How Videos decide the fate of your Kickstarter or Indiegogo Funding

bhuvana — Wed, 31 Dec 2014 11:19:48 +0000

When you are a startup looking for some crowdfunding on platforms like indiegogo and Kickstarter, a great video is mandatory. They say building a compelling video alone would ensure your funding on these platforms.

The challenge is you got to tell all about your project which you had planned across for years (or just researched on for multiple sleepless nights) in just a few minutes through a video. It’s not that these platforms restrict you or something, you just cannot risk creating a longer video where you have lost your audience midway.

A Staged development: One step at a time

Meticulously planning your video is necessary and do not just jump in to it and start creating a video. Take one step at a time.

Research on your project and answer the 5Ws and the H- What, When, Where, Who, which and How
Set your objective based on the above questions. Make sure your objective is achievable and develop a goal and your pitch will focus on this goal
Develop a script and finalize your video’s blueprint.
Wisely choose your video’s characters and the genre. Keep in mind that your funders want you to sound more promising.
People like fun but too much of comedy may make you seem less serious unless your work is focussed on comedy as an art form

A pitch with a spark

A pitch has to be memorable and by memorable we mean, in a nice way of course. Brevity is highly recommended and you can be assured that your viewers would be grateful for that
Oodles of passion and professionalism should emanate from your pitch
Your video must be clearly worded and to the point. Focus on what your investors would get and not on what you want. Sound very promising and genuine
Work on a feasible timeline. Do not sound urgent by putting in 15 days or do not sit on it for more than 60 days and make your funders impatient. Stick to a time which will let you complete your project without wasting time.
Have an achievable goal and do not be greedy. Tell them how you can work to perfection to not waste a penny on any unwanted stuff.
We would ask you to throw away your shyness and boldly ask for a donation. After all, you would not be here if you had enough money
Finally, like all the videos, a call to action is a must. Try closing the sale then and there by asking them to click the button to fund

Compelling perks are a easy hook

Work on the perks that a supporter/contributor of your project would receive. A well thought out giveaway will make them feel valued and important.
The usual T shirts and Sweatshirts have lost it’s charm but are still recommended if you have no other option in mind.
The perk can be a limited edition or customised product or a device that you had developed and not yet released or even an experience
Even a phone call or an email can go a long way
The coolest way is to give a shoutout on Social media and make a big bunch of people aware of your contributors
Do not just stop there
You had created your video and had uploaded it on Kickstarter or Indiegogo, What next?
Start focussing on your marketing efforts and spread the word. Create a supporter group for your product and start building a trusted team of evangelists for your project mainly in the online space.
Gather your friends on social media and ask them to lend their voice and give a shoutout to support you.
Meet bloggers and many online influencers and ask them to write a review.
Even a small testing with influencers before publishing your project may also help you work out what works best

An arm and a leg for videos

So far we spoke about how your video should be perfect enough to gain contributor’s attention. By now, you must have realized how important the quality of a video must be. You need not sell your arm and a leg to create these videos. Just use your smart phone with a good camera.
All that is important is a compelling script and a well planned storyline. Just dedicate your time and effort and create a perfect pitch.
Try something different like mixing live action and animated sequences. A kickstarter campaign definitely needs to sound more human and requires real life people yet some animated visuals may also lighten up the mood.

Videos can be a daunting task for many but remember ,videos speak more words than text. Showing is more important than telling.

Do you have plans to crowdfund your projects? Give us a shout out on your plans in the comments section below.

Startups Mentored by Chennai Entrepreneur Have Raised in Excess of $30M – An Interview with Aspire Swaminathan

admin — Sun, 05 Oct 2014 13:27:41 +0000

Learning never stops. But many a times, listening to experiences, perhaps, gives you the luxury of not going through the learning curve to gain expertise and be very successful in the chosen area.

There are great entrepreneurs out there who have gone through enough to reach a stage of impacting global economy. It’s a life time opportunity for startups to listen to every one of them. Now, you are going to listen to one such Mentor and a Serial Entrepreneur from Chennai, Aspire Swaminathan, the Founder and CEO of Aspire Ventures who has been helping startup companies to create world class businesses through his startup2scalup initiative.

In an exclusive interview to thestartupvideos.com, Swaminathan shared his views and insights on Startups, Entrepreneurship and Chennai as the next favourable destination for budding companies.

Highlights from the Interview

Swaminathan uses his immense business experiences to mentor budding entrepreneurs and predominantly focuses on startup entrepreneurship.
A special initiative for startups called startup2scaleup founded by Swaminathan shapes up budding entrepreneurs with great business ideas. In simple words, channelizing from the very early stage of a great idea to making it a grand reality.
Popularly known as Aspire Swaminathan, he is now mentoring around 20 startups from chennai and a few of them have raised over $30M in the last two years.
How do you know that your idea is great or not? You can arrive at a conclusion by sharing your idea with others and talking about it to more people, says Swaminathan.
Your idea is just an idea until you have the right team to execute it which he calls as Mastermind Alliance.
“He says that it doesn’t stop if you just solve a problem of your customer. To build up a great business empire, your customer should perceive that you solve a problem, must be willing to pay for it and more importantly you must have a huge number of such people.”
Swaminathan has a good news for Chennai Startupreneurs.The business climate in Chennai is very healthy and the city is heading towards becoming an innovation hub where we will be developing products from here for the Global community. The city is all set to be the next startup capital of the world.

Please add your comments on the post. if you have a specific question, please do share it with us on comments and we’ll ensure that your questions are answered in upcoming releases.