Most people think every possible innovation in cookware has already been made.
But these two engineers proved everyone wrong by asking one simple question:
“Why hasn’t anyone made a clad carbon steel pan?”
That question led to a $106,949 Kickstarter launch.
Here’s their story.
Meet Will Vatis and Scott Freeman – the founders behind Strata Cookware and creators of the world’s first clad carbon steel pan.
Their journey didn’t start in a kitchen. It started at Gizmatic, their Maryland-based product design company where they spent 8 years developing products for other businesses. But they always dreamed of creating something of their own.
That dream took shape when Will had what he calls a true “Eureka moment” while struggling with traditional carbon steel pans. Like many home cooks, he loved the natural non-stick properties of carbon steel but hated how heavy and uneven-heating the pans were.
“Oh my gosh, why do they do clad stainless but not clad carbon?” Will recalled thinking during a conversation with his team. They immediately started searching to see if anyone had created such a product before.
Nothing. Not a single manufacturer had thought to combine carbon steel with an aluminum core.
“We were frantically Googling,” Will said. “Every second you can’t find a result, you search different terms – carbon steel clad, carbon steel aluminum, carbon steel cooking surface aluminum pan – and nothing comes up.”
That’s when they knew they had to make it themselves.
Drawing on their engineering expertise and love for cooking, they developed a revolutionary 3-layer design: a carbon steel cooking surface, an aluminum core for even heating, and a stainless steel base. The result? A pan that offered all the benefits of carbon steel at half the weight.
On January 16, 2024, with the help of my team at LaunchBoom, they launched their creation on Kickstarter.
They raised $58,699 in just one day.
By the end of the campaign, they had made $106,949 from 783 backers who were just as excited about this innovation as they were.
As Jed Grieve (Cook Culture), a well-known cookware expert, put it: “Revolutionary pan… I’m stoked on Strata, I think they’ve crushed it.”
But this success didn’t happen by accident. It came from a carefully executed pre-launch marketing strategy.
Let’s dive into exactly how they did it…
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Strata: Carbon Steel Clad Pan’s pre-launch marketing strategy
Making over $106,949 in 30 days is no easy task.
And hitting that milestone takes a combination of different marketing tactics, with the most important marketing tactic being the pre-launch.
More specifically, building an email list of real buyers before you launch your campaign.
The best way to do that is by using LaunchBoom’s Reservation Funnel System.
Here’s how it worked.
1. Strata: Carbon Steel Clad Pan drove traffic with Meta Ads
Meta ads are the first step to build a pre-launch email list. This is how Strata: Carbon Steel Clad Pan drove traffic. They tested many different variations of copy and imagery, but here was their best performing ad.
2. Strata: Carbon Steel Clad Pan collected email addresses on a landing page
The landing page is where they explained their product and collected email addresses. The landing page looked like this:
By the way, this is a screenshot from our LaunchKit software that all LaunchBoom Creators get access to.
3. Strata: Carbon Steel Clad Pan collected $1 reservations
This is the most important step and why we call this funnel the Reservation Funnel. Strata: Carbon Steel Clad Pan had this VIP offer for putting down a $1 reservation:
- A guaranteed 10% discount
- An invite to their VIP Facebook group
The most important thing to know is that people who put down the reservation were way more likely to buy (30 times on average, in fact).
Strata: Carbon Steel Clad Pan got funded on day one
Leading into the launch, Will and Scott had 566 people who had put down a $1 reservation deposit. Remember, there’s no better predictor of launch success than the reservations.
And just like we thought, their launch was a success.
On the first day, they made $58,699.
By the end of the campaign, they had driven $106,949 in revenue from 783 new customers.
This was all possible because they followed the LaunchBoom system, which is laser focused on getting creators the highest return on their investment.
Because at LaunchBoom, our goal is not to launch a successful product, but to launch a successful business.
Do you have an innovative product like Will and Scott?
We can help you turn it into a real business (or dramatically grow your existing business).
We’ve worked with over a thousand product creators.
If you want to be the next one…
Click here to talk with a LaunchBoom expert.
