

An Interview with a Kickstarter Success - jheitzeb
http://www.hackthings.com/an-interview-with-a-kickstarter-success/

======
BryantD
I'm not sure it counts as a success just because they reached goals. Get back
to us when they've shipped.

~~~
jonnathanson
Well, not only that, but even after shipping, life isn't necessarily roses and
rainbows for even the most successful Kickstarter campaigns. A story worth
writing would be a followup with some of the biggest winners in Kickstarter's
history, with sort of a "Where are they now?" angle.

It's awesome that the Thermodo guys were able to get such interest in their
product, and to generate such a big round on Kickstarter. But let's ask
ourselves: is there _really_ a market for plug-in thermometers for mobile
phones? Would they have been able to establish such a market without
Kickstarter? Will they maintain a market after the Kickstarter campaign is
over? Or, perhaps more likely, is the set of all people who bought into this
Kickstarter round = to the set of all people who will _ever_ buy a Thermodo?

Don't get me wrong; I'm a big Kickstarter fan. And I've contributed to plenty
of campaigns to get "gee-whiz" types of novelty products. But I have a hard
time seeing a sustainable business model in many of these ostensible success
stories.

(Maybe that's ok. Maybe some of these guys are just trying to bring cool or
interesting products to a big group, and nothing more. So be it.)

~~~
williwu
This is our first attempt to foray into physical hardware products as software
developers. It's our MVP. Kickstarter is a fantastic platform for that.

There are still lots of work ahead of us. We have several ideas on where we
want take Thermodo project from here. We are already getting lots of feedbacks
on ideas from users, too.
[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/robocat/thermodo-the-
tin...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/robocat/thermodo-the-tiny-
thermometer-for-mobile-devices/posts/440535)

We will probably write a post on our journey from software developers to
hardware designers when we are a bit closer to the final product.

~~~
jonnathanson
Rock on, then. If this is the MVP of a bigger, Nest-like vision, and/or a
springboard into more projects, all the more power to you.

BTW, I did not intend to come off as a dick in my previous post, and I
apologize if I did. What I was trying to say is that I am really more
interested in the what-happens-after phase than I am in the fundraising phase,
and I don't think we -- meaning we, the community, the press, the readers,
etc. -- spend enough time or attention following up with the people who've
launched big. And we should certainly root for the success of those who do.

------
alberth
Kickstarter is NOT an investment platform. That's actually against the law in
the USA [1].

Kickstarter is a DONATION platform.

There is a huge difference between the two and people often confuse what
Kickstarter really is (and is obligated to do).

[1] <http://www.sec.gov/answers/rule506.htm>

------
kepano
My co-founder and I at Lumi ran two successful Kickstarter projects and have
been mentoring people on the platform. We turned our workshops into a
Skillshare class that contains lots of good material + interviews with other
project creators. <http://skl.sh/111uQaJ>

If you want to get a flavor for the course we're doing a live Google Hangout
tonight at 6:30PM PDT, that you're welcome to join in on:
<https://plus.google.com/events/c1e21ts81gf4gdchcivs7ld8jec>

------
dugmartin
Kickstarter is pretty amazing. My brother's company has had huge success and
are only 7 days into their campaign (they got their initial funding in 3
hours) but they have a long time customer base and a lot of pent up demand as
they are using Kickstarter to fund a less expensive version of the product
they have been selling for years.

[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dwarvenforge/dwarven-
for...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dwarvenforge/dwarven-forges-game-
tiles-revolutionary-miniature)

~~~
camus
no spamming , it's in the kickstarter rules.

~~~
Torrents
Are you...saying that dugmartin is spamming?

------
williwu
Thanks for reading the interview. The project from the interview is our MVP of
a hardware product as software developers.

Edit: direct link to Thermodo Kickstarter campaign
[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/robocat/thermodo-the-
tin...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/robocat/thermodo-the-tiny-
thermometer-for-mobile-devices)

------
niftylettuce
if anyone is launching a project, then check out our bootstrapped service at
<https://teelaunch.com> \-- good luck

~~~
williwu
We actually contacted you before we launched, but never heard back.

