How to run a successful Kickstarter campaign

For everything from documentaries to wearable devices, Kickstarter has become the key platform for securing financial backing. Having just run a successful campaign, Tim Malbon shares what he has learned

Made by Many's Hackaball
Made by Many’s Hackaball,which was the result of a successful kickstarter campaign

By the time you read this, a hardware project we incubated here at Made by Many will be landing with its 2,300 Kickstarter backers. Hackaball is a connected device and throwable computer all in one – an object kids can play and learn the principles of coding with all at the same time. We couldn’t have made it without Kickstarter, and here I’ll share some of what we learned along the way.

At S×SW in March this year I attended a talk about hardware startups called Hardware Is Still Freakin’ Hard. The speaker said that Kickstarter in 2016 is something of a lottery – with only around 36% of projects successfully meeting their funding targets, it’s absurdly difficult to get things right. However, whether the campaign is a failure or a success, it’s a massive learning experience (and we feel very lucky that it’s worked out well for us).