The Good Thing About a Shitty Year
A note from Pakt founder, Malcolm Fontier
Wow, you’re already 3 years old? Happy birthday Pakt!
It’s been a non-stop adventure since day one, back in November of 2017, when we launched the Pakt One crowdfunding campaign. Looking back, year one felt like it was all about making sure our campaign was completed successfully, and we delivered a top-quality product to our first customers. Year two was about building the systems and processes to allow us to grow this business as well as working on our next project, the Pakt Coffee Kit. Year three was supposed to be all about putting all that we’d worked so hard to build into high gear...
The Pakt team at our annual IRL meet-up in December 2019, hard to believe it was Emma's first days on the job!
At the start of 2020 we were patting ourselves on the back and thinking we were getting pretty good at running this little Pakt circus. Just when we thought we might settle into a routine, COVID hit, and the economy seized up, literally just as we were launching The Pakt Travel Backpack; a project that we’d spent the past year working on. Lucky for us, we have such an amazing community of backers, customers, and friends that are always down to join us on a crazy adventure.
We’re glad to report that Pakt is doing relatively well in this mess. Of course, there’s the small detail that we’re a company selling travel products during a time when traveling has come to a halt, but we’re thankful to have been able to adapt and make things work. Like all of you, we rearranged our priorities to focus on the most important things – family, friends, and our own health. We tightened things up and made some changes to our product launch plans to adjust for the new travel landscape.
Virtual cheers to a successfully launched backpack campaign! The first of many virtual happy hours...
We were fortunate enough to also grow the team a bit to help us tackle all the new projects we have in the queue. Or newest team member, Marie, brings deep softgood, and specifically, travel gear design experience to the team. For the first time in Pakt’s short history we feel like we have all the bases covered. Each team member has a single department they cover, and each department feels like it’s in great hands.
The good thing about a shitty year is that the future looks so damn bright! 2020 has been a grind, but looking forward, we have a lot we’re excited about. We’ve built solid systems, and the Pakt community continues to impress and inspire us. Like travelers everywhere, we’re feeling a little cooped up this year, so we’re eager and optimistic that some epic adventures lie ahead for all of you and our own team. Until then, we’re getting your new gear ready!
We have an aggressive plan to design, develop, and launch some exciting new gear for all your on-the-go needs. You know we love a good collaboration, so some of the new projects will also introduce new collaborators. We’re also rolling out new ways to involve all of you in more ways that will shape where we go from here. We hope you’re as excited about the next few years as we are!
To new adventures and exciting times ahead – Happy birthday Pakt and thank you Pakt Family!
