It has been two hectic months since we announced the MeeBlip project.  We hoped to sell around 100 synths by Christmas, but things didn’t quite work out that way — we received over 100 orders in the first 48 hours alone. So far, we’ve sold and shipped over 250 instruments to 17 different countries. MeeBlip has been an amazing success, and we’ve learned a few things worth sharing in the process.

1. It’s really hard to estimate sales for open source projects

Peter and I literally had no idea how many synths we were going to sell. We agreed that it shouldn’t be too hard to sell a production run of 100, and guessed that perhaps half of you would choose the DIY version, while the other half would opt for the cased Quick Build kit.

We surpassed our sales estimate after only a couple of days, and the DIY kit accounted for a mere 25% of sales. That meant that we sold out of cases almost instantly and had to wait weeks for new cases to be machined and delivered by the manufacturer.

2. Doing stuff by hand is really slow

Well, we knew that going in.

But remember we thought we’d receive only a handful of orders each day, so it seemed reasonable to solder them by hand — a process that takes about an hour. Unfortunately, that approach falls apart when you surpass more than one or two units per day.

The solution was to order a batch of pre-assembled boards from the circuit board manufacturer. It took longer than we hoped because the through-hole parts that make MeeBlip DIY-friendly require a lot of hand assembly.  It took a few weeks of careful scheduling and back and forth, but they really saved our bacon.

3. Micro manufacturing is expensive

There’s a reason why many DIY projects are sold as bare boards. By the time we had paid programming and setup fees, each MeeBlip case cost well over $20. The (really nice) top and rear overlays cost almost as much, which really pushed up prices

Many people have requested complete kits that include the case, overlays, circuit board and unassembled parts, expecting to save a lot by putting it together themselves. However, the reality of manufacturing in small batches is that most of the cost is in the components and design until you start making thousands of units per run.

Assembly costs are only about $8 per unit, which makes it pretty hard to entice people to build it themselves.

4. Open source hardware is about making the future cooler

While open source hardware isn’t a great way to get rich in a hurry (I’d recommend investment banking), nothing beats the feeling of exhilaration when people start emailing sound samples, photos of their custom cases (like Michael Roebbeling’s brilliant design, above) and details of their own versions with homebuilt circuit boards.

I’ve heard from a number of people who have clever software ideas they’re anxious to try or who are interested in integrating elements of MeeBlip into their own designs. That’s what open source hardware is all about — sharing knowledge to make cooler stuff.

Thanks for allowing Peter and I to share the MeeBlip adventure with you. We’ve got some cool updates coming soon.