Tell HN: Failed two times on Kickstarted – successful on third attempt

[rajarjit]

I failed miserably two times on Kickstarter. On the third attempt, I am at 186% funded, with 21 days to go. The project is a designer deck of playing cards.

Happy to answer any questions and share my learnings. AMA.

[zadkey]

Can you post a link to the successful one?

[rajarjit]

I don't know if it is allowed. This is my my first post on HN. You asked so posting.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rajarjit/the-rocket-dec...

[zadkey]

What do you feel was the difference that made this one successful vs the previous attempts?

[rajarjit]

Realized two things -

1. I don't have money for investing in marketing and paid-advertizing.

2. Importance of building a dedicated audience/community.

What I had was time. So, I spent 6 months on Instagram building a community without any ads and totally relying on organic reach. Added ton of value. Build an email list of 500 people.

Also little things

- having an email list where every subscriber is double opt-in, helped in increasing the opening rates 10X.

- getting the subscribers after showing the product increased the final conversion rates 30X. Earlier I just asked for an email subscription for notification of new blog posts. Then mailed all of them the Kickstarter link. Two people backed.

[LanceH]

Was it a different approach entirely? The same thing done better? Just a different offering that happened to be more popular?

[rajarjit]

The product offering was different. I agree. But seeing from where the majority of backers came from (my Instagram and email lists), I strongly believe it would have failed without it.

[metalliqaz]

Are you planning to answer any questions?

[rajarjit]

Very sorry for being late. Got a call.

[abadar]

How much more marketing did you do for the 2nd and 3rd attempts vs the first?

And what did you do/do differently?

[rajarjit]

In terms of paid marketing - zero. In terms of time spent - 6 months.

I spent lot of time in building a 69k strong community over Instagram. No ads, no shoutouts from influencers, no usage of promotions from others.

Added valuable posts every day. Interacted with fans regularly. Cared for them.

In previous attempts I was in the false illusion of "make it and they will come".

[irjustin]

Congrats on the campaign! What did you do different from before? Does 186% funded cover your costs?

[rajarjit]

The first question I answered to others. Would you mind checking that?

My total spend was - 1. $5 in prototyping. 2. 6 months time in marketing (I didn't pay myself. So, zero)

So, yes 186% covers several folds of my costs.

[willcate]

Are there similar products existing in this niche, or do you consider yours unique? thanks - w

[rajarjit]

No project is unique in true sense. Mine is an educational designer cards. A lot of designer + educational playing cards exist.

But for the community I built over social media, yes, the project is unique. It is designed specifically for them.

[g3houdini]

What do you think made the difference on the third try?

[rajarjit]

Understanding that product success = Product X Marketing

Great product X low marketing = Win (Tesla, SpaceX) Great product X Great Marketing = Super Win (Apple)

Normal product X Poor Marketing = My previous two attempts Good product X Good Marketing = My third attempt

[lprubin]

How did you get good traffic to your campaign?

[rajarjit]

For the first hour of launch, all traffic came from email-lists. For the next 4-5 days, it was Instagram.

[photawe]

What did the first 2 failures teach you?

[rajarjit]

I answered to "g3houdini". Is it okay if you check that?

[rajarjit]

Can anyone explain to me, why my post is marked as [Flagged]?