon as I hit my goal of about 30,000$ in revenue I'll be able to place another order. The next order will include 8 new colors options. As well as our original 8 colors. So my 2nd order will be 1600 in the Original colors and 1600 in the New colors, totaling 3600 units.

While those are being manufactured, I'll still have around 1000 units left from the first run to sell. Give or take 25-50 or so because of the pre-order discount sales.

Below are some new color concepts for the 2nd run. A few of them are definite, like the Gloss Black, Orange one and the Black/White/Black one.

View attachment 6776 View attachment 6777 View attachment 6778 View attachment 6779 View attachment 6780 View attachment 6781 View attachment 6782

Not my style, but I still think these look really cool!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[TopChef]

Damn. The orange and white one looks really sharp!

 

[Vick]

Thanks guys.

 

[RHL]

Orange and white is top shelf. Congrats on your progress man, you actually created a product that looks like something people wanting serious designer sunglasses would buy. These'll sell.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[PopEmersen]

That Orange and White is bad a$$! The green and grey is nice too.

 

[oddball]

orange/white and all black are my favorites of those.

 

[MHolland]

Orange & White - 1 pair please - where do I order?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Vick]

Orange & White - 1 pair please - where do I order?

lol thanks, glad you like em. the Orange ones wont be available for some time. There scheduled for the 2nd production run. Prolly around Sept/Oct

 

[LibertyForMe]

You gotta target your ads by sports teams. Those grey and blue have Carolina Panthers all over them, Cincy Bengals fans would murder for the orange ones.

 

[Bigguns50]

It's just sad to look around. I can lift my head 2 inches and see 100's of EXTREMELY talented people, you have to be talented. All of them have the ability to create great things, especially the coders.

Someone should start a new gaming company and run it sorta, kinda like Google for these talented people.

VICK ! I've got connections with a company in Wyoming...successful...and they're into the extreme sport events. You gotta give me a holla when you're ready so I can connect you. Or Hell...I'll set it up so you can get some glasses into the right hands. Please...on your 'to do' list.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[oldscool]

You gotta target your ads by sports teams. Those grey and blue have Carolina Panthers all over them, Cincy Bengals fans would murder for the orange ones.

I was thinking ski teams, but, yes baseball , football, and, any sport in between would be ripe for promoting this.

 

[Vick]

You gotta target your ads by sports teams. Those grey and blue have Carolina Panthers all over them, Cincy Bengals fans would murder for the orange ones.

Great idea! love it! Rep $$$

 

[Vick]

I posted this in another thread, in @JAJT's thread>https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/dipping-my-toes-into-importing.44787/page-8

I'm just archiving it here, because now that I think of it, it's a very important lesson if your going to be making molds for your products.

A lesson that I learned only by fluke.

----------------------------------

YMCMB said: ↑
What is to stop the manufacturer in China from taking the mold you have or the difference you have with your item, and just selling it to other people on Alibaba? Let's say I had a iPhone case created with a new mold, for example and had it made for me in China, can't they just throw it up on Alibaba and sell it to other people too?


I pondered this as well with my sunglasses.

Although, I accidentally stumbled across a solution to this. At least for me anyway.

I had my "8" logo built into the molds (i.e My logo is part of my sunglasses, the logo is embossed on both the Lens frame and the Arms).

Which means, they can't re-sell the design to any other parties. This wasnt something I planned for, I just wanted my logo embossed on the frames. Kinda just lucked out with the outcome.

My overall cost per unit was slightly expensive because of this.

They even told me this > "Because your logo on molds, we cannot sell this to anyone else, this is why your quote is higher, until you start ordering 2,000 dozens annually".

When they said that to me, I was like WTF! you planned on selling my design to other people. Good thing I incorporated my logo into the actual molds. Now there kinda F*cked, and can only really sell them to me.

So now, all my other designs will have my Logo on every Mold.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[DrkSide]

@Vick if you are doing or going to do any facebook marketing you can have certain ads target people with interest in a sports team. That way you can target specifically the people who would buy that color.

I pondered this as well with my sunglasses.
Although, I accidentally stumbled across a solution to this. At least for me anyway.
I had my "8" logo built into the molds (i.e My logo is part of my sunglasses, the logo is embossed on both the Lens frame and the Arms).
Which means, they can't re-sell the design to any other parties. This wasnt something I planned for, I just wanted my logo embossed on the frames. Kinda just lucked out with the outcome.
My overall cost per unit was slightly expensive because of this.
They even told me this > "Because your logo on molds, we cannot sell this to anyone else, this is why your quote is higher, until you start ordering 2,000 dozens annually".
When they said that to me, I was like WTF! you planned on selling my design to other people. Good thing I incorporated my logo into the actual molds. Now there kinda F*cked, and can only really sell them to me.
So now, all my other designs will have my Logo on every Mold.

Pure gold right here. Rep + $$

 

[throttleforward]

"Because your logo on molds, we cannot sell this to anyone else, this is why your quote is higher, until you start ordering 2,000 dozens annually".

A poor man's patent.