http://www.slideshare.net/YCW10/cutbots-presentation-1946585
Read this presentation. It is, far and away, the best pitch I have ever seen.
I have sold to, approximately, these customers for the last 3 years. Once a little blog none of you have ever heard of got the notion "Hey, gals, lets have a scrapbooking competition with a bingo theme, hey, this guy does bingo" and that one mention sold a week's worth of software.
Passionate customers. Willing to spend money. On IP. With zero cost of reproduction. On a recurring basis. With the added benefit that the hardware integration poses a competitive moat, and increases customer lock-in, not that you'll need it because they are a fiercely loyal tribe if you treat them right.
If I had $25k burning a hole in my pocket, I would be contacting you to discuss angel terms as we speak.
The excessive use of the handle YCW10 loses credibility in my book and adds an air of pretentiousness.
re: back of envelope math, I concur, but I showed it to some people who were fairly bright and they commented that the rev potential wasn't called out, when it actually was more modestly. People tend to flip though these quickly so its spelled out a bit pedantically.
re: name - just wanted something generic that also referenced the goal. Happy to change it if pg or anyone else has a problem. No pretensions intended.
I think the greatest part about these products is the "viral" (for lack of a better word) ability. Someone with a new necklace will have all their friends asking about it... show their 10 BFFs. Same goes for cutbot and name tags. (See: http://blog.businessofsoftware.org/2009/07/seth-godins-talk-...) This is something that will be worth noting to people.
I noticed you were pretty specific with what you wanted in a co-founder on cutbots. Did you ever consider that you'd want someone with negotiation/supply chain management skills who has done deals [possibly in China] before? Or if you have before personally, even better. Just throwing that out there.
Lastly, a good way to get some attention and hype when your more finalized would be via http://www.kickstarter.com/. These seem like projects people would want to fund (in return for something... maybe first dibs?).
Good luck!
The potential problem I see is the social aspect of trying on the jewelry physically and "chatting / giggling / discussing" it. You alluded to some aspect of social design but will it be enough?
P.S. - you might want to do a private registration on your domain names, unless you used a pseudonym or a friend's name :) [edit: since you want to remain anonymous]
My point is that making can be more social than shopping.
ps: That paper cutting slide show it great. I'm sure I'll imitate the style next time I need to create one.
It's curious that you're hiding your name (I guess if you're worried about losing your current job, that's understandable). A little more personal data (maybe even a picture) would be nice.
If I was going to get in bed with a co-founder (figuratively speaking), I would need to know more than those bullet points. I'd even go so far as to say that it's more important than the idea itself.
I've had a very nebulous idea that's been percolating in my mind: software designed for small machine shops to organize their work. It never occurred to me to organize hobby folk. awesome.
i'm looking for a co-founder, too. my current project may not overlap with your interests, but i recently showed off a neat diy CNC mill at Maker Faire. maybe the networking and idea exchange would be useful for both of us. i will shoot you some email.
@YC W10 I have a few comments
1. CutBots :: Installed base of cutting machines
Can you offer a service to post the results to your customers who don't have a cutter? Frequent or On Demand customers may still want a discreet device but experimenters may be prepared to wait for the post.
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2. Established Competition
Shapeways.com and others. Their big trade is vanity bracelets.
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3. Suggested Reading
Crossing the Chasm - Moore. Specifically this book details the difficulty of going from the Hackers who search for your "Hack CriCut" to the Early Majority who do scrap-books. The Early Majority will need specialist tactics and Moore's Whole Product solution.
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4. Business to Business
My Artwork Automation tech was B2B rather than your B2C focus. I would say that you should consider refocussing away from customer facing to White Label provision.
Consider that anyone can now have Nike shoes made with your own name on them[1], and lots of people have heard of Nike versus whoever did their implementation for them.
Try to imagine selling your tech to say a Crafts Magazine where the magazine can promote their cutter tool and you provide the technology & delivery and take a cut of any transactions.
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[1] http://missgeeky.com/2008/04/03/nike-id-design-your-own-shoe...
In short I really like the internet and plastic. I'd like to combine those two things in satisfying ways.
