Your Kickstarter Experience

[LianaWesten]

Hi Everyone,


I just learned of this website called Kickstarter... Trying to find anyone who had experiences with it, or are thinking about going that route.


Have you heard of Kickstarter?
If not, and need funding for your new project, head over to kickstarter.com right about now.


Here's an excerpt from their FAQ pages, about what they do:


Every project has a funding goal (a dollar amount) and a time limit (from 1 - 60 days) set by the project creator. When the deadline is reached, there are either of two results:


1. Funding Successful: If a project has met or surpassed its funding goal, all backers' credit cards are instantly charged and funds go directly to the project creator. Project creators are then responsible for completing the project and delivering rewards as promised.


2. Funding Unsuccessful: If a project has NOT met its funding goal, all pledges are canceled. That's it.


Have you ever raised money through kickstarter?


If yes, what were your experiences? How did it go?
If not, will you consider doing it?


What do you all generally think of this?


Cheers,


~ Liana

 

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[James Fake]

Applied a few times, never was accepted. Probably because everything I did was for making money. They like artsy 'save the kittens' 'for a cause' projects, not anything fastlane.

 

[LianaWesten]

Hmm, interesting.

I read it in their FAQ that charity and other type of "projects" they specifically don't accept.
How long ago was it that you tried them?

 

[Crimson]

Hey Guys!

We just launched ours...can´t give you an update yet, but I´ll provide a post mortem once we finish. Our first $350 was someone we did not know.

We´re only a few hours in and we´re 20% of the way there.

Custom Shirts and Suits by Mike Abadi — Kickstarter

Wish us luck!

 

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[Likwid24]

I would love to know if anyone else has experience with this too. I was actually looking into it recently. I see some really ridiculous products getting an insane amount of funding.

 

[Vigilante]

I got turned down about a year ago... was looking for manufacturing funding. I believe you need a chic (read metro/gay/save the whales/urban/artsy/yuppie) gimmick. They don't seem to pick up on anything that might be a pure capitalist startup. Gordon Gekko need not apply.

 

[Vigilante]

Crimson... what's $4k going to do for you, a portion of which will go back to the donors in merchandise at cost of goods? I assume you are just hopeful of some visibility...?

 

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[Likwid24]

. was looking for manufacturing funding. I believe you need a chic (read metro/gay/save the whales/urban/artsy/yuppie) gimmick

I wonder if they would pick me up if I came up with a creative gimmicky video. My products a paint brush cover. So what if I made a comedic video about paint brush's around the world dying because their not protected. Kind of like a "save the whales" type video. Except it would be "Save the Paint Brush's".

I know I probably have no chance of getting picked up by doing something serious. I just thinking maybe I'll have a shot if I can make some yuppies laugh. Plus I might get a little exposure.

 

[Vigilante]

Likwid... no reason not to try it...

 

[healthstatus]

I got turned down a year ago, trying to fund foreign translations of health assessments (Hindi and Mandarin). Apparently trying to make third world countries healthier isn't a goal. The rejection letter was NOT a form letter and they seemed to be saying that what I was giving back to the funding people wasn't COOL enough.

 

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[Crimson]

Crimson... what's $4k going to do for you, a portion of which will go back to the donors in merchandise at cost of goods? I assume you are just hopeful of some visibility...?

It´ll help, but the great thing is we´ll have a customer base to start testing with (not just F&F).

 

[Crimson]

I got turned down about a year ago... was looking for manufacturing funding. I believe you need a chic (read metro/gay/save the whales/urban/artsy/yuppie) gimmick. They don't seem to pick up on anything that might be a pure capitalist startup. Gordon Gekko need not apply.

They actually turned us down too. The thing is we kept following up until we satisfied all of their concerns.

 

[CPisHere]

I got turned down about a year ago... was looking for manufacturing funding. I believe you need a chic (read metro/gay/save the whales/urban/artsy/yuppie) gimmick. They don't seem to pick up on anything that might be a pure capitalist startup. Gordon Gekko need not apply.

Yes, this is the sense I get about them as well, although I have not tried to use them.

I think the reason why is because most of the people who are doing the funding are not Venture Capitalist - they are just people with some extra cash that want to be able to say they invested in something and make themselves seem more interesting. So any project that gives them a fun discussion point (preferrably with a product to go along with it) is going to do better than a purely capitalistic play.

 

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[CPisHere]

I wonder if they would pick me up if I came up with a creative gimmicky video. My products a paint brush cover. So what if I made a comedic video about paint brush's around the world dying because their not protected. Kind of like a "save the whales" type video. Except it would be "Save the Paint Brush's".

I know I probably have no chance of getting picked up by doing something serious. I just thinking maybe I'll have a shot if I can make some yuppies laugh. Plus I might get a little exposure.

Likwid, you should TOTALLY do this. Have the video on Youtube, and the people that invest will be able to show it to their friends and you'll get some free PR.

 

[Likwid24]

Likwid, you should TOTALLY do this. Have the video on Youtube, and the people that invest will be able to show it to their friends and you'll get some free PR.

It just came to me today. Special thanks to Vigilante. I've been looking at Kickstarter for the last month or so, trying to think of something creative that would make people want to fund my product. That just might do it plus get me some publicity.

I've also been thinking of a creative way to take care of my pledger's. Obviously I would have to give them free cover. But I think if I word it correctly, I can get more people involved. I was thinking up to a certain dollar amount, like say $10, I would offer them one over. But I would word it "Donate up to $10 and save 1 Brush", Showing a picture of a Sad, Damaged Brush. Maybe add something somewhere that says, "Brushes have feeling too".

The wheels are spinning right now! :driving:

Does anyone know of a way to create a cheap video that's of decent quality?

 

[PHD]

Does anyone know of a way to create a cheap video that's of decent quality?

Hit up the local University/Community college and get their media department to help you put something together? Good experience for them and they have all the equipment (and a lot of times the know-how) to make a very good looking production.

 

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[Crimson]

35% funded after 2 days!

 

[LianaWesten]

Likwid, I for one, would love to see a video like that! Great idea!

It seems to me that if you can make whatever you're trying to collect for "interesting" or put it in a format that "the masses" would like, then it will get accepted.

Curious.

 

[BeachBoy]

check this one TikTok+LunaTik Multi-Touch Watch Kits by Scott Wilson + MINIMAL — Kickstarter

and try to convince me they don't accept project on a pure capitalist standpoint..

almost one million $ raised, they were asking for $15k and it was for a purely capitalist product ( a watch bracelet for iPod)

 

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[CPisHere]

check this one TikTok+LunaTik Multi-Touch Watch Kits by Scott Wilson + MINIMAL — Kickstarter

and try to convince me they don't accept project on a pure capitalist standpoint..

almost one million $ raised, they were asking for $15k and it was for a purely capitalist product ( a watch bracelet for iPod)

This goes back to what I said, where people on Kickstarter want to invest in something that they can talk/brag about - and use the product to show off to their friends.

It isn't purely capitalistic. The investors want something besides (or in addition to) money in return - they want to be a part of something cool.

 

[hedgehog757]

I wonder if they would pick me up if I came up with a creative gimmicky video. My products a paint brush cover. So what if I made a comedic video about paint brush's around the world dying because their not protected. Kind of like a "save the whales" type video. Except it would be "Save the Paint Brush's".

I know I probably have no chance of getting picked up by doing something serious. I just thinking maybe I'll have a shot if I can make some yuppies laugh. Plus I might get a little exposure.

I agree 100%. What have you got to lose? and you gain experience making the video and seeing if it makes people laugh. You need to tell them the bristles are dying off because there are not enough Vegans in the world or something like that...

 

[biancachez]

Hi,

New here, but I currently have a Kickstarter project - well its almost over - and have hit my goal, so as long as one of my "big" backers doesn't pull out in the next 70 hours, I should collect on it. I was only trying to raise a small amount of money -they call it a "small project" - to help with some upfront costs for a book I am working on. I did not have any problems getting my project accepted on the first try.

The Style Clarity Workbook by Bianca — Kickstarter

I do have some thoughts on the process though - My project (still a few hours yet, but up until now) has not been featured on any page of Kickstarter in any way that is easy to find for people browsing Kickstarter. I have to do a lot of searching and scrolling to find it when using the "discover" feature, and I know what categories its listed under. I followed all of their rules, (must make a video, must provide XYZ to your donors) and yet, they (their algorithm?) still haven't brought my project up once. It does make you feel a bit like the uncool kid in class.

Kickstarter and Amazon combined end up taking about 9% of your total intake. When I look at my stats and the people that have donated, almost everything has come from work I have done to bring my social networks in - there are only 3 or 4 people I do not know, or cannot track back to someone I interact with online, and the "stranger" total is much less than the fees that will be taken from my project. I wonder if I could have just opened a donation page ("tip jar" via Amazon or Paypal button) myself and raised as much, saving that amount Kickstarter gets. Maybe, maybe not. Kickstarter sort of legitimizes your request. I feel like, if you have a very "important" indie sort of project that will get Kickstarter press, you will be featured well on the site. And of course, you must have the social media base to get your funding going.

I don't know that a small project like the one I did it is totally worth it in the end, but I can see how something bigger and "cooler" than mine can really do well. Let me know if I can help with any questions on my end. I am really glad I did it, but I don't know that I would do it again, unless it was for something really big.

 

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[Crimson]

Hey Guys,

So our kickstarter campaign is doing well. We're about a 50/50 split between people we've brought in and people who found us through kickstarter. I've found that appropriately managing the tiers incentivizes even friends to purchase more than they normally would. Overall 9 days in and 60% funded.

Custom Shirts and Suits by Mike Abadi — Kickstarter

 

[cliqflip]

They had two million dollar projects funded recently - Might not help but maybe inspires a little bit

Also one was funded in 24 hours!

 

[CPisHere]

FYI, here's an article on tips for getting funding through Kickstarter:

Kicking a$$ & Taking Donations: 9 Tips on Funding Your Kickstarter Project :: Tips :: The 99 Percent

 

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[Crimson]

18 Days left and over $6,000 raised so far!!!

 

[Crimson]

Past $7k, I think the excitement has died away since we met our goal. Still though we're hoping we can cross the 10k mark.

Custom Shirts and Suits by Mike Abadi — Kickstarter

 

[BeachBoy]

Past $7k, I think the excitement has died away since we met our goal. Still though we're hoping we can cross the 10k mark.

Custom Shirts and Suits by Mike Abadi — Kickstarter

Could we get french cuffs instead of standard ones?

 

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[MrMickeyzAzA]

Just joined the forums and checked out some of your guys kickstarters.Great stuff.

Now we just started our kickstarter and are looking for some opinions,facebook likes,and of coarse a few backers wouldnt hurt. The project is the creation of a fictional celebrity, basicly taking a fake character and brining him to life. It is also a art and music project so like I like to say an artistic mouthfull. My wife who is also the artist/actress/musician worked very hard on this kickstarter so im doing my part to help. Please take a look if you get a moment of spare time.We would love it.Thank you all and ill be back soon
Moxie Mon: The Fictional Celebrity Project by Alexandria Valentine — Kickstarter

 

[Crimson]

Could we get french cuffs instead of standard ones?

Sorry just saw this. Yup, you can customize most things on our shirts, including cuffs, collars, lapels, collar linings, etc..