geekhack
geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: Borkitup on Wed, 02 August 2023, 11:08:19
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Hi y’all
Pretty stuck right now in bringing a keyboard design to life from start to end with launching a groupbuy at the end as my goal.
Does anyone have general advice on how to even get started, or could I message anyone with like a list of questions I have?
Thanks in advance for helping.
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https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=115197.0
The rules of the group buy are here
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Design the keyboard > reach out to a manufacturer and get prototypes of your board made (multiple if needed, until you're happy with the looks, sound and feel) > post an IC (interest check) on the IC section of Geekhack with lots of info and pictures > gauge interest and tweak the design if necessary > contact vendors if you don't want to handle the group buy yourself > ? ? ? > profit.
I've never designed a keyboard nor ran a group buy, but feel free to send me a PM and I'll do my best to answer any questions you've got. You can check out this guide by Puddsy (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1M7sInp4p1Eh3JjvtniWohJQNV0jE0Qj7X0KYp52xjpI/edit) as well.
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Design the keyboard > reach out to a manufacturer and get prototypes of your board made (multiple if needed, until you're happy with the looks, sound and feel) > post an IC (interest check) on the IC section of Geekhack with lots of info and pictures > gauge interest and tweak the design if necessary > contact vendors if you don't want to handle the group buy yourself > ? ? ? > profit.
It should also say "get severe sticker shock from protoptype pricing" and lead times.
You aren't going to get away with spending $400 and end up with something amazing that you can post on a group buy, one off items are extremely expensive and time consuming and if you have no experience or contacts to help with any of this you could easily end up spending several thousand by the time it's actually ready for final production/group buy.
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Save money right now, assuming you go through a couple rounds of prototyping (which every good project does, and you'll most likely do as well) will cost a couple thousand dollars along with sending people review units if you're going to do that (which you definitely should)
Also be prepared to lose money, if something goes terribly wrong you will 100% lose money, so don't overextend yourself, only do what you are willing to lose. I would recommend going through a vendor/vendors for your project (especially if that involves higher MOQs) especially if you lack logistics experience (Just make sure you go through reputable vendors)
Research into the available manufacturers, do not skimp out on quality and vet manus to see if they have a track record (especially when it comes to quality and stealing designs/scamming people) I'm not a maker, so the only manu I know is dadesin, which seem to be good but expensive.
That puddsy sheet that fraaaan sent is also a good read.