
Tell HN: Failed two times on Kickstarted – successful on third attempt - rajarjit
I failed miserably two times on Kickstarter. On the third attempt, I am at 186% funded, with 21 days to go. The project is a designer deck of  playing cards.<p>Happy to answer any questions and share my learnings. AMA.
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zadkey
Can you post a link to the successful one?

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rajarjit
I don't know if it is allowed. This is my my first post on HN. You asked so
posting.

[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rajarjit/the-rocket-
dec...](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rajarjit/the-rocket-
deck?ref=ccc4f1)

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zadkey
What do you feel was the difference that made this one successful vs the
previous attempts?

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LanceH
Was it a different approach entirely? The same thing done better? Just a
different offering that happened to be more popular?

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rajarjit
The product offering was different. I agree. But seeing from where the
majority of backers came from (my Instagram and email lists), I strongly
believe it would have failed without it.

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metalliqaz
Are you planning to answer any questions?

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rajarjit
Very sorry for being late. Got a call.

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abadar
How much more marketing did you do for the 2nd and 3rd attempts vs the first?

And what did you do/do differently?

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rajarjit
In terms of paid marketing - zero. In terms of time spent - 6 months.

I spent lot of time in building a 69k strong community over Instagram. No ads,
no shoutouts from influencers, no usage of promotions from others.

Added valuable posts every day. Interacted with fans regularly. Cared for
them.

In previous attempts I was in the false illusion of "make it and they will
come".

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irjustin
Congrats on the campaign! What did you do different from before? Does 186%
funded cover your costs?

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rajarjit
The first question I answered to others. Would you mind checking that?

My total spend was - 1\. $5 in prototyping. 2\. 6 months time in marketing (I
didn't pay myself. So, zero)

So, yes 186% covers several folds of my costs.

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willcate
Are there similar products existing in this niche, or do you consider yours
unique? thanks - w

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rajarjit
No project is unique in true sense. Mine is an educational designer cards. A
lot of designer + educational playing cards exist.

But for the community I built over social media, yes, the project is unique.
It is designed specifically for them.

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g3houdini
What do you think made the difference on the third try?

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rajarjit
Understanding that product success = Product X Marketing

Great product X low marketing = Win (Tesla, SpaceX) Great product X Great
Marketing = Super Win (Apple)

Normal product X Poor Marketing = My previous two attempts Good product X Good
Marketing = My third attempt

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lprubin
How did you get good traffic to your campaign?

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rajarjit
For the first hour of launch, all traffic came from email-lists. For the next
4-5 days, it was Instagram.

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photawe
What did the first 2 failures teach you?

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rajarjit
I answered to "g3houdini". Is it okay if you check that?

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rajarjit
Can anyone explain to me, why my post is marked as [Flagged]?

