[Aurum197]

First of all thank you for taking then time to think this through.

Our MVP worked fine. In fact we were reviewed by the BBC last year. It's our new version that isn't ready yet. Our chip supplier has asked us to order 6 months ahead. We do have the BOM and the hardware files at this point. We are at the point of getting our prototype boards manufactured. But the state of the world is definitely a challenge.

We would like to take preorders for two reasons: firstly to convince VCs that there is a market, and secondly to gauge how many chips we need to order.

Thank you for helping me think this through. I am beginning to see some upsides to crowdfunding even though I am turned off by how manipulated it has become (with paid backers, etc.)