Hi MOD users
Some updates here about the reboot.
As Andreas has written in the other thread, we had some hiccups on the transition process. I want to give you some details here on the general status, what went well and what did not.
Before proceeding, I’d like to share some images to give you more context. Not sure I gave details before, but we had to leave the office on September 5th, after the insolvency was declared by the court. As we were considering the reboot, all the general assets (tables, chairs computers, etc) plus the production material that was at the office was taken to Andreas’ garage and remained there in his custody, even though were were not owners anymore.
Here’s our old office wrap up:
And here are three rooms worth of furniture, equipment and material packed in a truck:
and then all crammed in Andreas’ garage (we all owe a huge thanks for Andreas and Claudia, his very patient wife):
All the reboot work has been made from our houses since then.
With the success of the reboot fundraise, we immediately purchased a shelf company, signed the asset deal and proceeded with the transition work.
This is what I want to report here:
The purchase of a shelf company was not a lean solution as advertised by the lawyers.
It is still the only way we had, as it is not possible to found a new company in Germany without waiting the customary 4 to 6 weeks and we did not have such luxury. But the process was not lean at all. Although we owned a company and could formally sign the asset deal in 48h, the backstage processes of the government to update all public records is much slower (plus some deadlocks) when transitioning ownership of an existing company and, without such public records updates, one cannot get a working bank account nor the registrations for VAT, EORI and all other legal paraphernalia required. Furthermore, any sort of SAAS for which you want to transition ownership will also require such records to be updated before proceeding with the transfer of ownership.
The bank account was, by far, the biggest blocker. Without it, no money could come in and hence, no payments could be made out. We had secured a new office and even signed the rental lease, but could not move in without paying the deposit and 1st rent.
On October 13th the Handelsregister finally published the updated records, unlocking the process for us.
Bank accounts on hold were activated. Investment contracts were sent out and Investors began sending funds.
Last Wednesday, Oct. 19th, we moved into the new office.
The loaded truck ready to go to the new office
This is the main room from four we now have. We have dedicated spaces for administration, storage&fulfilment and a video studio. I missed making a picture on Friday, but the place is much tidier already 
Cloud systems
The cloud subscriptions were all deactivated due to non payment since August and, as of yesterday, they are paid and active. Unfortunately it is not as simple as turning on. There are many different virtual machines and other services that work in conjunction and they need all to go online and, from Monday onwards, we will work towards putting the services back online (Plugin Shop, Pedalboard Feed, etc). The services will not all go online at the same time and we will update here as it happens.
The forum is entangled inside the many servers inside the cloud and suffered some downtime in this process. It shall be relocated soon. Ideally with some community involvement.
Production
Regarding production, 321 backers responded the survey and 239 have opted for the 150€ payment. We have managed to secure material for both the crowdfunding units as for the sales projected.
With the bank delays we have lost 3 weeks, but the full production shall still fit in 2022, with most deliveries happening in December. This next week we will have more precise delivery dates from suppliers and contractors.
General user survey
There is an exciting general survey going out this week. We conducted the survey in September in an anonymous manner, as we wanted to understand the audience. This time, our aim is to actually map the community so that we can communicate for the many initiatives we will put in place and that involve community participation, ranging from pedalboard creation to content making.
It is part of the company duties to update all the opt-ins from our mailing lists and we will do both this and the survey at the same time. An email will be sent to all the mailing base and, those who want to opt-out will do it directly in the email while those who want to opt-in will follow the survey link, fill in the lists they want to be subscribed to and, if they wish, also fill in the survey.
Conclusion
Despite the unexpected - and nerve-wrecking - delays, we have finally set sail. There is still a lot to do in the transition, but I can happily say that now we are actually navigating.
I kindly ask for a last bit of patience as we finish putting the house back in order. We are also putting a routine in place to make communication more frequent.
The moment reminds me of the book by Amyr Klink, 100 Days Between Sea and Sky, where he describes his adventure of rowing alone from Africa to Brazil in 100 days. He made an extensive planning for the trip and, due to weather circumstances, had to postpone the departure more than once. When the day finally came, there was some confusion, some things were not loaded and there was even a small crash that partially damaged the boat’s hull. Amyr reports that despite all the issues, he was very happy that he had at last departed. I can somehow relate to the feeling
I wish you all a great weekend!
Gianfranco, aka the MOD Father
