Episode 26: Dan Provost & Tom Gerhardt (Studio Neat): Living in the Back It Bracket

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Tom Gerhardt and Dan Provost are the two fellows behind Studio Neat, a three-year-old industrial design and software firm that started with an almost accidental bang on Kickstarter. Several projects later, they’ve shown they’re no flash in the pan. We talk about crowdfunding, inspiration, and design.

On Twitter, Tom, Dan, and Studio Neat.

Show notes

Tom and Dan burst on the scene with an early blockbuster Kickstarter campaign for Glif, an iPhone tripod adapter. They relied on Shapeways for prototyping and then a short run for premium backers.

What’s a SKU (pronounced “sk-yoo”)? It’s a stock-keeping unit. A uniquely identifiable thing you can number and put on a shelf, virtual or otherwise.

Their second project was the iPad stylus, the Cosmonaut. Outgrow.me provides an outlet and a distribution channel for post-crowdfunding sales of products. I spoke to Holly Rowland of Topatoco and Make That Thing! in Episode 21: “With a Little Help from Their Friends.”

Tom and Dan recently put the full text of their book It Will Be Exhilarating online for free! Download it, read it, and get inspired. Craig Mod, a guest on the show for Episode #17, “Everything in Moderation,” and Episode #22, “Modular Design,” wrote “Kickstartup” in 2010 about planning crowdfunding campaigns. It’s still useful.

Studio Neat’s latest project was Simple Bracket, an iOS app for tracking one’s predictions in the NCAA basketball tournament, and comparing those with friends. Jason Snell’s “Baseball Misfits” is a great essay about being a non-sports-playing geek who loves sports. It’s a large demographic.

I talked with Marco Arment about his short-run “Neutral” podcast and other topics in Episode #23, “Give Me Something to Read.” Two early Kickstarter-supported movies were Linotype: The Film and Indie Game: The Movie. Both are wonderful films that might seem to be about technology, but are really about the people behind the tech. (The Indie Game filmmakers were on the podcast way back in Episode #1, “Pac-Man Fever“!)