The vultures are now circling….
I noticed today that I’m being followed on Twitter by a self-described “Crowdfunding Consulting Firm” (who make sure to put “Kick” in their name, naturally). I check out their “About the Team” page, and sure enough — old business-marketing types, with no listed experience in any form of crowdfunding. “Project manager”, “Blessed with an entrepreneurial spirit”, “results-driven with over 20 years of leadership experience” — not a single word about any direct experience with Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, or any other crowdfunding platform.
The infuriating thing about all of this? They’ll rope somebody in, I’m sure. These types always do.
ProTip: If you’re ever considering crowdfunding, avoid the vultures. There’s tons of free advice out there from people who have run successful campaigns, and if, for some reason, that advice doesn’t answer your questions, you can always just approach somebody politely and ASK.
Most of us will say yes.
I wouldn’t have had as much success with our Kickstarter if it weren’t for the example of Daniel Solis , and the direct advice given to me by Gary M. Sarli . I’m not the sort of guy who pulls up the ladder behind me — and I think you’ll find that most of us are the same way. It’s a community — if you get help, you “pay it forward.”
As a start, check out this entry I wrote back in December. I provided an overview of Kickstarter, links to advice that I received, and offered some advice of my own. And you don’t have to pay me a consulting fee to get it.
Additionally, and specifically of note to gamers: a bunch of us are doing multiple crowdfunding seminars at GenCon this year, which will be a golden opportunity to get advice from a bunch of sources at once. For example:
Kickstarting Your Game Q&A: 6:00pm, Thursday, August 16th in ICC 210
Join our Industry Insider Guests who will share tips and tools for using Kickstarter to get your game project funded. Dennis Detwiller, Matt Forbeck, T.S. Luikart, Elizabeth Shoemaker Sampat, Gareth-Michael Skarka.Doing Kickstarter Right: 11:00am, Saturday, August 18th in ICC 210
Talk with successful Kickstarter publishers on how they did their Kickstarter. Topics discussed are: lessons learned, mistakes made, and plans for the future. Ryan Macklin, Gareth-Michael Skarka, Richard Thomas.
Remember: Insurgent Creatives don’t let Insurgent Creatives get taken in by the vultures. Most of these guys are just old-model cogs from the big machines, panicking about the changing environment, and desperate to grasp at any way they can to maintain their relevance. You don’t need them.
Be Small, Think Big, Move Fast. Storm the gates.