Ritot Watch: Destined to Fail?

The Ritot Watch campaign (link) successfully ended on September 26th, 2014, raising over $1.4 million ($50k original goal). However, the campaign also raised a lot of red flags which seriously put into question the future success of delivering an actual product.  Yes, there is the issue that the creators are based entirely in Ukraine (and not San Fransisco as stated on the site), and are using aliases (all detailed by Josh Ong here), but there's much more.


Source: indiegogo.com

First reg flag: Indiegogo Flexible funding.  IGG as a platform allows more dubious projects to get through, and the flexible funding option alone is a strike against any campaign.  The creators of the Ritot watch claim they would have refunded all contributions if they had not come close to the $50,000 goal (so why choose the flexible funding in the first place?).

Second red flag: LOTS of photoshopped/rendered visualizations and no working prototype.  It's fairly easy to make a pretty picture of an idea you have for a product, but getting it to prototype phase is another matter.  Before the campaign ended (after 2 extensions), the creators posted an update showing a demo projector displaying the time on a piece of paper (simulating the top of your hand).  While it's good to see they at least have some of the hardware, and some functionality, they still have a long way to go to integrate the hardware into a braclet-sized enclosure.


Source: indiegogo.com



Third red flag:  Aggressive delivery schedule.  The initial schedule has not yet been updated, but as it currently stands, it will be a very busy couple of months.  Design and testing is to be completed in just 2 months from now, completing by the end of November.  The rest of the schedule has a lot of concurrency which might be risky.  Shipments are to begin in January.  The flood of orders may well increase the lead time on the critical components.  Digi-Key is currently showing a factory stock on the DLP3000FQD micro mirror array of just 1,460 (Mouser only has another 24 in stock, though other suppliers may have some too).  Perhaps you think their schedule isn't overly aggressive, but don't forget this is just a team to two guys and they also have to design and produce a charging base (which includes a curved color touch screen and wireless charging) and develop the mobile app.  In my view, that's a lot to ask for from two guys in 5 months.  Throw in stretch goal mission creep and a high volume of orders, and you have a real mess.



Source: indiegogo.com

If all these warning signs still haven't persuaded you, you're in luck.  The Ritot Watch campaign is still accepting contributions!  In that last 24 hours, another 10 contributors have put in their orders for 12 more watches.  However, there are plenty of unhappy contributors already, with many asking for refunds before the campaign officially ended (based on the public comments).  While I don't normally root for projects to fail (at least not after they've been funded), I'm very skeptical of the success of the Ritot Watch. This project is certainly one to watch over the next few months, whether it succeeds or fails.