Comment Re:Seems plausible... (Score 1) 104
I understand that, I order proto PCBs all the time and hand assemble. I speculate their fabricated product would require no components at all, or perhaps a few capacitors. The markup is high for small runs, but it's still cheap for a few units. I wouldn't bother making a kickstarter for that. Their entire design can be proofed out almost for free as the parent said. There is no excuse for them NOT to have done this before going on the web.
But from proto to product is a long road, and to create a viable business you can't sell 10s of units from your garage with no warranty, customer support, instruction manuals, enclosures (that do not degrade performance in the bands of interest, which I have learned is not a given even with plastic), etc. You also have to have a plan to volume manufacture. Even if it's to buy 100s of protos, sell at a loss and have the kid down the street package and ship. It costs money, it requires thought. Operating like that, if it's a good product you'll be demolished the second some cheap taiwanese crapshop sees your kickstarter and copies your design faster than you can scream "patent infringement". Even if they can't work around your patent, the damage will have been done.
So given that a proto is so cheap as to require giving up a few nights out on the town, and the next step is to develop a product and spend money, what exactly is kickstarter funding? If it's the latter I still say $500k is too cheap, or their business strategy too naive. I suppose with kickstarter I don't have to care about that, but it also suggests bullshit.