

What I learned from doing a Kickstarter - jamesmcbennett
http://mcbennett.wordpress.com/2013/06/01/kickstarter/

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kevin818
I think the author is making this sound a lot easier than it really is. From
my experience, which didn't do so well, I came to the realization that these
projects are more of a popularity contest than a discoverability (if that's a
word) one, i.e., it's all about who you know.

Even trying to get the media to cover it was nearly impossible because they
won't even reply back to your email unless you have a huge following and
social network.

Not to sound like a negative nancy, but at least from my own personal
experience, it did feel like having a great idea, even a game-changing idea,
won't take off unless you know the right people.

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_wesley_
I disagree.

Certainly having a social following / media connections pre-launch (either for
the idea or personally) can help greatly, I believe that it can be completely
overcome by hard work and a really good product.

Calling it a popularity contest trivializes the effort that many people put
into their campaigns.

Source: I launched a Kickstarter campaign that did ~$500k on a $20k goal this
year. No media connections, no social following pre-launch.

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benblodgett
Can we take a peak at the campaign?

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_wesley_
[http://kck.st/VxaN0O](http://kck.st/VxaN0O)

~~~
bdegman
Really cool idea. Just backed a pair.

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itsallbs
This is the kind of posts I'd like to see more of on HN. So many of the posts
here are titled "How I did X" or "Why Z matters" and then neglect to go very
in-depth at all with how X was accomplished or the importance of Z.

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jamesmcbennett
I still have lots to add, but so much of this was alien to me previously.
Would love to know your thoughts/additions/subtractions.

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pallandt
Very insightful, thanks for writing. I'd love to be able to provide other
feedback, but so far haven't got any hands-on experience with crowdfunding,
especially not with Kickstarter since I live in an EU country they currently
don't support. If I do ever decide to launch something in the near future,
I'll apply your advice to Indiegogo most likely.

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jamesmcbennett
They are ways to do Kickstarter even if you don't live in the US or UK, most
involve a little extra cost of setting up a company or finding a friend you
trust. (Have never done it)

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jakejake
Very interesting stuff. With the crowd sourcing market getting so crowded you
really do have to work to get noticed it seems.

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jamesmcbennett
Agree - there was a time when merely being on kickstarter was a news item and
viral on social media.

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pallandt
Btw, is fabsie.com supposed to display a blank page? I was about to bookmark
it.

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lnanek2
Broken for me too. Just a white page. Redirects to some launchrock site with
some javascript in viewsource, but nothing shows.

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jamesmcbennett
Launchrock recently migrated their platform fabsie.com works
launchrock.fabsie.com works www.fabsie.com seems to be broken. will figure it
out as soon as I can.

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danso
An interesting Kickstarter to learn from is Planet Money's, which earned
nearly $600K after only asking for $50K.

Even more remarkable, there was only one level of gift: a $25 t-shirt.

I'd say Planet Money, which is kind of like an "American Life" type brand
focused on economics, would've made its goal simply by virtue of brand power.
But I'd say its huge success is a result of a kickass product and more
importantly, a compelling story. I would pay $25 for that t-shirt design
simply to support NPR. But the story itself - that the t-shirt would be used
as a starting place to investigate the global economy, was just too good to
pass up. I didn't even watch the promo video though I imagine its production
value is quite good.

Anyway, a little OT, but just wanted to bring up this example as it's the only
Kickstarter I've backed where the product itself was ancillary to my
desires...I mean, I think the shirt's neat, but I won't be heartbroken if it's
a year late. I'm much more excited about the journalism that will be produced.

~~~
jamesmcbennett
Love their video. Also must be taken into account that many campaigns have
strong existing communities such as this one.

