Really?!

[gregmon79]

Totally agree that the info needs to get out there once things head south.

My point is there seems to be kind of a weird mentality where people slowly flock to unknown builders with unproven business practices and get in line to put deposits down/crowd fund new production, etc.. As a buyer, my hard earned $$ goes to companies with at least some kind of positive reputation that can be substantiated. When I travel, I won't book a hotel, VRBO, etc. without a number of positive reviews, restaurants, same thing.

You see the same thing whatever the product is (basses, pedals, pickups)- there may be some talented builders out there, but if they have absolutely no idea how to run a business and can't demonstrate their ability to do so, I'm out. I guess when it comes to this stuff, I'll never be an early adopter or the first on the block to have the new one of a kind fuzz!

Totally. Sorry if it seemed I was taking your point the wrong way. I wasn't. My response just made me think what I posted. You're so right IMO.

 

[jking138]

The basics:

Devi sold her business to Dwarfcraft. Dwarfcraft did a much better job with it than she ever did and suddenly she had second thoughts. So she breaks the contract, breaks the non-compete, and decides to start making pedals again - even though the designs belong to Dwarfcraft. And somehow she is the victim.

Oh did I mention she did a Kickstarter, didn't deliver the product and never returned the money?

Ok, that's pretty concise, thanks.

 

[blindrabbit]

The basics:

Devi sold her business to Dwarfcraft. Dwarfcraft did a much better job with it than she ever did and suddenly she had second thoughts. So she breaks the contract, breaks the non-compete, and decides to start making pedals again - even though the designs belong to Dwarfcraft. And somehow she is the victim.

Oh did I mention she did a Kickstarter, didn't deliver the product and never returned the money?

Might be worth adding that the stolen money from the Kickstarter was in the tens of thousands of dollars?

 

[Mosfed]

Might be worth adding that the stolen money from the Kickstarter was in the tens of thousands of dollars?

$40k to be exact

 

[ChubbyJerk]

Totally agree that the info needs to get out there once things head south.

My point is there seems to be kind of a weird mentality where people slowly flock to unknown builders with unproven business practices and get in line to put deposits down/crowd fund new production, etc.. As a buyer, my hard earned $$ goes to companies with at least some kind of positive reputation that can be substantiated. When I travel, I won't book a hotel, VRBO, etc. without a number of positive reviews, restaurants, same thing.

You see the same thing whatever the product is (basses, pedals, pickups)- there may be some talented builders out there, but if they have absolutely no idea how to run a business and can't demonstrate their ability to do so, I'm out. I guess when it comes to this stuff, I'll never be an early adopter or the first on the block to have the new one of a kind fuzz!

When she ran the Console Kickstarter campaign, she had been running her pedal business successfully for 10 (?) or so years. She had already run a successful campaign that delivered a well-liked pedal (Silver Rose). She had some known personal issues, but on the business end she was well established, successful, and her pedals were popular (though perhaps only within a niche target audience?). Furthermore, she was working with another well-like and established pedal-maker, the guy who makes Infanem. This wasn't just a random shmuck with a cool idea and nothing to back it up with. She had a proven track record of making cool pedals.

 

[blindrabbit]

$40k to be exact

And that it was purportedly illegally given (at least in part) to a highly controversial political cause that has NOTHING to do with music/pedals/effects?

 

[FretNoMore]

Trainwreck.

 

[nshuman]

And that it was purportedly illegally given (at least in part) to a highly controversial political cause that has NOTHING to do with music/pedals/effects?

I don't think that ever actually happened. She said she did in some interviews or some statement to somehow look noble. In her very first open letter when the Kickstarter failed, she clearly admitted that half had been paid to Infanem for the unfinished dev work and the other was used for living expenses.

So, wayyyyyyy before the kickstarter was a bust, she was already not able to stay afloat with her business.

 

[FretNoMore]

Isn't that what she's doing now too, asking for money for her rent and her cats? (Again). Rather pathetic in my opinion to use her fans that way.

 

[nshuman]

Isn't that what she's doing now too, asking for money for her rent and her cats? Rather pathetic in my opinion to use her fans that way.

That's because you have no imagination. We could start our own Breeder gofundme. What if we got others to pay for all our stuff????? @FretNoMore , think about it, Chase Bliss this, Spaceman that, Strymon, Toneczar, SGFX, EQD, SA....... All on somebody else's dime!!!

I know it may all sound like Greek* to you, but....


*Ok that pun is shameful, but, still...

 

[FretNoMore]

I too did think of a Greek connection ...

No more nice guys, let's go get all that free crowdsourcing money.

(On the Greek situation - I have to say all the bailout packages do pi$$ me off a bit, it's other peoples's taxes paying for corruption and people not paying their own taxes. If I'm late paying the smallest bill I'm not getting any bailout ...).

EDIT: Sorry about the politics, I'll try not to go there again.

 

[Yaphet]

When she ran the Console Kickstarter campaign, she had been running her pedal business successfully for 10 (?) or so years. She had already run a successful campaign that delivered a well-liked pedal (Silver Rose). She had some known personal issues, but on the business end she was well established, successful, and her pedals were popular (though perhaps only within a niche target audience?). Furthermore, she was working with another well-like and established pedal-maker, the guy who makes Infanem. This wasn't just a random shmuck with a cool idea and nothing to back it up with. She had a proven track record of making cool pedals.

Thanks for the context- I should disclose that I'm an observer in this and haven't followed any of the history. My post was intended to be more of a "generally applicable" thing than specifically applicable to this situation.

That being said, I think we all have different criteria for what's "successful". I mean, what kind of production #'s are we talking about, what's the backlog, avg. delivery time/inventory management, etc. When it comes to defining a proven track record, I'd be willing to bet we (and anyone else) have a very different ideas of what qualifies.

For me, when I think of successful, and proven track record, I'm thinking of craftsfolk who start small and through prudent management grow to be a recognized supplier of cool stuff we want. ex: Carey Nordstrand, Jim Bergantino, whoever makes Fuzzrocious (while not savvy to the pedal industry, I think there are a ton of small shop builders making moves here) etc.

 

[Yaphet]

I don't think that ever actually happened. She said she did in some interviews or some statement to somehow look noble. In her very first open letter when the Kickstarter failed, she clearly admitted that half had been paid to Infanem for the unfinished dev work and the other was used for living expenses.

So, wayyyyyyy before the kickstarter was a bust, she was already not able to stay afloat with her business.

Right... absolutely does not qualify as successful with a proven track record in my book. YMMV.

 

[ChubbyJerk]

Thanks for the context- I should disclose that I'm an observer in this and haven't followed any of the history. My post was intended to be more of a "generally applicable" thing than specifically applicable to this situation.

That being said, I think we all have different criteria for what's "successful". I mean, what kind of production #'s are we talking about, what's the backlog, avg. delivery time/inventory management, etc. When it comes to defining a proven track record, I'd be willing to bet we (and anyone else) have a very different ideas of what qualifies.

For me, when I think of successful, and proven track record, I'm thinking of craftsfolk who start small and through prudent management grow to be a recognized supplier of cool stuff we want. ex: Carey Nordstrand, Jim Bergantino, whoever makes Fuzzrocious (while not savvy to the pedal industry, I think there are a ton of small shop builders making moves here) etc.

DE pedals appeared on boards of top-name rock bands: My Bloody Valentine, The Shins, The Black Keys, ZZ Top, Trent Reznor, Jeff Tweedy, Nels Cline, and, of course (if you know the history at all) Billy Corgan. She had a wide selection of pedals she had successfully built and sold. She had been around for years. Her pedals were carried in stores. She'd already successfully delivered one Kickstarter campaign. She was working with another successful builder (Infanem, whose Faye Sing and 2nd Voice pedals are very popular).

If you asked me to put together a check list of what "successful with a proven track record" means for an indie pedal builder, that'd probably cover it and then some. Things didn't fall apart (financially) - or at least the public was not aware of it falling apart - until well after the project was funded. It seems likely that things were screwed up behind the scenes for a long time, but the general public has/had no way of knowing that. On the surface, looking at her pedals, her company, and so on, she looked no different from a company like Fuzzrocious or Dwarfcraft or Infanem.

I'm not trying to pick a fight, but I think you're falling victim to the obviousness of 20/20 vision.

 

[JimmyM]

You mean 20/20 hindsight

Sorry. But yeah, there was nothing hinky going on with her for a long time. Stuff happens. People get flaky from time to time. Can't predict it, can't do much about it when it happens. With the sums of money people spend on pedals, it's not worth it to sue and they know it.

 

[Dash Lashes]

my opinion is that this thread should be locked because of all the rumors surrounding devi. I heard she took money from the console and spent it on herself- no verification, only my example - if it helps anyone make up their mind about the topic.

anyway it's no secret she has/had a bad reputation in the industry - whatever that/my statement may or may not mean to you.

from what ive seen over the years, this is NOTHING new from devi. i've seen her repeat her same crashing/burning internet/life behavior many times before. even on ebay (a couple times)

 

[nshuman]

Anyway, she will start finding it hard to get support these days. While she was never well known outside a very narrow segment of the gear industry, after her meltdown with Notch, she has become famous as "that imbecile" in the tech world, in the gaming world, in the social media world, etc. I mean, after going after notch, faking that whole twitter account takedown, that was hilariously sad.

 

[Yaphet]

DE pedals appeared on boards of top-name rock bands: My Bloody Valentine, The Shins, The Black Keys, ZZ Top, Trent Reznor, Jeff Tweedy, Nels Cline, and, of course (if you know the history at all) Billy Corgan. She had a wide selection of pedals she had successfully built and sold. She had been around for years. Her pedals were carried in stores. She'd already successfully delivered one Kickstarter campaign. She was working with another successful builder (Infanem, whose Faye Sing and 2nd Voice pedals are very popular).

If you asked me to put together a check list of what "successful with a proven track record" means for an indie pedal builder, that'd probably cover it and then some. Things didn't fall apart (financially) - or at least the public was not aware of it falling apart - until well after the project was funded. It seems likely that things were screwed up behind the scenes for a long time, but the general public has/had no way of knowing that. On the surface, looking at her pedals, her company, and so on, she looked no different from a company like Fuzzrocious or Dwarfcraft or Infanem.

I'm not trying to pick a fight, but I think you're falling victim to the obviousness of 20/20 vision.

yah, probably.

 

[Mosfed]

So I actually just sat through her Gofundme video with my missus who works in intelligence, diplomacy and is taught to see all the tell tale signs of someone who is full of poopie.

First, to quote my good friend @DirtyDuke - bitch owes me 9 minutes of my life for that drivel. Second, the missus sat there pointing out everytime she gave a clear "i'm full of crap" signal and they were constant.

My favorite - so she was making $20k a month from the pedal business - I am assuming this is either revenue or profits. But she sold for $5k plus 5%? Yeah right.

 

[ChubbyJerk]

You mean 20/20 hindsight

Duh, me. Hindsight, yeah.