limited production :: hand crafted :: high performance :: rechargeable :: premium flashlights

This is my blog about creating a startup LED flashlight business. I'm a designer, fabricator, and strategist and I'm passionate about making ideas real. I believe that products are about people, that they should be built to last, deliver real value, and that we need to do a better job than we have in the recent past.

Most of my career has been contract or freelance work and I've crafted products and strategies for both big international companies and startups. I also used to work in the "industry" fabricating special effects for film and TV, along with the occasional hot rod. Bottom line, I love making things.

I'm starting this blog so you can follow along, from day one, and see what it's like to start a business, or fail in the process. Only time will tell, but I hope you find this interesting enough to stay tuned, comment, link, like, tweet, and (most importantly) participate in turning this idea into something tangible and valuable.

For a good place to get started with general info about who, what, why, etc., check out the "Stickies" on the left side of the page. Thanks for stopping by and please don't hesitate to ask questions and get involved!

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Sunday, January 9, 2011

Hello World...

Well, this makes it official. I'm building flashlights, really awesome flashlights. I'm doing all of the production work (design, machining, assembly) in my fabrication shop in Mountain View. In the short to mid-term lights will be produced in limited quantities; batches of 20-30 lights. They'll be available on a first come first serve basis.

Prototype V1
There will never really be a "production" light. A typical product gets fully engineered and then released out into the wild. Not here. Every batch will represent a constant evolution of learning and customer feedback. Because I'm doing small runs, my development cycle will be month-to-month, not year-to-year like larger companies.

That said, every light will be of the highest quality and have full functionality. In fact, they will be better than any light you will ever find in a store, especially in terms of build quality and craftsmanship.This means that if you want to "wait till everything is sorted out," you'll be waiting forever. It's kind of like buying a computer or a car, the design and technology is constantly on the move.


The light pictured in these photos is the second flashlight I've ever made. Right now I'm up to about number nine and ready to start some low volume production. It's 1.2 inches wide at the head and 5.5 inches long overall. For comparison it's about 1/4 the size of a standard 2D Maglite and about 20 times brighter. It packs a punch.

The LED is a Cree MCE capable of producing nearly 750 lumens.
20X more than a Maglite. 


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