This article was written by Brian Wong. You can find him on twitter here.
Every January, companies from around the globe gather at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to showcase their latest groundbreaking innovations. Held annually in Las Vegas, CES attracts large and small companies alike, each eager to show off their advancements and accomplishments in the electronics and technology sector.
Not surprisingly, this venue brings together many different new companies and products, appealing to the entrepreneurial spirit often coupled with crowdfunding campaigns. CrowdCrux reporter Brian Wong was able to speak with a few of these successful crowdfunded entrepreneurs, asking them how they were able to surpass their fundraising goals and what advice they have for crowdfunding hopefuls.
1. Carbon Flyer
Raising over $250,000 out of their projected $50,000 on Indiegogo, this campaign to fund the production of a carbon-fiber personal drone with an onboard camera and Bluetooth control exceeded its fundraising expectations. The Carbon Flyer was developed by Trident Design, LLC, the firm who also ran the crowdfunding campaign and is known for designing products such as the Coolest Cooler and the Quickey.
When asked about advice on how to run a campaign, lead designer Bret Gould says there is “no such thing as an automatically successful campaign.” It is important to have a plan before launch, and to “put most of your effort on pre-campaign.” In the case of the Carbon Flyer, the team invested in the products production value, hiring an expert team to create their promotional video.
Before the campaign even launched, the team had done its due diligence to create a social media following and engaged in strategic marketing with targeted ads, so when they finally did launch, the Carbon Flyer shot to the top of the Indiegogo Trending section of the website.
2. Charge All
ChargeAll raised over 1000% of its target, clocking in at $325,922 out of their $30,000 goal. This campaign raised funds to create the ChargeAll, a portable battery pack with multiple outlets for different devices.
After several smaller crowdfunding defeats, the team decided to rethink their strategy and sell more than just the device. Jeffrey Maganis, Founder and CEO of ChargeAll, says that with this campaign, they were “not selling a product, [but] selling a story.” For ChargeAll, the story was being able to curl your hair at the beach, charge your phone on the go, and not be limited to finding a seat next to an outlet at the airport.
In order to attract backers to a product, the campaign has to find a problem everyone shares and produce a story that resonates as a solution. As Maganis says, “It never is the product, it’s always the story.”
3. Flic
The Flic campaign raised all of its funds in the first 30 hours, eventually capping out at over $550,000 of its $80,000 goal.
The money from this campaign will be used to produce the company’s wireless smart button that triggers different phone capabilities with the simple press of a button.The device is capable of controlling lights, taking pictures, acting as a snooze button, and many other preprogrammed actions, as well as integrating with existing applications and allowing the user to add custom actions.
According to Amir Sharifat, Cofounder and COO, the secret behind Flic’s success was to “Build hype [and] build a strong community before launching a product.” In fact, Flic’s campaign spent two months before launch building its community. The team set up landing pages, reached out to all of their contacts, and created a teaser video all to promote hype for the product.
They also promoted their incentive referral program beforehand, a system that awarded backers with more Flics if they brought in more customers. This created outreach far beyond their already-substantial email lists, causing the campaign to hit the first page of Indiegogo almost immediately after launch.
4. iSkn
The iSketchnote (iSkn) campaign raised $346,127 out of a goal of $35,000 to create a device that creates a digital version of a sketch or drawing on your tablet while you are drawing a physical version of that image on a piece of paper.
Product Manager Clément Rosset says that even though the campaign’s funding exceeded all expectations, the goal of the campaign wasn’t primarily to raise funds. Rather, the goal was to find a community to improve and create the ideal product, spreading awareness and attaining customers. Nevertheless, Rosset emphasizes the importance of preparation, saying that in order to be successful, you have to “find your community. Try to be close to them.”
The community is what self-promotes the campaign for you, and if you engage with them, you can improve your product while at the same time reaching new customers. But too much preparation can stifle the product’s appeal and make it easier for the product owners to resist community-suggested change. With a community engaged, Rosset says, “you don’t have to think – you have to launch.”
5. LaMetric Dashboard and Speaker
Raising $370,001 out of its goal for $69,000 the LaMetric Dashboard and Speaker, made by Smart Atoms, eliminates the need to check in to multiple apps by providing a customizable smart ticker to showcase users’ important notifications and information.
CTO and Founder of Smart Atoms, Dmytro Baryskyy, emphasizes preparation and focus on details for campaign success. According to Baryskyy, “each tiny detail influences,” and the team spent time researching past successes in addition to working with friends who had run successful campaigns in the past (the Petcube and iblazr campaigns). The team also contacted the media ahead of launch to build anticipation, and focused resources on the promotional video, hiring a specialist to film it. Baryskyy says that a good campaign has to “have a good video that explains how the product works, and users have to see it [in action] in the video.”
6. Lima
The Lima campaign raised $1,229,074 out of a $69,000 goal on Kickstarter to fund a device that enables all of a user’s devices to access all device files, no matter where they are located on each device.
CMO Amandine Guyot says that the most important part of running a crowdfunding campaign is to “be sure you have a clear message.” There are thousands of other campaigns out there, and if a potential backer cannot understand the campaign’s message quickly and clearly, that backer is lost.
Run your message past family, friends, and random people you do not even know in order to ensure that the goals of the campaign are easily understandable by all parties. Guyot also points out that “if you are successful, you will get a lot of questions,” so be prepared to dedicate a lot of time to the campaign maintenance if you want to have a chance at success.
7. Lume Cube
The Lume Cube campaign raised $229,517 with a goal of $56,000 to fund the production of incredibly bright wireless lights that can be controlled through a mobile app.
The product is intended for photographers and videographers, allowing the application to control multiple 1,500 lumens-powerful lights, making them stay on or flash on demand. CEO Mornee Sherry cites “early reach out” as the major reason for the campaign’s success. The team spent a lot of time looking at past campaigns to find the secrets to their success, picking and choosing various aspects of each to use in their own campaign.
They also used an application called CisionPoint to compile a list of contacts to reach out to for community building. One month before the campaign launch, the team was setting up Skype demos with potential backers and press, building hype for the eventual launch date.
Like many other campaigns, they hired a professional agency to create their promotional video, but they also partnered with Joby, a company that makes camera accessories. The partnership with Joby not only brought with it a readily available customer base, but also allowed them to crosspromote with the Joby products such as tripods and wall mounts that complemented the Lume Cube.
In the first 72 hours after launch, the Lume Cube’s hype raised the entirety of the target funds for the campaign.
8. The Core
The highest crowdfunded campaign in Canadian history, The Core raised $1,142,079 with a goal of only $48,000. The Core campaign raised money to produce a wireless speaker system where multiple speakers can be controlled by a single mobile app.
The Core is an instance of a popular trend where establish companies turn to crowdfunding in order to fund the production of a product that leaves them with no debt. In this case, The Core is made by a company called Mass Fidelity, and they worked with professionals to create a sound promotional video, researched how past successes reached their goals, and made the effort to dedicate time to the campaign.
As an established company, they were able to use preexisting social media networks and journalist relations to promote the campaign. Frédérique Saindon, Partner at Mass Fidelity, says that the two most important aspects of running this kind of a campaign are to “do your research” to be prepared and to “set a lot of time aside” to run the campaign.
9. Uno Noteband
The campaign for the Uno Noteband raised $104,984 out of a targeted $50,000 to fund a smart bracelet with the capabilities to track fitness, make calls, check emails, connect to gaming platforms, and much more.
Similar to many other crowdfunding campaigns, the goal of the campaign was not only to obtain funding, but also to acquire new customers. CEO Mark Long says that there are “no happy accidents in crowdfunding anymore.” The days of putting out a novel idea out there and making it big are few and far between, so the modern day campaigner has to put a lot of work into running the campaign. Long says that press and media are no longer the driver of sales, but organic sales provide a much wider reach. As such, he recommends to “retain a marketing firm” to do the outreach for you and to hire a professional to make your film.
The Uno Noteband was funded within three days of launch, and much of that can be attributed to the hype that the marketing firm built around the product before launch. The campaign was able to make it quickly into the Indiegogo Trending pages, and once you can get featured there, Long says that staying on the top is a “self-fulfilling prophecy,” as page views and exposure tend to keep a campaign popular.
About the Author
Brian is a DC-based writer who spends too much time at the office and too little time writing on the side. Despite being warned, he drinks the black office coffee every morning. Brian is interested in covering technology, gaming, food culture, and start-ups. You can reach him on twitter or at his email.
