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Thunderbird Club

#27,781
Gluvhand said:
All joking aside, I wouldn't buy a pet rock from a company that would allow this kind of attitude to be displayed by a employee/representative and I'd go out of my way to steer others away as well. My hard earned money will go where it's appreciated. No ill will intended but by your own admission you "have had a bad attitude for over 70 years". Potential customers don't want to deal with that. But since you don't care I guess this means nothing. Peace out.
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So, I'll put you down for a maybe?
 
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#27,784
Dadagoboi said:
Anyone here designed, manufactured or marketed a product in the USA or elsewhere successfully? We seem to have quite a few experts on the subject...MBAs maybe?
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Shockingly enough, I do have an MBA. And I have done design work. No manufacturing. It's all been building construction. That said, I do have a fair idea of how labor costs and supply chains all work. Pricing is a different matter, because architects and general contractors typically operate under expectations of transparency that are more rigorous than other industries. You wouldn't think so by the reputation, but institutional and commercial construction is one of the most screwed down tight industries out there.
 
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#27,785
Dadagoboi said:
I'd say just be happy with what you can afford, no matter what name is on it. Or build your own.
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That's what I'm doing with the P-Bird and TeleBird. They won't be has high a quality as if I had been doing it a long time, but you gotta start somewhere. To be good, you must first suck.
 
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#27,786
Dadagoboi said:
They're good enough to buy me these...

CASED%20BIRDS_zps7yetiwfg.jpg
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Well, gosh, I need to be more of a crank! ;)
 
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#27,792
Gaolee said:
Shockingly enough, I do have an MBA. And I have done design work. No manufacturing. It's all been building construction. That said, I do have a fair idea of how labor costs and supply chains all work. Pricing is a different matter, because architects and general contractors typically operate under expectations of transparency that are more rigorous than other industries. You wouldn't think so by the reputation, but institutional and commercial construction is one of the most screwed down tight industries out there.
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I started working as an apprentice draftsman right out of high school, the summer before I went off to college to study architecture. A few years of that showed me exactly what Architecture and BCN were all about.

No MBA but I've managed to stay alive self employed almost my entire adult life, major exception being the sound man/stage manager gig at the Whisky A Go Go in '77 for around six months until I quit. Started building custom furniture and grew it into a small factory selling my designs nationwide. Bought a one way ticket to China in the late '90s and got a place to stay in Songgang from a Taiwanese agent. From that I managed to freelance designs that sold worldwide, including about 600,000 sling chairs of various design.

I've been in at least 500 factories in Asia and Mexico and have consulted on finishes and finishing lines. I DO know, "How difficult would it be to add another color?" in an industrial environment, how much it would cost proportionally, and the price a product has to retail for based on its FOB cost to be profitable.

Reality sucks.
 
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#27,794
Dadagoboi said:
I started working as an apprentice draftsman right out of high school, the summer before I went off to college to study architecture. A few years of that showed me exactly what Architecture and BCN were all about.
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It's all about working your butt off so you can get laid off again when the project is done. What a way to go! And if you are self-employed, it's all about trying to balance 4,037 conflicting requirements all the time. You chose wisely. That's why you still have hair. :thumbsup:

Your actual career is pretty impressive. I designed and built chairs for a while, but never figured out how to make a living at it. So, I designed and built buildings instead, which turned me into a professional paper pusher. I build a few things, but nothing like Cataldo instruments or Mark's model trains.
 
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#27,797
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