A lot of founders hope to one day hit the unicorn mark. But some techpreneurs just want to make things that solve problems, albeit on a small scale. That’s one of the beauties of crowdfunding. It accomodates you, no matter how small or ambitious your project is.
Getting the people who would be using the product eventually to pay for the product ahead of time is not a new concept. Afterall, you pay the tailor before he makes your clothes.
Nevertheless, there’s a science to running a successful crowdfunding campaign, as Gbenga covered here. And despite the wealth of information available, a lot of crowdfunding campaigns fail. Which is enough to discourage you from considering crowdfunding as an option when looking for funds. Fortunately, I’ve ploughed through the data and seen a few trends that would increase the possibility of your crowdfunding campaign to succeed.
Videogames
Out of the 15 most successful kickstarter campaigns till date, seven of them are videogame related projects – Exploding Kittens, Torment, Project Eternity, Mighty No. 9, Reaper Miniatures, and Double Fine. Ouya, an Android based console, is also on the list along with Reaper miniatures which are videogame collectible toys.
This makes a lot of sense because videogamers are a passionate and committed bunch (some folks have been playing Mario for 25 years). But there’s also one other thing….
Nostalgia
A lot of the successful campaigns were heavy on nostalgia value. The videogames were either remakes, or they were a reimagining of the original titles. Some were even projects that the original developers had shelved indefinitely. Another campaign, Reading Rainbow, was a huge success because it was trying to bring back a series that was over two decades old.
In short version: don’t underestimate the power of nostalgia.
Physical products
3D printers, a wristwatch, a music player, all these were physical products that the backers could see and therefore buy into. It has always been easier to sell a physical product than software.
Kittens
If all else fails,make sure to include cute kittens as part of the project. Don’t believe me? Exploding Kittens had a goal of $10,000, which it hit in just eight minutes. Trust me, you can’t go wrong with kittens.
Photo Credit: Grey World via Compfight cc
