I applaud Felix’s desire to take a position, but …. seems he needs a better pulse on what the public really wants if he is going to be so adamant. Guess this was a post that was more extremely likely to fail than the product it was criticizing.

My observations are thus:

1. The author in his original piece did try and make a go at analysing a potential pitfall or two with the Kickstarter model and nearly succeeded, such questioning should be encouraged as this model is still very new and hazards to it are definitely out there.

2. In view of 1., the author then decided to veer drastically off track and for unknown reasons make it a direct hit piece on Mr. Brosnstein.

3. The author appears to be a wannabee Perry Mason with a dose of Judge Judy with his accusation of “Flouting this restriction, …”. Sounds more like a personal opinion of Flint and Timber with the author acting as judge and jury with nothing in the way of supporting evidence or any commentary from Kickstarter.

4. The author goes on to further state “In a comment he left on my original post, Bronstein accused me of not being diligent in researching his background on the internet — which is kinda funny, given that he seems to be trying as hard as possible for people to do just that, both by taking down his own websites and by asking sites like Reuters to remove content about him.”

Wow, talk about a master stroke of spin and not having the BuckyBALLS to admit one was wrong (yes, he did admit his oversight but was wishy-washy at best and the usual way that a journalist trys to get around their oh so obvious mistake – blame the victim as they say).

5. The author states “His mention of Buckyballs, however, did remind me of this video, where Bronstein left an extremely aggressive and intimidating nastygram message for Zen Magnets, a smaller competitor.”

Watch the video, I did, and it really is quite good for two reasons:

1) Mr. Bronstein does comes off as complete “something that fits into every pair of Flint and Timbers” and probably if he has any “unmagnetized kahonas” left in them he would come out and admit this here since he obviously likes to be part of this live discussion, and,

2). The response by the guy from Zen Magnets to Mr. Bronstein is not only hilarious but he really does make a good argument for his product – kudos to him for facing down someone who obviously likes to use the legal system as a form of business terrorism/legalised extortion which is all too prevalent in American business now.

6. However, the authors point of “… did remind me of this video” makes no sense in the context of why he should remember anything about Mr. Bornstein unless he spent some additional time in trying to dig up some dirt or other nefarious scraps of information that could be thrown at Mr. Bronstein with the single minded intent of trying disparage his reputation – yellow journalism at its best/worst. Too bad the author did not do his research on Mr. Bronstein’s previous retailing/manufacturing background which on the surface appears to be fairly successful (hey, my kids have Buckyballs… and I have to admit they are kind of addictive).

7. I do agree with some of the other commenters here that trying to scruff up a measly $30k for a manufacturing venture in the US makes little sense from a guy who started a $20+ million dollar business a few short years before. Surely it was throwing off some cash, and if not, why not? Perhaps Mr. Bronstein can chime in and explain as this really does leave an unpleasant taste in one’s mouth.

8. At the end of the day Mr. Bronstein’s venture is, all things considered, a positive step forward for American based industries and its potential to create jobs and I applaud him for his efforts and tenacity.

9. The editors at Reuters have done a disservice to its readers by allowing the author to take such a personal approach and bias to Mr. Bronstein in view of that there is zero evidence in support of anything illegal or misappropriated by Mr. Bronstein – having an unknown personal grudge against Mr. Bronstein articulated in this way serves no one and is nothing short of a petulant rant under the guise of professional journalism.

I have probably rambled on a little further than I should have but it is interesting to see what should have been a more in depth investigative piece on Kickstarter and its potential long-term problems segue into a personal battle aired in real time. However, at the end of the day I see this in a very simple light … Mr. Bronstein wishes to create and build while the author has chosen to use his podium to take him down.

Sorry, Mr. Salmon, you are way off-base here and I have to side with Mr. Bronstein.

Also, there is the aspect of being able to generate a lot of money without coughing up portions of ownership of your company or paying back business loans.

Stop being cynical and give the guy a chance. If you don’t like it, don’t pitch in.

Well we have been trying to call both Kickstarters and Jake all day from the UK, we wanted to just ask, Q we as a UK company would also like to have urbanactive underwear made in the USA to export into London and the rest of the UK.

We got the run about, no reply and a bigger run around from his own ex-partners who ever these are.

If you want to do something about jobs in the US do reply be nice and try to work it out.

wwww.urbanactivedesigns.com a open and nice small company trying to just make conact, is it so hard?

You come off as a bit irritated…you may want to consider trying Buckyballs, they are great for relieving stress at work.

D Squared: I hope that is your bra size, because you clearly aren’t getting by based on your brains

Pacers – You sound like a straight shooter with upper management potential written all over you. From your post it’s obviously you know nothing about business

Remember the time you said Jake seemed to to have little if any manufacturing or retailing experience? And then added an asterisk later because you seem to have little, if any, reporting skills.

Good times.

Then remember when you added the Zen Magnets voicemail link because you were so embarrassed and didn’t know how else to respond to your own un-researched reporting yet still wanted to make some sort of point?

Better times.

1. Jake founded and managed a manufacturing startup that went from $0 to $25MM in annual sales in under 3 years.
2. In that three year period, Jake was part of a management team of two, who turned a bunch of magnets into the most popular product in the gift industry (yup, kinda a competitive one too.)
3. The business is very profitable and, yes, Jake could likely fund Flint and Tinder with his earnings. Knowing Jake though, he’s smart enough to use tools like Kickstarter for proof of concept and marketing.

So, if your broader point isn’t about Bronstein, but about Kickstarter, you chose the wrong poster child. Alternatively, if anyone is interested in making a broad point about poor reporting, you’re a perfect start.

most importantly, no! Traditionally in the capitalist system, it’s been considered sensible and polite to do your test marketing and product development using your own money, or money raised from investors on the basis of a share in the upside. Carrying it out by promising people a product and then (potentially in this case) not delivering it doesn’t seem like much of an improvement.

Maybe this is the way around failing in this competitive industry, knowing your making something someone wants, before making the something!

Sorry Felix, I have to agree with the 1000+ people supporting this project.

That’s it from me, thanks

The refusal of Jake-the-…. and his apologists to provide a responsive answer is eloquent in its silence.