How To Use Crowdfunding To Validate Your Business

Most people think of crowdfunding simply as a way to raise money to finance a new product or venture--and that’s true, to the point where it's surpassing the venture capital industry


 I would break this down into four parts:-

1. The product. This is absolutely everything and fundamental towards having a successful crowdfunding campaign. If your product isn't interesting enough, or doesn’t solve a big enough problem in the world, it won't get funded. No matter how big your audience is. It has to be a project that people care enough about that they want to bring it to life.
2. The video. Try and go above and beyond with your Kickstarter video, really emphasize on the script and the story board. Stories are one of the best ways to market a product, and your video is what most people watch to decide if they give a damn about what you're creating. If you can, spend the extra time and $$ to make the video amazing to really showcase why people should care about the project.
3. The buildup. Start building and seeding interest at least 3-6 months before you go live with the campaign. It's all about building momentum long before your campaign goes live, which will allow your most dedicated soon-to-be-backers get behind the project as quick as possible. The goal is to get funded as quickly as possible so you can build momentum and get traction early on. You want to build a targeted email list also for communicating with that audience to keep them in the loop, and showing "behind the scenes" which helps people feel more part of the journey.
4. The launch. Understand that the campaign is a lot of work, it's taken us 6 months of prep work to really execute to the best of our ability; it's nowhere as easy as you think. We even had a launch party with 100 people as soon we went live to celebrate the launch and ensure we had backers behind the campaign as quick as possible.