[ChoColostrum]

If they are the OEM and are designing for other companies under white label, then this could have no impact on brand and create new source of revenue.

He might have taken it the other way around. Curious about that company.

 

[Jones Bob]

No thanks. I’d rather sell Amway.

 

[Mediahound]

So they made like 2 million in 2019 and now down to -$20k. Where did that money go? Someone asked that on the investment page and was told they cannot answer that...

It seems impossible to do any actual due diligence regarding a potential investment.

 

[ChoColostrum]

I have no personal experience with DCA or MrSpeakers, but people seem to put them on high regard. I just wish this company the best. Trying times indeed.

 

[chesebert]

No thanks. I’d rather sell Amway.

I’d rather sell PPEs

This "investment opportunity" gave me a good laugh.

Are all those 10 current investors members of the company? Might very well be...

looks like all 12 employees have invested /s

seriously 12 employees for a low margin business that does $2mil a year is a ton of people.

Geez you guys. Okay, this doesn't work for all of you. Which is fine. But I'm going to dissent from the naysayer views.

We're getting a chance to own shares in a little niche company with great products and proprietary tech that enables those great products. The company's run by someone who's managed to build those great products and tech starting organically from very little capital. DCA's expanding from the audiophile niche into a larger gamer niche, with what seems to be some success*.

• If you don't like the illiquidity of the shares and don't foresee future liquidity, don't invest.
• If you don't like a 4:1 valuation against sales, don't invest.
• If you don't think the products or underlying tech are monetizeable into larger sectors than those DCA occupy right now, don't invest.
• If you don't think the products or tech are good enough or distinctive enough to capture some share in those larger sectors, don't invest.
• If you don't think the company's management is capable of driving that sort of expansion, don't invest.

But for some of us DCA ticks enough boxes to put some money in. And personally I like to bet on great products and it gives me happiness when that coincides with the kind of founder Dan is.

(Besides, if Dan didn't offer something like this and relied solely on other capital markets, wouldn't there be a "he got a taste of success and now he's abandoning his roots! How dare he?" backlash? I think there would.)

*I'm taking expansion of Hel Yeah from AFO-only to AFC-by-popular-demand-we-figured-out-a-way-to-do-it-in-budget to AFO/AFC-RT as proxy for "this is working out well for us so we're doubling down." Your interpretation may vary of course.

What “proprietary tech”. A search on Google patent turned up nothing. Know how and trade secrets are mostly bull anyway with certain exceptions.

edit (adding disclaimer for compliance purposes): I am not offering financial advice but only my personal opinion. Investors may take further aspects and their own due diligence into consideration before making a decision.

 

[seamon]

Why do people spend $10k+ headphones/amps, and use streaming services. You OWN your headphones but RENT your music. You have the newest iPhones, but can't spare $10-$15 for the DIGITAL/CD ?

All money spent on headphones and amps

 

[VandyMan]

I really wonder how many of the people crap posting here have bothered to read the Offering Details (Form C) provided? I am NOT trying to convince anyone to invest in DCA, but there is a whole lot of uninformed unfair hot takes here.This is a risky speculative investment. It is all spelled out here:

https://d19j0qt0x55bap.cloudfront.n...s/offering_details/Dan_Clark_Form_C_Final.pdf

Exactly. DCA would be better off finding some angels or go on Shark Tank.

They have already raised their minimum, one day in. Many small private companies raise money directly these days on Republic, StartEngine, etc. Shark Tank is primarily about entertainment and the people who go on end up giving up a significant amount of equity. I've only watched a couple of times, but the people I saw did not have established companies. For most small businesses, getting on a reality TV show to raise capitol it is not a realistic option. Not to mention, there are thousands of small businesses that raise money each year, but only a few dozen Shark Tank contestants.

Hm. I can buy shares … which I can sell where if I need to? If I invest a couple of thousands … I get a "free" headphone but no dividend. The data provided is basic and rudimentary at most. Hm … may be not.

The liquidity of purchased shares is no different from any other small non-public company. Small companies do not usually pay dividends. Instead, they are expected to reinvest for growth. If you think you will need to sell your shares within the next couple of years, this is not the right type of investment for you.

$7.5M valuation on $2M of sales? Good luck with that.

The valuation, like all valuations, is a subjective estimate. All the financials are provided, so you can do your own calculation and chose not to invest. (I also think the valuation is too high, but it is not totally unrealistic given their high margins on B2C sales.)

So they made like 2 million in 2019 and now down to $20k. Where did that money go? Someone asked that on the investment page and was told they cannot answer that...

It seems impossible to do any actual due diligence regarding a potential investment.

All of that information is provided as part of the Offering Details. I included the link above. If you do not know how to read a financial statement (and most people do not, so no shame it that), you should not invest in DCA or any other privately held company. With public companies, you can read what analysts think, but with companies like this, the burden is on you.

Hardly any benefits for investing. 15% discount even after investing $20,000 and not more? No thanks

What benefit are you expecting? What you get, is ownership of the company. If you think DCA has a good shot at growing, you invest to eventually make money. If you don't think DCA has a bright future, don't invest, of course. Either way, you need to have a long view of the investment. This is not the place to invest for quick returns.

DCA was born from the headphone community and produces great products. I would think that people would at least want to be kind to them, even if they don't want to invest.

 

[VandyMan]

What “proprietary tech”. A search on Google patent turned up nothing. Know how and trade secrets are mostly bull anyway with certain exceptions.

In 30 seconds of searching I found Patent number: 9282394. Before calling them liars, maybe ask DCA to list their patents?

 

[chesebert]

In 30 seconds of searching I found Patent number: 9282394. Before calling them liars, maybe ask DCA to list their patents?

Fair enough, I just looked for the issuer in this case Dan Clark Audio, Inc. You are investing in Dan Clark Audio, Inc not Mr Speakers, LLC. Did they merge or convert?

edit (adding disclaimer for compliance purposes): I am not offering financial advice but only my personal opinion. Investors may take further aspects and their own due diligence into consideration before making a decision.

 

[VandyMan]

Fair enough, I just look for the issuer in this case Dan Clark Audio, Inc. You are investing in Dan Clark Audio, Inc not Mr Speakers, LLC. Did they merge or convert?

Neither. It is the same company with a new name. AFAIK, they were never two separate legal entities.

Edit: By convert, I assume you mean did the outstanding shares convert.

 

[SDBiotek]

Thank you @VandyMan for posting some useful information on this thread.

 

[chesebert]

Neither. It is the same company with a new name. AFAIK, they were never two separate legal entities.

Edit: By convert, I assume you mean did the outstanding shares convert.

Those appear to be two different companies. Convert just means converting LLC to corporation.

edit (adding disclaimer for compliance purposes): I am not offering financial advice but only my personal opinion. Investors may take further aspects and their own due diligence into consideration before making a decision.

 

[killaHz]

I’m not trying to trash DCA. My main headphones are Ether C Flow 1.1, and before that I had Aeon C Flow. Love ‘em both. And Dan has been great to talk to live and over email.

That said, my recollection from corporations class in law school is that an offering of equity shares needs to specify when this tranche of shares gets paid relative to existing tranches. The fact that I can’t find this information in the offering memorandum suggests to me that getting paid is not something I could reasonably expect.

So I have to think of an investment as 1) a way to help DCA through troubled times, so that they’re around when I next need new headphones; and 2) a way to get some cool stuff. So, for 1, though I really like my DCA headphones, I can’t say I like them enough to pay any significant money just to help them out. And for 2, let’s say I were going to invest $500, the lowest amount with a premium attached. For that amount I could just buy the cheapest DCA headphone direct from DCA, thereby getting myself into Club DCA, which is the premium at that amount—and I would also have a pair of headphones!

It may be the case that DCA totally intends to pay its investors, but can’t say for some legal reason exactly how that would take place. I dunno. But without something in the offering memorandum telling me how I’m getting paid when profits return, or a secondary market where I can sell the shares if I get tired of waiting for them to return, I just don’t see what this would get me—which is something I look for in an investment.

 

[mrspeakers]

Fair enough, I just looked for the issuer in this case Dan Clark Audio, Inc. You are investing in Dan Clark Audio, Inc not Mr Speakers, LLC. Did they merge or convert?

edit (adding disclaimer for compliance purposes): I am not offering financial advice but only my personal opinion. Investors may take further aspects and their own due diligence into consideration before making a decision.

It's easy to find, the patents were originally filed under MrSpeakers and we've filed to change this to Dan Clark Audio, but the patent office is never fast and it seems even slower right now, for obvious reasons. There are 5 patents issued, you'll find searching Daniel Clark and Robert Egger. The patents issued cover the driver knurling we call V-Planar, our flow technology called TrueFlow, one for our 3D printed cups and continuously variable bass tuning, asymmetric driver damping, and a patent on the AEON design. Other patents pending won't show up yet, they were filed late last year, including our folding gimbal for Aeon 2 and our IEM patent.

Historically we started as a sole proprietorship, became MrSpeakers, LLC, then MrSpeakers, Inc and then Dan Clark Audio, Inc. Same company, same entity.

 

[chesebert]

It's easy to find, the patents were originally filed under MrSpeakers and we've filed to change this to Dan Clark Audio, but the patent office is never fast and it seems even slower right now, for obvious reasons. There are 5 patents issued, you'll find searching Daniel Clark and Robert Egger. The patents issued cover the driver knurling we call V-Planar, our flow technology called TrueFlow, one for our 3D printed cups and continuously variable bass tuning, asymmetric driver damping, and a patent on the AEON design. Other patents pending won't show up yet, they were filed late last year.

Historically we started as a sole proprietorship, became MrSpeakers, LLC, then MrSpeakers, Inc and then Dan Clark Audio, Inc. Same company, same entity.

Thank you. That’s helpful! Please update the public disclosure or link to this post so all investors can have this information - unless it’s already disclosed.

On an unrelated note, I love your headphones and best of luck getting through Covid19.

Disclaimer for compliance purposes: I am not offering financial advice but only my personal opinion. Investors may take further aspects and their own due diligence into consideration before making a decision.