Well I have backed an explorer and a finder .... hopefully I will have better luck with this Indigogo than with the Geek Wave one...
Let me ask you this: was the Geek Wave campaign run by a 5-year Head-Fier who has a long history of giving good advice, writing informative reviews, and being a reliable trader?
Might sound cheesy, but that's who I am. I've never let a single trade go bad, and whenever anyone has been less than happy with my trades, I've made it right - you can ask anyone who's ever bought from or sold to me whether I'm good for my word, and they'll all tell you the same thing. And beyond what you can see here on the forums, I've got people who come to me via PM or email regularly for purchase advice on headphones and other tech gear, and I give my knowledge freely it because I'm passionate about finding stuff that works, and supporting companies that are doing good things and making good products.
The same thing that kept me honest and loyal in my trades is still at play here: my career and reputation, and my desire to make good gear. I can't recall ever seeing the founder of Light Harmonic out and about, but me, I don't hide behind my computer screen - I've been at almost every single CanJam this year, even London! If you're on the west coast, you can come see me at CES or SoCal. I've also had a long history of being VERY real about gear and my opinion of it - I actually got banned for going ape**** on an IEM company and putting them on blast publicly a few years back because they were making stuff of absolutely despicable quality and selling it for multiple hundreds of dollars as a high-end product. Ask anyone on Head-Fi who knows me, and they will tell you I don't deal in bullsh*t.
I'm involved and invested in Head-Fi as a community, and if anything gets screwed up in this campaign, it all falls back on me, and this is the one shot I have at making it in this industry; I don't have tons of money or connections in high places to fall back on. My ENTIRE reputation in the industry hinges on this campaign. For me, this campaign is do or die. If I screw something up or don't make this work, I either go back to working for T-Mobile in sales, or, if I'm lucky, become a grunt at some other startup. I don't have an exit strategy or backup plan - this is it right here.
I am all in on Echobox and the Explorer. So I don't plan on letting ANYTHING go sour, even if I have to fly to China for a month to oversee production.
It's up to you who you trust with your money, but compared to any other crowdfunded audio product out there, I'd say I'm the strong bet
