The iQ2 fiasco

[Velocomp]

Some of you may be aware of a company named "iQ2" that, with great fanfare and breathless support, in April 2018 announced a power meter on Kickstarter. Their "Great performance, portability, and low price" promises got cyclists and bloggers in a tither...to the tune of $3mm in pre-orders!

iQ2 has now had 18 months to get their product to market. Where is it? It appears the chickens have come home to roost.

iQ2 announced last Friday that they were abandoning their original product, and instead are now going to produce a 100% different product--a conventional, pedal-based power meter (!).

Of course, the way they tried to spin their failure was to turn it in to a major victory: bit.ly/2DLQwD7

Here is what I posted about their update:

"The iQ2 “update” is a classic example of hi-tech spin and pivoting.

This is what their update says when translated to plain English:

1) iQ2 does not work, even after 18 months of development, even after nearly $3 million in backing.

2) Technical problems now reported by iQ2 weren’t even hinted at as risks in their Kickstarter. Were they dishonest in their original campaign, or were just clueless about how their device works?

3) Reality: campaign backers have been duped. Backers were sold a product that does not work and will never be produced.

4) Reality: bloggers have been duped. Without ever having tested a prototype, without having seen data, blogs and podcasts have repeated for 18 months the iQ2 spin about low price, breakthrough performance, and great people. The core seduction is so simple: IT HAS A STRAIN GAUGE!

Sure, there were some (CYA?) warnings about project timing, but don’t worry, we were told, the iQ2 guys are smart. Reality: they weren’t smart enough to get their product to work, and arguably not honest enough to disclose its early stage of development.

5) We’re now told iQ2 will have a new, pedal-based product in August. A completely different product. What evidence has iQ2 offered that their new product will work? What evidence have they offered that they will hit their time schedule? All they’ve shown are renderings…did you know that renderings are prohibited on Kickstarter?

6) A little financial housekeeping is in order. iQ2 brags they’ve collected nearly $3 million from backers; how much was spent on their failed product, and how much cash is left? Do they have enough cash to develop and test their new product, and to fulfill at least 4,000 orders? By how much does their product cost increase due to the requirement that they purchase pedals from third parties? What will be the post-campaign retail price be of their new unit?

The honest thing for iQ2 to do is to refund all purchases and start over with a new campaign, following Kickstarter rules.

The wise thing for bloggers to do is to radically increase their skepticism of new power meter products, to write ONLY about what they independently observe and test, and to avoid repeating marketing spin and hype.

Until then…remember PT Barnum. He described the iQ2 situation in one sentence."

We are proud of the fact that both of our Kickstarter projects delivered within 60 days of their original completion date; we are proud that our products work as promised, and we are delighted to have the support of over 100,000 of cyclists over the past 15 years.