Crowdfund like a PRO!10 questions to DIVE into the minds of 3 Crowdfunding GURUS!

By: Jan Christopher Arp

Hi there! I’m Jan, the crowdfunding blogger.

I posed ten questions to three crowdfunding gurus,who raised a combined ~$554K from close to 10,600

backers. The following presentation willgive you some insights into their

success secrets!

Thomas Sychterz

Wipebookco-Founder

William Dubé

JotunFounder

Jonathan Belisle

WuxiaFounder

Crowdfund like a PRO!10 questions to DIVE into the minds of 3 crowdfunding GURUS!

1. Why crowdfund versus other financing sources (i.e. grants, debt, etc.)?

Find your crowd, get exposure and receive credibility:

Find your crowd! The campaign identifies your true allies. Many whopreviously claimed they would support the campaign disappear. True alliesbecome campaign champions, providing feedback, sharing and even donating.

Get exposure aiding in attracting potential partners, i.e. publishers, media,suppliers, etc. This accelerates the development process, versus the alternativein which the campaign owner must find time to seek out potential partners.

Interest level of the campaign can be judged, by the amount raised, whichserves to validate the campaign. Validity turns into credibility, which you canliterally take to the bank – to raise more money for the campaign.

Ultimately, it’s sort of the first right of passage, with the least amount of barriers to entry– low risk, low cost, and huge potential versus other funding sources.

2. Why Kickstarter?

What Kleenex is to tissue paper, Kickstarter is to Crowdfunding. Although this maychange over time, it’s currently the biggest one out there. Ultimately, Kickstarter raisesmore money per campaign, is more organized, with more mature advisers, and a lotmore software to analyze campaign patterns.

= Kleenex

= Kickstarter

3. Describe the preparation process?

Preparation is crucial in order to maximize your chances of success. Consider:

Research similar campaigns that failed and succeeded – how much moneywas raised, what did the video look like, etc.

Establish communication channels with family, friends, journalists, bloggers,or any other interested party, as they are highly likely to promote yourcampaign to like-minded individuals once the campaign is live.

Build the pitch – a balance between cool and professional. Simplify, make itemotionally catchy, fun to look at, but also ensure the campaign serves apurpose. Articulate the project’s end-game before explaining the project.

Prepare a template of answers that address even the most basic of questionssuch as what is the point of Kickstarter, and how one uses it.

4. How does one set goals?

Initially there may not be a clear answer, and you are never really sure; however, hereare some PRO suggestions:

Determine your minimum budget. Choose a goal that if met, would providesufficient cash to complete the project, especially if raising more moneythrough debt is unwise.

Research past campaign trends. For instance, game development ranges from$5,000 to $500,000, while indie games range from $20,000 to $65,000,depending on the perceived quality.

Find the perfect mix, which is small enough for people to give you money, butlarge enough so that people continue contributing.

The total amount raised on Kickstarter provides immediate credibility to theproject. The greater the amount raised, the greater the credibility obtained.

Summary: align the goal with market characteristics, psychological barriers, budgetaryconstraints, and credibility needs.

5. How does one establish rewards?

Again, no single way exists for creating the rewards. The PROs suggest:

No more than 8 tiers (e.g. $1, $10, $25, $50, $75, $100, $300, >$1’000).

Know the mental barriers (e.g. $25 - $50 average donation, subject to vary).

Each tier should clearly define the different value the donators receive.

Co-create rewards, especially if demanded by big investors (e.g. corporations).

Most importantly, keep it simple! Rewards should be clear so that people can easilyunderstand what they are getting for their money.

Keep It Simple Stupid

6. How does one create awareness about the campaign?

First off, the campaign must be worth selling – don’t waste your time and the time ofothers selling snake oil! Next, consider the following:

The first hour. Make sure all family, friends, and major sponsors are ready todonate in the first hour - $1 earned in the beginning is worth $100 later. Earlysuccess may result in being the featured Kickstarter campaign.

The first 5 days. Reach out to the journalists and bloggers two days before thecampaign commences, and share their posts. Make sure there is a lot ofadditional text material on the campaign page for them to use.

Properly targeted communication. Buying ads on Facebook or hoping forpeople with massive followings to share the campaign, is ill-advised. One maynot need 5,000 backers, but rather only 300 committed backers.

7. What are the biggest challenges?

The slowdown is identicalfor 90% of the campaigns. Itoccurs around day 14. Tryto cross-promote withother campaigns, keepexisting backers engaged,and remain positive eventhough some negativefeedback may be received.Stay the course: send e-mails, conduct interviewsand engage in social media.Traction shall recommencefive days before thecampaign’s end.

People who previously saidthey would help, may nowrefuse to donate or sharethe campaign, with a“what’s in it for me?”attitude. This is not to beconfused with those thatare skeptical and becomecampaign champions asthey understand how hardyou are working (e.g. e-mails at 3 a.m.), and have abetter understanding of thevision.

People want to support awinner – i.e. a campaignthat will reach its goal.Backers would rather avoidpledging money altogether,even though it doesn’t costthe backer any money forcampaigns that don’t reachtheir goal. Convincepotential backers that thecampaign is a winner!

8. What were the biggest factors contributing one’s success?

The concept should be somewhat unique, as crowdfunding is reallygeared towards early adopters. Additionally, it must be a solid conceptthat people can buy into.

A perfect storm – simple product, catchy idea, well presented (e.g.visuals and video), and strong team. It must be simple enough foranyone to understand and clear why people should give money.

The vision must be well articulated and delivered with conviction andpassion. Speaking with passion creates project champions that aretruly convinced this will be the next big thing!

9. What might have been done differently?

Don’t announce the “stretch goals” too early, as it is difficult to changethese later. Once a more clear understanding of market is obtained,develop “stretch goals” that ensure campaign momentum is maintained.

More focus on organizing relationships with the stakeholders. Thisincludes better follow-up questions and a more detailed organizationsystem in the back-end.

Be prepared for the sprint. Running a campaign is equivalent to a full-timejob – hire an intern that can be full-time if necessary.

10. Is there any reason to not Crowdfund again?

TIME ENERGY

WILL Crowdfund!

Crowdfunding is exhausting, and some cases takes one a month to recover from theendeavour. Ensure one have the time, energy and will power to begin. There may becontextual constraints that could impede the ability to conduct a successful campaign,i.e. family. However, all would do it again, especially since they now have a rolodex ofchampions to contact. Once per year seems sufficient for them though!

NOW LEAP LIKE A PRO INTO YOUR CAMPAIGN

1. Egor Culcea 2. Ivan Colic 3.Useiconic.com 4. Julieta Felix

5. Leonardo Dri 6. Andrew Nolte 7. Edward Boatman 8. Nick Green

9. Ramakrishna Venkatesan 10. Hunotika 11. Dan Hetteix 12. Luis Prado

13. Cody Lawson 14. Iconsmind.com 15. Lemon Liu 16. Dennis Timmermann

17. Laurent Patain 18. Alf 19. Matthew R. Miller 20. Till Teenk

21. Marie Ann Packer 22. OCHA Visual Info Unit 23. Ashia Sabbath 24. Matt Brooks

25. Amandine Vandesteene 26. Stephen Borengasser

Special thanks to the Noun Project and their contributors (in order of appearance):

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