Juicero crash and burn - the inside story, literally.

[3DDave]

Start at the 30 minute mark. I just can't ... I'm breathless.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Cp-BGQfpHQ

 

[Ingenuity]

Wow! What a tear-down!

AvE/BOLTR has quite the way with words: "pornographically beautiful"; "keep your dick in a vice"; "the path that makes the pixies dance".

 

[itsmoked]

I watched it all.. Pretty hilarious and I learned a few things. Clearly the guy is a materials type. I liked his running commentary and occasional word-izems.

-NSFW-

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[IRstuff]

It's certainly a thing of beauty.

One obvious error that the video kind of points out is the whole k-cup vibe. Since the revenue stream was expected to the juice packs, like diabetes testers, the main hardware should heave/could have been built and sold cheaply, since the return was expected to be from the exorbitant markup on the juice packs. Clearly, the company really didn't understand what their business model was supposed to be.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list

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[dik]

I was impressed about how well it was manufactured... almost like a Swiss watch...

Dik

 

[JohnRBaker]

That's the so-called 'Razor Blade' marketing model, sell the handles cheap and charge heavily for the blades (ask any women with a Lady Gillette). And back in the day, Polaroid did the same thing with the instant camera. In fact, I was told once by a guy who had worked for Kodak during that era, that they even went so far as to propose a marketing model, to compete with Polaroid, where the cameras would be free but of course you'd have to buy the film. However, Kodak's corporate lawyers said that it's basically illegal to give away something that had a cost of manufacturing. That is, the retail price has to be at least enough the cover the cost of production and distribution. In the end, it was a moot point since Polaroid sued Kodak when they finally did come out with their version of the instant camera and won. I know, as I had purchased one of those Kodak instant cameras only to have to return it to Kodak for a refund when the courts forced Kodak to shut down their instant camera product line.

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[Sparweb]

Wow

STF

 

[JStephen]

On the Red Green Show, he'd always end by saying "Keep your stick on the ice". Maybe a common saying in hockey country, but that was the only place I ever heard it.

 

[TehMightyEngineer]

Goodness do I love AvE. Even got the wife watching his vidjeos (videos). As best I can tell he's got a great mix of book smarts and practical knowledge and works primarily in mining and heavy industry. He makes really entertaining and surprisingly educational videos that I highly recommend.

On the Red Green Show, he'd always end by saying "Keep your stick on the ice". Maybe a common saying in hockey country, but that was the only place I ever heard it.

I'm pretty sure that's the reference AvE is making, he is from Canada.

Professional Engineer (ME, NH, MA) Structural Engineer (IL)
American Concrete Industries

https://www.facebook.com/AmericanConcrete/

 

[Spartan5]

Red Green is AvE? Mind -> blown.






(just kidding... but funny to think about)

 

[dgallup]

I'm amazed by the entire concept, not just the ridiculous cost of the machine. Who spends $8 for a glass of juice? It's not even "fresh", somehow my definition of "fresh" does not include pulp in a foil and plastic pouch along with some preservatives. To me juice comes in 1/2 gallon jugs. If I want fresh juice I buy fresh fruit and squeeze it, something I almost never do except for certain cocktails. I suppose I'm not "with it" since I've never gone to a juice bar or ordered a smoothie.

To me it just shows what idiots venture capitalists are to give this startup one dime.

----------------------------------------

The Help for this program was created in Windows Help format, which depends on a feature that isn't included in this version of Windows.

 

[Spartan5]

dgallup... as I understand it, the pouches did not include preservatives, and only had a shelf-life of a week or so. Which was one of the justifications for the juicer being "smart". Juicero didn't want to be on the hook if you got a bad case of GI distress from squeezing a glass of pruno out of a bag that was past its prime.

 

[MintJulep]

TL;DW

This is about a blender?

 

[IRstuff]

I think you could have gotten the gist from reading posts above.


Outrageously expensive juice pack is squeezed into perfect up of fresh juice with absurdly expensive and overbuilt/designed "juicer."
But wait, you can squeeze the pack by hand or with cheap-ass squeezer/tongs.


TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

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[HamburgerHelper]

Probably was overdesigned to strip the investors of their money. The product was only meant to shield whoever from any litigation for fraud.

 

[IRstuff]

I think that they completely lost sight of the business case; they even had the Keurig model, probably in their break rooms, to go from. There's at least a 10x markup from raw tea or coffee ingredients to a k-cup, and Keurig is quite happy selling their brewing system for $85 a pop, and their market is certainly much larger than ($699/$85) times the Juicero market ever was.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list

http://www.eng-tips.com/forumlist.cfm

 

[3DDave]

AvE's channel has a recent followup where he fills in a form to seek a refund, which Juicero offered to all owners. Certainly NSFW. It's part of a gloat post where he has up a take-down of another YouTube channel for illegally taking payments in return for reviews without giving notice.

 

[Spartan5]

I get that you can squeeze some juice out of the packets, sure. But I still think there was some magic happening by squeezing the holy snot out of the pulp and fibrous bits as well. That said, what a beast of a machine

 

[3DDave]

The magic was squeezing $700 out of wallets on top of a weekly subscription for bags of cut-up fruit.

 

[dgallup]

While Keurig undoubtedly makes most of their money from the sales of pods, I doubt they are loosing anything on the machines. There's not that much in them and they seem to be cost effectively designed. At $85 for a basic one and $230 for an office machine I don't think there is any negative margin there.

----------------------------------------

The Help for this program was created in Windows Help format, which depends on a feature that isn't included in this version of Windows.