As the Pebble Time got closer to launching, Migicovsky and his team began thinking about how they should announce it. There had been a lot of smart watches appearing recently — Migicovsky claims to have lost count — and he felt it necessary to make a splash. “This watch is different and we know it’s different,” he says. “ We knew we could not launch it in the same standard way that others do. That would not do it justice.”
They kicked around ideas like launching it in all 10,000 retail outlets where Pebbles are sold. Or using one distributor, such as Amazon. Or maybe only selling to a limited number of invited buyers, to create exclusivity. But they kept coming back to the idea of returning to Kickstarter.
In a sense, Pebble never left Kickstarter. During the initial process, Migicovsky — compelled to quell possible revolts from early buyers demanding their units — was relentless in using the platform to update them on the progress. “Companies with VC investors had two or three investors—we had 69,000,” says Migicovsky. “We had to deliver. I posted 40 blog posts during the campaign. We did video posts of the factory.” Later, new developers launched dozens of apps and hardware enhancements on Kickstarter — Pebble would often help fund those and in a few cases hired the creators.
“Our origins are Kickstarter and it’s our core user base,” says Ben Bryant, who is overseeing the launch process for Pebble. “They got us where we are today. And by going back to them we get to continue the conversation with them.” (There are already over 15,000 comments on the Pebble Kickstarter page.)
Unlike the first time around, Pebble is perfectly capable of financing its launch without the money from pre-orders, but as Kickstarter CEO Strickler says, money is not always the main reason for a crowdsourced project. “The Pebble Time project will show that the real power and utility of our platform is not in money, it’s in community and distribution,” he says.
Pebble feels that a Kickstarter launch, which features explanatory videos and a range of options for different price points, will not only tighten its connection with its users, but explain what’s different about the Pebble Time for newcomers. To make the launch seem more like an event, the company is planning some surprises, too. Instead of revealing all the product’s secrets right away, it will dribble out subsequent Pebble Time revelations in “a month of fun” following the announcement. Those ordering early will have an opportunity to upgrade their purchases if they prefer whatever deluxe versions may appear in the coming few weeks.
