Introductions
Hello everyone, today is July 1st, 2022, and we’re excited to be officially launching the Vodeq store. My business partner Ryan and I (Ronan) have been working on this business for a few years now, and we’re finally at the point where we’re ready to bring our products and vision to the public. In the spirit of keeping things honest and transparent, which is something both of us value highly, I figured I’d take this opportunity to tell you a little bit about who we are, where Vodeq comes from, and how this whole adventure came to be.
Who We Are
Vodeq is primarily owned and operated by two people (who I briefly mentioned earlier): Ronan Armstrong and Ryan Bertsch. We met in college, sharing many of the same classes, and both of us graduated this year with a degree in the Music Industry with minors in business. A few years after meeting, we began to talk more seriously about starting a business – I (Ronan) had always had the ultimate goal of owning a small company doing something in the music industry, and after talking through things extensively with Ryan, managed to get him wholly onboard with the idea. The way I saw it (and I suppose, continue to see it) is that I’ve always been focused on the business side of the world, taking extra economics, accounting, and business management courses throughout my college career, and Ryan was the perfect complement, as he was intimately familiar with Eurorack product development. Both of us have always had a DIY audio streak in our blood, and turning that into a successful small business would be a dream come true, for both of us.
Creating the Business
We began to start serious work on Vodeq shortly after we graduated College (in 2020). At first, this entailed a whole lot of research, and countless hours figuring out what exactly we’d be doing, and how our company would be able to give something of value to consumers. Our goal has never been to make as much money as possible and then ditch the whole project, and if it was, we wouldn’t have chosen the music world as the place to start. Instead, we see this as a way for us to stay involved with the things we love doing: recording, making music, and designing cool new audio equipment.
Around a year later (in May 2021), we filed with our state as a LLC, setting everything we’d put together so far in stone. Since then, it’s been absolutely crazy: between wrapping up graduate school, researching products and projects, designing our website, setting up all the legalese pieces we need to operate within the law, and hours upon hours of writing and research, we’ve had an almost negative amount of free time, but with school over for both of us and all the groundwork laid, we’re ready to start on the fun part.
Looking Forward
When we started this whole journey, we tried not to think too much about the future; after all, we have no way to know whether this will succeed and whether our message will resonate with people. That said, over time we’ve come up with a few certainties, and I think both of us have a pretty solid idea of what we’d like Vodeq to become. The obvious thing to think about when it comes to the future is size, and we’ve thought a lot about what that would look like for Vodeq. The big thing we want to avoid is becoming a corporate juggernaut. We aren’t in this to be the next Guitar Center or Apple, and we never want to expand to a point where we lose contact with our foundation. Our goal will always be to bring quality content and products to the music community.
That said, we’re both personally excited for the possibility of becoming a little bit larger, for primarily two reasons. In the distant future, we would love to expand our offerings outside of just Eurorack into the realm of pro audio and guitar pedals. As a recording engineer and guitarist myself, I’d love to see us expand to include these categories, and I think a lot of the techniques and ideas used in Eurorack could be translated over to both of these areas (modular recording console, anyone?). Secondly, while it’s undoubtedly not in the cards now or even in the near future, opening a tiny store and showroom for people interested in DIY audio to come experiment and meet like minded individuals would be incredible. I grew up working at a small board game store in Minneapolis, and the community it was able to foster was invaluable. If Vodeq is able to long-term create this kind of community in the DIY audio space, I would personally be overjoyed.
Wrapping Up
After everything I’ve just said, there’s only really one thing I want you (as the reader) to walk away remembering: Ryan and I love music, and Vodeq is fundamentally a way for us to share this passion with the world. Whether or not you choose to purchase our products, we hope you find our website helpful on your music journey, and we look forward to seeing what the community creates.
Thank you, Ronan and Ryan
