1. Most crowdfunding project owners do not come from a startup background. Although more businesses and entrepreneurs have been using crowdfunding platforms like Crowdcube, Fundable, and Seedrs to finance their startup or expansion costs, the overwhelming majority of project owners on reward-based sites including Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and Rockethub are creative types, not business types.
The amount of bands, artists, film producers, designers, and gamers that have raised funds to make their dream a reality is unprecedented. These are the people that use their creativity to imagine new products, services, and works of art that not only appeal to the masses, but also make people a little bit better off.
Unfortunately, artistic creativity and business savvy rarely go hand-in-hand, unless we are talking about the late Steve Jobs. No one likes the idea of “selling out” or approaching fundraising from a business mindset because it clashes with the idea that people should like your creation because it’s awesome, not because it’s well marketed.
2. Most non-business types do not have a team mindset when it comes to producing great work. The idea of surrendering control of the finished work is worse than having not set out to complete the work at all. We live in an extremely competitive and individual-centered culture where people strive to improve their individual skill sets and compete with others from a similar background out of the hopes of one day being the best of the best.
3. So why do most successful startups have founding teams instead of individuals? Because in business, you are not setting out to build a product that the masses will love, you are setting out to build an organization that can build a product that the masses will love.
With the exception of a rare few, most people are not good at everything and have gaps in their knowledge and skill sets. The way to get around this is to partner with others who share your vision, values, and provide complimentary knowledge, skills, and connections.
This is why in the last 200 years, the greatest contributions to society have not come from individuals, but teams of people working together in tandem. Jerry Yang had David Filo when starting Yahoo, Steve jobs had Steve Wozniack when starting Apple, and Larry Page had Sergey Brin when starting Google. So who do you have?
4. Should you seek out a cofounder? The costs of taking on a cofounder for your crowdfunding campaign are obvious. Now, you need to share your ownership rights, equity, profits, and product vision. But what are the benefits?
Aside from having another person in the trenches with you, working every day to promote your campaign and set up manufacturing, you also have the benefit of their social network. Not only do they provide a complimentary skill set, but depending on their background, their connections could lead to potential partnerships, customers, and rockstar employees.
If you are further into the process of crafting your campaign and have early-adopters/pledgers, media contacts, marketing materials, a social media audience, and a manufacturing plan set up, you may not need a cofounder for your crowdfunding campaign, as the costs will outweigh the benefits.
However, if you are at the idea stage, have limited contacts in your product’s industry, a small social network, and have a weak understanding of how to get your product developed or market the hell out of it, then it might be beneficial to at least feel out some potential cofounders that can help you make your dream a reality.
How can you get started?
Start attending meetup.com events in your area. Reach out to others on sites like CrowdFundingForum, LinkedIn Groups, CofoundersLab, and Google Groups. The more people that you get to know in your discipline, the more opportunities you will encounter. A good book on networking is The Start-up of You.
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