[Heath] DZKit Kickstarter

[Brian Wood]

Hi gang,

 

Many years ago, I posted an inquiry to this list to see how much interest
there would be in a new kit company like our beloved Heathkit. You all gave
me a lot of support for this effort. In fact, many of your comments wound up
in our business plan! Well, it's going now, as DZKit (the DZ coming from my
call, W0DZ). Sienna and Sedona and the HT-7 are our first three products.
You may have seen our ads in CQ and QST. But we need to take it to the next
level. Now that the basic infrastructure of a full-blown kit manufacturing
company is in place and we are successfully selling products, we want to
raise some capital to retire our debt, pay for a year's worth of full page
ads in QST and CQ, build up inventory of Sienna and Sedona, and finish
development of some new features. (If you aren't familiar with us, see
www.dzkit.com, which is our info site and www.valleyhamshack.com, which is
our ordering site).

 

We are considering applying for a crowdfunding campaign through an
organization such as Kickstarter, which is one of several out there designed
to help small companies get the funds they need to "do it right". The basic
idea is that ordinary folks contribute whatever they want to help the
company, and in return they get a small token of appreciation. You don't get
stock in the company, just the satisfaction of knowing that you were part of
something that might turn big. By getting thousands of people to contribute
a small amount each, the total can add up to a lot of money. (See
www.kickstarter.com) The trick, of course, is getting the word out during
the campaign.

 

The way it works is, a fundraising goal is set and then the project
"launches". If the goal is reached in about a 30 day period, everyone's
credit cards are charged. Kickstarter takes 5% and the credit card companies
get their 3-4% cut, and the rest goes to the company, which then sends out
the rewards and uses the funds for the stated purpose. If the goal is not
reached, no one is charged. Although Kickstarter was formed to help aspiring
artists and musicians, it has grown to include many other areas, including
"Technology". (In fact, what got me thinking about this was a successful
Kickstarter project in Australia to make a mini-ITX PC motherboard that
could hold a Raspberry Pi. Our Sedona holds a mini-ITX motherboard, and I
thought this would fit right in with our desire to get kids into electronics
and ham radio.)

 

We're trying to determine if there would be enough interest for us to pursue
it. DZKit's fundraising goal would be, say, $100K. We think the reward
breakpoints would then be $100, $500, $1000, $5000 and $10K. There could be
more if we can get a handle on what people would be willing to spend.
Rewards might be things like a signed copy of Vintage Radio (I'm on the
cover), an ARRL Handbook, Alpha-Delta antenna switches, Kent Keys, Heil
mics, etc. We even have some Heathkit gear, including an unbuilt SA-2060A
antenna tuner and unbuilt VF-1 VFO, both in the original boxes, that could
be included at the higher contribution levels (to the first contributor at
that level - we only have one of each!). The value of the reward would go up
the more you donate.

 

There are no guarantees that Kickstarter would even be interested in us. But
I think it would help to be able to tell them that we already have interest
and/or commitments from people. Please let me know if you would like to help
out with this. No obligation. Just trying to gauge feasibility.

 

Brian, W0DZ

 

 

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