This week on Art of the Kickstart we spoke with Andrew Jiang, the creator of The Superbook, a smart laptop shell that lets you turn your Android smartphone into a full laptop. Tune in to hear more about learning from a failed crowdfunding campaign and going on to earn more than a million dollars on Kickstarter.

The Superbook: Turn your smartphone into a laptop for $99

Key Crowdfunding Takeaways

* Why preparing for a Kickstarter campaign before you launch is so important

* How to learn from failed Kickstarter campaign

* How to usefeedback from backers of a previously-failed campaign to make an even better product

* How to communicate with your email list before launching on Kickstarter

* How to fund on your first day on Kickstarter

Links

* The Superbook on Kickstarter

* getsuperbook.com

* The Power of Habit

Connect with The Superbook

* Superbook on Facebook

* @getsuperbook on Twitter

Sponsors

Art of the Kickstart is honored to be sponsored by The Gadget Flow, a product discovery platform that helps you discover, save, and buy awesome products. The Gadget Flow is the ultimate buyer's guide for cool luxury gadgets and creative gifts. Click here to learn more and list your product - use coupon code ATOKK16 for 25% off!

Transcript

View this episode's transcript

Roy:

Welcome to Art of the Kickstart, Your source for crowdfunding campaign success. I’m your host, Roy Morejon, President of Command Partners the top, full service crowdfunding marketing agency in the world. We have helped raise over $70 million for our clients since 2010. Each week, I’ll interview a crowdfunding success story, an inspirational entrepreneur or a business expert in order to help take your startup to the next level with crowdfunding. Art of the Kickstart is honored to be sponsored by The Gadget Flow, a product discovery platform that helps you discover, save and buy awesome products. The Gadget Flow is the ultimate buyer’s guide for cool luxury gadgets and creative gifts. To learn more visit thegadgetflow.com. Now let’s get on with the show.

Welcome to another edition of Art of the Kickstart. Today, I’m joined by Andrew Jiang with the Superbook. Andrew, thank you so much for joining us.

Andrew:

Roy, thanks for having us.

Roy:

You guys are absolutely crushing it with this Superbook. Please give our audience the overall gist of what you guys are doing.

Andrew:

Yeah, yeah. The Superbook is a shell, it’s a laptop shell that transforms your Android smartphone into a complete laptop. We essentially use the power of your smartphone and then our hardware device to give you, essentially, a replacement for your laptop. Anything that you can do on a regular laptop you can do on the Superbook. It all costs $99.

Roy:

This is ridiculous technology but before we dive into this let’s take a trip back a couple of years ago when you guys first tried to launch the Andromeda dock. It only worked with a few different smartphones and basically had to hook it up with your own keyboard, monitor and mouse. You guys weren’t successful on that first go around. What were some of the things you learned when you first launched that campaign?

Andrew:

When we first launched that campaign in late 2014 it was ...

This week on Art of the Kickstart we spoke with Andrew Jiang, the creator of The Superbook, a smart laptop shell that lets you turn your Android smartphone into a full laptop. Tune in to hear more about learning from a failed crowdfunding campaign and going on to earn more than a million dollars on […]

This week’s episode of Art of the Kickstart is packed full of helpful tips for the preparation of a Kickstarter project, how to fund on day one, how to pick a shipping and fulfillment company and much more. Tune in for this interview with Shaun Alexander and get a behind-the-scenes look into ELWN, a campaign for truly wireless earbuds.

Perfect Fitting Wireless Earbuds With Endless Battery Life

Key Crowdfunding Takeaways

* How innovative products launched on Kickstarter can inspire further innovation

* How to make the jump from working for a company to owning your own company

* Why you need early bird rewards for your campaign

* The benefits of working with a PR firm during a crowdfunding campaign

* Why you need Facebook advertising before your Kickstarter project launches

* Why you need to be willing to adjust and course-correct during a campaign

* How to pick a shipping and fulfillment company

* What to focus on early on in a crowdfunding campaign

Links

* ELWN on Kickstarter

* elwn.com

* How to Win Friends and Influence People

Connect with ELWN

* ELWN on Facebook

Sponsors

Art of the Kickstart is honored to be sponsored by The Gadget Flow, a product discovery platform that helps you discover, save, and buy awesome products. The Gadget Flow is the ultimate buyer's guide for cool luxury gadgets and creative gifts. Click here to learn more and list your product - use coupon code AOTK for 20% off!

This week’s episode of Art of the Kickstart is packed full of helpful tips for the preparation of a Kickstarter project, how to fund on day one, how to pick a shipping and fulfillment company and much more. Tune in for this interview with Shaun Alexander and get a behind-the-scenes look into ELWN, a campaign […]

Wow - this is the 150th episode of Art of the Kickstart! To celebrate, we’re bringing you a bonus episode this week, featuring a very exciting campaign.

Michael Bettua joined us to discuss his Kickstarter campaign for Gemio, the customizable smart band that lights up your night. Listen in to learn more about the work that led up to this campaign and how Gemio has raised nearly $100,000 so far.

The Customizable Smart Band that Lights Up Your Night

Key Crowdfunding Takeaways

* How to validate your concept with your target audience before launching on Kickstarter

* How to determine what features to offer in a new product while you are prototyping

* How long it takes to prepare for a Kickstarter campaign

* How to find partners when launching a new product on Kickstarter

* Why early bird specials are so important

* Why you need to spend time building a user base well in advance of your project launch

Links

* Gemio on Kickstarter

* http://www.gogemio.com/

* Further Future

* The Tipping Point

Connect with Gemio

* Gemio on Facebook

* @gemio on Twitter

* @gogemio on Instagram

Sponsors

Art of the Kickstart is honored to be sponsored by The Gadget Flow, a product discovery platform that helps you discover, save, and buy awesome products. The Gadget Flow is the ultimate buyer's guide for cool luxury gadgets and creative gifts. Click here to learn more and list your product - use coupon code AOTK for 20% off!

Transcript

View this episode's transcript

Roy Morejon:

Welcome to Art of the Kickstart your source for crowdfunding campaign success. I’m your host Roy Morejon, president of Command Partners, the top full-service crowdfunding marketing agency in the world. We have helped raise over $70 million for our clients since 2010. Each week I’ll interview a crowdfunding success story, an inspirational entrepreneur, or a business expert in order to help take your startup to the next level with crowdfunding. Art of the Kickstart is honored to be sponsored by The Gadget Flow a product discovery platform that helps you discover, save and buy awesome products. The Gadget Flow is the ultimate buyers guide for cool luxury gadgets and creative gifts. To learn more visit thegadgetflow.com. Now, let’s get on with the show.

Welcome to another edition of Art of the Kickstart. Today, I’m joined by Michael Bettua with Gemio. Michael, thank you so much for joining us.

Michael Bettua:

Hi Roy, thanks for having me.

Roy Morejon:

This is a special edition for us, it’s our 150th episode and what better a campaign to speak about than yours?

Michael Bettua:

That’s great. Yeah, I’m excited to be talking about it today.

Roy Morejon:

Tell our listeners what the Gemio Smart Band is all about.

Michael Bettua:

Sure. Gemio’s a wearable device so it’s a wristband that uses light to connect with friends, to express your personal style, and really become part of the show like concerts, and parties, and festivals. We call it a social wearable.

Roy Morejon:

This social wearable is awesome Michael. You’ve got an awesome demo of it on the campaign on Kickstarter that’s live right now.

Wow – this is the 150th episode of Art of the Kickstart! To celebrate, we’re bringing you a bonus episode this week, featuring a very exciting campaign. Michael Bettua joined us to discuss his Kickstarter campaign for Gemio, the customizable smart band that lights up your night. Listen in to learn more about the work […]

In this episode of Art of the Kickstart we spoke with Amro Albanna of Kite Products, about his experience running an Indiegogo project. When his team experienced multiple delays over a three-year period, they came back to Indiegogo to make things right with their backers by offering a new product while they continued to develop the original one.

Kite Shield: DEET-free Mosquito Repellent Spray

Key Crowdfunding Takeaways

* How Indiegogo can help you launch and develop a new technology

* How to handle Indiegogo fulfillment delays

* Why it’s important to be transparent with your backers

* What risks and challenges to expect when you launch on Indiegogo

* Why constant communication with backers is important

Links

* Kite Shield on Indiegogo

* http://www.kiteproducts.com/

* Collective Disruption: How Corporations & Startups Can Co-Create Transformative New Businesse by Michael Docherty

* http://www.iecrowd.com/

Connect with Kite

* Kite Products on Facebook

* @KITEProducts on Twitter

* Kite Products on LinkedIn

* @kiteproducts on Instagram

* Kite Products on YouTube

Sponsors

Art of the Kickstart is honored to be sponsored by The Gadget Flow, a product discovery platform that helps you discover, save, and buy awesome products. The Gadget Flow is the ultimate buyer's guide for cool luxury gadgets and creative gifts. Click here to learn more and list your product - use coupon code AOTK for 20% off!

Transcript

View this episode's transcript

Roy Morejon:

Welcome to the Art of the Kickstart, your source for crowdfunding campaign success. I’m your host, Roy Morejon, President of Command Partners, the top full-service crowdfunding marketing agency in the world. We have helped raise over $70 million for our clients since 2010. Each week, I’ll interview a crowdfunding success story, an inspirational entrepreneur, or a business expert in order to help take your startup to the next level with crowdfunding. Art of the Kickstart is honored to be sponsored by The Gadget Flow, a product discovery platform that helps you discover, save, and buy awesome products. The Gadget Flow is the ultimate buyer’s guide for cool luxury gadgets and creative gifts. To learn more, visit thegadgetflow.com. Now let’s get on with the show.

Welcome to another edition of Art of the Kickstart. Today, I am honored to be joined by Amro Albanna. Amro, thank you so much for joining us.

Amro Albanna:

A pleasure Roy. Thanks for the opportunity and for the interview.

Roy Morejon:

Absolutely. Amro, you’ve been around the crowdfunding scene for quite a while now. You’ve just recently relaunched the Kite Patch. Tell everyone where it all started and what it’s all about.

Amro Albanna:

Sure. Well, maybe I should start by talking about Kite as a technology and to give everybody a little bit of background on the landscape of mosquitoes and mosquito repellents. Obviously, we all dislike getting bitten by mosquitoes, right?

Roy Morejon:

Yep.

Amro Albanna:

For the last 50 years Roy, we’ve been using the same old technology that contain DEET a...

In this episode of Art of the Kickstart we spoke with Amro Albanna of Kite Products, about his experience running an Indiegogo project. When his team experienced multiple delays over a three-year period, they came back to Indiegogo to make things right with their backers by offering a new product while they continued to develop […]

In the episode of Art of the Kickstart we hear from Petr Prochazka, founder and CEO of Skinners. Tune in to learn more about the inspiration behind Skinners, what the prototyping process looked like leading up to his campaign and what question he’d love to ask Forrest Gump.

SKINNERS: Revolutionary Ultraportable Footwear with Silver

Key Crowdfunding Takeaways

* Where some of the best project ideas originate

* How long prototyping takes for a new product

* Why you should pay attention to other crowdfunding campaigns before launching your own

* The importance of building a community around your product

* How to make fulfilling rewards a priority

Links

* Skinners on Kickstarter

* http://www.skinners.cc/

* The Entrepreneurial Mindset: Strategies for Continuously Creating Opportunity in an Age of Uncertainty by Rita Gunther McGrath and Ian MacMillan

Connect with Skinners

* Skinners on Facebook

* @skinners_int on Twitter

Sponsors

Art of the Kickstart is honored to be sponsored by The Gadget Flow, a product discovery platform that helps you discover, save, and buy awesome products. The Gadget Flow is the ultimate buyer's guide for cool luxury gadgets and creative gifts. Click here to learn more and list your product - use coupon code AOTK for 20% off!

Transcript

View this episode's transcript

Roy:

Welcome to Art of the Kickstart, your source for crowdfunding campaign success. I’m your host, Roy Morejon. President of Command Partners, the top full service crowdfunding marketing agency in the world. We have helped raise over seventy million dollars for our clients since 2010. Each week I’ll interview a crowdfunding success story, an inspirational entrepreneur or a business expert in order to help take your startup to the next level with crowdfunding. Art of the Kickstart is honored to be sponsored by the Gadget Flow, a product discovery platform that helps you discover, save and buy awesome products. The Gadget Flow is the ultimate buyers guide for cool luxury gadgets and creative gifts. To learn more visit the gadgetflow.com. Let’s get on with the show.

Welcome to another edition of Art of the Kickstart. Today, I am joined by Petr Prochazka with Skinners. Petr, thank you so much for joining us.

Petr:

Thank you for inviting me.

Roy:

You guys have created this revolutionary, ultra-portable footwear. Tell us all about your campaign.

Petr:

I don’t know where I should start. We are saying that the Skinners are your second footwear that fits in your pocket. We are saying that it’s footwear of [inaudible 00:01:23]. I don’t know, it’s such a general question. I don’t know how to answer this one.

Roy:

How about where this idea came from.

Petr:

It was lighting from clear sky. It came to my mind when I was working in Norway as a chef. I was there with my friend and one day he injured his foot. During the healing, he couldn’t fit that foot in the regular footwear so he start walking barefoot in the streets and in his socks as well. I was wondering, “Hey man, you have such nice socks. You are going to destroy them in a few minutes or after a few walks.”

His response was that he just started saying all the advantages.

For this episode of Art of the Kickstart we spoke with Ray Wu of Wynd, a portable smart air purifier designed to clean the air around you. Tune in to learn more about building a team for a crowdfunding project, what to do during the pre-launch phase of your project and how to use Facebook ads to your advantage.

Wynd - The Smartest Air Purifier for Your Personal Space

Key Crowdfunding Takeaways

* How to build the perfect team for a crowdfunding campaign

* How to connect with people who can help you launch a new product on Kickstarter or Indiegogo

* Where to find early adopters to back your project as soon as it launches

* How to use early bird rewards to fund quickly on Kickstarter

* How to use Facebook ads to gather leads before launching

* When to choose crowdfunding to launch your product

Links

* Wynd on Kickstarter

* hellowynd.com

* Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance

Connect with Wynd

* Wynd on Facebook

* @TeamWynd on Twitter

Sponsors

Art of the Kickstart is honored to be sponsored by The Gadget Flow, a product discovery platform that helps you discover, save, and buy awesome products. The Gadget Flow is the ultimate buyer's guide for cool luxury gadgets and creative gifts. Click here to learn more and list your product - use coupon code AOTK for 20% off!

Transcript

View this episode's transcript

Roy Morejon:

Welcome to Art of the Kickstart, your source for crowdfunding campaign success. I’m your host Roy Morejon, president of Command Partners, the top full service crowdfunding marketing agency in the world. We have helped raise over $70 million for our clients since 2010. Each week, I’ll interview a crowdfunding success story, an inspirational entrepreneur, or a business expert in order to help take your startup to the next level with crowdfunding. Art of the Kickstart is honored to be sponsored by The Gadget Flow, a product discovery platform that helps you discover, save and buy awesome products. The Gadget Flow is the ultimate buyer’s guide for cool luxury gadgets and creative gifts. To learn more, visit thegadgetflow.com. Let’s get on with the show.

Welcome to another edition of Art of the Kickstart. Today I’m joined by Ray Wu with the Wynd product. Ray, thank you so much for joining us.

Ray Wu:

Thanks, Roy. Happy to be here.

Roy Morejon:

Tell us about your Kickstarter project. This is, as you claim, the smartest air purifier for your space. What is Wynd all about?

Ray Wu:

Sure. Wynd, at a high level, is an air quality system. It generates clean air for your personal space that removes things like allergens, germs and even industrial pollution. On top of that, it’s also an air quality monitor. We’ve designed the smallest air quality monitor in the world that you can actually use by itself to alert you of any air quality issues. The air quality monitor works with the purifier all in one to maintain a healthy environment for you and your family. The last thing I would mention on just the hardware side of things is that it’s portable. You can actually bring this with you. Most air purifiers are very big. Ours is smaller than a water bottle. You bring Wynd with you, set it down wherever you want, and it cleans your personal space.

Roy Morejon:

Killer.