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Jul 15, 2016 · 21m · top-founders

EP 356: $1M In Guitar Sales From CrowdFunding, Whats Next? With Adam Lee

Adam Lee · 9m spoken Nathan Latka · 9m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

In this episode of "The Top" podcast, host Nathan Latka interviews Bohemian Guitars co-founder Adam Lee on how the company scaled from $16,000 in first-year revenue to nearly $1 million through crowdfunding, strong unit economics, and direct-to-consumer sales.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Nathan holds 50.3% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 3.5 Guest teaching 2.0 Guest disagreement 0.3 Nathan pushing back 1.0
05100:0010:0020:001:13–4:14 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Bohemian Guitars Origins, Product Margins, and Assembly Model Nathan asks straightforward exploratory questions about Bohemian Guitars' pricing, COGS ($55 vs $250 retail), distribution channels, and assembly operations in Atlanta and China. The interaction is fully cooperative.4:14–6:39 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Revenue Milestones, Co-Founder Dynamic, and Subscription Model Nathan drills down on historical revenue, co-founder equity dynamic, and unit math, checking whether deferred Indiegogo crowdfunding revenue was double-counted in the $1M annual revenue total.6:39–15:40 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Crowdfunding Strategies, Momentum Tactics, and Direct-to-Consumer Transition The conversation focuses on crowdfunding growth tactics. Adam explains psychological hacks like removing rewards and party-driven soft launches, while Nathan actively engages with campaign strategy and offers an intro to Tilt's founders.15:40–19:49 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 Austin Live Event Announcement and HostGator Sponsorship This segment consists of host event/sponsor promotions followed by the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions, with relaxed and reflective answers from Adam.1:13–4:14 · Guest teaching 2/10 Bohemian Guitars Origins, Product Margins, and Assembly Model Nathan asks straightforward exploratory questions about Bohemian Guitars' pricing, COGS ($55 vs $250 retail), distribution channels, and assembly operations in Atlanta and China. The interaction is fully cooperative.4:14–6:39 · Guest teaching 2/10 Revenue Milestones, Co-Founder Dynamic, and Subscription Model Nathan drills down on historical revenue, co-founder equity dynamic, and unit math, checking whether deferred Indiegogo crowdfunding revenue was double-counted in the $1M annual revenue total.6:39–15:40 · Guest teaching 3/10 Crowdfunding Strategies, Momentum Tactics, and Direct-to-Consumer Transition The conversation focuses on crowdfunding growth tactics. Adam explains psychological hacks like removing rewards and party-driven soft launches, while Nathan actively engages with campaign strategy and offers an intro to Tilt's founders.15:40–19:49 · Guest teaching 1/10 Austin Live Event Announcement and HostGator Sponsorship This segment consists of host event/sponsor promotions followed by the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions, with relaxed and reflective answers from Adam.1:13–4:14 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Bohemian Guitars Origins, Product Margins, and Assembly Model Nathan asks straightforward exploratory questions about Bohemian Guitars' pricing, COGS ($55 vs $250 retail), distribution channels, and assembly operations in Atlanta and China. The interaction is fully cooperative.4:14–6:39 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Revenue Milestones, Co-Founder Dynamic, and Subscription Model Nathan drills down on historical revenue, co-founder equity dynamic, and unit math, checking whether deferred Indiegogo crowdfunding revenue was double-counted in the $1M annual revenue total.6:39–15:40 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Crowdfunding Strategies, Momentum Tactics, and Direct-to-Consumer Transition The conversation focuses on crowdfunding growth tactics. Adam explains psychological hacks like removing rewards and party-driven soft launches, while Nathan actively engages with campaign strategy and offers an intro to Tilt's founders.15:40–19:49 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Austin Live Event Announcement and HostGator Sponsorship This segment consists of host event/sponsor promotions followed by the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions, with relaxed and reflective answers from Adam.1:13–4:14 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Bohemian Guitars Origins, Product Margins, and Assembly Model Nathan asks straightforward exploratory questions about Bohemian Guitars' pricing, COGS ($55 vs $250 retail), distribution channels, and assembly operations in Atlanta and China. The interaction is fully cooperative.4:14–6:39 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Revenue Milestones, Co-Founder Dynamic, and Subscription Model Nathan drills down on historical revenue, co-founder equity dynamic, and unit math, checking whether deferred Indiegogo crowdfunding revenue was double-counted in the $1M annual revenue total.6:39–15:40 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Crowdfunding Strategies, Momentum Tactics, and Direct-to-Consumer Transition The conversation focuses on crowdfunding growth tactics. Adam explains psychological hacks like removing rewards and party-driven soft launches, while Nathan actively engages with campaign strategy and offers an intro to Tilt's founders.15:40–19:49 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Austin Live Event Announcement and HostGator Sponsorship This segment consists of host event/sponsor promotions followed by the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions, with relaxed and reflective answers from Adam.

speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Nathan 70.3% · guest 29.7%0:00 · Nathan 70.3% · guest 29.7%3:00 · Nathan 31.6% · guest 68.4%3:00 · Nathan 31.6% · guest 68.4%6:00 · Nathan 30.5% · guest 69.5%6:00 · Nathan 30.5% · guest 69.5%9:00 · Nathan 33.2% · guest 66.8%9:00 · Nathan 33.2% · guest 66.8%12:00 · Nathan 25.1% · guest 74.9%12:00 · Nathan 25.1% · guest 74.9%15:00 · Nathan 80.3% · guest 19.7%15:00 · Nathan 80.3% · guest 19.7%18:00 · Nathan 73.5% · guest 26.5%18:00 · Nathan 73.5% · guest 26.5%21:00 · Nathan 100% · guest 0%21:00 · Nathan 100% · guest 0%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 12:09 Dispelling passive crowdfunding assumptions

In a very amicable conversation, Adam firmly rejects the passive belief that platforms will organically fund campaigns without relentless preparation and storytelling.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 5:23 Nathan checks revenue accounting

Nathan interrupts to verify whether the $325k raised on Indiegogo was improperly bundled into the $1M 2015 revenue number.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 9:19 Reward removal psychology

Adam educates Nathan on why campaigns manually take down rewards to avoid overwhelming prospective buyers and maintain scarcity.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 15:04 Nathan offers direct Tilt founder connection

Nathan displays his high-level network by sharing his collegiate connection to the founders of Tilt and offering Adam a direct warm intro.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Bohemian Guitars Origins, Product Margins, and Assembly Model 3201 Nathan asks straightforward exploratory questions about Bohemian Guitars' pricing, COGS ($55 vs $250 retail), distribution channels, and assembly operations in Atlanta and China. The interaction is fully cooperative.
Revenue Milestones, Co-Founder Dynamic, and Subscription Model 4202 Nathan drills down on historical revenue, co-founder equity dynamic, and unit math, checking whether deferred Indiegogo crowdfunding revenue was double-counted in the $1M annual revenue total.
Crowdfunding Strategies, Momentum Tactics, and Direct-to-Consumer Transition 5311 The conversation focuses on crowdfunding growth tactics. Adam explains psychological hacks like removing rewards and party-driven soft launches, while Nathan actively engages with campaign strategy and offers an intro to Tilt's founders.
Austin Live Event Announcement and HostGator Sponsorship 2100 This segment consists of host event/sponsor promotions followed by the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions, with relaxed and reflective answers from Adam.

Statements from this episode (11)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Lee: Bohemian Guitars is stocked in about 100 US retailers
“We're in about a hundred US retailers at the moment.”
Adam Lee Jul 15, 2016 ▶ 2:03
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Lee: Bohemian Guitars produces its instruments for about $55 each
“Cost us about 55 dollars a guitar.”
Adam Lee Jul 15, 2016 ▶ 2:35
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Lee: Bohemian Guitars generates 95% of sales via its website
“About 95% are coming through our website.”
Adam Lee Jul 15, 2016 ▶ 2:45
Disclosure
Adam Lee: Bohemian Guitars did around $16K revenue in first year
“I think it was like 16,000 dollars.”
Adam Lee Jul 15, 2016 ▶ 4:18
Disclosure
Adam Lee: Bohemian Guitars 2015 revenue was just under $1M
“Twenty-fifteen revenue was just under a million.”
Adam Lee Jul 15, 2016 ▶ 4:57
Disclosure
Adam Lee: Bohemian Guitars raised over $325K on Indiegogo for ukulele
“So we launched a ukulele on Indiegogo last September, and we sold about 2200 units raising over 325,000 dollars.”
Adam Lee Jul 15, 2016 ▶ 5:06
Disclosure
Adam Lee: Bohemian Guitars shipped over 5,000 units in 2015
“We sold and shipped over 5000 units in 2015.”
Adam Lee Jul 15, 2016 ▶ 5:35
Disclosure
Adam Lee: Bohemian Guitars string subscription generates ~$5K monthly MRR
“Yeah, it's about five grand per month.”
Adam Lee Jul 15, 2016 ▶ 6:02
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Lee: Bohemian Guitars had 35,000 email subscribers before Indiegogo launch
“About 35,000.”
Adam Lee Jul 15, 2016 ▶ 8:14
Disclosure
Lee: Bohemian Guitars plans self-hosted pre-order campaigns to avoid platform fees
“We do fairly well at driving traffic to our own sites at this point, so if we can do some sort of pre-order campaign using Tilt on our own website where we're hosting it not necessarily losing out on those fees to other crowdfunding platforms, I think that's p…”
Adam Lee Jul 15, 2016 ▶ 14:45
Insight
Lee: Young founders should take more risks instead of saving early
“I wish I wasn't so caught up in saving for the future. I had, you know, my family moved here from South Africa, and we were so concerned about the future, and I, you know, took out life insurance policies for myself at early ages, and was putting money away th…”
Adam Lee Jul 15, 2016 ▶ 18:51
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