from Amazon
Friday, May 25, 2012
“Why Kickstarter works”
Most of you were probably not around when we were launching The Book. The original edition was self-published. We needed seed money for the initial printing of the book. We also didn’t know how many books we’d need to print, as we didn’t want to overprint, and be left with tons of remainders. We also didn’t want to underprint, and miss out on printing discounts, as well as cause delays between orders and printing.
So, we had the idea of getting pre-orders in return for a modest discount on The Book. I think we had the list price at 16.95, and we gave a discounted price of 14.95 for pre-orders. We got some 250 pre-orders or so, which allowed us to print about 500 books. So, with 250 extra books to cover any regular sales, all of those regular sales would cover future books we’d order. We timed everything pretty well, ordering 200 books or 100 books at a time, as interest slowed down.
I used the same idea for “Tangotiger Teaches”, with a discounted price for pre-registration of students funding my time for preparing the courses, and eventually using my time for the classes (which, by the way, are ongoing for the DATA 101 class).
So, I totally get the quote here:
With Kickstarter, people are preordering your idea. Sure, they’re buying something tangible — a CD, a movie, a book, etc — but more than that, they’re pledging money because they believe in you, the creator. If you take the time to extrapolate beyond the obvious low-hanging goals, you can use this money to push the idea — the project — somewhere farther reaching than initially envisaged. And all without giving up any ownership of the idea. This — micro-seed capital without relinquishment of ownership — is where the latent potential of Kickstarter funding lies.
Basically, people believed in me and MGL and Andy, and so, pledged their support directly to us, and whatever creative ideas you expected out of us.
Similarly, the students who pre-registered for my course, completely blind as I had no syllabus to speak of, and no professorial experience at all (notwithstanding what I actually do on this blog), basically are buying into me, on faith, and whatever I can deliver.
So, it’s fantastic that someone had the idea to create this as a program, as Kickstarter, to better facilitate the process. And that leads to tons of creative people actually putting their ideas into practice, as the recipients eagerly await the results.
Speaking for myself, I am always thankful and indebted to all those who have shown the faith you have. Basically, you have limited evidence and a “gut feel”, and you jumped in. It’s a wonderful thing to be a part of it.
