learn from the best 11
lessons learned from the most successful hardware crowdfunding campaigns

Play-I Hexo+ Skully Pebble Lima
Coolest Cooler AvegantGiroptic Tile LIFX featuring: Narrative FlyklyPanono Onewheel Omate

#1. build a strong community
before launching

A FEW MONTHS BEFORE WE
LAUNCHED OUR CAMPAIGN, WE STARTED TO ACTIVELY BUILD OUR MAILING LIST OF PEOPLE […] AND GREW OUR AUDIENCE TO A FEW THOUSAND PEOPLE. “ ” VIKAS GUPTA CEO & co-founder of Wonder Workshop (Play-i) TOTAL CROWDFUNDING : $1.4 MILLION

WE DID A STRONG PRE-CAMPAIGN
BEFORE LAUNCHING AND WE GATHERED IN TWO WEEKS 10 INTERNATIONAL ATHLETES AS AMBASSADORS 7,000 SIGN-UP EMAILS 4,200 FACEBOOK LIKES 2,300 TWITTER FOLLOWERS 400 BLOG POSTS “ ” CHRISTOPHE BAILLON Co-founder of Hexo+ TOTAL CROWDFUNDING : $1.3 MILLION

“ ” MARCUS WELLER
CEO and co-founder of Skully TOTAL CROWDFUNDING : $2.4 MILLION WE HAD ABOUT 150,000 PEOPLE WHO SIGNED UP AS BETA TESTERS PRIOR TO OUR INDIEGOGO CAMPAIGN.

meet your customers and test
your product before launching #2.

YOU NEED TO PITCH THE
PRODUCT TO AT LEAST 100 PEOPLE BEFORE YOU KNOW HOW PEOPLE WILL REACT TO IT. […] THIS IS HOW YOU FIGURE OUT WHAT THE RIGHT MESSAGE IS. MARTIN KÄLLSTRÖM CEO & founder of Narrative TOTAL CROWDFUNDING: $550K “ ”

“ ” WE
WALKED ON THE STREETS OF BERLIN AND SHOWED OUR PANORAMAS AND WHAT THE CAMERA SHOULD LOOK LIKE TO RANDOM PEOPLE. WE WANTED TO SEE IF THEY WERE WILLING TO SUPPORT THE IDEA . WE DID A SURVEY AND WE ASKED AROUND 400 PEOPLE. BJÖRN BOLLENSDORF CEO & co-founder of PANONO TOTAL CROWDFUNDING : $1.2 MILLION

#3. meet journalists and bloggers
before launching

WE HAD A BIG EFFORT
TO REACH MEDIA, BECAUSE THE REAL THING THAT MAKES A KICKSTARTER PROJECT EXPLODE IS HOW YOU DRIVE TRAFFIC TO YOUR KICKSTARTER PAGE. […] WE HAD A LIST OF 60 TO 70 BLOGGERS WE APPROACHED. ERIC MIGICOVSKY CEO & founder of Pebble TOTAL CROWDFUNDING : $10.3 MILLION “ ”

WE LEAKED INFO A MONTH
BEFORE THE CAMPAIGN STARTED. WE DID NOT KNOW ANYONE IN THE PRESS SECTOR SO WE TRIED TO FIND JOURNALISTS ON TWITTER. LAURENT LE PEN CEO & founder of Omate TOTAL CROWDFUNDING: $1.0 MILLION “ ”

#4.
fine-tune your
crowdfunding page

WE DID 19 VERSIONS OF
THE KICKSTARTER PAGE AND 21 VERSIONS OF THE VIDEO SCENARIO. “ ” SEVERIN MARCOMBES CEO & co-founder of Lima TOTAL CROWDFUNDING : $1.2 MILLION

#5. continually produce content to
maintain momentum

A CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN IS A
MARATHON; YOU NEED TO HAVE SOMETHING TO TELL EVERY DAY DURING 45 DAYS. “ ” RICHARD OLLIER CEO & co-founder of Giroptic TOTAL CROWDFUNDING : $1.4 MILLION

#6. have a working++ prototype
before launching

YOU NEED TO HAVE A
WORKING PROTOTYPE. YOU NEED TO BE 100 PERCENT POSITIVE THAT YOU CAN BUILD THE PROJECT. “ ” NICK EVANS CEO & co-founder of Tile TOTAL CROWDFUNDING : $2.6 MILLION

#7. have the (almost) final
design of the product before launching

I LEARNED THAT KICKSTARTER AND
CROWDFUNDING IS A VISUAL MEDIUM. PEOPLE WANT TO SEE WHAT THEY ARE GETTING AND WE WEREN'T THERE THE FIRST TIME. I TOOK THE DESIGN TO THE STAGE YOU SEE IT AT NOW. “ ” RYAN GREPPER CEO & founder of Coolest Cooler TOTAL CROWDFUNDING : $13.3 MILLION

#8. know how to manufacture
your product before launching

MANUFACTURING IS A HUGE CHALLENGE
FOR ALMOST EVERY KICKSTARTER PROJECT. WE KNEW THAT WAS GOING TO BE A CHALLENGE, AND WE HAD ALREADY LINED UP A LOT OF WHAT WE THINK WE NEEDED TO DO FOR MANUFACTURING BEFORE KICKSTARTER. “ ” EDWARD TANG CEO & co-founder of Avegant (Glyph) TOTAL CROWDFUNDING : $1.5 MILLION

#9.
take timing into account

ONE OF THE BIG FACTORS
WAS THAT PEOPLE ARE MUCH MORE LIKELY TO CONNECT WITH THE IDEA FOR A COOLER WHEN IT’S HOT OUTSIDE, RATHER THAN DURING ONE OF THE COLDEST MONTHS OF THE YEAR. “ ” RYAN GREPPER CEO & founder of Coolest Cooler TOTAL CROWDFUNDING : $13.3 MILLION

#10. have a strong, organized
team to handle the campaign

WE PULLED IN A FULL
TIME SOCIAL MEDIA PERSON AND A PR PERSON TO RUN THE CAMPAIGNBECAUSE JUST POSTING ON KICKSTARTER DOESN’T ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING. YOU HAVE TO BRING YOUR OWN AUDIENCE, YOUR OWN TRAFFIC. KYLE DOERKSEN CEO & founder of OneWheel TOTAL CROWDFUNDING: $630K “ ”

“ ” THE
BIGGEST MISTAKE WE MADE ALONG THE WAY WAS UNDERESTIMATING TIME AND ENERGY REQUIRED TO ANSWER THE HUNDREDS OF KICKSTARTER PRIVATE MESSAGES, AS WELL AS THE TIME TO TALK TO PRESS AND BLOGGERS. IF I DID IT ALL OVER AGAIN I WOULD SET UP A MORE STRUCTURED APPROACH TO MANAGE INBOUND QUESTIONS. PHIL BOSUA CEO & founder of LIFX TOTAL CROWDFUNDING : $1.3 MILLION

#11. take time to prepare
your campaign

“ ” WE HAD
TO DEVELOP THE PROTOTYPE – IT TOOK US ALMOST A YEAR AND A HALF. ONCE IT WAS DONE, WE STARTED PREPARING FOR THE CAMPAIGN AND IT TOOK US AROUND 2 MONTHS TO PREPARE ALL THE MATERIAL – THE VIDEO, TEXTS, REWARDS, ETC. NIKO KLANSEK CEO & founder of FLYKLY TOTAL CROWDFUNDING : $701K

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