7 ms·

What I learned from doing a Kickstarter

46 points by jamesmcbennett 13y ago

jamesmcbennett 13y ago
I still have lots to add, but so much of this was alien to me previously. Would love to know your thoughts/additions/subtractions.
- pallandt 13y ago
  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.
  - jamesmcbennett 13y ago
    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)
jakejake 13y ago
Very interesting stuff. With the crowd sourcing market getting so crowded you really do have to work to get noticed it seems.
- jamesmcbennett 13y ago
  Agree - there was a time when merely being on kickstarter was a news item and viral on social media.
  - pallandt 13y ago
    Btw, is fabsie.com supposed to display a blank page? I was about to bookmark it.
    - lnanek2 13y ago
      Broken for me too. Just a white page. Redirects to some launchrock site with some javascript in viewsource, but nothing shows.
      - jamesmcbennett 13y ago
        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.
kevin818 13y ago
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.
- wslh 13y ago
  So at the end is marketing what we should hack instead of code. I always ask me how many projects in the long tail deserve to move to the head? Surely many if we hack the search economy.
  - kevin818 13y ago
    Yes, unfortunately social plays a larger role than you think. Which is why I prefer to think of all these crowd funding platforms as "social funding" platforms. It'd be nice to create a true crowd funding platform where your project's success is based off the actual project rather than the creator's "klout".
    - mgkimsal 13y ago
      But... the intangible part of a project is often the person/team behind it, whether you trust them to actually deliver, and whether you trust their instincts, perhaps based on previous interactions (hence the popularity aspect coming in to play). I've had numerous people I've counseled (can't think of a better term) over the last 6 months with an app or product idea. Almost always their first plan is "I'm gonna do a kickstarter". Terrible terrible approach, imo, precisely because it's mostly a popularity contest, or 'who you know'. None of these people who I've spoken with have large networks, and their kickstarters have generally been poor turnouts. Correlation or causation? I'm inclined to causation.
danso 13y ago
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 13y ago
  Love their video. Also must be taken into account that many campaigns have strong existing communities such as this one.
itsallbs 13y ago
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.

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

pallandt 13y ago
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.
- jamesmcbennett 13y ago
  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)

jakejake 13y ago

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

jamesmcbennett 13y ago
Agree - there was a time when merely being on kickstarter was a news item and viral on social media.
- pallandt 13y ago
  Btw, is fabsie.com supposed to display a blank page? I was about to bookmark it.
  - lnanek2 13y ago
    Broken for me too. Just a white page. Redirects to some launchrock site with some javascript in viewsource, but nothing shows.
    - jamesmcbennett 13y ago
      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.

kevin818 13y ago

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.

wslh 13y ago
So at the end is marketing what we should hack instead of code. I always ask me how many projects in the long tail deserve to move to the head? Surely many if we hack the search economy.
- kevin818 13y ago
  Yes, unfortunately social plays a larger role than you think. Which is why I prefer to think of all these crowd funding platforms as "social funding" platforms. It'd be nice to create a true crowd funding platform where your project's success is based off the actual project rather than the creator's "klout".
  - mgkimsal 13y ago
    But... the intangible part of a project is often the person/team behind it, whether you trust them to actually deliver, and whether you trust their instincts, perhaps based on previous interactions (hence the popularity aspect coming in to play). I've had numerous people I've counseled (can't think of a better term) over the last 6 months with an app or product idea. Almost always their first plan is "I'm gonna do a kickstarter". Terrible terrible approach, imo, precisely because it's mostly a popularity contest, or 'who you know'. None of these people who I've spoken with have large networks, and their kickstarters have generally been poor turnouts. Correlation or causation? I'm inclined to causation.

danso 13y ago

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 13y ago
Love their video. Also must be taken into account that many campaigns have strong existing communities such as this one.

itsallbs 13y ago

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.