It's looking like they're not going to post the video for $1000.
Why might that be?
I asked them to take a simple video of their operation showing 1) them making the sweaters 2) the machine that makes them and where its from 3) the boxes that hold the cotton they use the make the sweaters
And I offered to pay them $1000
Why wouldn't you show that?
@JoshuaSteinman @DenverRayburn @fw_automation
You have a factory. You say it's profitable. You seem to have sold a bunch!
Why wouldn't you just take a simple video?
Some reasons why:
1. It's not an American made machine. Making knit sweaters with machines like that is old technology and it's not US. It's German, Japanese, or Chinese today. Same technology to make socks by the way, nothing new.
2. If the cotton is American (as they imply with their patriotic cotton-picker with an american flag on it), it probably wasn't made into cotton yarn in the USA
3. They're not in operation despite their claim being "Software orchestrated apparel production and fulfillment. Domestic, reliable, built for speed and scale." And why aren't they in operation despite it being "profitable" to make a 100% cotton 2XL knit sweater in high rent, high electricity cost, high labor Los Angeles? Because it's not profitable.
To make a sweater like this is extremely expensive in Los Angeles:
1. Get the materials
2. Pay expensive exposed brick wall rent
3. Pay for electricity
4. Amortize the costs of the machines
5. Pay for people to manage and watch the machines
6. Sew the tags on
7. Finish the sweaters
8. Do quality control
9. Package them
10. Ship them out
It's a lot of work as anyone who has actually done it knows.
They say they have 8 employees on their $6.5 million dollar seed round. Founder formerly worked for Lazard. He's hiring a chief of staff. To pay these people is not cheap. Hard to make money with a $16 sweater on old technology in a high cost location with lots of employees.
When you raise $6.5 million with an actual "manifesto" for "Automated Apparel Manufacturing in America" you're kind of in a bind when your process is old technology and not that automated.
So maybe that's why they can't share the video.
These guys were rapid fire with the replies until I asked them to show a video for $1000. Since, they've gone quiet.
I don't know though.
Just post the video guys! Collect the $1000.
I have nothing more to say about this until I get the video.
People have and will attack me for being a "sinophile", for "making cheap plastic toys", for being against American "reindustrialization".
It's pathetic.
The facts are I have 4 US employees, I buy American made products all the time, I've done manufacturing in the United States myself, and I've done a lot of construction in the US too. I create jobs, help the economy, an educate the next generation. I do this with a team, who I'm proud to work with. I hope they're still proud to work with me despite my tendency to get baited into the occasional Twitter fight...
When the current White House administration came in, I even tried to join it. I reached out to 3 different connected people and provided my resume. They weren't interested.
So, go ahead, attack me.
The truth is American industrial policy is bad.
It's a mix of incompetence and, possibly, corruption.
And the startups serving it, many of them are vaporware.
Not software, not real hardware, but vaporware, stuff that is fake.
Show us the video!
I have nothing more to say here. Thank you.