Results tagged “kickstarter”

Jason Giddings came up with an idea for a multitouch, glass keyboard and mouse and launched a Kickstarter project late in 2011 to get it funded. I remember coming across it when I was launching my Kickstarter. He was aiming for $50K in funding but ended up getting over $143K. Amazing.

My thoughts now are the same as my thoughts then - while the project is gorgeous, it's a step backwards in usability. A desktop keyboard with no haptic feedback (translation: you don't know where the keys are unless you look at the screen)?

If I have any smack to talk about my iPhone and iPad, it's that it's a pain in the ass typing on a glass keyboard, because, well, there's no haptic feedback.

I don't intentionally seek out projects to trash, but Mr. Giddings has taken the main interface to computers and made it less usable.

In addition to function following form on this Kickstarter, Mr. Giddings' project also shows how hard it can be to turn a 3-D rendering into a real product. Have a looks as his project updates to see what I mean. In short, things have gotten complicated.

It's exciting to fund projects on Kickstarter, but be wary when you do. My Kickstarter was a screen-printed poster series and I thought that was more than enough to handle. I can't imagine what goes into product design, with machining, protyping and software/hardware integration.

Over at GigaOM, Michael Wolf says 2012 will be the year the artist-entrepreneur.

Headlines look great with declaratives in them, but the truth is artist-entrepreneurs have been doing quite well for a whille now. In 2007 Radiohead circumvented the middle men and told people to pay what they want for their album, In Rainbows, directly from their site. Prince made a similar move in 2007 with his album Planet Earth and again in 2010 with the album 20Ten. In both these cases though, he gave away his album for free in national newspapers in the UK.

You might say Radiohead and Prince are big names so they can get away with bold moves like this. And this is true. You could also say this about the recent
experiment Louis C.K. did by selling his latest stand-up special, DRM-free on his website for $5, grossing him over one million dollars in a few weeks.

But what about the artist-entrepreneur nobody knows? The guy or girl with an idea, who executes the idea and then gets people interesting in backing it and ends up raising thousands, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars?

Wolf doesn't address this group and it's unfortunate, because I think it's one of the most exciting areas on said topic. How he managed to not at least mention Kickstarter in his article boggles my mind.

I'm not saying this because I happen to have a project on Kickstarter. I originally wrote about Kickstarter and Craig Mod's inspiring story in November 2010.

I'm happy Michael Wolf wrote his piece. It's important to see prominent individuals taking this DIY approach, I just wish he showed this approach can work all the way down the spectrum.

I don't think Kickstarter is a great service because my project is up there. There's some amazing projects up there. Lots of them.

I've already backed PenMoto, which is magnetic ring to hold your Wacom pen. If you use a Wacom tablet and pen, you need this. Just watch the video if you don't believe me. The project successfully ended, but I have feeling they won't turn you down if you try to buy one.

This morning I also backed Typestache Playing Cards. Some of the nicest playing cards I've seen. The creators claim these cards are being made to help promote their Typestache iPhone app. It's ironic because I think the cards are the real product. While I know I'll use playing cards over and over, I'm not sure how many times I'll put typographic mustaches on people with my iPhone.

Twine also looks super cool. They say, "Twine is the simplest possible way to get the objects in your life texting, tweeting or emailing." And they're already over 800% funded. Insane.

I wrote about Kickstarter around this time last year and I'm just as excited about it now.

I think about Kickstarter like I think about iOS. They're both strong, well-designed platforms that attract the best talent. There aren't just a few great applications on iOS and there aren't just a few great projects on Kickstarter. There's great work in every category on each platform.

Welcome to the new economy.

This morning I launched a Kickstarter project, Bicycles For The Mind. It's a poster series inspired by Steve Jobs' belief that "the computer is like a bicycle for our minds."

I've spent a lot of time on the poster as well as putting together everything on Kickstarter. Go check it out.

I have a handful of amazing screen printers I plan to pick from if the project gets funding. I really want these posters to look amazing.

If you dig it, donate. No matter what tier you choose, you'll get something in return for your support.

Kickstarter is blowing doors on monetization strategies this year and challenging traditional consumer and auction paradigms. News dropped today of Scott Wilson breaking Kickstarter's funding record by raising over $275,000 for his iPod Nano watch enclosure. And he raised that money in one week. One.

I first learned of Kickstarter from a post by Craig Mod where he broke down how he was able to fund the printing and publishing of his book, Art Space: Tokyo. It's a must-read for anyone in any type of media who wants to stay relevant.

Forget that. You need to understand the success of Kickstarter of you're a human being who works in order to obtain money to live. Period.

The hook for me, what makes Kickstarter so powerful is the human element. Call it social networking, call it viral, call it crowdsoucing. I call it human.

The Economist did an interview with one of the founders, Perry Chen. The whole interview is great, but this bit stood out for me:

Just like eBay or Etsy, you are obligated to do what you say you're going to do--fulfil the limited edition, or create the event or experience that you promised to create--in exchange for someone opening their wallet and backing your project. The interesting thing is that these projects are funded by dozens, hundreds and in some cases thousands of people, but it is never completely anonymous. Within those backers are friends, long-time fans, family members, classmates, people in the gardening club with you. So there's already a social fabric that's brought into Kickstarter. The accountability is strengthened because those people are there.

People.

Just keep people in mind when you're starting a new business plan. If you keep the focus on people and not on "how we're going to beat the competition", you're already putting yourself in a better position for success.