Editing The Pen Addict 465/transcript (section)

== Concrete Pen Development ==


'''Ben Walsh:''' So when I originally was making the concrete pens, I was using kits. So you can get a kit for a slimline pen. And it just wasn't right for the pens. That's what I was originally using. So I got in contact with the manufacturer of the kits. And I basically said, can you modify these kits for me to make them the way I want them? A little bit longer, a little bit wider here. Can you do that? And they said, yeah, but you've got to buy 2,000 kits at a time. And you need to supply us with the manufacturer's drawings and all the CAD files. And I had the ability to do that. And I did it. And it worked. And then I realized, OK, I know how to make machined pens because it's what I do. I make drawings for spec for companies to make things when it comes to kitchens and furniture. So I could actually do it on a smaller scale with pens. And that's how it began into the machine pens. I was doing pretty good from the concrete pens, but I knew I could do more. And concrete wasn't really where I wanted to. I didn't even know where I was going to go with pens. But I started with concrete. And here I am now with machine pens. And concrete is still a big part of what I do.

'''Brad:''' Around what year was the concrete pen when you started manufacturing more of those? What year was that?

'''Ben Walsh:''' So it would have been late 2016. And then early 2017 is when I started on the machine pens. So it kind of picked up pretty quickly for me.

'''Brad:''' So with the machine pens, were you still going down the mostly kit parts route? Or were you doing like the full machining of pretty much everything, you know, outside of the refill? Maybe a mechanism or two? Or what was the process then?

'''Ben Walsh:''' No, it was full machining. So the only thing I was getting was the K5 converters and the nibs. Everything else I was designing and getting manufactured.

'''Brad:''' Okay. I didn't go back into my email when you first emailed me and said, Hey, I want to send you some pens. But I think it was just last year, right? Like 2020? Like during the pandemic? Or was it like 2019? I can't recall.

'''Ben Walsh:''' It was definitely during the pandemic.

'''Brad:''' Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it was like that year. So I just get an email, you know, Ben, hey, I make pens. And can I send you some? And to check out, just get your feedback. And I get, you know, a decent amount of those. And I honestly, I'm not going to lie. I don't always answer them. Sometimes I do. Sometimes I know something was compelling enough about what you said or how you went about it. And I was like, yeah, sure. Send me the pens and check them out. And I got them. And I liked them. And, you know, we started talking over email.

'''Brad:''' And, you know, you said you were eventually, like, I think I might have even shared them on stream. Like the prototypes. This was like before you decided to launch them on Kickstarter. So that's where I kind of want to pick it up was like where in this kind of line you've been making things for two or three years on your own, making pens for a few years. And I guess it's going well that you wanted to do something like the Kickstarter or reach out to someone like me and try to see, like, what else you could do? What was the idea behind broadening your pens and then going on to Kickstarter?

'''Ben Walsh:''' Well, I kind of figured that the concrete pens was eventually going to run out. There's only so many companies that want concrete pens. And once they get the concrete pens, that's it. There's only so many construction companies and so many cement companies. And I figured I need to get a different revenue stream going just in case this doesn't work out. So that's kind of one of the reasons why I had to, I didn't have to, but it's one of the reasons why I steered towards the machine pens. But doing the Kickstarter, you know, I was a big fan of watching different machinists on Instagram do what they do. So Tactile Turn or Ian Schoen or Nami Su or Ineso, they were the big companies that I watched when I was making my concrete pens. And they all started on Kickstarter and they did pretty good. And they're all doing brilliantly now. So that's why I went down the Kickstarter route.

'''Brad:''' And now we get to the reason why I brought you on this show or why I wanted to pick your brain a little bit more. Because unlike them, your Kickstarter failed. Yes. And I wanted to talk about that. And I want to understand from your perspective, because what I've seen since them, since that time, has been nothing short of extraordinary from my perspective. And that's when I realized that this Ben Walsh guy, he's a different cat. And you said something a minute ago, and I wrote it down right here on my piece of paper about your concrete pens in your bedroom. I failed 50 times. You just said that a minute ago. Yep. And the same thing happened with this Kickstarter, except it only failed once. What was your thought process when that did not succeed?

'''Ben Walsh:''' I was very confused. Very confused. Because I followed, you follow these rules, how to be successful on Kickstarter. You download all the PDFs and you read all the books and you fail. So I was so confused. What did I do wrong? You know, I contacted all the reviewers. I got their opinions. You know, I thought I made a really good quality product. But I didn't have the formula. I didn't have the formula. Right. And I just couldn't figure it out. I employed a marketing company and I paid a lot of money to market the campaign. I failed. I just couldn't figure it out. We were in a pandemic. You know, people weren't willing to part ways with money so easily. And also, there was other pen companies launching pens on Kickstarter at the same time as me. And you're sharing the market then. And one of the companies. It was probably one of the biggest Kickstarter pen companies launched the pen at the same time I launched the pen. So I, it was terrible timing. In the middle of a pandemic. And then launching a pen at the same time as one of the biggest companies out there.

'''Brad:''' Yeah. So all of these things out of your control kind of happened. And I think a lot of people might have just said, okay, well, let me just go back to doing what I do best and doing what I know. And you decided, well, I'm not really going to take no for an answer on this Kickstarter, right? The Kickstarter was a no. No, you can't have this. No, you can't move forward with these. And you said, well, forget that. We're just going to go for it anyway. So what was that decision-making process like to say, well, you know, I thought I did what I was supposed to do. It didn't work. Now what?