“Crowdfunding” has graced headlines with increasing frequency, either with reports of a recent collosal raise for a tool for fidgeters, or spectacular failures in the form of multi-million dollar projects going bankrupt and disappearing.
Amidst all these wild headlines, there are select entrepreneurs building sustainable businesses and strong relationships with backers through crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Gareth Everard - co-founder of Rockwell Razors and creator of 5 crowdfunding campaigns raising over $1,000,000 - is one of those founders.
Why did you launch your company through Kickstarter?While in university, my co-founder and I had an idea to challenge the current men’s shaving market model, but we wanted market validation that our idea was worth pursuing. This is where crowdfunding websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo really become valuable - it allows backers to vote with their money on what products they’d like to come to fruition. We were fortunate in that our campaign raised over $18,000 in the first 24 hours after launching, which quickly confirmed there was unmet demand for the adjustable, double-edge safety razor idea we were proposing to create. Rockwell ultimately delivered a product that is now widely considered the best safety razor on the market, which we wouldn’t have been able to do without the early financial support and encouragement from backers who were supportive of the idea and the initial designs.
Why did you choose to launch a shaving company through Kickstarter? Isn’t crowdfunding mostly for technology products?I believe it is a common misconception that crowdfunding is only for “technology” products. While crowdfunding is certainly only suitable for innovative products, “innovative” and “technological” are not synonymous. Along with Rockwell Razors, I have friends at ForeverSpin who have built a sustainable business selling high-end tops after launching through Kickstarter - our products aren’t technology, but they’re still unique to our markets and innovative relative to products that were previously available. Rockwell Razors products all leverage our patented adjustability system that allows shavers to get a much closer, comfortable shave than they would using cartridges - no matter their stubble length or thickness. This system, plus the use of 10-cent double-edge razor blades instead of multi-dollar cartridges, represents a serious innovation over the other razors available on the market.Due to some of the challenges that highly ambitious technology startups have experienced launching through Kickstarter, I believe that in the coming years we will see many more consumer goods companies with innovative, non-technological products doing very well through crowdfunding, and delivering very high-quality experiences for backers in terms of project completion and product performance.
What advice do you have for campaign creators?Rather simply, it’s better to underpromise and overdeliver, than to do the opposite. Crowdfunding is about backers trusting a founder, and due to some high-profile projects that raised lots of money failing to deliver on Kickstarter / Indiegogo, backers will be more cautious with their trust. Campaign creators need to be more transparent about their current level of prototyping and production readiness, and provide more conservative delivery timelines to minimize the risk of disappointing or angering backers. And finally, Be sure to keep backers updated on production progress after the campaign has closed - building a close community with transparent monthly updates is the best thing you can do for your campaign!
What advice do you have for campaign backers?If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. There are campaign creators that aren’t necessarily malicious, but are irrationally exuberant about the potential or possibility for their product. This can result in production delays, and in fringe cases, disappearance of the campaign creator altogether. If there’s a campaign that really interests you, do your research before pledging - this will massively increase the probability of having a good crowdfunding experience!
What do you think is next for crowdfunding?I believe that product crowdfunding will only continue to grow, and I expect the diversity of products will continue to expand as well. I’m thrilled to see more artisan companies launching lines of handmade goods through Kickstarter and Indiegogo, as this represents small business owners leveraging online communities to support their work - a fantastic use of crowdfunding! More and more non-technology consumer goods startups will turn to crowdfunding as a means of launching their first products. On the flipside, I expect we’ll see a little more scrutiny from backers and platforms (Kickstarter, Indiegogo) around ambitious-sounding technology campaigns, especially campaigns that raise significant amounts of money. This will ultimately be good for campaign creators and backers alike as any reduction in campaigns disappointing their backers through non-delivery is a plus for everyone!