Learn About Kickstarter Helping the Creative

An inventor friend of mine told me about Kickstarter, a unique, online source for raising funding for creative projects and start-ups that make actual things. The very next day, I read about Kickstarter in the New York Times Business section ("A Web Edge For Makers Of Real Stuff", April 12, 2011).  

The Times article made the site seem like a great resource for inventors who want to create stuff that you can hold in your hand and use. Kickstarter calls itself "A New Way to Fund and Follow Creativity" and lets entrepreneurs, inventors and others make a pitch for funding for a creative project. Kickstarter then invites people to invest in projects or small products that can be easy to make and distribute.

The article profiled a couple of mechanical engineers who devised steel shells called Coffee Joulies to put into coffee to cool it without diluting the brew. The engineers put their own money into creating prototypes but quickly realized that they needed more money to ramp up their business. They turned to Kickstarter.  The Coffee Joulies website now even has a big banner talking about the NY Times article and offering to sell the product via Kickstarter.

When I visited Kickstarter.com, it looked to me more like a place to find funding for creative projects like films, books and music than a source of funding for inventors. Indeed, that was its original intent. But its purpose has expanded. The cool thing is that inventors and other creative folks who may not want to take the time to create a website, can use Kickstarter to sell their product. The Coffee Joulies owners have a video on Kickstarter.

Find out more for yourself by visiting Kickstarter. If you read the Times article, you'll also learn about other online resources for inventors and the explosion of interest in new gadgets and in hardware associated with smart phones. It's articles like these that make me believe America's collective creativity will help us recover.

Happy Creating!

You Need More Than a Better Mousetrap

"I'm sitting on a gold mine," the inventor emailed me. He desperately needed money to turn his cool invention into a success. He was frustrated that lots of garbage inventions were for sale in the stores, but his wasn't. If he only had some money, he could make a TV commercial to get people to buy his invention. He also needed money to manufacture the invention. 

He didn't like it when I suggested that he get help from SCORE or from a Small Business Development Center. But this is exactly what he needs to do, if he wants free help to raise the capital he needs.

Does this sound like you? Does this sound familiar?

You may have a brilliant idea, but in the words of one of the original Mad Men, David Ogilvy, "It's not creative unless it sells." I've seen too many truly great ideas and great products fail. Only 10% of new products make it. So as hard-hearted as it sounds, I don't care how great your idea is, if it doesn't meet a real need, it will not sell.

Since the inventor wouldn't tell me what his invention was, and since I charge by the hour to consult, I have no idea if this particular gizmo does meet a need. But even if it does, the inventor will have to get it into stores or catalogs so that people can buy it. Or he will need to create a website and sell it directly online. There are many very inexpensive ways to do this. However, what you say to stores or to consumers about the true value of your product is what will get it into the hands of consumers. I'm not talking about the technological, gee-wiz stuff. I'm talking benefit.

But turning an idea into a success isn't just about benefits. You also need to know how much money it would take to manufacture your gizmo and how much money you can charge for it. Apple knows it can charge premium prices for its inventions. A certain segment of the marketplace will pay more for Apple's sleek, cool products. But not everyone will. Apple makes lots of money, but they don't have a huge market share. Truly, if you have a new invention, think "what will consumers pay for it?" What markup will stores put on it? How much money will I get from the wholesale price? Will this give me a decent profit margin? When will I break even? No investor or lender will give you money, unless you can answer such questions.


If you have questions about manufacturing and marketing your invention, contact me at: upstartwyn@gmail.com.

If you have stories about your successful invention, post it on this blog.