Indian startup Notion Ink shows how to completely botch a product launch
I feel really bad while I write this for the simple reason that Notion Ink was going to take India to the global map of consumer tech products. They are the first Indian consumer tech company to generate interest among gadget enthusiasts around the world and when the time came they floundered, not with the product but with how they are launching it.
A few days back my twitter stream was filled with blog posts about their eagerly awaited Android based tablet – the Adam being available for pre-order. I clicked on most of them, one by one looking for a link to pre-order but didn’t find it! I ranted asking for the link and as it turns out the brilliant engineering minds behind Notion Ink (no puns there) had made a blog post a few days before the pre-order news that blog commenters would be sent emails with pre-order links. I laughed out loud.
Giving them the benefit of doubt, them being this new startup by really smart engineers but then there was news about them not having proper sales terms in place. The initial document seemed like it was drafted without help from competent lawyers. This led them to taking down the terms and publishing an updated one. I was inclined to write about this but decided not to given that it’s their first big launch and things don’t always go as planned.
Today however they went ahead and did something they clearly shouldn’t have. CEO Rohan Shravan has acknowledged the lack of hands-on videos and screenshots showing the interface, he made a short blog post today saying they’re sending a video to Android Police, a few hours later, Android Police claim no knowledge they don't have it and enthusiasts continue to wait.
This is probably the most amateurish product launch I’ve ever read about. Notion Ink makes a strong case for the existence of Social Media Experts. Hopefully they’ll learn and the Adam becomes a success, India needs it to be one.
Update: Android Police say they knew a video was being sent their way.