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2 days ago
Mario Lurig
backed a project
Brassft Punk - Daft Punk tribute via New Orleans brass band by Earl Scioneaux
Modernizing older hits is all the rage. What if we went the other direction? - Daft Punk's hits, funky New Orleans brass band style.
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98% funded $9,847 pledged
- 621 backers
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5 days ago
Mario Lurig
backed a project
FLIP THE SCRIPT by (RAS) Riders Against the Storm
Hey FRIENDS! We say friends because that is the vocabulary we have chosen for everyone
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25% funded $1,160 pledged
- 30 backers
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on May 12
Mario Lurig
Posted project update #25Wrapping-Up: Where the Money Went, What Now, and Thank You
I've shipped packages (at least once) to 522 backers across the world, with the last round of packages shipping out internationally this past Thursday. That means that, for the most part, I can see my living room floor again! It's happy and sad all at once, because while Dice Candies is just beginning, the Kickstarter portion is ending. Sure, I may be back to Kickstarter in the future for some other amazing idea that I decide to learn from scratch and do because "it's a damn cool idea," but it's never the same as your first time. So, I wanted to do a little wrap-up post on how things differed and changed from December to now.
Where the Money Went
Looking at the spreadsheet I have for income vs expenses for this project and beyond, the income (after Kickstarter and Amazon fees as well as some special order D20 income) is +$15,300.10. Looking at expenses, which includes some packaging for the future Dice Candies business, stands at -$16,471.44. None of that was money in my pocket for my time; that was never my intention.
Those expenses are also lower for one big reason: I had almost 100 hours in the kitchen (at $20/hr) waved due to me trading web design and photography time in a 2:1 ratio (2 hours of kitchen time for every 1 hour of my skill work), and while I have already done some of that work, I'm committed to owing another 30ish hours of that work for the owner of the commercial kitchen. So, that would have been another -$2000 in the expense column.
I probably wasted about $1000 making mistakes. From doing too many things at once early on and ruining a batch of molds, to getting distracted and almost burning down the apartment (instead damaging 2 pots beyond salvage), to making twice as much sugar dice as I actually shipped (it was thrown or given away... it wasn't good enough)... Through all of this, I wasted money on mistakes and assumptions (sometimes it doesn't work out the way you originally planned). On the plus side, that's a less than 7% waste ratio, but on the down side, it's still wasted money. It's amazing how changing a minor detail when it comes to making sugar can make something no longer high enough quality. Candy is hard, people.
I chose BONUSES for Backers rather than income for me. Maybe this breaks some secret rule, but I'm all about transparency, so here goes. Against the advice of some friends and family who thought it better to hold onto that extra cash for the things I didn't account for, I decided to reinvest it into you. Why? Because I wouldn't be Dice Candies if it wasn't for Kickstarter and your support. So given a choice, I would rather spend more money to make sure that you are BEYOND happy than play it safe. Many succeed by playing it safe, but when it comes to fans and supporters, I'd go cliff diving, because you've already chosen to do that with me and it's the least I could do to say thank you for your trust.
Overall, I did a damn good job of estimating costs, running numbers, and estimating my time when I put this project together. Of course, I didn't plan on 5x's as many backers, so when the schedule took longer for me to produce the product, that also meant that the earth continued around the sun and temperatures got warmer. That meant higher costs and risks. So I'm not infallible; I can live with that.
What Now
I'm currently producing dice for distribution and for stores across the US to carry the product. Starting with chocolate first (I can make it faster), and then with sugar. I'm also planning through the end of 2012 exploring sales through Amazon Fulfillment and maybe ThinkGeek as well, just for the holiday season. I'm hoping that with continued growth, your support (spreading the word, buying more dice), and a bit of luck, that I'll be able to accomplish three things at the end of 2012: take a small salary for my work, hire at least a part-time employee (I 1099-MISC a few friends at the moment for some manual labor), and purchase in bulk some custom packaging that will reduce costs (they are way too high) and improve the brand's look.
In the shorter term, I plan to hold a Google+ Hangout to talk about anything BUT Dice Candies some time next week (I'll announce and link to it on Twitter and Facebook), and I hope some of you will join me. I'm also attending Denver Comic Con as a representative for Gamerati, which will not only be fun, but will... no, it will just be a lot of fun. If I'm really lucky, I may even go to sleep and wake up at the same time two days in a row!
Finally, once I get caught up on orders, I hope to take a week and write an e-book on Tips and Tricks for Kickstarter (sometimes I can't suppress the author side of me). The best part? I'll give it away to all of you, for free, once it is completed (I'll post a backer update when the time comes).
Have I mentioned that I Appreciate Your Support?
I do. A lot. Though I hope the sentiment has come across, I believe that while intentions are great, saying the words are even better, so Thank You! I'd hug you if you were here, and not to brag, but I'm a pretty damn good hugger.
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on May 11
Mario Lurig
commented on a projectStrangeness seems to be the name of the game right now. Shoot me a direct email through Kickstarter and we'll see about making that disappointment disappear.
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on May 2
Mario Lurig
commented on a project update@Susan Absolutely. I planned the Kickstarter right in choosing the funding levels and balancing costs, taxes, and time. My goal was to give my time away from free, while spending the money for some of the heavier upfront costs of equipment, mold material, and improving my techniques for scale. This was and is still popular enough that it has become a small business, that will eventually employ people on more than a part-time basis. I would say that is very worth it.
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on May 2
Mario Lurig
Posted project update #24100 rewards shipped, final shipping May 7th
On Tuesday night, myself and a group of friends volunteered over 30+ hours of time to cut, shrink wrap, tape, burrito, label, and ship a TON of rewards. More importantly, all of the prep work (cutting thermal bubble wrap, making boxes, shrink wrapping) was completed, leaving just the remainder of wrapping, boxing, labeling, and shipping in my hands. Needless to say, I am indebted to the kindness of my friends for saving me a week of work by myself.
That means that I took two separate trips, for a total of 7 totes, to the post office today and shipped out a bunch of rewards. All but 1 of the $100 sugar rewards, all of the $50 and $60 rewards, and a few of the oddball rewards (people who changed things after it closed).
I'll be spending tonight and this week boxing and labeling the rest of the rewards ($25 chocolate and sugar rewards) for shipment on Monday, May 7th. About 40 of the remaining rewards will be boxed on the 7th for shipment the same day, due to adding a cold pack.
With that final batch, every backer who filled out the survey will have been shipped their reward. There are < 5 individuals whom Kickstarter and myself have tried to contact to get shipping info over the last few months, but to no avail. If I ever get that info, I'll send them their rewards.
A final note for this post: If you receive your reward and you are disappointed, please don't hold it in; let me know through email or Kickstarter so we can resolve the issue. I do my best to guess the weather and ship appropriately, but stuff happens that I can't control. Your satisfaction is my goal: I wouldn't be here without you.
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sgllama on May 3
Mario, as I'm not really a gamer so this project was a bit of and oddity for me, but after reading your reply to Susan I'm really pleased to have been a teeny, weeny part of this.
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Amanda King on May 11
Thanks again! Received mine yesterday. Very thankful for the cold pack too. My husband and I will be gaming with them this weekend!
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on April 24
Mario Lurig
backed a project
Flint and Tinder: Premium Men's Underwear by Jake Bronstein
Luxuriously rugged yet refined Premium Men’s Underwear; Sparking a revolution in American Manufacturing the old fashioned way.
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971% funded $291,493 pledged
- 5,578 backers
- Funded May 22, 2012
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on April 16
Mario Lurig
Posted project update #23The "What About Me" Update
For backers only
If you’re a backer of this project, please
log in
to read this post.
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S. Thomson on April 16
Got mine a while back and loved them! Thanks so much. I gave your card to my comics shop. Good luck with everything and take care!
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on April 14
Mario Lurig
commented on a project updateNone missing for you Sonja.. you were at the $25 level, so instead of getting the 2 sets as part of the reward, you got a bonus 1 for a total of 3!
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on April 6
Mario Lurig
Posted project update #22I'm dreaming about boxes...
I couldn't go to sleep last night until I had solved a problem. That problem was figuring out how many packs of candy dice (1 pack = 4 sets in a 2x2 configuration) I could fit in a box, specifically shopping the Top 25 best selling boxes from Uline (best prices). It involved some popsicle sticks, a measuring tape, and some sketches. I even calculated shipping costs and weight. This was from 1am to 3am. I couldn't go to sleep without solving this problem.
Clearly, I'm the one with the problem.
Things are moving along well. I've switched to a 6 hour shift in the kitchen, making 200 sets per shift (chocolate). My back doesn't love me, but I've been able to develop some new tricks to speed up the entire process, since kitchen time is $20/hour. I'm altering my days with time in the kitchen and time at home, packing or prepping boxes for shipping. I've also acquired all the materials for my super-secret-special-packaging for the 3 TEXAN Reward backers.
As of Monday, April 9th, over 50% of backers will have either received their rewards or it will be en route to them. That represents 35% of the total dice sets necessary to satisfy all of the rewards. For some states, I'm cold packing the boxes to ensure they arrive unmelted (see the image below for my 'hot zones'), and this takes notably more time and requires packing on the day of shipping. Worth it? Yes.
Time to get some rest after another 14 hour day (there was a workout in there and cooking dinner). If you haven't visited the website in a while, the gallery, stores, and products pages have been updated.
I wonder what tonight's dreams will bring...
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Sonja on April 14
In Louisiana. Received 3 boxes of chocolate dice the other day Wed Apr 11. Was one missing? The cold pack was warm, but the dice were still in good shape. My surprised boyfriend took them out carefully, put them in the fridge, checked back later and everything was good. Pretty cool looking. Thank you so much!
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Mario Lurig on April 14
None missing for you Sonja.. you were at the $25 level, so instead of getting the 2 sets as part of the reward, you got a bonus 1 for a total of 3!
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Mario Lurig
Boulder, CO
Mario Lurig is an author, entrepreneur, and full-time extrovert. He was reintroduced to tabletop gaming in his 30's after 15 years of disappearing from the worlds of goblins, laylines, and all manner of creation. His friends bring characters to life every time they play and have been invaluable testers for his many creative endeavors.
Bob Ross says mistakes are happy accidents. I expect it's not quite the same for you, but just learn from it and don't worry too much.
Thanks for all the updates!
Congrats man...nice ending letter. Very humble and appreciative. It's been fun watching your updates. I wish you success moving forward!
We got our package last week, and the chocolate is massively delicious, it's super obvious that you're using superior ingredients, any gaming shop that doesn't carry your stuff doesn't know what it's missing.