Perfect Menu came to fruition at Bend, Oregon’s Startup Weekend 2012. In just under three days we developed our entire application from the ground up. We put together a grassroots sales operation, and within our first 24 hours had one of the most influential and trend setting restaurants in Bend using our product. By the end of the event we had customer validation and commitments nationwide.

This past weekend I participated in a 54 hour marathon event called Bend Startup Weekend. Starting Friday night and ending Sunday night with final pitch presentations, we had 54 hours to build a business. My team won the entire event! In less than 48 hours we developed a gorgeous web-app and had local businesses swooning over our product. We were featured in the paper with a really nice write up. I couldn’t be more proud of my team mates! Onward and upward! ~Aviv

The Elevation Dock is now available for pre-order at the Elevation Lab store. As Casey says, “Missed our record-breaking Kickstarter campaign? You can pre-order the Elevation Dock here. We expect to be shipping in late April with the rest of the Kickstarter orders.”

The Elevation Dock — designed by our very close friend and partner Casey Hopkins — is the first ever project in KickStarter history to surpass $1,000,000 in funding. A well-deserved and everlasting title. Be a part of history and pre-order your dock to receive it when the rest of the units ship.

Be sure to follow Casey Hopkins, Elevation Lab and Think Brilliant on twitter.

Yesterday the Elevation Dock broke a big record and became the most funded project in KickStarter history. Today, another record broken as the Elevation Dock becomes the first ever project on KickStarter to raise more than $1,000,000 in funding.

“It’s a big milestone, I think crowd-funding is just in its infancy.” -Casey Hopkins

Not only is the Elevation Dock — designed by our very close friend and partner Casey Hopkins — the all-time highest funded project in KickStarter history, the project is now also the first ever project in KickStarter history to surpass $1,000,000 in funding. A well-deserved and everlasting title for Casey and our general camp in Portland, Oregon.

Once again, there is just about two days left to pledge and order a dock for yourself (or as a gift for someone you know). Once the project ends on KickStarter, there will be no way to get your hands on a dock for quite some time. Get in there and be part of history!

Be sure to follow Casey Hopkins, Elevation Lab and Think Brilliant on twitter.

Of note, these guys may be the first to hit $2,000,000, but that’s a different story.

The Elevation Dock is officially the most funded project in KickStarter history. What started as a simple pitch for $75,000, has turned into a technology and design darling closing in on $1,000,000.

“It’s been a hell of a run. Looking forward to a solid night of sleep after two months without it. Then it’s laser focus on getting these shipping.” -Casey Hopkins

We are extremely proud to announce that the Elevation Dock — designed by our very close friend and partner Casey Hopkins — is the all-time highest funded project in KickStarter history. We thought it would take most of the project’s remaining four days. It didn’t.

KickStarter All-Time Highest Funded Projects

1. Elevation Dock: $943,000 and still going
2. TikTok + LunaTik: $942,578
3. Hidden Radio: $938,771

Remember, there is just a small window of time left to pledge and order a dock for yourself (or as a gift for someone you know). Once the project ends on KickStarter, there will be no way to get your hands on a dock for quite some time. Get in there and be part of history!

Be sure to follow Casey Hopkins, Elevation Lab and Think Brilliant on twitter.

If you haven’t heard about the Elevation Dock, listen up. It’s the fastest funded project in KickStarter history, has been endorsed by a ton of industry heavyweights, and was locally designed by our partner Casey Hopkins right here in Portland, Oregon.

The Elevation Dock has a serious chance to break the All-Time KickStarter funding record. Currently the top two spots are held by the TikTok + LunaTik ($942,578) and Hidden Radio ($938,771) projects.

At the time of this article, the Elevation Dock has raised $875,756. The project has four days to go. Based on our experience with KickStarter, there should be a fairly nice uptick in pledges during the last few days. The project has a serious fighting chance to beat the record and become the highest funded project in KickStarter history.

Help him get there! Spread the word. Share the project with your friends, your family, your enemies. There are new distributor options that may potentially be very profitable for some folks that you know.

Remember, there are only four days left to pledge and order a dock for yourself. Once the project ends on KickStarter, there will be no way to get your hands on a dock for quite some time. Get in there and help us break the record!

“It’s been a pretty wild ride. I pitched the dock to a famous Apple accessory company and they flatly turned it down. Many others said it was a bad idea. It’s reassuring to know you aren’t crazy all of the time. I’m sure if Johnny Ive had pitched fully machined aluminum unibody laptops to Michael Dell, he would have been laughed out of the room as well.”

-Casey Hopkins (founder and inventor of the Elevation Dock)

ELEVATION DOCK PRESS

Wired: “The Dock Apple should have made in the first place.”
John Gruber: “An exquisitely well-crafted, beautiful, useful iPhone dock. I’m in.”
New York Times: “…but wow, what a stand.”
Gizmodo: “I’m tempted to buy an iPhone just so I can use the Elevation Dock”
SlashGear: “Elevation Dock for iPhone blows up on Kickstarter”
UberGizmo: “Dock aims to make undocking your iPhone a piece of cake”
Jason Fried: “Love the thinking that went into the design!”
Marco Arment “Elevation Dock for iPhone raised $75k in 8 hours”
Cult of Mac: “…The Most Gorgeous iPhone Dock Ever Made”
GigaOM: “A dock becomes a darling of the tech world”
Digital Trends: “Great design if you ask us. Why didn’t Apple think of this?”
Electronistra: “Upscale, case-friendly home”
Uncrate: ”…you’re going to want a dock. But not just any dock. The Elevation Dock.”
TNW: “The Elevation Dock for iPhone blows away Apple’s crap options”
Cool Material “The Elevation Dock is, to put it bluntly, perfect.”
Silicon Florist “I… Yeah. I don’t even really know where to begin.”
AIGA: “…perfect blend of form and functionality… much like Dyson’s fan.”

Get in there and help us break the record!

Instagram gets it right. A simple, lightweight service with a clean, user-friendly design. Behind the scenes only a small, dedicated team. Their innovative work has led to a deeply engaged community brimming with loyal members. Still, the company’s direction remains uncertain. In light of the New Year, I’d like to share some thoughts on the future of Instagram.

Loyalty

Arguably, Instagram has the most loyal user base around. They’ve created a perfect storm: iPhone exclusivity, emotionally engaging service, robust community, it’s extremely unique. The daily encounters on Instagram are far more intimate than what’s available on twitter, flickr or facebook. And due to the vastly diverse user base, much more valuable. These valuable interactions — combined with the addictive nature of sharing photos — are what elevates the core experience on Instagram. It’s what keeps people coming back. There’s something very emotionally rewarding about viewing and sharing pictures of your life with like-minded people. ¹

It’s OK to Charge for Things

Among all the free services I use, Instagram is one that I would happily pay for. The fantastic business model of worrying about money later while going after market share first has run its course.

Camera+ — an app I commonly use alongside Instagram — does exactly what I think Instagram should do to start generating some revenue. Camera+ is a 99¢ camera and picture editing application. Many of the image editing features are free. However, a special set of filters — which also happen to be the most desirable — are available for sale as an in-app purchase. Instagram should do the exact same thing.

There should be a continuous flow of new filters being made available to the Instagram community as in-app purchases.

Make people need to have every single filter you release. Create demand. Charge 99¢ for individual filters, and sell packs of three for $1.99. Simple. There should be no question as to whether or not people will pay for them. As explained above, don’t mess with the core experience and the loyal community will embrace any effort to generate revenue. Often times, startups feel the need to publicly rationalize their monetization strategies. Instagram wouldn’t need to explain a thing. Launch new filters. Make money. Nobody would question it. ²

Distribution

Instagram has made public comments about developing an Android application. The Instagram team is smart. They know they’ll never be able to match the user experience found on iOS devices with their Android app. Most likely, this revolves around nothing else but wanting more users. However, unless Instagram has grand plans to unveil an advertising strategy, a larger Instagram community does not explicitly equate to making money. Historically, free services that scale too quickly, ultimately rely on lesser-than-great advertising strategies. The folks running the ad-sales for these various companies obviously think their ideas are incredibly innovative. But they never are. It hasn’t happened yet and I’m not sure it ever will. People just don’t like ads.

As of December 2011, only six (or seven) people worked at Instagram. While very impressive, a small team doesn’t lend itself well to a strategy that is geared towards drastically increasing market share.

An Android app would flood the Instagram community with new members. Yes, some would be valuable (I can think of a few good friends — Android users — that I’d love to see on Instagram), yet how many would be nothing but noise? Should we look to the Android Market for that answer? ³

This is a critically important decision that Instagram needs to make. The risk in releasing an Android application — and having the iPhone community revolt due to a complete shock to the core experience — seems too high for comfort. Do they want huge market share? Or do they want to run a premium and profitable service? Do they want to be more like Microsoft or more like Apple?

Operations

As new Android users flood Instagram, the daily demand on Instagram’s team will inevitably increase. They will be responsible for maintaining two completely separate versions of the application, on two completely separate (and competing) development platforms. Even less reassuring, Android is known for having debilitating fragmentation problems.

The size of Instagram’s general business operations will increase. The infrastructure will grow. Costs will go up. There’s no way around it. Twitter has already made a lot of these mistakes. They continue to destroy their service in the hopes of finding a magical advertising solution. The key would have been to keep the service pure and utilitarian. Instead, they went the opposite route. Their mobile apps have tanked in reviews. Users have switched to third-party clients in droves. Top talent that originally helped establish the product has all but vanished. For twitter, getting advertisers on board is now their top priority. For the sake of the Instagram community, I hope we never see the service make some of the mistakes that twitter has recently made.

Moving Forward

First, Instagram needs to focus on making the iPhone app profitable without disturbing its current and devoted user base. Android users haven’t made Instagram the success that it is today. Google hasn’t had a role in any of this. Let them wait until the business model works. Make yourselves profitable. Then consider other platforms.

Take the Apple route of doing business. Maximize profits. Be happy when your market share increases by half a percent, but don’t let it drive the direction (and spirit) of the company. The service is too valuable to be exploited by the masses and made to work on all devices. That would be such a shame. Part of the inherent beauty behind Instagram, is that you know the person on the other end of that photo is holding an iPhone. Once that is lost, the service will forever be changed.

Charging for things should not be a scary thought for the Instagram team. Having a good amount of paying customers is better than having a ton of free users.

Ideally, one day in the future, when Instagram is steadily maximizing profits from its iPhone user base, the idea of an Android application can be explored. The strategy should be meticulously thought out, and the possibility of keeping the communities separate should be evaluated. People choose Android for a reason. And people choose the iPhone for a reason. It’s just the way it is.

Instagram, your service offers something no other service does. It’s truly a little slice of heaven. Please, don’t screw this up.

Rainn Wilson, best known for his role as Dwight Schrute on the hit television sitcom The Office, has sent Portland-based technology company Think Brilliant a letter after reaching a settlement in their legal dispute.

Portland, OR — Pursuant to the settlement of Think Brilliant’s litigation against Rainn Wilson and his company SoulPancake, LLC, the Portland-based technology company received a public statement from Mr. Wilson, which reads as follows:

SoulPancake, LLC wishes to express its appreciation for the work and services performed by Think Brilliant Media Studios, LLC from May 2008 through June 2010. We further wish to express our appreciation to the Think Brilliant team, Aviv Hadar, Dave Fields, Darren Buckner, Sam Weston and Tom Fite for their work developing SoulPancake.com.

At the end of our business relationship a dispute arose. Unfortunately, that dispute resulted in a lawsuit. Both parties acknowledge that there were many misunderstandings and release each other from all blame in the matter. -Rainn Wilson, co-founder of SoulPancake.

The litigation which took place in Oregon’s District Court is now resolved (Case No. 3:10-CV-00796-PK — Think Brilliant Media Studios, LLC v. SoulPancake, LLC). Think Brilliant is pleased that the case has been settled. Think Brilliant plans to begin releasing new products in the first half of 2012, starting with an innovative software product aimed at the restaurant industry.

About Think Brilliant: Founded in 2007, Think Brilliant specializes in turning ideas and concepts into real-world products and success. With their unique industry relationships and innovative technology they have played an important role in a number of globally recognized brands and movements.

Contact:
Keri Hendricks
Think Brilliant Media Studios, LLC.
877-TBMS-101
info (at) thinkbrilliant (dot) com

View the full press release at PRWeb

Pursuant to the settlement of our litigation against Rainn Wilson and his company SoulPancake, LLC, Think Brilliant has received an official letter from Rainn Wilson in regards to the resolution of the lawsuit.

The official document below is free to use, reproduce, rebroadcast and redistribute in any way. The letter is transcribed below.

Dec 23, 2011

SoulPancake, LLC wishes to express its appreciation for the work and services performed by Think Brilliant Media Studios, LLC from May 2008 through June 2010. We further wish to express our appreciation to the Think Brilliant team, Aviv Hadar, Dave Fields, Darren Buckner, Sam Weston and Tom Fite for their work developing SoulPancake.com.

At the end of our business relationship a dispute arose. Unfortunately, that dispute resulted in a lawsuit. Both parties acknowledge that there were many misunderstandings and release each other from all blame in the matter.

Rainn Wilson, co-founder of SoulPancake

You can click on the image below to view a full size version, or download a PDF as well.

Download a PDF of the original document here.