Barista Magazine

AUG-SEP 2012

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cleaning. The KBS is also made of durable ceramic and is made locally here in Portland. Sarah: So you have the idea, and now you want to make it happen. How did you go about crunching the numbers? Did you know from the start that you would need investors? Keith: Making anything from scratch is a long and costly process. Right now it's just me trying to make this happen out of my home. I knew I needed help so I pitched the idea and concept of Able to some family members and borrowed some funds to get the website, Kone V3, Disk- Fine, and the design and engineering of the KBS off the ground. Sarah: When did you get the idea to put it up on Kickstarter? Keith: The last few months flew by. During that time a lot of progress was made on the new versions of the Kone and Disk, the website, and the KBS design. I had a growing list of people interested in what I was working on and some press articles coming out, so the demand was just increasing. I needed a way to reach all the people who were interested and also get a little more funding to get through the final stages of the project and the launch of Able. Kickstarter seemed like the best fit to do just that. Sarah: Your initial goal was $5000. What did you anticipate that $5000 would go towards? Keith: I was so committed already to the KBS and the new Kone that I was going to move forward regardless of the amount of pledges. I picked $5000 because it was roughly the cost to get some molding done for the ceramic. Since the design and engineering were already paid, the $5000 would go towards tooling. Sarah: So putting together the Kickstarter campaign: you have a short video, and a little text. What is crucial to having as part of a successful Kickstarter campaign? Keith: The video (still available to view on kickstarter.com and ablebrewing. com) I think is a huge part of grabbing someone's attention and providing them with enough information about your project and yourself for them to decide if it is a project they want to back. My friend, Jelani Memory, did a killer job on the video and photos. I think his work really elevated the campaign to a new level. I also kept the rewards simple and easy to understand. Keeping the information as clear as possible is also key. Sarah: Now you've raised more than $155K! What happens now? Keith: I think to some it's not quite clear how Kickstarter works. Ten percent is gone from the start, with five percent going to Kickstarter and the other five percent to Amazon Payments. Then you need to go into production and pay for all the rewards to be made. I offered the filters and brewers at a significant discount as a thank you for the early support of the project. And the support was fantastic! The whole first run of ceramic needed to be 500 units to make the price reasonable. This alone costs tens of thousands of dollars. With the success of the Kickstarter, my risk is now zero since I can commit to the first run and beyond. This not only benefits Able but also the company making the brewers. They were really excited watching the campaign grow. After the necessary production costs for the rewards, I plan to pay back the money I borrowed from my family to get Able going. Again, this all wouldn't be possible without the support of my family and closest friends. The remaining funds will go toward some new projects I already have going with my engineer. Sarah: What has the Kickstarter experience been like for you? What have you learned? What would you do differently if you did it again? What recommendations do you have for others who might want to launch a project on Kickstarter? Keith: My experience has been so positive. The coffee community has been great to me the past few years. Their support, along with some lucky press, is making my dreams come true. I can't thank everyone enough. I think having the support of a community of friends before getting on Kickstarter really helps, as well. There are a lot of good ideas and products on that site that aren't getting funded, and I don't really know why. So I think my advice would be to try and get your community involved as much as possible. And hire Jelani to do your video! I am a little worried about getting the shipments out on time since I didn't expect to have to produce this many units. I hope people will be understanding and be patient. Sarah: What's next with the KBS, and for Able Brewing in general? Keith: After the first few days of the campaign, I made the phone calls needed to start production. With the number of units requested I have had to double the amount of working molds to get the ceramic made faster. The hope is to have all the rewards shipped out by the end of September and then have everything in stock online. As I mentioned there are already some new products in the works. I am working on a few simple items first and then I have another big project in mind. I am also still planning on making a smaller Kone (one-cup) and I would like to start on some tea brewing products. That tends to shock some people, but I think bridging the gap between coffee and tea sounds like a fun challenge. Most of us in coffee know a lot about coffee and either very little or nothing about tea. The same goes for the tea professional—they often know very little to nothing about coffee. I can't stress enough that all of this is only possible because of the support and interest I have received from the coffee community. I still can't believe I get to do this. I'm having a blast and have a lot of fun ideas planned for you all to experience and enjoy. Thank you so much! RENEW TODAY! 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