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.

    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。

    And while it may not look very comfortable to ride, it's hard to beat the price of materials, which cost between $9-12 per bike, according to Elmish. It was this cheap cost of production that put Cardboard Technologies into the national spotlight, but also initiated the company's most recent struggles.

    The cardboard bike campaign represents the best and worst of the newest fundraising strategy known as crowdfunding. Thanks to their campaign, Elmish and Gafni learned quickly that a $290 version of the bike—even if only temporary—would not fly with consumers. Crowdfunding the project enabled the creators to analyze their pricing mistake before investing thousands of dollars into mass production. Of course, publicizing their strategy and taking money from consumers before their product hit the market opened them up to criticism. A consumer-base expecting a $20 product may feel betrayed, or skeptical that Cardboard Technologies will be able to deliver when the time comes. (For pre-orders from the United States, that means a delivery date in March of 2015.)

    This has been a major point of discussion for crowdfunding opponents over the past year, who have pointed to campaign stumbles like the Pebble Watch to explain their concern over the fundraising method. The Pebble Watch campaign (launched on Kickstarter) was so popular, that the entrepreneurs behind the idea were unable to fill orders in time, resulting in angry consumers and a critical media. By lowering the price of their product, Cardboard Technologies is hoping to change course before it's too late. With their $2 million funding goal still unfulfilled, Elmish and Gafni are leaving the fate of their bike project in the hands of their most influential advisors: their customers.

    虽然纸板自行车看上去似乎不可能带来非常舒适的驾乘体验，但低廉的材料价格是它难以匹及的优势所在。艾尔米什透露称，每辆自行车的材料成本在9到12美元之间。正是这种低廉的生产成本让纸板科技公司成为全美关注的焦点，但也导致该公司陷入最近这场困局。

    纸板自行车运动把“众筹”作为一种最新的筹资策略所具有的优点和缺陷体现得淋漓尽致。通过这次筹资活动，艾尔米什和加夫尼迅速地获悉，290美元的售价无法打动消费者，即便这种情况只是暂时的。通过众筹活动为项目筹集资金能够让创造者在投资数千美元批量生产之前分析评估他们的定价策略。当然，公开宣传这种策略，同时在产品投放市场前就从消费者手中要钱，也会让创造者成为批判对象。预期自行车售价20美元的消费者群体可能觉得自己被出卖了，或者对纸板科技公司按时交付产品的能力产生怀疑。（美国的前期订单显示，纸板自行车的上市时间为2015年3月。）

    这也是众筹方式的反对者们过去一年讨论的主题。反对者指出，像电子智能手表Pebble Watch这类众筹活动遭受的挫折充分证实了他们对这种筹资方式的质疑。在大众融资平台Kickstarter网站上发起的Pebble Watch众筹活动大受欢迎，以至于这一创意幕后的创业者无法及时完成订单，进而引发了消费者的愤怒情绪和潮水般的媒体批判。通过降低纸板自行车的价格，纸板科技公司希望在一切为时已晚之前改变目前的局面。鉴于200万美元的筹资目标依然没有完成，艾尔米什和加夫尼正在把纸板自行车项目的命运交到他们最有影响力的顾问，也就是他们的顾客手中。（财富中文网）

    译者：任文科