Update #1: 50%
over 7 years ago – Wed, Dec 07, 2016 at 08:24:38 PM

Dear friends,

we are halfway there, time for our first update! (We are a bit late with our PR and promotional work and had to catch up on this first, that´s why this is the first update in 5 days. Usually we chat a bit more :)

First of all: Welcome to everybody new to the BRETT community, we really appreciate you being here!

50.000€ in 5 days is a great start! 

And if we did a good job in the last 5 days with our promotional endeavors, the speed of this campaign will pick up a bit in the next days.

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CHRISTMAS GIFT CARDS

We had a few people asking how to get the gift cards:

If you need a gift card for Christmas, please drop us a short private message with your adress. We will probably send out a first badge as soon as we are officially funded.

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If you guys have any other questions, comments, suggestions, please leave a comment to this post and we will cover this in the next update. 

(Also, if you need any help with upgrades and additional equipment or assistance with Kickstarter related issues, please don´t hesitate and get in touch, we are happy to help!)

If you wanna contribute even more towards the outcome of this campaign: Spread the word about your BASIC. You will still be the one that had it first, but you can change your friends kitchen lives forever! And they will love you for that!

Guys, it feels great to do this campaign, many thanks for your support!

Have a great weekend,

J + J

P.S.: We will be in Berlin on Wednesday, doing some highly confidential things, and we are quite excited about it. We will let you know as soon as we are officially allowed to.

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Liebe Freunde,

wir haben die Hälfte hinter uns, Zeit für unser erstes Update! (Wir sind etwas spät dran mit unserer PR Arbeit und mussten erst mla ganz schön was aufholen, deswegen erst jetzt ein Update. Normal reden wir etwas mehr :)

An alle neuen Unterstützer: Herzlich willkommen beim Frankfurter Brett, schön dass Ihr da seid!

50.000€ in 5 Tagen sind echt ein guter Start!

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Es haben ein paar Leute wegen den Gutscheinen gefragt: 

Wer einen Gutschein für Weihnachten benötigt, möchte uns bitte eine kurze Nachricht mit Namen & Anschrift schicken. Wir schicken voraussichtlich schon einen ersten Teil raus, sobald die Finanzierung offiziell steht. 

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Gibt es irgend welche Fragen, Anregung, Kommentare? Bitte einfach kurz zu diesem Post einen Kommentar schreiben.

Auch wenn es Fragen zum Thema Erweiterungen und Upgrades gibt, oder grundsätzliche Fragen zum Thema Kickstarter: Wir helfen gerne!

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Wer noch etwas mehr zum Erfolg dieser Kampagne beitragen möchte: Erzählt euren Freunden von eurem BASIC. Ihr seid dann immer noch diejenigen, die es zuerst hatten, und ihr könnt das Küchenleben eurer Freunde für immer verändern. Sie werde euch dafür lieben. 

Es fühlt sich wirklich richtig gut an, zurück auf Kickstarter zu sein, vielen Dank für eure Unterstützung!

Ein schönes Wochenende,

J + J

P.S.: Wir sind Mittwoch & Donnerstag in hoch geheimer Mission in Berlin, und sind jetzt schon richtig aufgeregt. Sobald wir offiziell davon erzählen dürfen, gibt es das nächste Update.

YES! We made it!
over 7 years ago – Wed, Dec 07, 2016 at 08:24:32 PM

Friends,

we officially reached our funding goal this morning!That´s fantastic, thank you all  so much! 

See you later!

Freunde, wir schreiben morgen ein ausführliches Update.
Wir sind gerade in Berlin und hatten gestern noch ein, zwei andere Dinge zu feiern (davon erzählen wir auch morgen) - war ein toller Abend, aber das Schreiben fällt gerade etwas schwer  :)

Have a great day!

Joseph & Johannes

UPDATE #2.1 | FUNDED (official statement) | AWARDS! | HOW TO ADD STUFF TO YOUR PLEDGE
over 7 years ago – Wed, Dec 07, 2016 at 08:24:10 PM

Dear friends,

apologies for the late update: Joseph -who usually does all the communications- catched a bad flu and spent the last 3 days in bed -and to be all honest, I should still be in bed today, as this update already takes way too long to write. :)

But there is so much to say!

Here we go, step by step:

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1) WE ARE FUNDED! Official "HOOOOORAYYYYYY!!!!!!

Again, this is HUGE!

We reached our goal in only 10 days, and we are super excited. And with 130k € on the counter and 18 days left, this will quite likely become the most successful kickstarter-campaign for a cutting board of all times.

Thank you all so much for your support!

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2) KULTUR & KREATIV-PILOTEN DEUTSCHLAND

We proudly announce to be chosen by the German Federal Government among 31 other emerging creative businesses to be awarded with the „Kultur & Kreativ-Piloten“-Award, an honourable award given to those "who will shape the creative landscape of Germany".

The selection process involved three 30 minute interviews with different juries, and we actually did not talk much about the FRANKFURTER BRETT at all:

Instead, we talked about our future projects, showed our prototypes and explained our next ideas.

SO IN ESSENCE THIS AWARD IS NOT FOR WHAT WE HAVE DONE, BUT FOR WHAT WE WILL BE DOING! Thats a rare thing, we feel truly honoured and we are very grateful to be among the other award winners!

(And we had 2 great days in Berlin with the other award winners, a reception at the German Chancellery with Minister of the state Frau Grütters and an award ceremony with state secretary Zypries (and yes, Frau Merkel has been spotted too! :) We try to post some official pictures later, here are just some mobile snapshots)

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3) GERMAN DESIGN AWARD

Another very charming award which we haven´t officially announced yet:

We received a special mention for „Excellent product design“ at „German Design Award 2017“, Germanies most prestigious Design Award.

Great news from all sides, and your future BASIC is a GERMAN DESIGN AWARD WINNER too!

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4) HOW TO ADD UPGRADES

The kickstarter Reward system is not much like a web shop, where you can add stuff to your shopping cart and it tells you how much you have to pay at the check out.

(It would be nice if it was more like a web shop, especially for us project creators, as we see every project out there explaining over and over again how this system works)

We keep on getting a lot of questions on how the kickstarter pledging system works, so here are a few things to understand about the whole process:

a) You can only chose one reward

b) You can edit your pledge manually at any time while the campaing is live (so even if you don´t get it right in the first place, there is plenty of time to get everything in your order you want to)

HOW TO ADD STUFF TO YOUR PLEDGE WHEN BACKING THIS PROJECT:

1. First, look at the Add-On Menu (shown on the Kickstarter page and the Upgrade section below). Choose the item you want to add and note the corresponding dollar amount. If you want to add multiple items, simply add up their corresponding dollar amounts.

2. CHOOSE A REWARD and back this project

3. To add aditional stuff to your pledge, manually increase your pledge amount by the EURO amount you noted in step 1 and click NEXT

4. Follow the steps (log in/register), and finally click on BACK THIS PROJECT.

5. Thats it, you are done! Relax, read through our following updates and wait for the survery once this campaign is over.

HOW TO ADD EXTRA STUFF TO YOUR PLEDGE AFTER YOU BACKED THIS PROJECT:

1. First, look at the Add-On Menu (shown on the Kickstarter page and the UGRADE section below). Choose the item you want to add and note the corresponding dollar amount. If you want to add multiple items, simply add up their corresponding dollar amounts. If you want to add multiple BRETTS, simply add up those amounts too.

2. Go to „Edit my pledge“ on the kickstarter page

3. Increase your pledge amount by the EURO amount you noted in step 1, and click NEXT. Note that when you add items to your pledge there is no additional shipping fee.

4. Thats it, you are done! Relax, read through our following updates and wait for the survery once this campaign is over.

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5. WHAT DO YOU RECOMMEND TO UPGRADE?

Well, thats a tough question, and it totally depends on what kind of chef you are:

The basic starter set of containers are a great start to really connect with your BASIC and to get in touch with the new workflow. And as long as you only need those containers to be directly involved with the workflow of the BRETT, this basic starter set will probably all you ever need –especially if you upgrade to stainless steel. (We have never seen a broken steel container before, so they will definitely last a lifetime.)

But if you plan to use those containers for more than that (eg for storing food and left overs), or if you cook for more than 4 people on a regular basis, we actually recommend to upgrade to the full house to have all possibilities covered:

The 2 additional XL containers allow you to process even large amounts of food, and there are plenty of containers to have most of your regular kitchen routines covered.

But even if you realise after a while that you could use some more additional containers, don´t panic: We have a great webshop with all sorts of containers on stock, you can upgrade your BRETT experience as you go.

And yes, you should definitely get the iPad mount. It works for cookbooks and mobiles too, and we can not think of someone who could not use it. Go for it.

Please contact us if you have any questions, suggestions and anything else, we are happy to be in touch with you guys!

Cheers folks, have a great first sunday in Advent!

Euch allen einen frohen ersten Advent!

Joseph & Johannes

PS.: This little clip from our kickstarer video went some sort of viral in the last week, over 1.4 million folks watched it on facebook and it reached more than 3.8 million people out there. Wow. Thank you all for sharing!

Update #3: Last week madness | stretchgoals? | Meet us @ Manufactum | Giftcards
over 7 years ago – Wed, Dec 07, 2016 at 08:23:52 PM

(German version below/Deutsche Version am Schluss)

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Dear friends,

WE BUSTED THE 300.000 MARK YESTERDAY!!!! Whooooooooho!!!!

Right after we published the last update, things seriously picked up speed. A lot of speed.

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GIGadgets (among others) shared our project video with their 5 million fans on facebook, and it literally instantly went viral and gained over 7 million views, almost 100.000 shares and a reach of well over 30 million people in the first 24 hours.

Having witnessed viral videos occasionally from safe distance, it is totally different if your small business is in the very center of it: It felt like someone dropped a medium sized town (with very nice people from all over the world) right in the middle of our office.

To everybody new: WELCOME ON BOARD!

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STRETCHGOALS?

We had a few people asking about stretchgoals, and as we do not have any prepared upfront, we feel like it is time to to get you involved:

Are there any strechgoals you guys would like to see?

Here is a first idea: Some people already asked for an endgrain option, and we generally like the idea. What do you think? Any of you interested in upgrading to an endgrain board?

Endgrain wood are small wooden blocks glued together upright: The fibres are running vertical, not horizontal. The vivid pattern of the glued endgrain pieces really is beautiful, and it has some benefits it terms of durability, but it is more expensive to manufacture. (Picture: Oak endgrain)

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(We are working on a top secret stretchgoal behind the scenes though. If we get a "yes, we can make it!" from our manufacturing partner, we will introduce it to you guys asap. But time is running, and we might not be able to introduce it to you while the campaign is live. And we might not be able to manufacture it at all. But we are very excited right now, just because it MIGHT work out the way we want it to be!)

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GIFTCARDS

Good news: The giftcards arrived today!

We will start shipping as soon as possible. If you require one and if you haven´t posted us your address via private message here on kickstarter yet, please do so as soon as possible!

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MEET US @ MANUFACTUM FRANKFURT

To all Frankfurt/Hessen based Backers: We will host a little product presentation at the MANUFACTUM store in Frankfurt this friday, 9th of december, starting 12pm.

We will have a PHOENIX, a MONO and a BASIC with us. Come around and meet us, see the products in reality and do some test chopping. We will even serve some small bites, prepared on spot. Would be lovely to meet some of you folks!

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Alright people, many thanks to everyone supporting this project, it is hard to express how much we appreciate it.

All the best, and to the final 10 days in our campaign!

Joseph & Johannes

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Liebe Freunde,

300.000 €!!!!!!

WOOOOOOW!!!!!

Nach dem letzten Update zu 100k € veröffentlicht haben, hat sich noch mal einiges getan. Und zwar so richtig!

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Nachdem GIGadgets (neben anderen) unser Projektvideo mit seinen 5 Millionen Fans geteilt hat, ist es auf allen Kanälen viral gegangen und wurde über 7 Millionen mal gesehen, fast 100.000 mal geteilt und erreichte so rund 30 Millionen Menschen weltweit -über Nacht!

Wir haben virale Video schon öfters aus sicherer Distanz erlebt, aber wenn die eigene kleine Firma Mittelpunkt der Aufregung ist, dann ist es eine ganz andere Nummer: Es fühlt sich ungefähr so an, als würde eine mittelgroße Stadt voll mit sehr netten Menschen aus aller Welt plötzlich in unserem Büro stehen.

An alle neuen Unterstützer: HERZLICH WILLKOMMEN!

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STRETCHGOALS

Es haben schon ein paar von euch nach Stretchgoals gefragt, und da wir keine Stretchgoals vorbereitet haben, geben wir die Frage einfach mal an euch zurück:

Welche Stretchgoals wünscht IHR euch?

Es gab den Vorschlag, eine Stirnholz-Version einzuführen. Wir finden das ist eigentlich eine gute Idee, aber was denkt Ihr? Wer hat Interesse an einer Stirnholz-Version?

(Stirnholz-Bretter sind einzelne Klötzchen Holz, die hochkant zusammengeleimt sind. So laufen die Holzfasern nicht horizontal, sondern vertikal. Das hat den Vorteil, dass die Messerklinge nicht durch die Fasern hinduch schneiden muss, sondern eher zwischen die Fasern gleitet und so länger scharf bleibt. )

Links: Normales Holz | Rechts: Stirnholz: Wer besonders hochwertige Messer hat (200€ +) für den ist Stirholz mit Sicherheit eine gute Option, auch wenn es etwas teurer in der Herstellung ist. Und es sieht ziemlich spektakulär aus.

Natürlich brauchen wir eine gewisse Mindestbestellmenge, um das Stirnholz als Stretchgoal anbieten zu können. Wer also Interesse anmelden möchte, der tut das bitte in den Kommentaren. Bei genug positivem Feedback holen wir ein Angebot ein und fügen es als Stretchgoal hinzu.

(Wir arbeiten hinter den Kulissen mit Hochdruck an einem weiteren Stretchgoal. Sobald wir ein "Jawoll, das können wir herstellen" von unseren Partnern haben, werden wir es euch so bald wie möglich vorstellen. Aber die Zeit ist sehr knapp, und eventuell schaffen wir es nicht mehr bevor die Kampagne zu Ende geht. Und vielleicht ist es auch kompletter Quatsch. Wir sind nur gerade sehr aufgeregt, eben weil es funktionieren KÖNNTE!)

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Gutscheine

Gute Nachrichten: Die Gutscheine für Weihnachten sind heute angekommen.

Wir starten mit dem Versenden so schnell wie möglich.

Wer noch einen Gutschein zum Verschenken an Weihnachten benötigt: Bitte schickt uns einfach eine kurze Nachricht hier über Kickstarter mit der Post-Adresse (falls noch nicht geschehen).

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FRANKFURTER BRETT @ MANUFACTUM FRANKFURT

An alle Unterstützer aus dem Raum Frankfurt/Hessen: Wir machen diesen Freitag, 09.12. ab 12 Uhr eine kleine Warenpräsentation im Manufactum-Store in Frankfurt.

Wir werden ein Phoenix, ein Mono und natürlich auch ein BASIC dabei haben, darauf kleine Häppchen zubereiten und wer uns besuchen kommt, darf natürlich total gerne auch selber Probeschneiden.

Wir würden uns wirklich freuen, den einen oder anderen persönlich kennen zu lernen. Kommt vorbei!

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Vielen Dank für die tolle Unterstützung von euch allen für dieses Projekt, es bedeutet uns unheimlich viel!

Die herzlichsten Grüße aus Offenbach, auf erfolgreiche verbleibende 10 Tage!

Joseph & Johannes