About Catalyst - starting a business
My business partner Josh and I started Catalyst to create a consumer lifestyle brand that reflects the things we love: adventure, travel, beauty, exploration, unique experiences, and moments that only come along once in a lifetime.
My business partner Josh and I started Catalyst to create a consumer lifestyle brand that reflects the things we love: adventure, travel, beauty, exploration, unique experiences, and moments that only come along once in a lifetime.
The EscapeCapsule - our first product
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| If there is a small hair or grain of sand disrupting the seal, it will be obvious and apparent through the clear housing long before you expose your device to any danger. |
We spent months developing and launching our first product, the EscapeCapsule, which is a waterproof case for the iPhone 4 designed to protect your phone from water, rain, snow, sand, mud, impacts, scratches and anything else you can throw at it. It is fully covered and sealed so that you can take your iPhone with you everywhere and still use the touchscreen, make & receive calls, listen to music and take photos or videos.
The key differentiator of the EscapeCapsule is that it has a clear durable polycarbonate hard outer shell so you can see through to the case to the gorgeous Apple product on the inside. The clear case also serves as a way to visually inspect the seal of the O-ring. If there is a small hair or grain of sand disrupting the seal, it will be obvious and apparent through the clear housing long before you expose your device to any danger.
The EscapeCapsule has been a huge technical challenge and has not been easy to achieve. We had personally been looking for a product like this out on the market and could not find one that really worked for us, so we chose to create one. However, designing and engineering a great product is only part of the story....
Seeking funding on Kickstarter
When we looked at getting funding for our product, the benefits of Kickstarter for a small 2 person startup were clear: no onerous shareholders agreements, no outside directors meetings, no forced exit strategy and the freedom to build a product and create a market before you launch in order to reduce your risk & committed capital without giving up equity.
The EscapeCapsule has been a huge technical challenge and has not been easy to achieve. We had personally been looking for a product like this out on the market and could not find one that really worked for us, so we chose to create one. However, designing and engineering a great product is only part of the story....
Seeking funding on Kickstarter
When we looked at getting funding for our product, the benefits of Kickstarter for a small 2 person startup were clear: no onerous shareholders agreements, no outside directors meetings, no forced exit strategy and the freedom to build a product and create a market before you launch in order to reduce your risk & committed capital without giving up equity.
As Om Malik from GigaOM's TheAppleBlog states: "Kickstarter is changing how we make things, how we turn dreams into reality and make ideas come to life. While a lot of people focus on Union Square Ventures’ Fred Wilson’s big name portfolio of Twitter, Zynga and Foursquare, I would argue, Kickstarter is the one that transforms the very idea of commerce."
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| We wanted the video to be fun because that is what the product would do for people: enable them to have fun & go anywhere. |
We knew we wanted to launch it on Kickstarter so we needed a video and decided to film it ourselves. We produced our own video shooting it entirely on our iPhones inside of several prototypes of the EscapeCapsule. We took a tonne of footage of us and our friends at waterfalls, in the ocean, in the rain, out on the streets, and lastly with the world's cutest baby, Theo, at bath time. Our Swiss German engineers even joined in on the action for our full version video on Kickstarter. Overall, we wanted the video to be fun because that is what the product is about: People have a great time, staying connected, and capturing those moments that only come along once in a lifetime.
The video took way longer than we ever expected to film and edit. There was a lot of trial and error to figure out what worked. Neither of us had any real experience producing a video. We made the video scenes short and sweet in a montage of mostly outdoor footage. The final scene in our kickstarter video was shot as we were hiking back from the beach after a day of filming and fun in the sun. Something about the light at sunset on that serene field in the back ground really worked. Josh is actually a lot taller than me and we found a perfect spot where he could stand in a muddy hole while I was up on a small grassy hill. It was a really nice end to a great day, and we love how it turned out in the video.
Marketing & Creative Design
We also have more information on the EscapeCapsule
on the YouTube Channel, and Facebook
Our Product Launch
After an intense few weeks, we launched on Kickstarter on Mon, Aug 22nd, 2011. We immediately started sharing our project with friends and family while simultaneously sending personal emails to influential online blogs that feature the latest tech and Apple related accessories. We were thrilled when Jordan Crook at TechCrunch wrote a great article about our product on Aug 24th. This was the first article written about our product, and it was our introduction to the rest of the world.
After an intense few weeks, we launched on Kickstarter on Mon, Aug 22nd, 2011. We immediately started sharing our project with friends and family while simultaneously sending personal emails to influential online blogs that feature the latest tech and Apple related accessories. We were thrilled when Jordan Crook at TechCrunch wrote a great article about our product on Aug 24th. This was the first article written about our product, and it was our introduction to the rest of the world.
We have since been blown away by the positive emails and comments from around the world. The story from TechCrunch spread like wildfire to other online sites, blogs, Twitter and Facebook and we found the story translated into Spanish, Russian, and Chinese.
Since then, there have been several other great articles written about us. Most notably on:
Since then, there have been several other great articles written about us. Most notably on:
Gadget.com, Techfever.net, gayakuman, Coolest Gadgets, Geek.com and Crnchy.
We absolutely love the humor and enthusiasm that everyone has expressed. It seems like everyone gets that this product is about having a great time. A special thanks to Coolest Gadgets for suggesting that Tim Cook, the new CEO for Apple, should take notice of the EscapeCapsule and for stating that,
The last few days have been some of the most alive, special and unique moments in our life. There is nothing that beats creating your first product from scratch and introducing it to the world and having people love it. Thank you for your support, for sharing the product with your friends and family, for rooting for us to win, for following us and for being a part of creating something amazing in this world. ;-)
Love,
June
We absolutely love the humor and enthusiasm that everyone has expressed. It seems like everyone gets that this product is about having a great time. A special thanks to Coolest Gadgets for suggesting that Tim Cook, the new CEO for Apple, should take notice of the EscapeCapsule and for stating that,
"it really should be an official Apple accessory as it is downright useful for protecting an Apple asset."
The last few days have been some of the most alive, special and unique moments in our life. There is nothing that beats creating your first product from scratch and introducing it to the world and having people love it. Thank you for your support, for sharing the product with your friends and family, for rooting for us to win, for following us and for being a part of creating something amazing in this world. ;-)
Love,
June
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