How we launched a $650,000 Kickstarter
A few years ago, we launched our first hardware product Luna Display on Kickstarter. We did well, raising $650k on Kickstarter and an additional $100k via BackerKit.
Now we are back with a new version of Luna Display that works on Windows, and we'll be launching on Kickstarter later this year. This time I want to document the process that goes into launching on Kickstarter so that others can hopefully learn for it.
So my question for you is: What would you want to know about launching a product on Kickstarter?
I'll be sure to answer those questions as we ramp up!
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Everything. I'm not trying to be funny. I'm actually quite curious about as much as you are willing to divulge!
Do you need an existing audience to launch a Kickstarter?
Perhaps some checklist with some criteria that are nice to have when you want to do a Kickstarter.
Yes, I do think you need an existing audience to be successful on Kickstarter. It doesn't have to be a big audience though. I've heard of people launching fantastic Kickstarters off a very targeted list of a few thousand people.
In our case, we had a very large email list of 100k+ people that we emailed about our Kickstarter. About 1/3 of our Kickstarter pledges ended up coming from our mailing list.
What would you not launch on Kickstarter?
That's a great question! I wouldn't launch a software product on Kickstarter. I've seen some companies do it but unless you have a very large existing audience, it's going to be a struggle.
Hardware products do the best on Kickstarter. People really want something tangible in return for backing your project.
Hi @mronge! I wonder what would be a better crowdfunding platform for software product? Could you please guide me?
Kickstarter is still probably your best option, but know that you are likely going to raise much less than a hardware product would on the platform.
Are there any physical add ons that you could bundle with it? That would help alot.