Earth Notes: Radbot Origin Myth 3 - Funding (2016)
Updated 2022-10-10 17:20 GMT.By Damon Hart-Davis.
Radbot Origin Myth 3 "Funding" (Copyright © OpenTRV 2016) Oz Thomas, editor Damon Hart-Davis.
But how to get sales ("traction") to show investors before there's have a full product to sell? Hmm, I think we call this bootstrapping in IT, or in some cases "crowdfunding". Raise enough money to get the first shippable product and ship it.
Some of the most convincing stories to be heard while knocking back the free wine and pizza at cleantech networking events are from those using crowdfunding as marketing, for getting seen, for building a community, with the money almost a side issue.
But Radbot really does need a bit of tinkering and TLC, and a CE stamp, and that costs hard cash, not just social awareness!
Confused? You will be!
Tune in next time to find out more about Radbot's encounters with marketing!
Back in the day I made a slight oversight while in banking: I failed to "put aside" (as a friend calls it) the megabucks to become a gentleman of leisure and science, so we need someone else's money to spend, ie "investment". But here we are without two supercars to rub together, and a desire to become the default product in this sector at a price that is within anyone's reach.
And as I also said here:
Hardware ain't hard, money is: Crowdfunding, bootstraps and startups:
We definitely need to expand beyond our (wonderful) techie open-source community and get ourselves known to “normal” human beings if we [are] to move the needle [on climate change].
Our main target market is not the uber-geek who programs their heating system in 15-minute increments a week in advance from their smartphone.
Yes, I met him recently; a very smart guy he is too, and a happy Nest user it seems. But he and his ilk don't control most of the hundreds of millions of European home radiators that we care about.
Back Story