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SwitchPod
p/switchpodThe minimal, versatile, handheld tripod.
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Ryan Delk

SwitchPod - The minimal, versatile, handheld tripod.

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SwitchPod is lightweight, compact, and nearly indestructible tripod. It will save you valuable time between shots so you can focus more on shooting and less on messing with your gear.

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Nathan Barry

I got to play with a prototype over the summer and it is a game changer for vlogging. Caleb and Pat have invented something special here. I bought 5.

Pros:

Super slim, instant setup, easy transition from handheld to tripod.

Cons:

You lose the ability to wrap a tripod around a tree, but it turns out I didn't use that nearly as often as I thought I would.

Clayton Parker
I have a gorilla pod for vlogging. I rarely if ever wrap it around anything. Its always hand held our propped up/falling over haha. This does look pretty dang nice
Pat Flynn
@unclejessy4real Thanks Clayton! In our research most vloggers never used that feature as well. It was quick for us to decide to NOT have the flexibility in the tripod legs be a priority. Thanks for your feedback!
Ryan Delk
Hunter
So excited to see @patflynn and @calebwojcik get this live on Kickstarter. They've been working on this for a year+ to really nail every component of the design and manufacturing -- based on exactly what filmmakers want. Got a chance to play with an early version and it's really quite incredible compared to everything else on the market.
Nathan Barry
@delk Thanks for sharing this Ryan! @patflynn @calebwojcik Incredible work. Not only on the product, but also the photos, GIFs, and sales copy. It's really fun to see a launch with so much effort and detail put into it!
Caleb Wojcik
Maker
@delk @patflynn @nathanbarry Thank you Nathan. When we are able to hand this to someone to use, they just "get" it. So it was important to us to visually show how it works as best we could through videos and GIFs on the KS launch page.
Nathan Barry
@calebwojcik and @patflynn If you guys are up for it, I'd love to hear more about the challenges and stories from the last year of developing the SwitchPod. I've never invented a physical product like this before, so I imagine it was completely different from working on digital products. Thanks!
Pat Flynn
Maker
@calebwojcik @nathanbarry It's definitely been challenging. Especially having been in the digital marketing space for over 10 years, I usually expect things to happen faster. Changes are easy online, but when there's a change with a physical product - SO MANY things have to happen, from shop drawings being updated, to getting new prototypes made, and of course, all the shipping involved. Costs come to mind, also. Also our Kickstarter was funded in 12 hours, that doesn't mean we're at 100k profit - not even close. This covers the cost to get the tooling made, which then enables us to mass produce these things. The unit cost per prototype (in the end when we began to use real material as opposed to 3D printed plastic) was between $1500 and $2000. Once the molds are created and tested, however, the cost per unit will be significantly less. All that has been on our minds since preparing for the Kickstarter and understanding the numbers. And then of course, the usual challenges of self-doubt and "who am I to even build this" come into play - having never done physical products before, I knew that was going to happen (like everything else challenging in my life) but I've learned to take it as a sign that this is something that could be great, a la Stephen Pressfield and The War of Art.
Jason Zook

No, but seriously, the SwitchPod is an awesome invention and I'm excited to have this sleek versatile tripod. I give Caleb and Pat a ton of credit for the design thoughtfulness they put into the SwitchPod!

Pros:

It's not the stupid Gorilla pod.

Cons:

I can't have it for a few more months 😂

Caleb Wojcik
Maker
Hey PH community, I'm one of the co-creators of SwitchPod. Let me know if you have any questions about it. We've been working on designing and prototyping this for over a year and are blown away by the support on the first day of the Kickstarter campaign being funded already.
Clayton Parker
@calebwojcik This looks like an awesome product! Love how slim it is! Perfect to throw in my bag when I'm traveling/on the go... plus this looks much more stable than my gorilla pod that loves to fall over when I have heavier lens's attached to my dslr.
Caleb Wojcik
Maker
@unclejessy4real Thank you Clayton. That's what we wanted to focus on. Slim, lightweight, fast, stable, durable, etc.
Brendan Hufford
As somebody who made physical products for years (jiu jitsu gis), I can adequately understand ALL of the work that went into this project. Congrats to @calebwojcik and @patflynn on making all the smart steps they could and still taking the risk of putting this out into the world. I'm stoked to see they're at $153k as of the time I'm writing this!
Caleb Wojcik
Maker
@patflynn @brendan_hufford Thank you Brendan. We waited until we had the product as close to ready as possible before launching it on a crowdfunding site, which gave us plenty of time to build buzz, show it to influencers, and capture it on camera.
Brendan Hufford
@patflynn @calebwojcik I bet being that patient was a killer at times, especially coming from the digital world where things can be made so much faster. Great work.
Rob "Crypto Bobby" Paone
Pretty excited to see this come to life for @patflynn. One of those ideas that's so simple when you see it in action, but no one executed on it previously. Looking forward to replacing my Joby Gorillapod with this as soon as it ships
Pat Flynn
Maker
@crypto_bobby Thank you so much! The response has been INCREDIBLE! Thank you for your support Rob, and big shout out to my partner @calebwojcik for being equally (if not more!) involved in the process! Oh, and to the engineering team and support from Prouduct!
jan van iperen
Realistic expert review by the incomparable Peter McKinnon:
Matt Ragland
I’m really excited to see this come to life. As a YouTuber who is constantly fussing with a GorillaPod - a stable, packable, lightweight tripod like this is going to be a tool I use nearly every day for making videos. Congrats guys!
Caleb Wojcik
Maker
@mattragland Thank you Matt. I remember showing you an earlier prototype last year. Excited to have to help us on day one.
Alan Houser
Wow @calebwojcik @patflynn! This is how you do a successful Kickstarter*. [1] make something cool [2] support it in the best ways possible— multiple users, video, photos If you're not already selling a video "How to Make a Successful Kickstarter", do it NOW!!! As I'm on the page, I'm watching the $ animate-up. That's some killer video content too (timelapse that) http://share.sqr.fr/v/oBHDkPjNYN...
Thomas Frank

I've tested out multiple prototypes - can't wait to get my hands on the real thing. Plus, I love the addition of mounting holes for extra pieces of gear!

Pros:

99% of the time, I use my gorillapod in two ways - handheld and tripod mode. For those use cases, the SwitchPod does a better/faster job.

Cons:

Boosted board not included

Caleb Wojcik
Maker
What an oversight by us! Should have had a boosted board tier. 😉
Boris Sapozhnikov
Really exciting to see @patflynn launch his first physical product. This will be a ground breaking tool that every vlogger and video content creator should have. So excited to get my hands on one this August. Good luck with this one.
Pat Flynn
Maker
@boris_sapozhnikov Thank you Boris! It's been a fun ride and have been learning so much. Definitely did not do this alone though - my partner @calebwojcik and I are a great team and couldn't have done this without the other. Let's see where this takes us!
TheTechieGuy

I got to see earlier versions of this at two large YouTuber events and even back then the reaction was WOW. This felt ready back then, I can just imagine how much better it is now. Can't wait for this game changer!

Pros:

instantly goes from vlog to tripod and back, compact, accommodates small cameras, large cameras with lenses and mics = versatile!

Cons:

The surface has to be flat while in tripod mode which, for 95% of the time, won't be a problem.

Marco Diversi
Very cool Pat!!!
Pat Flynn
Maker
@marco_diversi Thanks so much Marco!
Nate Heath
Judging on the product shots it looks like those are some pretty white knuckles while holding in selfie mode. Does the leverage make it difficult to easily hold it that way?
Pat Flynn
Maker
@nate_heath Good question Nate. Many people who have a heavier rig, but perhaps less strength, tend to choke up on it naturally. It was a design decision last year when we noticed that people started to grab it up there just on their own, to add finger grooves all the way up.
Caleb Wojcik
Maker
@nate_heath When we first started working on it, the grip and angle of your wrist was our first focus. That's why the handle/grip points almost straight down, so you can hold it like you would a baseball bat or hammer, not a tennis racquet or kitchen knife. So ergonomically it is in a natural position. Yes, the heavier the camera the more leverage there is, but you center the gravity of your whole rig pretty easily in my testing. Thanks for the question!
Nate Heath
@patflynn @calebwojcik thanks guys, I bet it's worth it to get the camera just a little bit further out. Looks like a product that is going to help a lot of people!
Tamas Ratkai
So awesome to see this product go live from @patflynn . I listened to so many podcast episodes where this was mentioned. Big CLAP for making the Kickstarter campaign a HUGE success after the launch! PS: Drop a video here so it can be showed alongside the images!
Trell West
Love the concept, will be checking it out! Would be nice if this design could be adapted to a taller monopod / legs that extend for standing/talking shots.
Pat Flynn
Maker
@trellwest Thanks for that feedback Trell! We've received a ton of potential ideas for where we could take this in the future. Focusing on version 1.0 for now, but you're amazing. Thank you!
Justin Jackson
Preordered mine yesterday! 🕺 🔥 💃
Pat Flynn
Maker
@mijustin Justin! You're awesome, thanks so much for the support, man!
Caleb Wojcik
Maker
@mijustin Thank you Justin!
Matt Gartland

The Kickstarter campaign became fully funded in a day, wow! Looks like the community has a lot of hope for this product.

Pros:

Very utilitarian design that appears to have a lot of good practical use cases. Excited to receive mine!

Cons:

Nothing at this time. Excited to see how this performs in the wild and how the creators receive and implement feedback.

G B
So excited for you, Pat (and Caleb, who I am "meeting" through Pat!). This is such a flipping sweet design, so practical and so clean. I love that it is slim for us outdoor adventurer types who hoof it high into the mountains! :) Is it possible to extend the height at all? It looks like there's something that can be adjusted on the neck where the camera is attached, but didn't see it demonstrated, so I figured not. Keeping it simple is totally cool, especially for v1! For v2, I'd love to see that option, as well as feet that can be adjusted for varied terrain — but we backcountry outdoor folk are probably a small subset of this niche, so I can imagine that's probably not important until v4 or 5 — which I totally see you guys growing this thing. Love it!
Pat Flynn
Maker
@ilikewinter Thank you for the feedback about the product! We've got a ton of great ideas for improvements already, but know the base model will be absolutely perfect for many, too. You can add your own ball head to the SwitchPod to allow your camera to swivel, but I've been using it no problem without it.
G B
@patflynn Completely agree! It's absolutely going to be a game changer for so many (and I have no doubts at all that your brains have been spinning on the next iteration for a while now). Like you know, the key to making it successful is edit, edit, edit, and making the best product for what your audience needs, which is what this is — absolutely no need for extras because this is really going to be a great fit for so many. No complaints here :) I'm really proud of what you've achieved here and man, so cool on your first product that it's buzzing like this, Pat! Way to go you guys!