Often used for start-ups, Kickstarter is “the world’s largest funding platform for creative projects.” It does, however, run on an all-or-nothing policy, meaning $1 off the target amount would cause a project to fail; this has created a failure rate of 56%.
Janice Cheam, co-founder of Energy Aware Technology, knew about this when she considered launching a crowdfunding campaign for new product idea Neurio on Kickstarter.
“Neurio is a home intelligence technology that monitors the power a home uses, and calculates the cost of running individual appliances in real time.”
Cheam knew Neurio would be desirable for homeowners, but was unsure if they would be willing to buy it. Kickstarter allowed her to put the idea out onto the market beforehand so as to gauge consumer interest levels, all the while raising funds for initial manufacturing costs. Keeping the failure rate in mind, Cheam recruited niche bloggers to help promote the brand story before official press releases to the media, effectively planting appeal and information that were waiting to be found once major media outlets learned about Neurio.
Cheam reached her funding goal in half the designated time acquiring almost double the amount, showing how meticulous planning can lead to success. She applied lean-start up methods and put her idea out there to measure market interest, evaluating whether or not further improvements would be needed. This highlights how knowledge in one aspect of business can be applied elsewhere to bring success.