#35 - King of Kickstarter

**SPEAKER_1** (0:02)
Peak Design are a brand that makes some really fantastic products. There's a lot of good things to say about the Peak Design everyday backpack.

**Shaan** (0:09)
I don't think I've ever been this excited to talk about a bag.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:12)
This is the Peak Design travel tripod.

**Shaan** (0:16)
It has a lot of unique elements that I've never seen on a tripod before.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:19)
This thing is so hot right now, your granny is probably talking about it. Everyday backpack from Peak Designs, really, really fucking awesome bag. Tons of innovation, tons of things to be really celebrated. If there's awards for bags, this should win all of them just because it's game changer.

**Peter Dering** (0:38)
We are the company that's earned the second most on Kickstarter in our collective history. It's a little north of 30 million dollars.
Going back to 2010, that's when I quit my job. I was a construction engineer. And I'm living on my savings with about 25 grand. I did like a four month walkabout when I was 25
I went to India and Southeast Asia and Australia and New Zealand. I had a camera with me the whole time. A real pain in the ass to carry with me because it's on a strap and it's banging against your chest. I just came up with this idea. It's this clip that clamps on to a backpack strap.
And then your camera is immediately accessible, totally hands-free, locked into your camera strap. When you need it, push the button, pull it out. So we totally solve that problem. To this day, we sell millions every year. There is nothing as sweet as that first Kickstarter when the money comes rolling in and people are saying, I like that idea. That's incredible. I just sold a thing that I haven't even made yet to a guy in England that I've never met.

**Shaan** (1:39)
Right. This is magic.

**Peter Dering** (1:40)
God, the Internet is cool.
You got the friends and family email that goes out. And that's the extent of the marketing that I did. I mean, that is the sum total, is I emailed my friends and family. You know, frankly, the whole entrepreneurial side, funding a business where you go out there and you raise money and you ramp up the stakes, did not even cross my mind like, should I raise money for this?

**SPEAKER_1** (2:02)
No, it's ridiculous.

**Peter Dering** (2:03)
I'm going to make the fucking thing. You know, last year, I think we had an average of 38 employees and we did somewhere between 65 and 70 million.

**Shaan** (2:14)
Five million is not enough.

**SPEAKER_1** (2:15)
Ten million.

**Shaan** (2:16)
Twenty million dollars.

**Peter Dering** (2:17)
Hundred million dollars.

**SPEAKER_1** (2:18)
Half a billion.

**Shaan** (2:18)
Eight hundred fifty million dollars. One or two people in a bedroom actually are the threats to these giant multi-million dollar companies because you have creativity and you have nothing to lose.

**SPEAKER_1** (2:29)
Add another zero to that price, buddy.

**Shaan** (2:31)
Add two more zeros.
Every week, we sit down with self-made millionaires and ask them, how did you do it? I didn't start a podcast. I started my own personal business school, and the teachers are the successful entrepreneurs behind the biggest brands and businesses that we find today. I wanted to know the real stories with all the details, like how did you get your first hundred customers? What did it feel like when shit hit the fan? I ask them, how did you spend your money now that you're rich? And what would you do if you were starting over from scratch again today? If you're like me and you want to own your own business instead of living a nine to five job, this is the podcast for you. The hustle presents My First Million.
We're good to go, so Peter from Peak Design, how are you?

**Peter Dering** (3:22)
I'm doing just fine, man, it's a new year. We're ready to rock.

**Shaan** (3:25)
We're ready to go, okay, cool. I was telling you right before this, these are my favorite types of interviews where we just met, I don't know your full story. I know enough to know that it's interesting, but I don't know what are all the details. And so I'm gonna be discovering it for the first time, because in some of these interviews, I already know, and I'm just trying to get the greatest hits out of the artist. I'm trying to get you to play your best stories that I already know. In this case, I don't know exactly what they are. We'll be figuring it out together.

**Peter Dering** (3:48)