Buttons and Legalese

Don and Mat are meeting this week to look at two different options for switch placement on the PCB (printed circuit board) so that Mat can then design the buttons. They’re trying to keep the design of this mechanism as simple as possible. This, in turn, will enable us to reduce the overall profile of the watch. We then have a two-week turnaround on 3D printing the new actuators at Shapeways, but we’re exploring other options.

Detail from Mat's latest drawing set showing the assembly and the old button design.

Meanwhile, I’m putting the finishing touches on the pitch deck and my “translation” into plain English of the term sheet and note. Many thanks to my parents and my advisors on these!

The Teacups Shook in Their Hands.

A few people responded to my last post about raising $100,000 by pointing out that "every little bit helps" and offering to send checks on the order of $100 or so. I'm humbled by these texts and emails, and gladly accept the offers. My first such check came yesterday, from my friend Rudy in Cleveland. The check was enclosed in this watercolor based on the "Frog and Toad" series:

They were scared. Their teacups shook in their hands.

On the back, Rudy wrote, "Verso, the fruits of stay-at-home fatherhood. I wish you the best of luck and am so pleased to be able to pay a tiny part." Nice use of "verso," first of all. Second, sentiments like this strengthen my resolve and underline my belief that none of us is alone in what we do. Third, how awesome is this watercolor?! And fourth, on a related note, I guess Rudy's gunning of the Father of the Year award. His kids are lucky!

Thanks Rudy. I'm very touched.

The First Prototypes Are Almost Done!

We’ve made big strides on the watch, which, for now, I’m calling Okobo* (aw-kubbo). After months of fine-tuning the user interface, developing the industrial design, designing the printed circuit board (PCB), and figuring out how to make the whole thing water and shock resistant, we are close to completion on our first two prototypes. Don, our electrical engineer, has put together the internal components for two watches, and he’s handed them off to Mat, the mechanical engineer, to confirm the dimensions and then assemble the units based on Jenna’s brilliant industrial design. Don is also translating Kentaro’s app from Swift to C, and then loading that onto the devices.

Jenna's mockup of her design.

The two PCBs (printed circuit boards) that will go into our first prototypes.

Soon we’ll provide a sneak peek at Kentaro’s app, which shows how the watch will work.

I’m thrilled to have reached this stage. The Okobo started as a germ of an idea over 25 years ago, and while I didn’t expect it to spring forth fully formed, like Athena from Zeus’ forehead, when I first launched this effort, neither did I expect it to be so involved. Along the way, I’ve been incredibly lucky to have been surrounded by a great team – Don, Jenna, Kentaro, and Mat – as well by my advisors – Mauricio Acosta, Liz Mefford, Travis Metz, Isabelle Moutaud, Henry Poydar, and Charles Smith. I’ve learned a ton about everything from branding to early-stage funding to user-interface design to industrial design, and I owe it to all these people.

We still have a long way to go, of course. Next up, we’ll go through several rounds of testing and development of the prototypes.

*My grandmother on my father’s side, Esther Peterson (née Eggersten), looked after her nephew, Bud, who called her Okobo.

From left to right: Esther (my grandmother) and her sister, Mimi, and brother, Mark. That’s Bud’s scrawl on the matte.

The 3D-Printed Mockups Are Here!

Jenna received the 3D-printed mockups of the watch from Shapeways last week, and has touched them up to bring them closer to the real thing. We met at The West in Williamsburg to look at them together and discuss next steps.

The detail on the acrylate printout is impressive – check out the photos. The body is not painted on this one – only the back and the accent ring on the front. Jenna is letting me keep a rougher printout to show around to people.

Next, Jenna will order two more prints and play around with the color of the body – we'll try a lighter shade of grey.