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Hack Chat Transcript, Part 2
Lutetium • 08/07/2019 at 20:04 • 0 comments

@Clarissa Redwine got it. thx

Beau12:34 PM
@Bob Swinkels figuring out who your audience is, and how to best talk to them is key. I think the best way to do that is by connecting directly thru meetups initially, and developing your story over time. A project that I'm a fan of that I found thru hackaday was this ESP project https://hackaday.io/project/19580-esp-everywhere-kickstarter-make100-project

Frank Buss12:34 PM
@alireza safdari I've done a crowdfunding project as a freelancer from Germany, shipping it to many different countries, was no problem, but was only a EUR 4.5k project ( https://www.startnext.com/en/kerberos ), currently I'm working on a Kickstarter project which is a bit late

de∫hipu12:36 PM
I have a kind of a meta-question, not necessarily kickstarter-specific, but maybe you will know: is there any online resource that is listing and comparing the crowdsourcing platforms out there?

alireza safdari12:36 PM
I was initially in Malaysia and kickstarted was not available there but just recently (5 days ago) I moved to the US as a PhD student. So now I can use Kickstarter but there are still a lot of new things to figure out over here in the US. Specially legal stuff, do you have any guide, document, web page to help with the case of foreigners in the US?

PS: #Alpha V1: Open-Source Remote Controller is our project

Clarissa Redwine12:36 PM
@Matt Ruffner If you want that inside scoop ;) That Google Form generates a trello card that gives our team a snapshot of your goals. Magic! We share that link very selectively to creator swe think have projects we'd like to give extra support. Our team takes a look at the projects that come through that form once a week and decided how we want to feature or support them. We do offer campaign strategy support to a handful of creators and are always happy to share educational resources.

Beau12:36 PM
@mosaicmerc sounds like a great strategy, and focusing on communities that have a direct interest in what you are doing. It's never too soon to start building a mailing list, and starting to regular send out updates on your progress and plans.

mosaicmerc12:37 PM
@Clarissa Redwine , Are there statistics on the average return/contribution based on the number of people reached & informed?

benw12:38 PM
@Clarissa Redwine So would you still recommend using the Google Form even if you are still prototyping the project and in need of CAD support for example?

Clarissa Redwine12:38 PM
@de∫hipu this is actually a great snapshot of the two leading platforms: https://www.funded.today/blog/kickstarter-vs-indiegogo-which-is-better

Clarissa Redwine12:39 PM
@benw absolutely! We sometimes start working with creators years before launch :P

Beau12:39 PM
@alireza safdari there is some information available here to get you started on requirements for creators https://help.kickstarter.com/hc/en-us/articles/115005128594-Who-can-use-Kickstarter-

mosaicmerc12:40 PM
@benw , Hi Ben, I might be able to hook you up with CAD support.

de∫hipu12:40 PM
I would actually be more interested in the smaller ones, as they might be better suited for a particular project.

Asher Gomez12:40 PM
@Clarissa Redwine, Is it necessary to have a prototype for successful crowdfunding or just some concept art and a good description? If it is necessary then what are some ways to earn money to make that prototype?

Clarissa Redwine12:40 PM
@benw One more thing: The Google Form response will just go to me and Beau- so you know you're sending it to friendly folk :)

Matt Ruffner12:41 PM
@Clarissa Redwine Thanks :) thats very informative. also thanks for asking that @benw that was also helpful

mosaicmerc12:41 PM
@Clarissa Redwine , I'll be sure to submit the google form soon!..Thanks a lot ..that is golden!

Frank Buss12:41 PM
@Clarissa Redwine the Hackchats are all public ( https://hackaday.io/event/19578-hack-chat-transcripts...
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Hack Chat Transcript, Part 1
Lutetium • 08/07/2019 at 20:03 • 0 comments

Dhrupal R Shah11:56 AM
Hi @Clarissa Redwine We had made a prototyping platform evive. The first version was launched in 2017 on a crowdfunding platform. Now we have upgraded it with better functionalities and now we have our own supporting software (PictoBlox, scratch based programming for kids and makers ) and App (Dabble - virtual IO shield for project making).

Boian Mitov11:57 AM
And EVIVE can even be programmed in Visuino ;-)

Gonçalo Nespral joined the room.11:59 AM

Greetings, everyone! We'll get started now. Let's welcome Beau and Clarissa from Kickstarter to the Hack Chat today!

Perhaps we should start with quick introductions from Clarissa and Beau.

Clarissa Redwine12:00 PM
@Dhrupal R Shah & @Boian Mitov EVIVE sounds great! Have you started to share the new version with your community? I'm so curious to hear what functionalities your existing community was asking for. :D

Clarissa Redwine12:00 PM
Thanks Dan! Hi all! Clarissa here. I'm Kickstarter's Design & Technology Outreach Lead for the east coast. In a nutshell, I travel up and down the coast in search of innovators, creators, and makers who can leverage the powerful community and storytelling tool of Kickstarter to bring creative projects to life. Before joining Kickstarter, I cofounded a nonprofit with the core mission of fostering the North Texas startup community and worked with 10 promising robotics startups as the Program Manager of the Qualcomm Accelerator, powered by Techstars.

Beau12:01 PM
Hi everyone, great to chat, I work with Kickstarter focusing on supporting Design & Technology projects, in a role similar to Clarissa, with a focus on projects along the West Coast, I'm an avid embedded developer hacker and big fan of MicroPython as well.

Clarissa Redwine12:03 PM
@Gonçalo Nespral welcome! :)

Gonçalo Nespral12:03 PM
Hello!

benw joined the room.12:03 PM

benw12:04 PM
Hello :D

Clarissa Redwine12:04 PM
@benw welcome!

mosaicmerc12:04 PM
Hello Team...outside of the USA...Was part of the Orgnisation of American States, Americas Competitiveness Exchange in P.Rico as the ONLY inventor from the Eastern Caribbean. Ancel Bhagwandeen.

http://riacevents.org/ACE/puertorico/the-ace-puerto-rico/

mosaicmerc12:04 PM
A US Dept of Commerce funded thrust

Dhrupal R Shah12:05 PM
(Sorry, I was on phone and mistakenly sent a message before time. It's midnight here in India) We wanted to launch the new upgrade evive with new IoT kit for kids. Are there some restrictions in Kickstarter, which restricts re-launch of upgrades? The new version is in testing phase. The body looks same, but the internal stuff is upgraded, Book is added for kids, overall kit content is for kids (who wanna be makers 😁) .

Daniel.Langenberg joined the room.12:06 PM

Can you tell us a little about what trends you see developing in crowdfunded projects? Are they moving in any particular direction?

Kelly Heaton12:08 PM
@Clarissa Redwine @Beau Hello and thanks so much for being here. It seems that the most successful Kickstarter projects have highly professional, charismatic videos (wherein the inventor stars)... and presumably, said charismatic inventor is talented at recruiting a fan base on social media. Can you please suggest some successful strategies for those of us inventors who are less extroverted?

vishwasnavada joined the room.12:09 PM

benw12:09 PM
I think that would be very helpful for myself to know as well

Shawn Hymel12:09 PM
@Clarissa Redwine and @Beau - Any tips for us looking to Kickstart a hardware project? It seems like software has a much better chance of success due to the ease of "manufacturing" and distribution. I've seen a number of hardware projects fail (i.e. they meet Kickstarter goals but can't deliver or go under shortly after).

Beau12:09 PM
I'd say we see a wide variety of projects across all the categories at Kickstarter, with our...
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