Wallor 2.0 Isn't It Time You Demanded More From Your Wallet?

The biggest night of my life, or how I saved Wallor and how we're moving forward
over 4 years ago – Tue, Mar 17, 2020 at 11:17:24 PM

Guys,

What I'm about to tell you, might sound like a fairy tale, however, I can assure you that it's 100% real.

As you have all been following my journey since I started this adventure, I'm sure you're all aware of all the challenges we've been through. And I'm also you're well aware of the last big challenge we had which was funding.

Also, I'm sure you're aware of all the adventures in China during the coronavirus situation.

So by now you're probably like, yeah, yeah, c'mon you're getting boring, tell us what's going on, right?

Well, what's going on is this. In January while there was a crisis in China, we had the big contract negotiated with the investors. We had 6 investors interested in total, and all backed off when the virus started spreading. At the same time, the situation in China was getting worse. And one thing I noticed was the lack of medical supplies. We were all desperate to find these surgical masks, we were all waiting for them to arrive, everything was a complete mess ending with people afraid to get out. A feeling that I'm sure everyone is familiar with right now.

So, I started contacting companies about supplying these masks. I wanted to track the progress worldwide as I was watching from China and seeing how everyone here is laughing at them and I decided to build myself a network of medical suppliers, just in case. I thought that if people will need this, they will need a reliable source since the scamming and overpricing was started right from China.

After I built a list of 23 reliable suppliers for everything, I continued my journey through the next months, including my negotiations with the guy from Dubai who as you all know called me to come here and take his company to next level.

I joined the guy about a week ago and I honestly like the feeling of working in an office again after spending close to 20 years working from home. But there's a mismatch between a person who treats the other one as an employee who needs to do what he's being told, and between a person like me, who's an entrepreneur and an independent thinker, someone who needs problems to keep his brain active.

So after a couple of days when I've been asked to do market research and data mining and had my brain cells close to organizing a mass protest against this activity, last Wednesday I noticed that the right moment to promote my network is then.

Long story short, I posted an ad and I started contacting my contacts after getting the inventory report from my manufacturers. I literally had access to 100 million N95 masks and surgical masks and I had the opportunity to help the governments. I was about to do that by not overpricing my product, by positioning at the market price level -5% and by selling only to large companies and governments in over 1 million units quantities.

This was last Thursday. I sent a few messages, and in 2 hours I had requests from 12 customers. Since all of them were asking to work with LC and my suppliers didn't agree with that (being such a big demand and all), I realized that I need to act fast and I need to bring a big guy as a contract as soon as possible. That's how, Saturday I gained access directly to none of other than Romanian government. And when? 2 days before the Emergency state which was declared in Romania yesterday.

Saturday Night until 4 AM I was in a conference call with the prime minister, Sunday I was working all day on organizing the product list for them, and yesterday I was connecting the government officials with my suppliers. So that today, like 10 minutes ago, the government literally approved the contract with the promise to make the payment tomorrow and pick up our products. People who are in Romania have probably heard that the government has just bought 35 million masks (yup, that's me)

So what does this mean for Wallor?

Well, to start no more hunting for investors. Let's just say that right now I'm officially one of the Angel Investors and I'm going to invest and build Wallor as high as we can.

Second, unlimited funding access. We will start with a $500,000 investment in the next 2 weeks as the funds get released to my accounts and depending on the company development I will put more if we need more.

Third and this is our top priority, delivery of all the pending orders as soon as the production is completed. If there are any refund requests, I will process all of them as soon as the money is in the account.

So, long story short guys, this is it, we're here, I got us over the last bump and we're ready to move forward even though these horrible times we're expecting.

To those of you who believed in us, I'd like to thank you from the bottom of our heart and know that you will always be the best VIPs of our company and together we will build a super successful company.

To those of you who did not believe in us, I want to thank you for giving me the strength to not give up. Thanks to your words, I managed to keep myself active and become stronger every day. Your feedback was very valuable to us and I want to thank you again for being agile and pushing us further.

Last but not least, please guys, take care. of yourselves and your families and don't believe if the media says this is just the flu. I've seen people, young super healthy who were infected and now they can't breathe anymore because of the virus. They lost over 20% of lung capacity.

Stay safe,
Vio

PS:. I told you I never give up 🏋️‍♀️😁😉

Crowdsourcing explored
over 4 years ago – Fri, Feb 21, 2020 at 07:11:15 PM

Hello fellow backers,

I'm posting a homemade video.  Vio contracted with the finest groups all over the globe.  Here our A/R team in Bangkok, Thailand demonstrates how the Wallor tracker displays through solid objects.It demonstrates the augmented reality mobile app through walls.

Would you like me to post a homemade video using my Wallor?  Let me know in the comments below and indicate what you want me to do.  I have a face for radio so it won't be a selfie ;)

By the way, my style is wry candor which might come off as uppity.  Writing for publication is humbling and enlightening, and clearly detailing the facts so people understand is a task in itself.  I apologize if I'm not doing a great job.  I don't want to make you any promises we aren't absolutely certain we can keep, and I don't want to spout a fountain of hope when we're already behind the 8-ball.   So please don't read anything negative into my tone. 

The Challenge with Kickstarter Campaigns

Kickstarter and other crowd-sourced platforms don’t clearly inform backers of risk.  Startups are among the riskiest of companies and most campaigns are run by startups.  When a consumer selects a perq, they don't buy a product; they donate to the company.  There's no guarantee they'll receive their perq.  If the project runs into trouble, it can close.  

After failing, the team is often depressed and ashamed, crying while spooning ice cream out of individual cartons and wondering how to tell their spouses they lost the vacation money.  I'm convinced 'staycations' were invented by founders.  Ah memories...

Yet crowdfunding platforms array perqs as if they're retail items on an online shopping site.  Sadly, they aren't.  

Tips to Backing Successful Campaigns

I think of the campaign page as a sales tool, not a fact-filled prospectus.  So it takes some weeding out to find good projects.  I'll share a few of my tips that increase my odds for success:

•  Back companies with a track record. I back only the latest version of a previously successful campaign.  I pass on new companies creating a new concept.
•  Read the comments from their past campaigns.  Did they answer complaints and questions adequately?  How quickly did they respond?  How many weren't satisfied with the outcome?  If there aren't lots of comments at the top praising the quality and service, move on.  Weed out the companies that boast of previous successful campaigns when their comments are littered with people complaining they never received their perq and demanding a refund.
•  Investigate the team.  If the campaigner boasts a team of Ph.Ds or a world-renowned specialist, research their name and read about them. The best team with the worst idea will run laps around a mediocre team with a great product. So research all the principals and see if they’ve worked together before.  Can't find any of them?  Red flag.
•  Make sure the product isn’t too ambitious and the price is reasonable. If someone is selling a portable flamethrower for $79, best to pass unless their name is Elon Musk.
•  Don’t be an impulse backer.  The campaign deadline instills a sense of urgency.  Listen to your gut, not your imagination.  If you miss backing a product and it launches successfully, you can buy it later for a little more money. And you’ll receive the latest version with the bugs worked out.
•  Scrutinize tech campaigns. Tech projects require an additional layer of complexity: software and hardware development on top of industrial engineering if they're creating a tangible, not a virtual product.  Few teams have these skills in abundance. (Vio is the rare exception; he contracted with and coordinated all these moving parts using multiple global teams, a Herculean effort for a 3-person team.  And he did it all himself.)

Wallor has a reputation to nurture.  We must deliver because we want to return to Kickstarter.  Breaching our contract with our valued clients would forfeit the goodwill and sweat we've accumulated over years among our previous customers.  It would also trash our list of 40,000 people clamoring for any news about Wallor.

So we won't let you down.  We want our insanely happy raving fans to post lots of videos on social media using their Wallor.  

I’ll continue to answer all your questions to my ability and update you on our progress.  And for those of you offering encouragement, we truly appreciate your understanding and patience.  We pledge to honor your trust.

I plan to post updates more frequently during this intermission.  As always, ask any questions below. Ask some tough ones.  Make me sweat.  I'm spending so much time at my desk poring over spreadsheets, I can use the physical activity.

Next time I’ll share the startup process unless you prefer I discuss something else.  Until then,

best, c

Yelling ‘Movie’ in a Packed Firehouse
almost 5 years ago – Sun, Feb 16, 2020 at 11:10:13 PM

Let's face it.  We back Kickstarter projects to get cool perqs. However, I'll bet you enjoy following the progress of the company too.

I wish more campaigns shared their inner workings.  Great updates include a progress report of milestones reached.  However, that isn't enough for me.  I want to peer into their strategy and vicariously participate in the problem solving.  Shoulder-to-shoulder with the team, I imagine the heady energy of nimble operations. I want to feel that rush of working with a new company getting ready to scale.  

Our sales growth is our business report card.  Did we select the right market with the right strategy with the right people?  Will sales volume grow or languish?   What did we learn?  What did we miss?  Wash, rinse, repeat.  Maybe I’m not alone?

While waiting to deliver over 1600 back-ordered wallets, we'll open a window into the goings on at Wallor Wearables.  I'll share what went into launching the company from different department perspectives. Marketing, software development, manufacturing, finance, IT, marketing, sales, HR, legal... we'll cover a different topic each time.  Until China reopens for business and we deliver every Wallor, I’ll give you tips and explain concepts you might find valuable in building your own venture.

Do you guys like this idea? If so, reply in the comments with your questions about the company, products, people, and processes.  If I don't get any questions, I'll assume I'm the only business voyeur and drop it.

By the way, if we skip a question, we didn't miss it.  It's because answering it might reveal privileged information to our competitors. We’re protecting ourselves so we can support your Wallor for years of enjoyable ownership. We’ll be as transparent as we can.  Then you can follow along and 'see the sausage being made.'

Companies frequently hide from the public what might seem like basic information.  For instance, Apple won't reveal how many watches they sell. Apple publishes the combined volume of Watch sales and service sales.  Lumping them together changes the figures and prevents competitors like Samsung, Huawei, and others from determining their profit margins and other important financial metrics. To estimate Apple Watch sales, analysts work backwards: calculating how many parts their suppliers order and how many parts are used each month.

In my next posting, I'll explain cash conversion cycle.  CCC is a critical measurement of how efficiently a company uses its money.  The number has either a chilling or buoyant effect on financial operations that most new entrepreneurs don't realize.  
                Until next time.

Class dismissed,
                c

Progress report
almost 5 years ago – Tue, Feb 11, 2020 at 02:21:36 AM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

Here's to an incredible 2020
almost 5 years ago – Sat, Dec 28, 2019 at 02:20:52 AM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.