From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Nikodemus Siivola Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.devel Subject: Re: Kickstarter for Emacs Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2012 17:19:27 +0300 Message-ID: References: <87wr5dfm9v.fsf@gnu.org> <87398118ys.fsf@thinkpad.tsdh.de> NNTP-Posting-Host: plane.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 X-Trace: dough.gmane.org 1334758788 1041 80.91.229.3 (18 Apr 2012 14:19:48 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@dough.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:19:48 +0000 (UTC) To: emacs-devel@gnu.org Original-X-From: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Wed Apr 18 16:19:45 2012 Return-path: Envelope-to: ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([208.118.235.17]) by plane.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1SKVjV-0006Du-Ia for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:19:45 +0200 Original-Received: from localhost ([::1]:43267 helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1SKVjU-0003Hz-HI for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Wed, 18 Apr 2012 10:19:44 -0400 Original-Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([208.118.235.92]:34896) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1SKVjM-0003Hd-HQ for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Wed, 18 Apr 2012 10:19:43 -0400 Original-Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1SKVjG-0004D1-RV for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Wed, 18 Apr 2012 10:19:36 -0400 Original-Received: from mail-gy0-f169.google.com ([209.85.160.169]:33484) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1SKVjG-0004Cc-Nq for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Wed, 18 Apr 2012 10:19:30 -0400 Original-Received: by ghrr18 with SMTP id r18so4384981ghr.0 for ; Wed, 18 Apr 2012 07:19:28 -0700 (PDT) X-Google-DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=google.com; s=20120113; h=mime-version:in-reply-to:references:date:message-id:subject:from:to :content-type:x-gm-message-state; bh=ACNeYyR0QS/m18WBjtwQyhJ0EQz1+wY0mxOhvGg8HgI=; b=O1ir04hpiMfWtGKPjKrkTbWoZMWxQu7L0442AJlY8N+KnxT9HvP68pYCSSDczjmT5Z yac3+tFIJbBnOnKJobHgUGf8OSUA417k5uODmZhgqQlO/gqtrOEa9HDE3raLLe81YflW rSGUfmXH60+0viTa2uzqeZ99zG+i6Sf2WDJ9BaUtJCux3zcBAVCFZE0sfWOHd+pkL8NM KcVxdX/Y9D/14ZRcLlUG4QqJQrK4MfFDUP6EPgiqPI8OnTnU4k9n8njZG5jVnIVnlzj/ vcyzJkG07kVGfneanrbuVC7hkviiaDL/5/fX0ypPDAe3kM7P0gfIeK4KO9SvXT3PY9Qz Kcxw== Original-Received: by 10.60.10.137 with SMTP id i9mr3559161oeb.23.1334758767535; Wed, 18 Apr 2012 07:19:27 -0700 (PDT) Original-Received: by 10.60.22.197 with HTTP; Wed, 18 Apr 2012 07:19:27 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: X-Gm-Message-State: ALoCoQlk/MJnbf4R5e6RbDxX3aDou2SnvdRla/KydeE0qjNW0aMJNzn0qqufBdtj55gtqH01FS9k X-detected-operating-system: by eggs.gnu.org: Genre and OS details not recognized. X-Received-From: 209.85.160.169 X-BeenThere: emacs-devel@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.14 Precedence: list List-Id: "Emacs development discussions." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Original-Sender: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.emacs.devel:149760 Archived-At: Having run one reasonably successful crowdfunding campaign myself (still working on it, actually), let me say this to those who are contemplating trying it out: (1) Don't underestimate the visibility a site like Kickstarter or IndieGoGo provides. Yes, they take a cut. I still suspect it was a win for me personally, as opposed to just having my own site with a PayPal buttom up. Hard to say for sure with a single data-point, of course. (2) Don't listen to people who think they know what sort of people will donate and how much. Your guess is as good as theirs unless /you/ have done some research. Doing research is pretty damn easy: post a web-questionnair on the same social media channels you would use to publish the actual campaign. It will get less publicity, but it will give you a hint. It matters that you do this yourself, instead of relying on other people doing it for you: their social media presence is different from yours. (3) I think crowdfunding is a stellar model for free software, but there are kinks that need to be worked out. Ie. striking a balance between promising deliverables and promising to work for N months on it. Promising to work on something for a certain time is ... meh. Why would I pay for that? Promise to deliver specific things. Just don't promise too much! Penalty for not delivering: no future in crowdfunding for you. (4) Don't expect people to shell out if you don't have a track record or something to show that makes people trust you. (5) Crowdfunding isn't a magic money button, but if you can credibly show that you have the ability to deliver something people want, they'll be happy to pay for it. (6) Don't aim too high, but add bonus goals as the campaign gathers steam. A campaign that asks for $3k and nets $16k is a success, and gets extra publicity because of that. A campaign that takes over a week to reach it's first goal seems weak in comparison. Once you've hit the first goal future funders are easier to get, because you become a "safe bet" -- provided you have either nice perks, or solid public-interest bonus goals. (7) Interestingly enough, all campaigns to which statistics I have access (not many, but more than my own), seem to pull on average 0.5-1.5 USD per visitor to the campaign page. So spread your net wide. Cheers, -- nikodemus