2. WHO
• past Quirky inventors / experienced community social sellers:
Michael Cavada, Fred Ende, Sandra Lehr, Cody Stowers,
William Fine, Samuel Greenlee
• John Lott – CFO
• Brian Kerr – UX
• Jessica Marati – Community
• Viresh Chopra - Creative Direction / Product Launcher
• Chad Hetherington - Retail Sales
• Nancy Chen & Anthony Del Plato - Data Analysis
• Nathan Smith & Mike Lacy - Technology
4. 1. Proves that a product can retail profitably
(both online and at channel partners)
WHAT A SUCCESSFUL PRE-SALE PROCESS DOES:
5. 2. Validates design / feature / function
decisions made early in the process
WHAT A SUCCESSFUL PRE-SALE PROCESS DOES:
6. 3. Provides an accurate indication of the
trajectory of the product (helps us decide
how long to go on first inventory
purchase, etc.)
WHAT A SUCCESSFUL PRE-SALE PROCESS DOES:
7. 4. Broader audience can surface design
flaws that may have been overlooked by
the limited number of people that worked
on the product early on (for example,
‘Dude, you forgot the ON button’)
WHAT A SUCCESSFUL PRE-SALE PROCESS DOES:
8. 6. Allows the general public to earn
influence in the product (this is a big deal)
WHAT A SUCCESSFUL PRE-SALE PROCESS DOES:
9. 7. Attracts media attention for the new
product / awareness to Quirky
WHAT A SUCCESSFUL PRE-SALE PROCESS DOES:
10. 8. Provides community members with the
chance to promote their new creation
across social media
WHAT A SUCCESSFUL PRE-SALE PROCESS DOES:
11. 9. Clearly communicates what pre-sale is,
and what being involved means
WHAT A SUCCESSFUL PRE-SALE PROCESS DOES:
12. 10. Makes people vote with their dollar
WHAT A SUCCESSFUL PRE-SALE PROCESS DOES:
20. 1. Products can languish in pre-sale for
an extended amount of time, for reasons
not directly related to how great /
marketable the product is
KNOWN ISSUES
21. 2. As Quirky’s overhead and product
complexity grow, the amount of units it
takes to prove a product can be profitable
grows substantially. We estimate that the
average threshold will be ~3000+ by the
end of 2011.
KNOWN ISSUES
22. 3. 10-30% of presale orders do not
confirm at time of shipping (drop-off rate
depends on the item, and the time that
lapses between threshold reached and
SKU select)
KNOWN ISSUES
23. 4. Pre-sale is too much of a learning curve
for new customers – first-time shoppers are
confused by the notion, online shoppers
expect shipping in 3-5 days, and our pre-sale
items inhabit the same space as our
available items
KNOWN ISSUES
24. 5. On average, once an item sells 50-80
thousand units, you’ve basically received
the product for free because the amount
of influence you earned from purchasing
the item pays out more then you fronted –
how can we better define, communicate,
and hype these and other benefits of
committing in presale?
KNOWN ISSUES
25. 6. In the new Quirky retail landscape,
products can hit threshold in a millisecond.
However, revenue on our site per unit is
usually 2x+ what it is at retail. How do we
make sure we keep close tabs on dollars,
not just units, especially since unit
economics fluctuate so much when dealing
with retail?
KNOWN ISSUES
26. 7. There are often times when we feel really
good about an item, and move forward
with it despite its status in pre-sale.
Is this the right thing to do? Should we be
comfortable with this? Can we qualify
what it should take for a product to move
out of presale without hitting the number
we’ve defined?
KNOWN ISSUES
27. 8. Assuming we eventually ‘kill’ a product,
there is the expectation from our inventors
that they can get the IP back on their idea.
However, we’ve already spent a fair amount
of money/time/etc. on the actual research
and development of the final product.
How do we handle this?
KNOWN ISSUES
28. 9. Our community's makeup and interests,
combined with the power of certain niche
gadget blogs to drive sales, means that
some categories (electronics, Apple
accessories, etc.) tend to do extremely
well in organic presale, while others (pets,
toys) don't. How do we give every product
a fair shot at reaching threshold?
KNOWN ISSUES
30. 1. Does selling 1000 units over the course
of 18 months actually prove an item is
great?
(trick question; the answer is no)
QUESTIONS/THOUGHT STARTERS
31. 2. When do we kill an item that is
languishing in pre-sale? What happens to
the intellectual property?
QUESTIONS/THOUGHT STARTERS
32. 3. How do we increase and improve the
social forces surrounding pre-sale?
The opportunity to earn influence is
HUGE, and right now that is not played
up enough.
QUESTIONS/THOUGHT STARTERS
33. 4. Should pre-sale products live
somewhere completely different than the
‘shop’?
QUESTIONS/THOUGHT STARTERS
34. 5. Should there be a defined time frame
for a product hitting threshold?
QUESTIONS/THOUGHT STARTERS
35. 6. Instead of a fixed threshold, should it
be trajectory-driven (units/time)?
QUESTIONS/THOUGHT STARTERS
36. 7. What can Quirky staff do to help
products get out of pre-sale faster?
(videos, etc.)
QUESTIONS/THOUGHT STARTERS
37. 8. What can the community do to help
promote pre-sale products?
QUESTIONS/THOUGHT STARTERS
38. 9. The question is often asked: why we
don’t just ‘raise money’ instead of selling
units? (reason: securities laws relating to
royalties, etc.)
QUESTIONS/THOUGHT STARTERS
39. 10. How do we effectively communicate
what pre-sale means to new members?
QUESTIONS/THOUGHT STARTERS
40. 11. We anticipate 55%+ products hitting
threshold. Is this high, low, just right?
QUESTIONS/THOUGHT STARTERS
41. 12. How do we keep our inventors /
community active and engaged with a
product when it’s sitting in pre-sale?
QUESTIONS/THOUGHT STARTERS
43. March 1st- Task Force planning begins
March 10th- Plan complete, Task Force called to arms. Planning deck sent. Basecamp invites
sent to all members. Brainstorm-style discussion begins within Basecamp.
March 17th- Kick-off / brainstorm conference call (full Task Force participation, time TBA).
Quirky-led conversation, resulting in three to five clear directions we can go.
Jess will take thorough notes and post on Basecamp.
A ‘writeboard’ will be started for each of the directions -- ‘bullet point / process style’ –
and all Task Force members will work to refine the process, working in a ‘wiki’ environment.
April 5th- A ‘lead’ for each direction is chosen. Lead begins to prepare presentation of how
the process could work.
April 12th- Conference call check-in (full Task Force participation, time TBA).
Each lead will discuss progress / challenges that still exist within their concept –
things they’re worried about, things they’re excited about.
April 18th- Full afternoon @ QHQ. Each ‘lead’ will present their concept to the entire task force,
Ben will join. Final direction will be chosen.
April 19th- UX/UI team briefed on vision / objectives
April 22nd- UX/UI team will deliver preliminary wireframes of the new process / post to
Basecamp. Conference Call (full Task Force participation, time TBA)
April 26th- UX/UI refinements
April 27th- Town Meeting presentation of new plan
May- Technology / user testing
June- Implementation of new pre-sale process
THE TASK FORCE PROCESS
