Gen Z's 'Dumb Tech' Hunger Is Fueling a Retro Gadget Startup

A 28-year-old New York entrepreneur named London Jackson has built a startup called Kickback around what he calls 'dumb tech' — reimagined and refurbished gadgets from the early 2000s that let people slow down in the AI era. Founded in 2024, Kickback sells everything from $99 portable CD players (stocked at Urban Outfitters and the MoMA Design Store) to $500 record players to $70 point-and-shoot cameras modeled on Y2K designs. A limited run of 100 refurbished Motorola Razrs sold out within minutes, as did a set of MP3 players.

The business model is twofold: original retro-inspired hardware developed with third-party factories and a Copenhagen-based designer, plus refurbished vintage gadgets sourced through a reseller network on which Kickback takes up to a 40% cut. In 2025, the company crossed $750,000 in total revenue, sold over 7,000 products, and generated roughly $460,000 in gross profit. It also raised approximately $300,000 in venture capital that year.

The cultural hook is nostalgia for a pre-notification, pre-always-online world — even among people like Jackson who were too young to have fully lived it. He describes the appeal as equal parts fashion statement and digital detox, a way to signal a lifestyle choice as much as to actually unplug. The marketing leans into Y2K aesthetics and the romance of disposable cameras and cassette tapes. Kickback's most recent product, a $70 point-and-shoot camera, launched in collaboration with musician Brent Faiyaz.

There's an inherent irony at the core of the business: Jackson's primary marketing channel is Instagram and TikTok, where he promotes the virtues of getting offline. Month-to-month revenue volatility has forced him to dip into personal savings at times, and stabilizing cash flow is a priority for 2026. He hired a chief operating officer in April as he looks to scale the team beyond its current lean structure.