Many people come to us seeking advice on how to succeed in their crowdfunding campaigns. At the Hardware Club, we believe it would make more sense for you guys to hear the answers directly from those who have been there and success Here are 11 lessons learned from some of the most successful hardware crowfunding campaigns featuring Play-I, Hexo+, Skully, Pebble, Lima, Giroptic, Tile, Coolest Cooler, LIFX, Avegant, Panono, Onewheel, Narrative, Omate and Flykly. This presentation is an introduction to the Hardware Club 1st online course : #HACKTHECROWD to be launched soon More : www.hardwareclubschool.com

1. learn from the best
11 lessons learned from the most successful
hardware crowdfunding campaigns

2. Play-I Hexo+ Skully Pebble Lima
Coolest Cooler AvegantGiroptic Tile LIFX
featuring:
Narrative FlyklyPanono Onewheel Omate

3. #1. build
a strong community
before launching

4. A FEW MONTHS BEFORE
WE LAUNCHED OUR CAMPAIGN, WE STARTED TO
ACTIVELY BUILD OUR MAILING LIST OF PEOPLE
[…] AND GREW OUR AUDIENCE TO
A FEW THOUSAND PEOPLE.
“
”
VIKAS GUPTA
CEO & co-founder of Wonder Workshop (Play-i)
TOTAL CROWDFUNDING : $1.4 MILLION

5. WE DID A STRONG PRE-CAMPAIGN BEFORE
LAUNCHING AND WE GATHERED IN TWO WEEKS
10 INTERNATIONAL ATHLETES AS AMBASSADORS
7,000 SIGN-UP EMAILS
4,200 FACEBOOK LIKES
2,300 TWITTER FOLLOWERS
400 BLOG POSTS
“
”
CHRISTOPHE BAILLON
Co-founder of Hexo+
TOTAL CROWDFUNDING : $1.3 MILLION

6. “
”
MARCUS WELLER
CEO and co-founder of Skully
TOTAL CROWDFUNDING : $2.4 MILLION
WE HAD ABOUT
150,000 PEOPLE
WHO SIGNED UP AS BETA
TESTERS PRIOR TO OUR
INDIEGOGO CAMPAIGN.

7. meet your
customers and
test your product
before launching
#2.

8. YOU NEED TO PITCH THE PRODUCT
TO AT LEAST
100 PEOPLE BEFORE YOU KNOW
HOW PEOPLE WILL REACT TO IT. […]
THIS IS HOW YOU FIGURE OUT WHAT
THE RIGHT MESSAGE IS.
MARTIN KÄLLSTRÖM
CEO & founder of Narrative
TOTAL CROWDFUNDING: $550K
“
”

9. “
”
WE WALKED ON THE STREETS OF
BERLIN AND SHOWED OUR PANORAMAS
AND WHAT THE CAMERA SHOULD LOOK
LIKE TO RANDOM PEOPLE. WE WANTED
TO SEE IF THEY WERE WILLING TO
SUPPORT THE IDEA . WE DID A
SURVEY AND WE ASKED AROUND
400 PEOPLE.
BJÖRN BOLLENSDORF
CEO & co-founder of PANONO
TOTAL CROWDFUNDING : $1.2 MILLION

10. #3.
meet
journalists and bloggers
before launching

11. WE HAD A BIG EFFORT TO REACH MEDIA, BECAUSE
THE REAL THING THAT MAKES A
KICKSTARTER PROJECT EXPLODE
IS HOW YOU DRIVE TRAFFIC
TO YOUR KICKSTARTER PAGE. […] WE HAD
A LIST OF 60 TO 70 BLOGGERS
WE APPROACHED.
ERIC MIGICOVSKY
CEO & founder of Pebble
TOTAL CROWDFUNDING : $10.3 MILLION
“
”

12. WE LEAKED INFO A MONTH
BEFORE THE CAMPAIGN STARTED.
WE DID NOT KNOW ANYONE IN THE
PRESS SECTOR SO WE TRIED TO FIND
JOURNALISTS ON TWITTER.
LAURENT LE PEN
CEO & founder of Omate
TOTAL CROWDFUNDING: $1.0 MILLION
“
”

13. #4.
fine-tune your
crowdfunding page

14. WE DID 19 VERSIONS
OF THE KICKSTARTER
PAGE AND 21 VERSIONS
OF THE VIDEO
SCENARIO.
“
”
SEVERIN MARCOMBES
CEO & co-founder of Lima
TOTAL CROWDFUNDING : $1.2 MILLION

15. #5.
continually produce
content to maintain
momentum

16. A CROWDFUNDING
CAMPAIGN IS A MARATHON;
YOU NEED TO HAVE
SOMETHING TO TELL EVERY
DAY DURING 45 DAYS.
“
”
RICHARD OLLIER
CEO & co-founder of Giroptic
TOTAL CROWDFUNDING : $1.4 MILLION

17. #6.
have
a working++ prototype
before launching

18. YOU NEED TO HAVE A
WORKING PROTOTYPE. YOU
NEED TO BE 100 PERCENT
POSITIVE THAT YOU CAN
BUILD THE PROJECT.
“
”
NICK EVANS
CEO & co-founder of Tile
TOTAL CROWDFUNDING : $2.6 MILLION

19. #7.
have
the (almost) final design
of the product
before launching

20. I LEARNED THAT KICKSTARTER AND
CROWDFUNDING IS A VISUAL MEDIUM.
PEOPLE WANT TO SEE WHAT
THEY ARE GETTING
AND WE WEREN'T THERE THE FIRST
TIME. I TOOK THE DESIGN TO THE STAGE
YOU SEE IT AT NOW.
“
”
RYAN GREPPER
CEO & founder of Coolest Cooler
TOTAL CROWDFUNDING : $13.3 MILLION

21. #8.
know how to manufacture
your product
before launching

22. MANUFACTURING IS A HUGE
CHALLENGE
FOR ALMOST EVERY KICKSTARTER PROJECT.
WE KNEW THAT WAS GOING TO BE A
CHALLENGE, AND WE HAD ALREADY LINED UP
A LOT OF WHAT WE THINK WE NEEDED TO DO
FOR MANUFACTURING
BEFORE KICKSTARTER.
“
”
EDWARD TANG
CEO & co-founder of Avegant (Glyph)
TOTAL CROWDFUNDING : $1.5 MILLION

23. #9.
take timing into account

24. ONE OF THE BIG FACTORS WAS THAT
PEOPLE ARE MUCH MORE
LIKELY TO CONNECT WITH
THE IDEA FOR A COOLER
WHEN IT’S HOT OUTSIDE,
RATHER THAN DURING ONE OF THE
COLDEST MONTHS OF THE YEAR.
“
”
RYAN GREPPER
CEO & founder of Coolest Cooler
TOTAL CROWDFUNDING : $13.3 MILLION

25. #10.
have a strong, organized
team to handle the campaign

26. WE PULLED IN
A FULL TIME SOCIAL MEDIA
PERSON AND A PR PERSON TO RUN
THE CAMPAIGNBECAUSE JUST POSTING ON
KICKSTARTER DOESN’T ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING. YOU
HAVE TO BRING YOUR OWN AUDIENCE, YOUR OWN
TRAFFIC.
KYLE DOERKSEN
CEO & founder of OneWheel
TOTAL CROWDFUNDING: $630K
“
”

27. “
”
THE BIGGEST MISTAKE WE MADE ALONG THE WAY WAS
UNDERESTIMATING TIME AND ENERGY
REQUIRED TO ANSWER THE HUNDREDS OF KICKSTARTER
PRIVATE MESSAGES, AS WELL AS THE TIME TO TALK TO
PRESS AND BLOGGERS.
IF I DID IT ALL OVER AGAIN I WOULD SET UP A MORE
STRUCTURED APPROACH
TO MANAGE INBOUND QUESTIONS.
PHIL BOSUA
CEO & founder of LIFX
TOTAL CROWDFUNDING : $1.3 MILLION

28. #11.
take time to prepare your
campaign

29. “
”
WE HAD TO DEVELOP THE PROTOTYPE – IT
TOOK US ALMOST A YEAR AND A HALF.
ONCE IT WAS DONE, WE STARTED PREPARING
FOR THE CAMPAIGN AND IT TOOK US
AROUND 2 MONTHS TO PREPARE ALL
THE MATERIAL – THE VIDEO, TEXTS,
REWARDS, ETC.
NIKO KLANSEK
CEO & founder of FLYKLY
TOTAL CROWDFUNDING : $701K

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