# 085: Scaling Your Product Up After Crowdfunding

- Show: [Product Startup](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup)
- Published: 2021-07-21
- Length: 32m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-07-21-085-scaling-your-product-up-after-crowdfunding
- Listen: https://productstartup.com/

## Summary

Ben Drury, founder of Yoto Play, explains how the company used a Kickstarter campaign to validate demand and raise $17 million in Series A funding. Drury details the transition from a Raspberry Pi Zero W-based prototype to a scalable product, leveraging early user feedback to refine the hardware and software. He emphasizes treating the initial 750-unit run as a stepping stone to gather data, attract investment, and build a community, rather than focusing on immediate profitability. The episode highlights the importance of unit economics, subscription revenue from Yoto Cards, and maintaining strong customer relationships during scaling.

## Chapters

- [0:49](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-07-21-085-scaling-your-product-up-after-crowdfunding#t=49) Introduction: Ben Drury and Yoto Play Background
- [3:43](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-07-21-085-scaling-your-product-up-after-crowdfunding#t=223) Prototyping with Raspberry Pi and Early Development
- [7:29](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-07-21-085-scaling-your-product-up-after-crowdfunding#t=449) Kickstarter Strategy: Stepping Stone vs. Scale
- [13:23](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-07-21-085-scaling-your-product-up-after-crowdfunding#t=803) Live R&D and Community Engagement
- [18:13](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-07-21-085-scaling-your-product-up-after-crowdfunding#t=1093) Leveraging Traction for Series A Funding
- [22:14](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-07-21-085-scaling-your-product-up-after-crowdfunding#t=1334) Managing Early Adopters and Version 2 Migration
- [26:42](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-07-21-085-scaling-your-product-up-after-crowdfunding#t=1602) Unit Economics, Subscriptions, and Investor Metrics

## Topics

- [Crowdfunding & preorders](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/crowdfunding)
- [Fundraising & investors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/fundraising)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Prototyping & iteration](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/prototyping)
- [Direct-to-consumer & e-commerce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/direct-to-consumer)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Yoto Play (product)
- Yoto (company)
- Raspberry Pi (chip)
- Raspberry Pi Zero (chip)
- Raspberry Pi ZeroW (chip)
- Kickstarter (other)
- 7 Digital (company)
- BlackBerry (company)
- Samsung (company)
- LG (company)
- QNX (company)
- Mako Design + Invent (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [16: 3,841](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/thoroughly-considered/2016-08-10-16-3-841) (Thoroughly Considered)
- [Kickstarter, IndieGoGo & Ignite - Jasperated Jimswinger Jobbery](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2013-04-24-kickstarter-indiegogo-ignite-jasperated-jimswinger-jobbery) (The Amp Hour)
- [S3 E7: Building Bootstrapped Hardware That Sells with Christian Reed](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-builder-circle/2026-01-13-s3-e7-building-bootstrapped-hardware-that-sells-with-christian-reed) (The Builder Circle)
- [An Interview with Zach Dunham](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2017-07-03-an-interview-with-zach-dunham) (The Amp Hour)
- [Kickstarter: Perry Chen (2018)](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2018-12-31-kickstarter-perry-chen-2018) (How I Built This)

## Citing this page

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