The JookBox MultiRoom WiFi Speaker System managed to raise in excess of $50,000 from a successful Kickstarter campaign and a successful Indiegogo campaign. Both crowdfunding campaigns were well-received by backers and the company has gone on to execute on its vision and create a more personal listening experience, even to the extent of pitching for a potential SharkTank episode.
Tommy Condon, the founder and CEO of BSX Audio, is currently a student at the University of Alabama and despite this hinderance, was still able to line up a manufacturing partner, manage two successful crowdfunding campaigns, and begin the process of shipping out rewards to his backers.
Having managed two PR teams, learned marketing on the fly, and helped promote the JookBox at CES, Tommy has had more experience with this campaign than most first-time entrepreneurs have in several years working to get their new product off the ground. He’s been nice enough to share some of those takeaways in this podcast episode, which you can listen to below or on iTunes or Stitcher. Don’t forget to rate it and subscribe!
Listen to the Episode Below.
Show Notes
This podcast episode is sponsored by Fulfillrite, a family-owned business that helps you ship out your Kickstarter and Indiegogo rewards to backers. They make e-commerce order fulfillment super easy!
– Tommy Condon is a student at the University of Alabama came up with the idea for JookBox when he was at a party with a friend, and realized that there was a need for a better and affordable speaker system. In addition, he recognized that there should be an easy way to allow multiple friends to submit playlist suggestions for the party.
– Each Jookbox delivers a deep crystal-clear sound and broadcasts its own dedicated WiFi network, which is used to communicate with other JookBox speakers. You can use the JookBox app to stream music on up to 10 JookBox speakers at the same time and create a collaborative playlist with your friends by enabling “party mode.”
– Tommy’s family has experience with manufacturing and selling hard goods, which he drew on when launching the campaign.
– Indiegogo was used as a secondary crowdfunding campaign platform because people part of their Kickstarter campaign wanted to continue to pledge to the project and they wanted to continue the marketing of the project.
– The PR team was very helpful for getting the word out for the product during the Indiegogo and Kickstarter. In addition, their trip to CES helped garner pledges for the Indiegogo campaign.
– A lot of the initial pledges for the Indiegogo campaign came from social media on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
– The jump in pledges for the Kickstarter came from a switch in the PR focus, which proved to be a good move for the crowdfunding campaign. Within a week of the switch, they got onto CNet, MacWorld, and more.
– Tommy assembled a small team, mainly drawing on his family, to help out with the crowdfunding product and boost the success of the campaign.
– Looking back, Tommy would have taken more of a role in the PR and marketing component of the campaign to make sure that everything ran smoothly.
– Kickstarter and Indiegogo cut down the barriers to launch a new hardware product. Crowdfunding is important because it proves that the initial marketplace for the product exists. In addition, you don’t need to sacrifice giving up equity in the early stages.
Tweet: “Trust your instincts and believe in your product.” – Tommy Condon, Raised $50k+
