The moment that captures this entire year: we re-launched on Kickstarter… and got fully funded in 14 minutes.

That sentence sounds like a highlight reel. What it skips is the part right before it—the false start, the setbacks, the quiet doubt, and the decision to rebuild anyway. Earlier in the year we launched, and it didn’t work. It forced us to get sharper.

So we regrouped. We tightened the story, spent a lot more time listening to customers, and started building a community around Piper. After three months of rebuilding, we relaunched... and the reception was insane. In our first 24 hours, we got over $100k of pre-orders and were 1000% funded.

I remember staring at the dashboard like it was glitching. Refreshing. Re-refreshing. Doing the thing where you tell yourself you’re calm while your heart is doing burpees.

July 15th, 2025. That night was the moment Piper stopped being “a cool idea we’re building” and became something else entirely: a real product, a real promise, a real business.

 

This was the year Piper became real

Piper started as a flavor obsession. Our belief that pepper deserves better than being an afterthought… that the difference between “meh” and “whoa” in everyday cooking is often one simple thing: freshly ground pepper. 

We chose to redesign the pepper grinder for a balance between form and function, while also supplying pepper lovers around the world with artisanally-farmed peppercorns. 

This year, that crazy belief moved from concept → prototype → production → shipping → your homes.

We’re still early. But we’ve crossed an important line: Piper is no longer a project. We’re building a business we can turn into a passion and a job—one grind at a time.

 

Piper by the numbers

Here’s what we shipped, moved, and grew this year:

• 3,000 Piper pepper grinders shipped

• 450 kg of Debut Blend peppercorns shipped
  

• 6,000+ pepper lovers in our Instagram community
  

Some of the most meaningful “metrics” were the ones you can’t spreadsheet: the reviews, the DMs, the re-orders, the photos of Piper living on your counters, and the messages that started with: "I got my Piper!!"

 

The moments we’ll remember

1) R&D: seeing our first prototype in real life

There’s a specific kind of magic in holding something that used to exist only in your head.

This year we created our first design and got to see it as a real prototype—weight in the hand, texture, balance, the little details you can’t fully understand until it’s physical. 

That was the start of a new phase for Piper: not just imagining a better pepper grinder, but iterating until it feels inevitable.

2) There are 2,000+ early believers

That number still gets me.

Not because of the vanity of it - but because of what it represents: people putting trust behind an early-stage brand and saying, “Yes. Make this real.”

If you backed us on Kickstarter or purchased through our Shopify store, you weren’t just buying a pepper grinder. You were voting for a world where your everyday rituals get to feel special.

And you also gave us something important: accountability. When people believe in you that early, you build differently. You take fewer shortcuts. You care harder (even when it’s inconvenient).

3) Shipping a full container of Pipers to the U.S.

In November, we sent off an entire container load of Pipers from Singapore to the United States.

If you’ve never shipped a container before: it’s the strangest mix of pride and panic. Pride because you’ve built enough demand to justify it. Panic because… now you have to get everything right.

Packing that container with thousands of Pipers was one of those “we’re really doing this” milestones. The kind you don’t forget. 

 

The hard parts

This year wasn’t just highlights. It was a lot of problem-solving, patience, and learning things the hard way - especially as a 2 person team.

Manufacturing timelines and supply chain reality

We ran into manufacturing delays tied to raw materials sourcing, and we felt how fragile the supply chain can be when typhoons disrupt entire regions and timelines.

That’s the kind of challenge that teaches you quickly: you can plan perfectly and still get hit by reality.

We learned to build more buffer, communicate more clearly, and respect that “small changes” in physical products can ripple into weeks.

Logistics + fulfillment: the invisible mountain

Getting a product from factory → freight → import/export → storage → fulfillment → customer door is its own full-time sport.

This year we navigated a lot of coordination and complexity behind the scenes to get Piper into your hands. There are dozens of steps where things can go sideways—and when you’re growing, you don’t get to pretend logistics is “just ops.”

Logistics is customer experience.

Doing 10 jobs at once

The founder reality: some weeks you’re building product, managing vendors, writing copy, answering customer support, forecasting inventory, and learning import paperwork… all in the same day.

The learning curve was steep. But one mindset and quote by Seth Godin kept saving me:

We don’t “have to” do this - we "get to" do this.

Not every day felt glamorous. But a lot of days felt meaningful. It was all worth it. 

 

What this year taught us

Community is fuel. Reviews, DMs, and feedback didn’t just encourage us — they shaped what Piper is becoming. We try our best to really understand what you’re excited by (and what you’re not), then turn that into action: product tweaks, clearer info, better packaging, smoother shipping, and smarter restocks. We’re learning to let the market pull us — without losing what makes Piper, Piper.

Resilience for the mission. Our first failed campaign stung hard. But we had conviction that we needed to relaunch much stronger. That comeback is now a Kickstarter case study (which still feels surreal to type). Read it here on Kickstarter.

 

What’s next for Piper in 2026

1) Product: new pepper releases + refills

We’re planning new pepper releases from Cambodia and other countries, including limited drops and refills—more ways to explore pepper like the ingredient it actually is. There's also the potential for us to launch a Salt version of Piper. 

2) Better customer experience: faster, smoother, fewer failure points

We’re improving manufacturing efficiency, tightening systems, and working to speed up global shipping—removing as many failure points as possible so Piper feels effortless to own and gift.

3) Community: more events, collabs, and pepper energy

We want to do more events and collaborations that bring pepper lovers together around the world—more tasting, more cooking, more nerdy flavor joy.

 

Thank you (seriously)

If you purchased Piper this year - thank you.

If you shared feedback, re-ordered, posted a story, gifted it to someone, or told a friend “you have to try this” - thank you.

And to our supporters, vendors, friends, family, and especially our life partners - thank you for helping us hold the weight of building something from scratch.

We truly appreciate all of you Pepper Lovers out there. Keep on grinding with joy. 

Jeremy Vo
Chief Pepper Officer
Piper