Another one bites the dust - SKULLY AR-1 - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Kalidor
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 11, 2016, 01:34:32 pm
content: After about 2 years and $2.5M SKULLY now plans to file a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy case within the next several weeks.Sorry for the 3 people that gone for the $25000 perk.https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/skully-ar-1-the-world-s-smartest-motorcycle-helmet/x/10280792#/But you can still order it right herehttps://www.skully.com/

author: edy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 11, 2016, 07:46:51 pm
content: Why does this not surprise me.People will never seem to learn, you can't trust these crowd-funding campaigns. Certainly not to the tune of $1399 a helmet? Or $499 deposit (with $949 due at shipment). Seriously? And launch price is $1499... what, you save $100-150? Is it really worth the risk?I said it before, and I say it again... people should not be crowd-funding corporate entity startups. That's for investors with legal contracts, shares/stock options and control of the process (and also leverage and recourse when things go down-hill). Like when bankrupcy hits, who do you think gets first dibs on the liquidation of the assets? Crowd-funders? Ha!People need to stop putting money into this garbage. You either buy a product, or you invest and get a share or some other form of ownership in the company that gives you legal recourse. Crowd-funding is THE WORST possible form of business relationship... you give money, with no guaranty of delivery, and if the product is launched you get no benefit from you actually having lent a company money for 1-2 years. At least a bank charges them interest. You just get a product (rarely) with a bit of discount that may be totally different than what was promised.I remember my first (and last) *ALMOST* falling for the $9 C.H.I.P. PocketCHIP computer. Even then, once I tallied it all up it was like $90 for the whole thing. I backed out before the campaign ended, so never got charged. When it all finally completed, you could buy it for half price. AND it was over-funded so my contribution was not like it was needed to get to reach their goal (a symbolic contribution). Yeah, since then I've just never had any confidence in any crowd-funding at all, and the more examples like this I see the more I am skeptical of the entire model.

author: MrOmnos
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 19, 2016, 07:53:01 am
content: Out of several projects I have seen on crowdfunding websites, this one clearly had some potential if the company really wanted to deliver the product and they would not need peoples money to do that. They could have easily found investors. And they actually did. It was backed by Intel Capital and several other VCs. This is one of those projects that didn't need to be crowdfunded. Read about it on TechCrunch and turns out they had a nob head CEO who didn't know how to CEO. That is why founders rarely make good CEOs.

author: 3db
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 19, 2016, 01:26:55 pm
content: Quote from: MrOmnos on September 19, 2016, 07:53:01 amBill Gates,Steve Jobs,Larry Ellison and of course messrs Hewlett and Packard

author: MrOmnos
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 19, 2016, 04:01:33 pm
content: Quote from: 3db on September 19, 2016, 01:26:55 pmThose people had technical understanding of their product to the core. They knew exactly what it was going to take to make things happen. CEO in question here knew the product would sell but didn't have any idea what is was going to take. Dude is a Psychology graduate, good for him he came up with a great idea but unfortunately he didn't understand the engineering part of it. It takes few years to design and test such a product and not just electronics bit but the whole safety aspect of the helmet as well. Going for the crowd funding was a bad idea. Now they are being sued for misusing the funds.

author: Corporate666
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 20, 2016, 07:34:27 pm
content: This one was a mess from the very beginning.They were deleting all comments on Indiegogo with some sort of script, and forcing people over to their own page where they could censor discussion. They engaged in some sort of global roadshow (that I am sure cost a few hundred thousand dollars) to promote the product and the technology, which is all very well and good - but they put the cart before the horse. They didn't have a product yet. They had swanky offices and were "living the startup life".They didn't respect the customer and they didn't respect the sale. They thought money grew on trees and came easy. And they thought they were genius inventors who were flush with cash because they were just that good - not because they front-ended their business by taking sales before they had product. And in doing so, their shitty business acumen caused them to ruin their reputations.Like hundreds who went before and hundreds who will go after them. And IGG and KS don't give the poor schlep backer the tools to do anything about it, so it keeps repeating. And will keep repeating until the government steps in and puts a stop to it - which will happen because the people who can stop the abuse don't give a shit about stopping it because they are making bank on it and don't have any incentive to stop it.

author: Cyberdragon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2016, 08:38:20 pm
content: Quote from: Corporate666 on September 20, 2016, 07:34:27 pmSounds like Skull-duggery...

author: Kalidor
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2016, 01:37:42 pm
content: So, both co-founders used the money for private stuff like two Dodge Vipers, a Lamborghini, four motorcycles, restaurant meals, apartment cleanings and a strip club called "De Ja Vu" .... the list is endlesshttps://www.scribd.com/document/320572711/Lawsuit-Against-Marcus-Weller-Mitchell-Weller-Skully-Helmets-and-Skully-Inc

author: thm_w
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2016, 09:23:09 pm
content: Quote from: Kalidor on September 22, 2016, 01:37:42 pmThey didn't pay their accountant overtime or allow meal breaks. Then asked her to falsify records to cover their tracks.Why screw over the one person that will know every detail of what is going on financially?Quoteand then they called her new job and got her fired from that