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Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Peak Design is an American design and manufacturing company producing gear for adventure, travel and photography. Viewed as a pioneering force in the industry, its products range from camera accessories to lifestyle and travel products. Peter Dering, Founder and CEO, launched the business in 2010, shortly after leaving his previous job, with a clear vision and a small amount of starting capital.
“ In 2011, I launched a novel product called the Capture Camera Clip, which is a small metal clip that clamps onto a backpack strap and allows the user to attach a large SLR camera to it securely, keeping their hands free while their camera remains immediately accessible,” Peter begins.“ That photography accessory was the beginning of Peak Design. Something that has always been a bit different about our story is that I never pursued outside investors. I used my
own capital and a small short-term loan from my parents to fund the prototyping, and then I used Kickstarter as the initial funding mechanism. That pre-order campaign was very successful and even became the second most-funded project on the platform at the time. Practically overnight, I had a profitable company. And in many ways, the story of Peak Design since then has been about applying those same principles and funding techniques again and again. We continued to use Kickstarter for a long time as a cash flow mechanism to fund our next phase of growth. Starting in photography, we expanded into travel, and now broadly cover what I would describe as adventure, with a wide variety of products that sit at the intersection of those three areas.”
Innovation at Peak Design flows from a methodical albeit somewhat unorthodox process, which Peter tells us more about.“ There is my personal approach to R & D, and then there is our company approach, and
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