We've outlined the benefits of hosting a crowdfunding campaign on your own website. We've also done the research, and uncovered the 3 things majority of $1M+ DIY crowdfunded campaigns have in common.
2. Q&A
Q: What do hardware startups like Coin, Tile,
August, Lockitron, and Plastc all have in
common?
A: All of these startups raised $1,000,000+ on
crowdfunding campaigns on their own
websites. That’s right--no Kickstarter!
3. Before We Find Out How...
Let’s go over the ‘5 Benefits to Running Your
Own Pre-Order Campaign’:
1. Greater Autonomy
2. Keep Your Traffic
3. Fewer Fees
4. Optimize Flow
5. Right Branding
4. 1. Greater Autonomy
● You’re your own boss.
● Won’t fall under the Kickstarter, Indiegogo, or
XYZ brand.
● Launching your campaign on your website
5. 2. Keep Your Traffic
● Instead of driving traffic to platform websites,
you’ll get to keep it all to yourself.
● This will be fruitful when SEO sets in, and you
can reap the sweet rewards of an awesome
pagerank.
...Hells yes!
6. 3. Fewer Fees
● When all campaign fees are accounted for, Kickstarter
and Indiegogo charge between 8-10% and 7-10%
respectively
● Pre-order website platforms like Celery or Shoplocket
charge 2% and 2.5% respectively, plus the transaction
fee.
● For example, using Celery as the pre-order platform
integrated with Stripe would mean a total fee of 4.9%
plus $0.30 per transaction.
7. ‘Coolest Cooler’ Example
If charged the maximum,
‘The Coolest’, could have paid
$1,328,523 in total fees to
Kickstarter and their
transaction partner. Eek! The
maximum total on a pre-order
website like Celery (paired
with Stripe) would be
$669,759—chump change!
8. 4. Optimize Flow
● You’re entirely responsible for the look and feel
of your backer’s checkout experience.
● If you’re savvy and see a way to improve
customer onboarding, the options are limitless.
9. 5. The Right Branding Fit
● If your product is slightly outside of the norm, or isn’t
seamlessly suited to platform branding, have no fear.
● Take for example, Lockitron. In 2012 the bluetooth
enabled keyless entry lock was rejected by Kickstarter.
The company went on to host their own campaign that
brought in$150K in less than 24 hours, and earned
$2.3M in total pre-orders.
● You can create your own brand on your own site.
10. 3 Characteristics of $1M+ DIY Pre-Order
Campaigns
1. Double I’s:
Incubated and
Invested
2. Not Their First
Rodeo
3. Media Love
11. 1. Double I’s: Invested and
Incubated
Did You Know…?
Startups who've received funding during or after
entering a hardware incubator like Highway1,
HAXLR8R, or Y Combinator, are measurably more
likely than average to crowdfund independently.
12. Highway1
Since its 2013 inception, Highway1, has pushed 35
startups through it's program. Collectively, these
startups have raised over $26M in venture capital,
and earned 4.5M in crowdfunded dollars and
counting...
13. 1 in 3 for Pre
● Of the 25 startups highlighted in the Highway1
portfolio, approximately one third have chosen
to run pre-sale campaigns on their own sites
● Among the alumni who have chosen to do so
are: Navdy, Ringly, Cue, Lagoon,Shadowman,
and Palate Home.
14. 2. Not Their First Rodeo
A noticeable factor between those who successfully
run their own pre-order campaign is experience.
This experience comes in all shapes and sizes, but
often looks like:
15. A. A founder who has previously run a crowdfunding campaign
B. A serial entrepreneur who’s an overall badass.
C. Someone well-known who has made a sizeable exit/sold a
company.
16. LumoLift Casestudy
A Wee Case Study: Lumolift is the second product by
BodyTech. Their first product, LumoBack, earned $200k in
funding during its 40 day Kickstarter debut. A year and a
half later, leveraging their following and experience from
LumoBack, the company decided to go it alone. Their
second attempt with the crowd brought in $1.2M in
backing—six times that of their first campaign.
18. Coin
The campaign video for Coin, Y
Combinator’s, sleek all-in-one credit card,
has been viewed 9.7 million times. They’ve
also been featured in publications like
Techcrunch, BBC, CNN, Fox Business,
CNBC, Bloomberg, Wired, Forbes, Time, and
Entrepreneur. On the first day of their
November 2013 campaign, Coin reached
their $50K pre-order target in just 40
minutes—a feat only possible when you’ve
championed the media.
19. What’s Next?
A variation of the investment, founder experience, and
strong media coverage cocktail is recycled throughout those
earning $1M or more in independent pre-order
campaigns—the ‘big guns’ of DIY crowdfunding.
In a sense, startups like Navdy, Coin, August, and even
Lumo Bodytech, represent a sort of ‘pre-order’ elite—those
who can “afford” to go it alone.
20. Future of Pre-Orders
It’s only a matter of time before flocks of fiery entrepreneurs with
kickass products and varied backgrounds begin to carve out major
success stories in the DIY space.
21. Try Celery
Celery is a pre-order platform
that works with companies,
large and small, who are
challenging the pre-order status
quo! Learn more and follow us
@trycelery.
