RETURNED PRE-ORDERS Last year we returned every pre-order customer their money. THE DETAILS We wanted to fulfill their orders. But we couldn't. We

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RETURNED PRE-ORDERS
Last year we returned every pre-order customer their money.

THE DETAILS
We wanted to fulfill their orders. But we couldn't. We ran into four problems:

1.) We learned the massive difference between an invention and a product. By the time we locked the design we didn't have the capital to tool up.

2.) Securing investment for physical products is far more difficult than securing investment for software-based startups.

3.) Major corporations don't want to sell components to startups. You can't even get them on the phone! They have a website and they show a key component that we need...but they aren't interested in selling, even in volume, to new companies. They simply won't return phone calls.

4.) Manufacturers need a tremendous amount of hand holding. It isn't enough to walk in and say "Okay, here is a component we've made. We need you to make 10,000 of them." Surprisingly, even large, successful factories are rigid in their thinking. They make a widget and they don't want to deviate from that widget. It was taking us a tremendous amount of time weeding through manufacturers who could think outside the box and embrace some of our thinking.

And this is a shame because we cracked the projection code. We came up with a radically different light, cooling & projection engine that takes the technology of the last thirty years and kicks it to the curb. We spent two long years digging into the most esoteric and nuanced elements of projector design. I personally read three PhD level books on lens design and my business partner (who was or is an attorney, depending on the day of the week) taught himself electrical engineering. We both took classes at Makerspaces across America learning skills like CNC operation, waterjet cutting, milling, anodizing, polishing, blacksmithing, soldering, circuit design & PCB design. New team members joined. We now have a full time VP of Engineering and about 15 trusted freelancers who can do everything from milling work to PCB creation for us. I went to China three times. I found manufacturing partners and negotiated deals.

But the research provided us with a secondary education. We became self-aware of our previous naiveté. We could see the vast gulf between cobbling a prototype together in one's garage and mass manufacturing 10,000 of something. So, we returned every pre-order customer their money. Most received 10% interest, which means their pre-order money outperformed most mutual funds and alternate investments. It was the best way we could think of to thank them for their trust.

And we went back to the drawing board. We took what we'd learned from designing the world's best projector and came up with a new product. A more manageable product. Notice I used the word product. We're still BryteWerks and our research didn't go to waste. And when we learn a lesson we learn it well; there is a difference between inventions and products.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
Our new product is ready. We've already made six of them. They work. We've had independent third parties evaluate the product (and they loved it.) We've already tooled up our factories. I've retrofitted a space in America for our first American assembly facility. We have the tooling in place for medium-scale production runs. We're ready this time.

In a few months we'll be launching something new. And if someone wants or needs proof that the product is real I can meet with them on Skype and show them one of six in my hands. We'll be placing Demo Units on two continents. Skeptics can therefore go see the actual thing with one of our staff members.

WHY SO QUIET?
One can only ask for patience and forgiveness so many times. After we returned the pre-order money we decided there wasn't anything worth saying in public until we had finished something.

IN CONCLUSION
Its tough making something amazing. Its even tougher doing it in public. But that was my choice: I have to live with the consequences. That being said, we've been quietly working for a very long time. The invention is done and it is now a product.

And once it rocks the world we'll have the capital to return to projection. And wait until you see what we've learned about projection.

Until Next Time,

Justin Evans Signature
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