Kickstarter

Dear Kickstarter Friends,

It has been more than six months since I last wrote to you. During that time, I've thought a lot about this day - the day when I would get to tell you that we're finally relaunching the Placebo Chocolate Project as Inspire Chocolate (www.inspirechocolate.com)!

It's been a long journey to get to this day. In the last six months, Nathalie and I have moved from Argentina to Peru to California to Seattle, Washington, where we now reside. We also moved our chocolate making equipment from my mother's kitchen and dining room to our new mini-chocolate factory. But now we're here, settled, and the smell of inspiring chocolate has filled the air for almost a month - as Nathalie has dutifully prepared for this big day.

As our Kickstarter supporters, you are of course the FIRST people to know about the launch of Inspire Chocolate. We hope that you'll go check it out and tell us what you think! In addition to the chocolate bars that were such a big hit with you guys (thousands were sent to you), we are also offering new chocolate rocks, fortune cookies, santas, and dreidals.

If you are interested in being one of the first people to order something from our new Inspire Chocolate website and purchasing something for Christmas or New Years, PLEASE PUT IN YOUR ORDER BEFORE MIDNIGHT PST TONIGHT 12/18!  - and use our special coupon code for you: KICKSTARTERFAMILY to get 10% off! Nathalie and I are flying home for the holidays tomorrow, and we will need to get your orders our by tomorrow morning. (We wanted to give you much more leeway, but unfortunately my own website making ineptitude delayed our launch by a two weeks!)

Nathalie and I both want to thank all of you for your support in getting the Placebo Chocolate Project (now Inspire Chocolate!) started last April! Without your help, it never would have gotten off the ground. While it's taken longer than we'd have liked to create a stable foundation for things to grow, we're finally here... and we're so excited to share with you in this moment, and to share our inspiring chocolate with chocolate lovers who are ready for a little more inspiration in their lives.

So one last time: If you are thinking about beautiful, organic, fair-trade chocolate gifts for Christmas or New Years, check out: InspireChocolate.com tonight! We will be able to get your order out by 10am tomorrow via Priority Mail and you should have it easily in time for gift opening!

Happy, happy holidays!!!
Daniel & Nathalie

PS When you make an order, use coupon code: KICKSTARTERFAMILY to get 10% off!

PPS The nice photos of all the chocolates/new chocolates are on the website. We just attached below some fun this-minute photos of us with our chocolates :) 

Dear Kickstarter friends,

It’s amazing to think that exactly three months ago, we were 10 days into a journey to raise $12K to share more love, joy, and inspiration in the world with chocolate. Today, we have shipped over 1,000 chocolates - to all of our Kickstarter participants and more - and we enjoy a founding community of about 260 people who believe in our vision and want to see us grow.

While there’s a ton of behind the scenes work that I’m excited to tell you about, I want to use this update to be nerdy for a moment and give you the Placebo Chocolate Project by the numbers - because though numbers don’t tell our story, they are still pretty fun!

• 12,300 - the number of dollars raised in our super fun, special Kickstarter project.
• 374 - the number of pounds of chocolate we’ve shipped to you so far.
• 6 - the number of volunteer chocolatiers - including lead volunteer “Mom” - who helped temper, package, pack, and send your chocolates.
• 5,990 - the number of miles between where I currently live with my fiance and the place where our chocolates were made and shipped.
• 2 - the number of huge professional tempering machines we had to buy to ensure your chocolates are shiny and without streaks or blemishes.
• 73 - the number of batches of chocolate needed to fulfill all Kickstarter rewards.
• 150 - the number of mold pieces we used to mold your chocolate.
• 2 - the number of chocolate rewards - that we’re aware of - that arrived melted at your homes. [we’re devising a plan to make that number 0 in the future.]
• 13 - the number of fun pictures we’ve received of you admiring, eating, or sharing your JOY, LOVE, or INSPIRE chocolates. --> we want more!
• 36 - the percent cacao in your milk chocolate (that's as high as we can get while keeping the incredible milk chocolate flavor). 
• 16 - the number of people who will continue to receive our chocolates monthly thanks to chocolate subscriptions. 
• 1,207 - the number of smiles we hope our Kickstarter chocolate rewards generate for you and for anyone you share them with. (I came up with that number randomly... but it feels scientific.

And 3... the only number I can use together with this symbol <  to make a heart (here it is: <3) and thank you for your inspiring participation in a project that lived because of your support. On behalf of everyone on the Placebo Effect team and in our community I want to thank you, and ask you to continue to be a part of our journey. As my motorcycle riding grandmother Betty used to like to say before tearing out of her driveway, “Friends, you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet!” 

Warmest,
Danny

Dear Kickstarter Friends, 

This is a special week. By the end of it all of you who asked will have receive your chocolate rewards - or will be close to receiving it because they are sitting somewhere in USPS Priority Mail. 

Dear Friends, 

I am so excited to share with you two HUGE milestones today: 

• We are packaging and sending out our first two dozen Kickstarter chocolate rewards today.  Our goal is to have all of your chocolate sent out by next week. We can't wait to get your feedback on your chocolates!

• Our first business promotion is up and running. You can check it out here: http://www.recoup.com/offer/PlaceboEffect. Recoup - which has about 50,000 members and offers people discounts on socially minded products as well as the opportunity to donate a part of their discount to any of 200 charities. We are offering four 4 ounce JOY bars - which are normally $7.00 a piece - for $19.00 during the promotion.  We would love your support in promoting this campaign on Facebook or sharing it with your friends. Depending on how it goes, we may choose to do many more like it. 

I wish I could make this update longer, but I have to get back to work.  :) 

Warmest regards, Danny

Dear Friends, 

On April 1st, we together helped the Placebo Chocolate Project take its first big steps into the world. In the 29 days since, we've done so much to bring it to life: 

As with all organizations, these first steps haven't been without their share of learning. In the last two weeks, we experienced our first mini-setback - the equipment we purchased to speed the chocolate making process not only didn't work, but it cost us 2.5 weeks of production time and a lot of chocolate. While we've finally made an amicable return agreement with the manufacturer and purchased a new piece of equipment, it set us back almost three weeks from our desired date to deliver your chocolate rewards. We hoped you'd receive your chocolate rewards by May 1st, but we now have revised a May 22nd goal of chocolate in everyone's mailboxes. We're sorry about the delay, hope you understand, and hope you don't mind waiting just a little bit longer!

Finally, I want to take a minute to honor all of you who who have been on our Skype Group calls. On the calls, we've talked a lot about important steps we can take to build a growing  community together, and also a lot about what it means to build a meaningful ambassador program within our existing community. Tomorrow I'll be sending out an email with call times for this week and next week. If you can, we'd love for you to join the call. Thanks again for your awesome support and participation in building this wonderful and inspiring organization. 

Warmest, Danny