Manufacturing and Monetization Methods

Hello,

I've been mulling on how exactly to sell the units and have come up with a couple of different strategies, each with their own pros and cons.

The strategy I am doing now involves full on manufacturing, distributing, and selling of units. I make the shells and piece together all of the components and accessories. This works well for people that just want to have something that is fully ready right off the bat. It's pretty straightforward and most products implements this method.

A second option is one that is less common, but is powerful for a different reason. It involves allowing the user to print their own unit and then to assemble their own devices using a kit that I'd send out. It's powerful because it's significantly cheaper to implement.

I wouldn't have to print the unit, saves money, and I'd only have to ship out a small box of custom components, which also saves money. It'd also save the user money because it's cheaper to implement on my end. Theoretically, you'd just buy the 3D model and however many kits, with printing instructions, and then print as many as you like, I like this method a lot, but there is some downside.

Mainly IP theft, which is incredibly common. You are basically giving away your IP for free. It'd be very easy to duplicate because they'd have the model in hand. But the electronics would take a little more time to replicate, so that gives you a small moat. There really isn't a good way to prevent this as of now. 

The net benefit of this strategy would be greater virality and adoption at the expense of greater earnings. I wouldn't be opposed to people making edits on the model, if it meant that people would still buy the kits, but there is likely to be straight up knock offs down the line.

I love open source things, but the truth is that the strongest companies have a lock and key on all/most of their IP. Apple, Bambu labs, etc. I've also seen open source companies get sunk by other companies that don't share the same values, so it ends up like a prisoner's dilemma problem. 

A third, hybrid option is available. I call it distributed manufacturing. It involves contracting print farms, which may be closer to the end user, to print the bodies and to either assemble, or to let the end user choose to self assemble a unit at a discount in price. I can see everyone winning in this scenario. You have greater IP protection, less manufacturing to do, and discount potential on the customer end. The main issue on this however, is quality control. You'd have to really vet the print farms, or make sure that they have a consistently high bar. 

In the end, I'll probably end up releasing the file for free down the line once newer editions are released. This supports creatives and DIY folks, while still allowing the company to make a profit. Morally, I just like the idea of allowing people to remix and to learn about their own designs from the models of others. Also, it's a good backup plan if the company doesn't end up successful, haah.

Thanks for reading,

RB