廉价纸板自行车撞上众筹壁垒

    最近，以色列发明家伊扎尔•加夫尼宣布，他的新产品，一种纸板自行车，将以20美元的价格面向消费者销售。我们很难判断到底哪个讯息更令人印象深刻，到底是一种完全是由回收的纸板和汽车轮胎制造的自行车，还是它超低的价格。然而，当这种全新两轮车的制造商纸板科技公司（Cardboard Technologies）上周在集资平台Indiegogo启动众筹活动，试图筹集资金以实现批量生产时，捐助者们发现了一件有点让人摸不着头脑的事情：自行车的标价竟然高达290美元。这样一个非常有前途、被全美刊物广泛报道的创意碰到了意外的障碍。

    虽然这场众筹活动目前只进行了一个星期，但纸板自行车项目仅筹集了2.4万美元，与高达200万美元的筹资目标相距甚远。截止7月1日，5,000辆要价290美元的纸板自行车仅售出了24辆。周二，纸板科技公司将自行车的售价下调至135美元（95美元加40美元运费），以回应捐助者的质疑（又或许是希望能够改变捐助者人数寥寥的局面）。纸板科技公司CEO尼姆罗德•艾尔米什表示，自行车的价格波动幅度最终取决于市场，旧金山等大城市的消费者需要花费更多资金，而在第三世界，这款自行车则是免费的。他补充说：“我们希望创造一种让所有人都可以获得这种纸板自行车的社会化商业模式。标签上体现的不是价格，而是这款自行车的价值。”

    这家公司将向那些已经掏了290美元购买自行车的捐助者退还差价，或者再赠送给他们两辆纸板自行车。

    艾尔米什声称，无论Indiegogo上的众筹活动顺利与否，一批投资者都将提供自行车大规模生产所需的资金，其中包括建造一家工厂和生产线的计划。从本质上讲，这意味着如果这场众筹活动以失败告终，领投的Timberland公司前CEO杰夫•斯沃茨以及其他几位身份不明的投资者将提供必要的生产资金。如果说这个项目其实并不缺资金，那么为什么还要发动消费者捐赠呢？艾尔米什说：“我们希望给大家一个机会，让大家能够加入我们的行列，参与这个项目。”

    纸板自行车背后的技术远远不是这么简单。质疑者对加夫尼说，这种自行车根本就造不出来，这种态度反而激励了他。这款自行车的大多数部件完全是由回收的纸板制造而成——据艾尔米什透露，这个比例高达95%。它意味着，纸板自行车非常轻盈（不到27磅，约12公斤）。但通过折叠和粘合纸板以增加其强度，加夫尼创造出了一款能够承受一位体重275磅（约125公斤）的乘客的产品。Indiegogo网站上的众筹活动页面显示，纸板自行车的轮胎是用回收的汽车轮胎做的，“绝对不会被刺破。”这种自行车还能够防水，防火——对于一种基本上是用纸制造的产品来说，这种功能是必须具备的必不可少。

    When Israeli inventor Izhar Gafni announced that his new product, a cardboard bicycle, would be available for $20 to consumers, it was hard to determine which was more impressive—a bike made completely of recycled cardboard and car tires, or the rock bottom price. But when Cardboard Technologies, the company behind the new two-wheeler, launched their Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign last week to raise money for the bike's mass production, donors were met with a bit of a head scratcher: the bike was listed at $290. The promising idea, which has been featured in national publications across the United States, hit a snag.

    The campaign is only one week old, but the cardboard bike has raised a mere $24,000 out of a $2 million funding goal. Of the 5,000 cardboard bikes up for sale at the $290 asking price, only 24 had been purchased by July 1. On Tuesday, Cardboard Technologies responded to the donors (or lack thereof) by lowering the bike's cost to $135 ($95 plus a $40 shipping charge). Cardboard Technologies CEO Nimrod Elmish says the price of the bike will eventually fluctuate depending on the market, costing more for consumers in cities like San Francisco and costing nothing in third world countries. "We want to bring a social business model that will make [the cardboard bike] available to all," he added. "We don't have a price tag, we have a value tag."

    The company is offering to refund the price difference to donors who already purchased a bike at the $290 price tag, or provide them with two additional cardboard bikes.

    Regardless of how the Indiegogo campaign shapes out, Elmish says he has investors lined up to finance the mass production of the bikes which includes plans for a factory and production line. Essentially this means that lead investor and former Timberland CEO Jeff Swartz, along with a handful of other unidentified investors, will provide the necessary funding should the Indiegogo campaign fail. So why would anyone donate if their funds are not actually needed? "We wanted to give people the chance to join us and be part of [the project]," says Elmish.

    The technology behind a bike made of cardboard is far from simple, and Gafni was motivated by doubters who told him it couldn't be done. The majority of the bike's features—95% of them according to Elmish—are made entirely of recycled cardboard, meaning the bike is light (less than 27 pounds). But by folding and gluing the cardboard to increase its strength, Gafni created a product capable of holding a 275-pound passenger. The bike tires are made of recycled car tires and "will never get a puncture," according to the bike's Indiegogo campaign page. The device is also waterproof and fireproof, a necessity when your product is essentially made of paper.