I just wanted to take a moment to say how much we appreciate you all.
RED is a weird company... we march to a different beat than most and we make decisions based off our family of customers rather than focusing on returns and stock prices and legacy and god forbid the direction of some random board of directors.
We started this all putting no-excuse tools that created the best images possible into the most amount of hands in an industry that seemed to be ok with "good enough".
Along the way we something magical happened... Something that Jim instilled deep in me early on... that our customers deserve to become part of that goal instead of just being a result of that goal.
The launch of Helium and Epic-W was an example of just that.
It started as an apology.
But it seemed to quickly turn into much more than that.
If you could see behind the curtain it was really incredible to watch. Our entire team came together not because their managers were yelling at them for being late or because of targets or the bottom line... they came together because they wanted to do right by all of you.. those of you waiting. and waiting. and waiting.
The wait we have made Scarlet-W and Raven and VV deposit owners really is traumatic for all of us. I honestly can see now why all the other companies that are late just seem to put their head in the sand and hide when things get late. It's hard.
And you can't just overcome those obstacles we did to make yesterday possible just by working hard.. you need to have passion. A lot of passion.
And the passion our team showed me over the last month leading to this was off-the charts incredible.
Weapon Helium and Epic-W turned out to be not just the two most badass cameras on the market... they are a stamp.
A stamp that goes beyond "good enough"... A stamp that says we all need to push further.
Not just about the technology.
About pushing this forward, together.
RED makes the tools for you to create the best images on the planet.
that.. I think we have succeeded.
But along the way we have let you guys down, as customers, As part of our family.
That is what yesterday was all about.
The upgrade options, the financing plans, the breaks on pricing... that's not what any company in their right mind would do when they already have more demand and backorders than they can handle and releasing something brand new that they should charge more for instead of discounting and pushing out at our own expense.
But it was the right thing to do.
We are not perfect. We still have a lot to learn. And yes, we will continue to stumble along the way.
I know we will never make everyone happy. But we will kill ourselves trying.
So thank you for putting up with the mayhem. I know it's hard for you sometimes to be a RED customer.
I also want to take a moment to thank my team.
You see... I am a hard boss to work for.
I literally spend more time with my customers than my own staff and spend way too much time sequestered away in my bunker tinkering and coming up with whats next, and when i do come out it is usually yelling guns blazing because one of our customers is suffering.
That's not easy to put up with.
Thank you all for putting up with me.
You all know how important Brent is.
But there are hundreds of other RED soldiers that live and die for what they do each and every day.
I hope most of you have had at least one experience with one of many RED employees that go above and beyond.
You don't last long here if you are looking for "normal".
Peter, our CRO, was a bit of a turning point for us. How I operate is usually diametrically opposed to what a CRO/CFO stands for.... Their job description dictates that they focus making the most money possible from each customer. That didn't work with Jim.. and it doesn't work for me.
But Peter came in with a different attitude. You as customers probably don't directly see his changes in the last few months... but trust me, they are meaningful.
And Engineering.... Uday and team are creating things that break all the rules. Helium is a smaller pixel with less noise. That goes against everything we are taught about sensors. Our sensor team is just that good.
Manufacturing.. My god. This launch we had more cameras finished to ship on day one than all our other day ones we have ever had... combined.
And not just Helium... This month we will ship 3x more Scarlet-W's than we did last month.
As I sit here typing this Matt is across from me putting design on yet again something incredible... way past his bed time.
There doesn't seem like there is ever a normal quitting time here at RED.. just like you all out there that work way past wrap shooting what needs to be shot...... we only go home when it's done.
Everyone else at RED. Thank you. From the little things to the big things. I might not spend as much time with you as I should.. but trust me I pay attention to what you do and you continue to teach me every day.
When we started, I took pretty much all of the product shots that we used. Not because I was any good.. Just because I loved doing it.
I still personally shoot most of the images I post, but Cleigh and the design and Propaganda team have gotten so much better than me that it almost pisses me off.
Im now looking at Cleigh's shots wondering how to copy him
You don't work at RED for the paycheck. It's a fucking roller coaster ride . You are here because it's what you love to do.
And nothing else should really matter.
To all the 3rd parties that jumped aboard this crazy train and are making better things that we could ever dream of.... thank you.
And to all the dealers that jumped on board yesterday... that was awesome.... thank you. This launch would not of been the same without you.
Most of all.. Thank you to all you, our customers.
I know along the way we have let some of you down. The waiting. The service missteps. The Janky little weird things we do sometimes that make no sense to anyone including ourselves.
We spent the last chapter making the the tools that we build better and learning better ways to build them.
Now it is time we focus on supporting you better, after the fact.
Better experience for our customers from every aspect.. big and small.
In the next few months you will hopefully see a better RED.
Things are changing. We refuse to rest, and we refuse to sit still.
Just know that we love this... We love what we do.
Good is never good enough.
(Sorry this post got a lot longer than it was in my head)
If you can just read one line.. it's the following:
Thank you.
