Totem Tuesday: January 7th, 2025
We've got some BIG UPDATES to share!
One and all...
Welcome to the very first
🎉 TOTEM TUESDAY 🎉
of 2025
🤗
It's January—which is slowly becoming known as the "month of good news" here around Totem HQ.
(read on to find out why) 😉
Before we begin... Welcome to our newest investors! Eva, Gonçalo, Arturo, and Bennett—we are so excited to have you on board.
P.S. — the Totem Pre-Seed Round closes at the end of January.
If you are interested in investing, please inquire here. 👈
OK—let's get this party started, shall we?
⬇️ Rollout Update ⬇️
Ready for a fount of good news?
First off... Another shipment of Totems is arriving at our fulfillment partner's facility tomorrow! That means that so many customers will be receiving their long-awaited tracking numbers this week.
And guess what? As of last week, the manufacturer defect issue responsible for the recent timeline delays is NO MORE. That means Rollout is about to seriously pick up speed.
In fact, the next shipment is set to leave our manufacturer tomorrow. This is the largest shipment yet (5,000) and it will be going directly from factory to our fulfillment partner—no stops along the way!
Plus, there are another 10,000+ Totems in production now, and they are all expected to leave the manufacturer in January.
That means we expect to ship ALL pending orders in the next month, and will be stocking inventory for the very first time in February 🎉
As a reminder, you can always check our new-and-improved Rollout Tracker for the latest update on Rollout Progress—it gets updated with new information 1-2 times per week.On the page, you'll find a live tracker showing who’s next in the queue and estimated shipping timelines.
We're as excited as you are when it comes to these rollout updates — thank you for sticking with us through thick and thin. 🫶
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OK! Enough housekeeping.
Let’s get into it.
This is our weekly progress report to all our favorite people.
Welcome to the Totem Tuesday 3-2-1.
3 things we accomplished,
2 things we learned,
1 thing coming up
Let’s go, Tribe!
(P.S. — if this is your first Totem Tuesday, welcome to the Tribe! We are so grateful to be here with you.)
😘
3 things we accomplished
1) Major Rollout Wins 📈
Rollout is about to pick up MAJOR SPEED.
Why? This past week marked some two huge milestones with manufacturing and production.
1) Manufacturer Defects, Begone!
If you've been following along, you know that there have been some significant delays with Rollout due to issues with manufacturer defects on initial shipments.
As many as 95% of the Totems in initial shipments did not meet our Quality Control standards—which led to a much slower start to Rollout than originally planned. 😞
But now we have great news to share!
Those issues have been fully resolved by our engineering team. We're happy to report that now, over 99% of Totems being produced meet our Quality Control standards right out of the gate. 🥳
This allows us to pull the trigger on much higher quantities (thus the 10,000+ now in production) and also decreases uncertainty around timelines significantly.
2) Manufacturer Quality Control Approved ✅
As of last week, our manufacturer has officially been approved to conduct all Quality Control and testing on their own! This means that Totems will no longer have to make a stop at Totem HQ before heading out to customers.
Moving forward, all Totems will go straight to our fulfillment partner after being produced. This will speed up shipping times from factory to customer by up to 40%.
...so what does all this mean? 👀
It means that no time is wasted on our watch!
Now that these milestones have been achieved, our manufacturing partner expects to finish producing all current orders (and then some!) by the end of January. 🫶
The end is officially in sight. No matter where you are in the queue, you'll have your Totems soon. 🥳
2) Brand Ambassador Program Launch
The wait is over... It's finally here!
Today officially marked the launch of Totem's official
✨ Brand Ambassador Program ✨
This is an invite-only program that allows dedicated content creators to collaborate directly with Totem and contribute to a movement that is changing lives around the world.
Each accepted applicant will receive three Totem Compasses to create content with, and we'll be rolling out promo codes with a commission structure to Ambassadors that meet the requirements after receiving their Totems.
...sound interesting?
Apply HERE 🎉
3) Finalizing Long-Term Packaging
Are you ready for a sneak peek at the new Totem Compass packaging?
Once we have finished shipping pre-orders, we will begin transitioning to long-term, Totem-branded packaging. Peep the sample in the image below ⬇️
The Totem Compass solves a universal problem AND looks beautiful while doing it. Enter a brand-new product category: tech jewelry.
As such, our long-term packaging is inspired by jewelry boxes and high-end tech products like Apple. 🍎
We're already planning on some fire content showcasing the team proposing to each other with their Totem-branded boxes... diamonds may be forever, but Totems are for everyone 😎
2 things we learned in 2024
1) Early Product Feedback
We've been getting a TON of amazing Product Feedback from customers who have received their Totems, and we read and respond to every single message.
Despite it being off-season for festivals in the US, many people had an opportunity to use them at NYE events and have shared some beautiful stories and helpful insights. 💗
A few key takeaways so far:
1️⃣ People LOVE how the Totems look and how small/light they are — they actually add to your festival outfit rather than feeling like a tool you have to lug around. 🫶
2️⃣ SOS is a very popular feature that people are putting to good use. Users have shared some powerful stories about how SOS allowed them to quickly help a friend in need. ✨
3️⃣ The top opportunity for improvement at this time is Battery Life. Currently, Totems can go up to 16 hours on a single charge, but actual battery life in the field can vary depending on how you use it. We are working on a major improvement for Battery Life in our upcoming Version 3.7.0 update — read more about it in the final section 🔋
Share your Feedback
Please submit your own Totem Compass feedback when you have a chance to use them. Your input is our guiding light in making product improvements (and developing new products down the road).
You can share your feedback directly with the Totem Team via the Product Feedback page on our website. We want to hear from you! 🫶
2) Parent Survey Insights
While families (and pets) were not the intended audience for the Totem Compass when the idea was conceived, we've received an absolutely enormous amount of comments, DMs and emails from parents who love the product. 🙏
So we decided to collect some insights via a recent Totem Parent Survey (shared here on Totem Tuesday a few weeks back).
Here are some key takeaways from the survey:
1) Every parent has a story to tell about losing their kids in public. 👪
2) Losing your children in a public space is one of the deepest, most common fears for parents. 😨
3) Other comparable GPS devices feel too invasive or don’t work properly in crowded environments. 👣
4) Totems are affordable enough to outfit the whole family without breaking the bank! 💰
5) The Totem Compass is perfect for parents with kids who aren’t quite ready for a cell phone but still deserve some level of independence. 🌍
Thank you again to EVERYONE who participated in our survey.
These insights are invaluable in helping us work on future products, updates and marketing initiatives.
Not only are you rock stars, but you're also awesome parents who want to make sure your kids are safe without sacrificing their autonomy.
1 thing to look forward to
New Software Update to Extend Battery Life
We are constantly working to improve the Totem Compass with regular software updates for customers, free of charge!
Our Engineering team has been hard at work on the exciting next software update — Version 3.7.0.
This update will improve performance in multiple areas, but is primarily focused on Battery Life. ⚡️🔋
One of our number one area of improvement we've identified from customer feedback is Battery Life. Needless to say, this update will make a very significant impact for everyone.
We're so stoked to release it, so stay tuned to email and our social platforms for the official announcement. 🎉
If you have received your Totems and have not pulled a Software Update yet, make sure to update your Totem as soon as you're able for the best experience at your next outing. 💗
Hey there 😊👋
The new year sure is off to a promising start!
Thank you so much for sharing a bit of your day with us today.
The fact that you care enough about this journey to read through these newsletters, every week, means the world.
Together we are making this world a safer, more beautiful place.
That's something to be proud of.
See you next week!
✌️ + 🩷
The Totem Team
(P.S. — if this is your first Totem Tuesday, we hiiighly recommend that you go back and check out all the past Totem Tuesdays on our website. Every single decision we’ve made with the product is detailed extensively in past editions. Have fun 😘)
