Dear friends,
Nothing is one year old today. People say that time moves faster the older we get, but boy has this been a long and memorable year.
Our goal in year (1) was simply getting the Nothing name out there. And we’ve accomplished that by leaps and bounds. Our first product, the ear (1), cut through the clutter to become one of the most anticipated product launches of the year. It has received great reviews from consumers and media alike, and coupled with a launch video with more than 1 million views, it’s selling like hotcakes. We have 320k orders, shipped 180k, while supply is still catching up with demand. Our total forecast is 600k. For context, the first iPod did around 400k.
In our first year, we’ve proven our hypothesis that the world is bored with the existing consumer tech landscape, and there’s opportunity for new people with new ideas to emerge. Since this is the largest consumer category in the world, we’ve also proven that the opportunity ahead of us is huge. The stakes are even higher for next year, as we need to execute better, exceed personal plateaus, and scale our organizational capabilities to realize our potential.
I want to take this time to thank our community, our team, and our investors. Since we’ve been so secretive with our plans, betting on us was a bold move. Some of you took a leap of faith having only seen our vision film. We hope you’re satisfied with our performance so far, and feel your faith in us is paying off.
A special thank you to the users who’ve been commenting and posting regularly with ideas for improvement. Your feedback is key to help us better not only our products, but also how we shape Nothing as a whole. So think of this as an open call to keep posting, keep commenting and keep holding us accountable.
I won’t lie and say it’s all been easy. We’ve juggled building a 158 person team, creating the brand, launching a first product, while making sure we have the rocket fuel ($74M+ in funding) to do all that. I’m proud we did all this in the midst of a pandemic with large parts of the team unable to collaborate in person, and in the midst of global supply chain disruptions. To add to the fun, we’ve also had a major incumbent attacking us in the supply chain trying to block our access to key components. We should take that as a sign of respect.
There’s a lot that could’ve been done better. But had we known about today’s outcome a year ago, I believe we would have all gladly gone for it.
Overall, this year has been a blast. It’s been unbelievably rewarding to watch our vision gradually come to life. Many people think we’re an audio or headphone company, and I think that’s great. We’re like an ice-berg that’s slowly emerging to the surface, and we look forward to unveiling more of our vision in year (2).
I couldn’t be more excited for the future. I hope you are too.
