The Truth Behind Kickstarter: How A Yes Man Can Make It Happen
A week before one entrepreneur’s Kickstarter campaign goes live, he is scrambling to organize all of the logistics amidst a sea of chaos. It seems that nothing will go right. Press releases, launch emails and social media alerts have been buzzing around in cyberspace in anticipation of the launch. However, with all of this laid out, his Kickstarter campaign has still not yet been approved for its January 6 launch.
Fast forward to January 6, when disaster strikes. The Kickstarter proposal is rejected on a technicality that needs to be addressed before the campaign can go live. The entrepreneur realizes he needs to add a new section that fits within Kickstarter’s creative guidelines, but this did not stop the press releases from rolling out that day. Damage control becomes the priority and he scrambles to alert editors and friends that the campaign is not live yet. A few hundred emails and a couple gray hairs later, he was able to restore order and alert everyone of the newly scheduled launch date: January 13.
Launch day finally arrives and his phone transforms into a vibrator. Euphoria, fame and fortune fall upon our young entrepreneur. Recalling that he felt like a celebrity, with the constant notifications that people were backing his Kickstarter campaign, including a weird kid from elementary school who reached out, and countless social media shares.
The young entrepreneur combined his passion and perseverance to make his idea into a reality — a reality that came to be after the three quick days it took to fund his Kickstarter project. Given the entrepreneur's success with the venture, Yes Man Watches, he notes that none of it would have been possible without careful planning, intelligent logistics and organized execution to make his idea work.
1. Planning is everything.
The amount of preparation it takes to launch a successful project never ends — Nathan Resnick, the Yes Man Watches entrepreneur, launched his website four months prior to the Kickstarter effort in order to start building buzz. Wherever he went, he was continually building awareness for what he was doing. This is not a nine-to-five job. It is a 24/7, eat, breathe and preach-your-product mission.
2. Without logistics you do not have a product.
Developing supplier relations, managing engineers and devising a system to get the product in the hands of customers is essential to the success of your company. The truth is, even if you have a product, if you cannot get it to the people, you will fail. Establishing a reliable network of manufacturers, designers, and fulfillment services is paramount to the success of your company.
3. Execution will make or break you.
Ensuring that you are able to reach the most crucial customers within the shortest amount of time translates directly into how successful your company will be. Proper planning will culminate at this point and you will realize this if you are able to lay the necessary groundwork to effectively promote, sell and deliver your product. There is no instruction manual on how to do this, but I recommend you speak with as many customers as you can to deliver the best possible customer experience.
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