Assertion certainty 4/5 debate potential 2/5

Cohen: Copycats use Kickstarter measurements to instantly manufacture exact replicas

Emma Cohen · Bobbi Brown Cosmetics: Bobbi Brown · Sep 17, 2018 · at 48:14

Emma Cohen was not on this episode. A recording of them was played into it, so these are their words but not an appearance on How I Built This. It still counts as said, and it is kept out of every score on their page.

Emma Cohen, co-founder of FinalStraw, describes how counterfeiters cloned their collapsible straw design using public specs during their Kickstarter campaign.

0:00 / 0:18exact quote · 18.4s

720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark

“There's companies out there that are patrolling Kickstarter and looking to see when people throw a successful campaign. And as soon as they see that overnight success, Then they jump on it, and they use the measurements that are provided on the Kickstarter to create an exact replica of that item.”

quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →

The claim, plainly

Companies actively monitor Kickstarter for successful campaigns and use the publicly provided measurements to rapidly manufacture exact replica knockoffs.

a quote alone can be ambiguous, so this restates it with the references and context of the conversation around it resolved. AI-written; the tape below the player is the source.

How this resolves

Verification couldn't pin this to a public evidence class, so it stays on the record with its date, unassessed rather than guessed.

not yet assessed: in the resolution queue (grounded fact checks run in waves; this one's next)

Mentioned

Kickstarter

⚑ Spot an error? Report it

More from Emma Cohen

Assertion Not checkable as stated

Copycats patrol Kickstarter to clone viral products using provided campaign specs

“There's companies out there that are patrolling Kickstarter and looking to see when people throw a successful campaign. And as soon as they see that overnight success, Then they jump on it, and they use the measurements that are provided on the Kickstarter to …”

Emma Cohen Aug 12, 2019 ▶ 52:15 Serial Entrepreneur: Marcia Kilgore (2018)

Assertion Supported

Final Straw raised $1.89M selling collapsible straws on Kickstarter in one month

“And the big goal was 5000 straws, which would have been about 70,000 dollars. But we sold about 60,000 straws and closed a month later with 1.89 million dollars in the bank.”

Emma Cohen Aug 12, 2019 ▶ 51:57 Serial Entrepreneur: Marcia Kilgore (2018)

Assertion Partly supported

Cohen: FinalStraw sold 60,000 units on Kickstarter, raising $1.89 million

“And the big goal was 5000 straws, which would have been about 70,000 dollars. But we sold about 60,000 straws and closed a month later with 1.89 million dollars in the bank.”

Emma Cohen Sep 17, 2018 ▶ 47:56 Bobbi Brown Cosmetics: Bobbi Brown

Cohen: Copycats use Kickstarter measurements to instantly manufacture exact replicas

More from Emma Cohen

Turn any episode into a week of clips.