Rotate Watches Watchmaking Kits
All-in-one kits to build a mechanical watch.
We did a text interview with Indie Hackers today! We talked about how we got started, what our journey has been like, and our goals for the future, as well as some tips and advice for other indie hackers out there. Check it out to get a look into our story.
Though not specifically on this day, we've continued to expand our product selection to additional products besides our main flagship kits. This includes other parts that customers can choose, engraved watch straps, and accessories such as watch display cases. Every month, we continue to add new products to our selection!
Rotate officially launched our kits in Fry's Electronics - with over 30 locations nationwide, it's the second-largest electronics chain in the US. This was Rotate's first big push to get into the retail space, which has been a large goal for the latter half of 2020 and continues to be our goal moving forward.
All Kickstarter backers have received their kits by now. This first round of kits provided us with very important feedback that helped us to continue making improvements from our first batch. Since the first manual iteration (12 pages), we've substantially grown the manual to 30 pages!
Our website officially went live on this day, and open for online orders. This was a great hit that carried the momentum of our Kickstarter for us. Our website has always been an incredibly important part of the business, as it's our main source of sales.
The first batch of watchmaking kits was produced! Funded by the Kickstarter backers, hundreds of kits were made to fulfill Kickstarter orders and to begin the first batch of live website sales. This first iteration of kits has grown substantially, with each part/tool having faced additional features and quality improvements over the months!
Our Kickstarter became fully funded within 48 hours, and ultimately raised 600% of our goal (over $91k). This was an amazing launch that provided great product validation and feedback for improvements moving forward! We ended up launching and hitting 3 stretch goals and included more bonus rewards for our early adapter backers!
We were featured during our Kickstarter phase by Victoria Gomelsky of the New York Times, a huge name that helped spread the word of our launch! Watch enthusiasts everywhere discovered Rotate and the allure behind assembling their own mechanical watch.
After years of working on the product, Rotate officially launched on this day via Kickstarter! Our Kickstarter became fully funded within 48 hours, and ultimately raised 600% of our goal (over $91k). This was an amazing launch that provided great product validation and feedback for improvements moving forward!
Over the past couple of years, I had been slowly working on developing the product. I went through many product iterations, customer validations, and A/B testing. I hesitated to pull the trigger because I lacked a source of funding. After graduating undergrad in May 2019, I went straight to working full-time. For many months, I didn't think I had enough money to start Rotate.
However, there came a breaking point where I realized that there would never be a perfect time. So, I quit my full-time job and prepared for a launch two weeks later. I chose to launch via Kickstarter since this would provide the money I needed to make the first batch of watch kits. Being mechanical watches, a luxury item, each kit retailed for $200, and required a substantial start-up cost (much more than one fresh college grad could come up with). Kickstarter was the solution and seemed to have the perfect early-adapter tech-oriented customer base.
Comment