Codex Silenda Puzzle Book, Round 2

"Goggles Pizzano" (gogglespizzano) 01/27/2020 at 15:24 • Filed to: Codex Silenda

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Received an email this morning:

The Wait for Codex is Nearly Over...

We are extremely excited to FINALLY have some definite good news for everyone who has OH SO PATIENTLY waited for this book to become available for all. What started 3 years ago as a simple project turned into a hobby, then a startup, and is now becoming a fully fledged business!

Quick Breakdown of this Update

When and How will you get the Codex?

What to Expect in the Coming Weeks & Months?

The Last 3 Years - What’s been happening?

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1. The 2nd Kickstarter Campaign - How to get a Codex.

Launching March 2020!

We have mastered the process of making a wooden mechanical puzzle book that we feel confident in our ability to begin scaling the business up. However, the sheer amount of demand for the Codex and the fact that we simply do not have the space or manpower has led us to the conclusion that we must launch a 2nd Kickstarter Campaign to fund our next major step in the growth of our new emerging business. In the above image, are 3 levels of Codex designs we are considering to offer during the Kickstarter Campaign.

Pricing for the Traditional 5 Page Version will be around $300. Some options will include your choice of Accent Color (the Blue sections) and whether your want your book Assembled or Unassembled (a diy kit).

Pricing is unknown for the two 7 Page Styles until we know just how much demand there is for them. However, not only will you get to choose the accent colors and assembly options, but you will also get to choose between 1 of 5 different themes to be engraved into your book. We are even attempting to create 5 unique stories to each theme, centered around the mythology and lores of each respective theme.

What will this Kickstarter Accomplish?

We’ve spent the last 3 years (read section 3 for the details) learning how to perfect the process of laser cutting, engraving, assembling, and the shipping of these wooden mechanical wonders. We’ve also secured a licensing partner with manufacturing ties to help the mass production of the Codices too, which in turn massively relieves the burden of building our own little business up in as little time as possible.

We’d ideally like to get every single person on this waiting list a Codex with as little downtime as possible, but the sheer level of demand can make or break the terms of delivery, whether it will take 1 year or 3 years (only if there’s over 50,000 orders). However, in order to do this, certain thresholds must be met if we are going to be capable of completing such a task.

Our business has completely outgrown it’s base of origin in both space and manpower. We must move our business closer to a major metropolitan city in the Midwest like Minneapolis, MN or Madison, WI.

We must hire at least 20-50 new people capable of tasks ranging from Sanding Sheets to Staining Wood to Assembling Codices to Shipping out Orders. Our current base of operations does not have access to anywhere near the quantity nor quality of employees that we desire for our book’s assembly process.

Finally, this will not only allow us to fund the delivery of Codex Silendas to all who want it, but also fund our future endeavors to design the rest of the Puzzle Book Series, Codex #2 and Codex #3... you don’t want to only get 1/3 of the overall meta story do you?

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First off, there are ALOT of people on the waiting list, so for the time being PLEASE hold off on all questions for now. We will do our best to pre-emptively answer questions in this Email and any future emails between now and the launch of the Kickstarter. Even then, there will be alot of questions that we ourselves can’t answer until we are both closer to the launch date and have had a chance to analyze our findings for demand.

The biggest question we must ask first is

“ How many people on the waiting list are actually receiving this email and are still interested in getting a Codex Silenda? “

We would greatly appreciate if everyone who does receive this email and does still want a Codex to simply answer this quick survey to show us how much demand there is for each of the Codex design styles.

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! You will most likely see some promotions in relation to the Codex’s launch on the social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Instagram. One such promotion will be coming from a VERY popular Youtube channel (+3 million subscribers) that deals in solving unique puzzles from around the world. On top of that, you may even seen a Celebrity Endorsement from a major TV & Movie A-List actor, but that is still on the hush-n-hush for the time being... 

Some other frequently asked questions

What about the remaining 1st Kickstarter Orders?We answered this in our last Update on Kickstarter and how we would handle their manufacturing. But basically we expect to have them all completely finished by May/June which would also be the ideal time our business would have found and secured a new business location to move to.

Will these be shipped internationally? Yes! However due to the weight of the books/packages, there may be additional shipping costs. The more backers we get, the cheaper the costs get. Currently they range anywhere from $70 to $140 depending on the nations and customs.

How much will it cost? $300 for the Assembled, 5 Page Traditional Codex Silenda. Not quite sure on final pricing for Unassembled Kits, will confirm in next update.

When does it launch? We are hoping the first week of March and will announce the official date in our next Email Update after determining the level of interest.

Does it come in other languages other than English? It very well could IF we have a large enough demand for a specific language. Ideally we would like to offer it in every major language if possible. However, English will remain the de facto choice for now.

What are the dimensions and how heavy is it? A 5 Page version weighs about 14 lbs and is 11.25" tall x 9.5" wide x 7" deep.A 7 Page version weighs about 18 lbs and is 11.25" tall x 9.5" wide x 9.75" deep

When would it be delivered? This is the biggest unknown as it will greatly depend on the total number of backers involved in the campaign. We expect it to take us at least 3-6 months to find a new location to move our business too and get enough people hired and trained before we are in full scale production mode. After that, it’ll depend on the total number of workers we have vs the total number of orders we must get through. As time goes on, we will update everyone on delivery dates and changes in schedule.

Do I get to choose my Wood Stains and Colors? Only the Accent colors for the 5 and 7 Page Versions. However, Aged Custom books will have the option to change anything and everything they want on the book’s appearance in regards to colors and potential engravings.

When can we expect more information on this upcoming Kickstarter? We hope to send out at least 2 more emails between now and March with further updates and info. It’ll probably be sometime during the 2nd and 4th weeks of February.

Will you provide more in-depth insights to your plans for making this Campaign a success? Absolutely, we will run this Kickstarter with the same level of integrity and communication as the 1st Kickstarter. This was our strongest level of praise and support from our original backers about the way we handled the first campaign.  

3. The Past 3 Years and the 1st Kickstarter

The 1st Kickstarter was launched in August 2016 by the inventor, Brady, with the modest funding goal of $30,000. The original purpose of that Kickstarter was to be able to buy a small hobby laser (24" x 48") and make maybe 50 to 100 Codex Silendas. It was also intended to be a simple hobby pursuit, worked on in the evenings and weekends in the Inventor’s spare time.

Instead the Campaign erupted to the tune of almost 2500 backers in a single week, prompting the abrupt closing of the Campaign to any future orders for fear of overpromising and high taxes. What was supposed to be a fun hobby became a startup overnight, throwing a freshly graduated college kid into the driver seat of a massively viral product business. Despite the immense success, decisions were made that led to the business being moved with that college kid to Connecticut as he started his first out of college job. For a year, his time was split between the 8am to 4pm Industrial Designer job to the Kickstarter Business from 4pm to 12am. It was during this time that he gained an in depth look into the product development world of manufacturing as well as securing a Licensing Contract for the Codex itself!

Eventually, the insane hours and bifurcated attention span began to wear on Brady that the decision was finally made to go full-time with the business. What he didn’t know was just how grueling the next 2 years would be as the nature of Real-World Business and Life would repeatedly put him and the business through the ringer time and time again. From laser breakdowns, to reworking the Codex designs, to surviving the overall stressful nature of launching and running a small business. Despite all of the trials and ordeals undertaken, we were able to put together both an excellent assembly team and perfect the Codex and it’s mechanical operations.

Nowadays, our team divides our time between making books for new customers and fulfilling remaining orders from the 1st Kickstarter. Despite the immense success of the campaign, the pricing originally set for the books was again set as if only Brady himself would be working on the books. This greatly impacted our ability to quickly deliver the books as we originally wanted to. However, we’ve kept our noses to the grindstone and have been steadily working our way through the backlog with the end in sight.

And now we find ourselves finally moving forward with our 2nd Kickstarter and Mass Production plans. We are SO thrilled to finally be giving everyone the chance to own a Codex!

Again, please refrain from overloading our inbox with questions about the upcoming Kickstarter. We will do our best to answer everyone through these email newsletters up until the Campaign begins.

Much Love,
Brady, Hanna, Koda, and the rest of the Codex Team

Just learned they have unassembled versions of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . I fear the assembly process may ruin the solving .