Erez Zukerman

You could get it with no, nothing on the keycaps, because by that time, the keycaps would have been wrong for me. So I got it with nothing. And my wife loved that, because I was relearning to type yet again and completely. But within a couple of weeks, I was able to type pretty well on this blank keyboard. And then I loved the hardware. It was lovely for me, but I wanted it to do more.

You could get it with no, nothing on the keycaps, because by that time, the keycaps would have been wrong for me. So I got it with nothing. And my wife loved that, because I was relearning to type yet again and completely. But within a couple of weeks, I was able to type pretty well on this blank keyboard. And then I loved the hardware. It was lovely for me, but I wanted it to do more.

I was like, man, like, why does one key do only one thing, right? I mean, what if I hold it down? What if I tap it twice? What if, you know, all those things. And then I kind of got into the possibilities of what's possible, like what's out there in terms of smarter keyboards, right? And I found the Ergodox. And this was an open source design by Dominique Poucham, a Quebecois.

I was like, man, like, why does one key do only one thing, right? I mean, what if I hold it down? What if I tap it twice? What if, you know, all those things. And then I kind of got into the possibilities of what's possible, like what's out there in terms of smarter keyboards, right? And I found the Ergodox. And this was an open source design by Dominique Poucham, a Quebecois.

And at the time, you could buy it as a box of parts from MassDrop before they were called Drop.com. You would...

And at the time, you could buy it as a box of parts from MassDrop before they were called Drop.com. You would...

pay hundreds of dollars and wait a couple months and get a box of parts, including surface mount diodes, which are these teeny tiny grain of rice things you have to put on a circuit board at exactly the right place and the right orientation and solder down again and again, because there's many of these. I looked at it and I said, you know what?

pay hundreds of dollars and wait a couple months and get a box of parts, including surface mount diodes, which are these teeny tiny grain of rice things you have to put on a circuit board at exactly the right place and the right orientation and solder down again and again, because there's many of these. I looked at it and I said, you know what?

I'm probably not the only one who wants a keyboard like that, but isn't going to go through the trouble of you know, assembling it myself. So that's where my partner, Dima, my business partner, comes in. He's the managing director of Thibault. which is a Taiwanese company I used to work at. I did a whole bunch of stuff before. So I used to work with Tebow.

I'm probably not the only one who wants a keyboard like that, but isn't going to go through the trouble of you know, assembling it myself. So that's where my partner, Dima, my business partner, comes in. He's the managing director of Thibault. which is a Taiwanese company I used to work at. I did a whole bunch of stuff before. So I used to work with Tebow.

They make really nice industrial gear, very high-end manufacturing. So I contacted him. This was a few years after I was done working there. I contacted him. I said, hey, Dima, listen, I think I got something here. Maybe let's make a keyboard. Look at this design. We can make it, right? Nobody can take out the trademark. We don't own the trademark, ErgoDocs. Nobody can.

They make really nice industrial gear, very high-end manufacturing. So I contacted him. This was a few years after I was done working there. I contacted him. I said, hey, Dima, listen, I think I got something here. Maybe let's make a keyboard. Look at this design. We can make it, right? Nobody can take out the trademark. We don't own the trademark, ErgoDocs. Nobody can.

$2,000.

$2,000.

Then he got back to me.

Then he got back to me.

Yeah. Then he emailed me back and said, okay, no, you know what? There's something here, but we need money to get off the ground. So here comes crowdfunding. And we did a crowdfunding campaign, our first and so far our last. I'm in no rush to do that again. It was March when we launched the campaign and I was telling people, we're going to ship in December.

Yeah. Then he emailed me back and said, okay, no, you know what? There's something here, but we need money to get off the ground. So here comes crowdfunding. And we did a crowdfunding campaign, our first and so far our last. I'm in no rush to do that again. It was March when we launched the campaign and I was telling people, we're going to ship in December.

Back us now, we're shipping this keyword in December. And... We did. We ran the campaign for two months. We raised 80,000 US, which was what we needed. And in December, the first Ergodoxys were being shipped to customers, which is really the accomplishment here for me, right? Because... crowdfunding campaigns for hardware notoriously late.

Back us now, we're shipping this keyword in December. And... We did. We ran the campaign for two months. We raised 80,000 US, which was what we needed. And in December, the first Ergodoxys were being shipped to customers, which is really the accomplishment here for me, right? Because... crowdfunding campaigns for hardware notoriously late.