We previously spent some time with one of our fellow Power User and investor, @Kastello , to talk about his experience of Nothing.
I’m super excited to share another take on Nothing’s vision through the lens of our Web3 aficionado and investor, @FilipJacobson .
I’m also proud to say that Filip echoes the values of our community and has been an active member of the forums since the early days. In an ideal world, we’d be sipping Punsch at a bar in his native Sweden, but as the global situation dictates, we’ve ended up spending this time online.
Nevertheless, every chat with Filip is an interesting one, so here goes:
Q1: When you invested in Nothing, did you have an idea of what we were up to?
I saw that Carl was leaving OnePlus for this new venture and I was very curious to see what his next move would be. And once I saw info on Nothing’s mission, I knew that the brand identity would just be a total game-changer. Even back then, I believed that a lot of people would connect to it.
Investing money in start-ups is always risky, and as Nothing was my first ever investment, I was a bit nervous. But with the initial backers already in place (GV, co-founders of Reddit/Twitch and more) I felt more than ready to jump on board. If they dared, I too would dare despite the uncertainties ahead. I told myself “this may be a once in a lifetime opportunity”.
Q2: How did you feel once we’ve released our first product to the world?
When ear (1) launched I felt proud. And like I was a part of the team’s success and contributed to this big milestone by actively participating in the Nothing Community.
Later, when I unboxed my own ear (1), I instantly felt that I had made the right call in investing. The team managed to pull off building a high-quality product just months after founding the company.
Q3: The tech world is controlled by the giants. What’s your take on Nothing’s mission?
The current market is oversaturated with homogeneous products, and I’m bored of the existing offerings. I’ve been an Apple fanboy since the early 2010s, ever since owning my first iPhone 4. I’ve followed their product development over the years and seen with my own eyes the way innovation is slowly coming to a halt.
Sadly, I’m not even excited for their product launches anymore, even though my entire tech ecosystem is built on its products.
For me, Nothing is this breath of fresh air. They’ve got a different approach to building products: “less is more”. I genuinely believe that they could take a huge market share from the giants if the execution is right.
I’m super optimistic for the future of the company.
Q4: What products would you like us to develop?
I’d love to see a pair of over-the-ear headphones that would outperform my Bose QC45. Other than that, I’m really excited to experience the whole set of products that Nothing will launch in the future.
I also particularly love that the code-names of products are Pokémons – would be great if the next one is Charizard
Q5: What do you see for our community in terms of shaping the future of Nothing?
Building out a community of people who support the brand is one of the keys to success. And when you pick the brains of the members, you tap into such a variety of different backgrounds and knowledge, which means you get a lot of diverse feedback. It’s great that the team can use that for Nothing’s next steps.
I really hope that the community will continue to flourish and contribute on an even greater level to Nothing’s success.
Q6: Finally, would you consider investing again?
There’s no doubt in my mind. If I could triple my investment, I would.
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This kind of support really drives us forward. We can only accomplish great things with the input of inspiring people like Kastello or Filip, who believe in a better future, where tech is seamless and at the same time, meaningful.
Don’t forget, you can be part of this feature too! 😃