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Dissecting the Massively Over-Subscribed Lockitron Launch

44 points by danielodio 14y ago

joelrunyon 14y ago
I thought this was going to be a rant but was pleasantly surprised. I really liked the product page breakdown – sort of rudimentary, but pretty helpful. I'd be really interested in seeing more launches/product pages dissected like this. Anyone know of a blog/site/resource that does this type of thing on the regular?
- danielodio 14y ago
  Hey @joelrunyon, agreed that it'd be great to see this done on a more detailed basis. I just threw this one together because I was impressed with how they copied the Kickstarter approach, which I hadn't seen done in exactly this way before for a launch (an obvious approach, but effective). If you want to add more detailed feedback in the comments section on my post (or here) I'll be happy to dig into it more. Has anyone actually pre-ordered that might have more feedback? DROdio
- ChuckMcM 14y ago
  I liked it as well, it would be interesting to see the kickstarter 'style' get more common now that Kickstarter has banned it (the pre-order vs not-a-store issue). I see it as a way to gauge customer interest in a sort of viral way. The dissection was nice as well.
smarx 14y ago
I'm interested in the "white-labeled Kickstarter" style approach. As I recall, app.net did the same thing. Are there services out there that help do this?
- lukeholder 14y ago
  yes its called a webpage with a payment processor like stripe.
saddino 14y ago
Most interesting indeed is the Kickstarter approach outside of Kickstarter. Someone should launch a Kickstarter-as-a-Service startup.
- tinco 14y ago
  Hey I know a great business plan for a kickstarter-as-a-service, you let businesses create campaigns using the service in trade for a percentage of their revenue. You could call it.. Kickstarter!
  - malandrew 14y ago
    Yeah, but you need to remember that the new "Kickstarter is not a store" rule means that companies/projects need to host their own page like Lockitron. Basically the rule created a market opportunity.
danielodio 14y ago
BTW some great feedback in the post comments from Lockitron co-founder Paul with more detail on how & why they took this approach: http://danielodio.com/dissecting-the-massively-over-subscribed-lockitron-launch http://danielodio.com/dissecting-the-massively-over-subscrib...
seltzered_ 14y ago
somewhat OT, but for those curious the blogging engine this guy is using is tynan's sett.com
- danielodio 14y ago
  Yeah I wrote a post about it and did a Skype interview with @tynan about SETT: http://danielodio.com/moving-from-wordpress-to-sett-a-social-blogging-platform http://danielodio.com/moving-from-wordpress-to-sett-a-social...
maegget 14y ago
I heard about Lockitron via an email from a friend before I saw the article on HN. Perhaps the huge interest is due to the concept going viral? Most of the techy articles I read on HN I wouldn't bother forwarding to my non-techy friends or family; this however I would share for the "Wow! The geeky future!" factor.
kylec 14y ago
Regarding the 'Kickstarter style', I think it's a bit disingenuous to refer to the people that preordered as 'backers'. The term connotes an investment, when this seems to be a cut-and-dried preorder - the production run is certain, and there is no risk of the project failing and taking all the money with it like there can be with Kickstarter.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- danielodio 14y ago
  I disagree. On a first production run of a new product, there's the very real possibility it won't work out. Now that they have over 1,000 pre-orders it's obvious that it's a hit, but if you're "backer" #1 you have no idea if it'll come to fruition or not. What I would agree with is that since they're not collecting $$$ until they ship, there's no risk. But that doesn't mean the term "backer" is misleading. Any early adopter of a new product would be a "backer" of its adoption. DROdio
iamjason89 14y ago
hey danielodio, please stop removing my comment on your blog. im trying to ask a question and you keep deleting it. thanks
- damncabbage 14y ago
  Could you ask it here as well, for reference?
- danielodio 14y ago
  Hey @iamjason89, I'm not removing anything -- although I am using a new blogging platform that's still in beta. So maybe that's why it's not working for you. I'll ask @Tynan to reach out to you; he's the creator of the platform. Sorry for the trouble. Bleeding edge :-/
DanielRibeiro 14y ago
It is nice to see that they've come so far from the days of "Lockitron (YC S09) Lets You Unlock Your Door With Your Phone" [1] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2546752 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2546752
polshaw 14y ago
This is more 'dissecting the landing page'. Paul's comment there was by far the most interesting part. I was looking for more of a how people got to the site etc.. but i suppose it was mostly just [YC] > [HN/Reddit] > [TechCrunch] > [Twitter].
treelovinhippie 14y ago
After I saw the white-label Kickstarter thing on app.net I wondered if there was anyone out there offering an embedded service. Doesn't look like there is.
EGreg 14y ago
But how did they get oversubscribed in the first place?
- retube 14y ago
  Indeed. This is the most interestng question here.

44 points by danielodio 14y ago

I thought this was going to be a rant but was pleasantly surprised. I really liked the product page breakdown – sort of rudimentary, but pretty helpful. I'd be really interested in seeing more launches/product pages dissected like this. Anyone know of a blog/site/resource that does this type of thing on the regular?

danielodio 14y ago
Hey @joelrunyon, agreed that it'd be great to see this done on a more detailed basis. I just threw this one together because I was impressed with how they copied the Kickstarter approach, which I hadn't seen done in exactly this way before for a launch (an obvious approach, but effective). If you want to add more detailed feedback in the comments section on my post (or here) I'll be happy to dig into it more. Has anyone actually pre-ordered that might have more feedback? DROdio
ChuckMcM 14y ago
I liked it as well, it would be interesting to see the kickstarter 'style' get more common now that Kickstarter has banned it (the pre-order vs not-a-store issue). I see it as a way to gauge customer interest in a sort of viral way. The dissection was nice as well.

smarx 14y ago

I'm interested in the "white-labeled Kickstarter" style approach. As I recall, app.net did the same thing. Are there services out there that help do this?

lukeholder 14y ago
yes its called a webpage with a payment processor like stripe.

saddino 14y ago

Most interesting indeed is the Kickstarter approach outside of Kickstarter. Someone should launch a Kickstarter-as-a-Service startup.

tinco 14y ago
Hey I know a great business plan for a kickstarter-as-a-service, you let businesses create campaigns using the service in trade for a percentage of their revenue. You could call it.. Kickstarter!
- malandrew 14y ago
  Yeah, but you need to remember that the new "Kickstarter is not a store" rule means that companies/projects need to host their own page like Lockitron. Basically the rule created a market opportunity.

danielodio 14y ago

BTW some great feedback in the post comments from Lockitron co-founder Paul with more detail on how & why they took this approach: http://danielodio.com/dissecting-the-massively-over-subscribed-lockitron-launch http://danielodio.com/dissecting-the-massively-over-subscrib...

seltzered_ 14y ago

somewhat OT, but for those curious the blogging engine this guy is using is tynan's sett.com

danielodio 14y ago
Yeah I wrote a post about it and did a Skype interview with @tynan about SETT: http://danielodio.com/moving-from-wordpress-to-sett-a-social-blogging-platform http://danielodio.com/moving-from-wordpress-to-sett-a-social...

maegget 14y ago

I heard about Lockitron via an email from a friend before I saw the article on HN. Perhaps the huge interest is due to the concept going viral? Most of the techy articles I read on HN I wouldn't bother forwarding to my non-techy friends or family; this however I would share for the "Wow! The geeky future!" factor.

kylec 14y ago

Regarding the 'Kickstarter style', I think it's a bit disingenuous to refer to the people that preordered as 'backers'. The term connotes an investment, when this seems to be a cut-and-dried preorder - the production run is certain, and there is no risk of the project failing and taking all the money with it like there can be with Kickstarter.

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
danielodio 14y ago
I disagree. On a first production run of a new product, there's the very real possibility it won't work out. Now that they have over 1,000 pre-orders it's obvious that it's a hit, but if you're "backer" #1 you have no idea if it'll come to fruition or not. What I would agree with is that since they're not collecting $$$ until they ship, there's no risk. But that doesn't mean the term "backer" is misleading. Any early adopter of a new product would be a "backer" of its adoption. DROdio

iamjason89 14y ago

hey danielodio, please stop removing my comment on your blog. im trying to ask a question and you keep deleting it. thanks

damncabbage 14y ago
Could you ask it here as well, for reference?
danielodio 14y ago
Hey @iamjason89, I'm not removing anything -- although I am using a new blogging platform that's still in beta. So maybe that's why it's not working for you. I'll ask @Tynan to reach out to you; he's the creator of the platform. Sorry for the trouble. Bleeding edge :-/

DanielRibeiro 14y ago

It is nice to see that they've come so far from the days of "Lockitron (YC S09) Lets You Unlock Your Door With Your Phone" [1] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2546752 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2546752

polshaw 14y ago

This is more 'dissecting the landing page'. Paul's comment there was by far the most interesting part. I was looking for more of a how people got to the site etc.. but i suppose it was mostly just [YC] > [HN/Reddit] > [TechCrunch] > [Twitter].

treelovinhippie 14y ago

After I saw the white-label Kickstarter thing on app.net I wondered if there was anyone out there offering an embedded service. Doesn't look like there is.

EGreg 14y ago

But how did they get oversubscribed in the first place?

retube 14y ago
Indeed. This is the most interestng question here.