We recently hosted a panel discussion with our friends at Kickstarter and Anxy sharing how independent creators develop, design, and launch print projects.

From Cover to Cover explored the creative and operational processes that bring indie magazines and periodicals to life, from concept to production.

The panel was moderated by Kickstarter’s Journalism Outreach Lead Oriana Leckert. At Kickstarter, she helps people bring a broad range of print, digital, and audio projects to life. And be sure to check out her first book,  Brooklyn Spaces: 50 Hubs of Culture and Creativity chronicling the rise and fall of under-the-radar creative places across New York City.Panelist lineup:

Keep an eye on our MeetUp page for upcoming events, and be sure to RSVP for our first webinar — “Are You Ready to Launch on Kickstarter?”

The post From Cover to Cover — Presented by Kickstarter & Anxy appeared first on Crowdfunding Blog & Resources | BackerKit.

I’m excited to announce our next tabletop play-testing meetup at BackerKit. On Tuesday February 12th, BackerKit’s San Francisco office will be open from 6-9PM to tabletop designers and players to meet up and test out their newest designs.

Admission is FREE, but you must RSVP to guarantee entry on one of the following:

BackerKit Hosted Events on MeetUp

BackerKit Event Page on Facebook

For Players:  Play-testing new game designs is a critical part of the process and designers appreciate the feedback you provide. Come have fun playing games with us and help shape the next big one!

For Designers:  Feel free to join us and bring your game. Come prepared to teach and play your own game, and test other designer’s games.  If you plan to bring a game, please provide a picture and brief synopsis on one of the above event pages! We would love to show players what to expect.

Here are just a few of the many games we’ll be playing:Late Fee Games
BackerKit’s very own Jason Furie is creating a new tabletop game with his pal Joshua Herbolsheimer revolving around video rental stores in the 80s and 90s. This will be the first time they play-test their game in public! It’s a family-friendly 2-4 player game that lasts about 20 minutes. The object is to rent, watch, and return 4 VHS tapes before your opponents. But be careful, a lot can happen in the burbs between home and the rental store!Omicron Protocol
Omicron Protocol is a near-future, “intra-apocalyptic”, sci-fi miniatures arena combat game played on a 2’x2’ hex board, fun for boardgamers and miniatures gamers alike. Fight as rival factions trying to survive the deadly crisis affecting the city of San Lazaro. Every character in the game is represented by a detailed 28mm miniature, possessing their own rich history and personality, as well as powerful cybernetic abilities! 2-4 players can battle it out through various scenarios to see who will dominate and survive!Excelsior: War of the Architects
Game designer Michael Lefkowitz will be bringing his game “Excelsior: War of the Architects”! It’s a 3D strategy game about building and invading castles (3-4 players), and a few episodes of “Tabletop Detective”, a one-and-done co-op murder mystery game (2+ players).

Looking forward to playing with you all! Bring your friends!

Don’t forget to RSVP on either MeetUp or Facebook! Required for entry.

The post Tabletop Play-Testing Meetup at BackerKit appeared first on Crowdfunding Blog & Resources | BackerKit.

Talkin’ Shop is a quarterly event series bringing together independent creators, makers, and entrepreneurs within the crowdfunding and community patronage space. Successful crowdfunding creators and community members take center stage delivering featured talks and in-depth breakout discussions. It’s a great opportunity for us all to share stories and trade advice.

At our first Talkin’ Shop event, GIR: Get It Right’s founder and CEO Samantha Rose shared her creative journey detailing how she grew an idea until it was a finished product, and then broke into nationwide retail. During her talk, she detailed how she navigated through all the rough waters along the way.

Learn more about GIR on their official website, and keep an eye out for their next crowdfunding campaign! We highly recommend their spatulas! Changes lives.

Be sure to subscribe to our Community Newsletter to hear about our next event! You’ll also get priceless crowdfunding guides and in-depth creator interviews delivered to you once a week! 

The post Talkin’ Shop With GIR’s Samantha Rose appeared first on Crowdfunding Blog & Resources | BackerKit.

After hosting Bond, our first conference that examined how creators make a living through the internet, it’s clear that our community wants more events like this in our space.

In an effort to bring together more creators, makers, and entrepreneurs, we’ve decided to host a brand new quarterly event series called Talkin’ Shop. It’ll feature guest speakers from all corners of the crowdfunding and community patronage space as they share their stories and provide practical advice to attendees.

We’re also providing opportunities for our team and community members to take lead by hosting intimate breakout discussions surrounding specific themes such as how to build community, running a successful crowdfunding campaign, bringing your product to market, and so on.Our first Talkin’ Shop event is happening on Tuesday June 26th from 6pm-8pm at the BackerKit office in San Francisco, CA. Here are a few things you can look forward to:

Featured Talk and Q&A with GIR’s founder and CEO Samantha Rose
Samantha will share her GIR creative journey while detailing how to grow an idea until it’s a finished product, and then introduce it to nationwide retail. She’ll give priceless insight on how to navigate the rough waters along the way.

Breakout Talk with Maybe Capital’s founder and designer Dre Koval
It’s hard to find the creative motivation to finish projects, and the real work happens before you even begin. Creating a clear vision, acknowledging your inspiration and making a plan you can build on are the key factors in directing your efforts and finishing projects. It’s a journey of discovering yourself, finding your magic spark and declaring how you will share that with the world.

Breakout Discussion with BackerKit’s Michael Kent and George Petro
Already have an idea? Ready to start building your Kickstarter or Indiegogo page? Join BackerKit’s Creator Success Manager George Petro and our Backer Support Lead Michael Kent as they lead a discussion on all the dos and don’ts surrounding an effective campaign page.

Be sure to RSVP for FREE on our MeetUp page!

The post BackerKit’s New Community Event Series Talkin’ Shop appeared first on Crowdfunding Blog & Resources | BackerKit.

At Bond, we want the conference to be a safe space to share stories about running your creative practice as a business on the internet—and all of the challenges and struggles that come with it.

On Saturday March 10th from 10am-5pm, we’re hosting a second day called Office Hours at the BackerKit HQ. It’s a day of casual conversation and short talks from knowledgeable experts and experienced independent artists. Our aim is to create a comfortable, accessible space for creators, makers, and entrepreneurs to share their own stories, and offer practical advice with one another. Check out our lineup of featured speakers:

Amplifier (Merchandise & Logistics)
Joel Bush
Amplifier is a highly innovative third-party logistics company that blends traditional Order Fulfillment, high-volume Screen Printing and On-Demand Production and Personalization all under one roof.

Blackbox (Shipping & Fullfillment)
Karlee Esmailli
Blackbox is a shipping company for independent artists. Maybe you’re planning a Kickstarter campaign and you need to figure out how to ship rewards to your backers (and how much to charge). Or maybe you have a project that’s outgrown your garage. Reach out to Blackbox, send us your stuff, and we’ll take it from there. Then go back to the important part: making your next thing.

Cotton Bureau (Merchandise & Logistics)
Jay Fanelli, Nathan Peretic & Michelle Sharp
Cotton Bureau is a curated t-shirt marketplace for designers, communities, and causes. You supply the design and promotion, and we do all the hard stuff: selling, printing, shipping, and customer service. Did we mention it’s free?

Dragon Innovation (Manufacturing)
Kaethe Henning
Dragon Innovation reinvents the way companies manufacture products at scale. Through its modern SaaS platform, Product Planner, and team of hardware manufacturing experts, Dragon manages the full manufacturing process and greatly simplifies and de-risks the journey from “One to Many.” As Director of Business Development for Dragon Innovation, Kaethe works with early stage hardware companies as they approach mass manufacturing, suggesting resources and solutions to help them launch with confidence that their product can be manufactured on time and at cost.

Gaymer X (Video Games)
Matt Conn  & Toni Rocca
GaymerX started as a dream for a one-off event focused on LGBTQ people who love video games. Founder Matt Conn now spends his time working with fellow LGBTQ creators on a series of well received games through MidBoss while Toni Rocca steers the GaymerX nonprofit to create better practices and more opportunities for LGBTQ creators and fans.

Kickstarter (Crowdfunding)
Clarissa Redwine & Cassie Marketos
Kickstarter is where creative projects come to life — everything from films, games, and music to art, design and technology. Since its launch in 2009, 14 million people have pledged over $3.5 billion on Kickstarter, funding more than 139,000 creative projects. Joining us will be Cassie Marketos (VP Community Strategy) and Clarissa Redwine (Design & Technology Outreach).

Lumi (Design)
Jesse Genet
Lumi is an online tool that makes it easy for ecommerce brands to ship their products in great packaging. Jesse Genet is the founder and CEO of Lumi. She launched Lumi in 2015 with co-founder Stephan Ango and she’s been an entrepreneur since she was 16.Oh My Dollar! (Financial Planning)
Lillian Karabaic
Lillian Karabaic teaches money management for creatives using cats and glitter. As Oh My Dollar!, she hosts a weekly personal finance radio show, money bootcamps online and across the country. Her book, Get Your Money Together, is a cat-filled illustrated workbook about money – call it purrsonal finance. She’s here to help with cash flow planning, taxes for crowdfunding projects, and understanding retirement as a self-employed person.

OpenVerse (Marketing)
Rob Goodman
Rob Goodman is principal at OpenVerse, a marketing and storytelling firm focused on strategy, content, and brand for emerging technology companies. He is also the creator and host of Making Ways, a podcast all about the unexpected paths to a creative career. Today, he works with an array of startups and technology companies to drive brand, content, and product initiatives.

Patreon (Membership)
Dave Hunt & Ana Ulin
Patreon is a membership platform that makes it easy for creators to get paid. Thousands of podcasters, video creators, game developers, comic artists, and more are making a salary on Patreon. Joining us will be Ana Ulin (Senior Engineering Manager) and Dave Hunt (Creator Care Manager) helping creators manage their success.

Podo Labs (Product Design)
Eddie Lee
Podo Labs is an SF-based consumer tech startup and the creators of Podo, Jack, and Belle. In addition to shipping and retailing products all over the world, Podo Labs has established themselves as the top 1% most-funded Kickstarter creators of all time. Eddie Lee is the President and Co-founder of Podo Labs and would love to geek out with you over crowdfunding, hardware, and blockchain applications.

Twogether Studios (Tabletop)
Jenn Ellis
Twogether Studios is a small independent board game company based in Portland, Oregon.  They have successfully crowdfunded and released the games Phoenix: Dawn Command, Illimat, and Action Cats!.

Work Made For Hire (Contracts & Negotiation)
Katie Lane
Katie Lane is an attorney and negotiation coach who helps creators protect their rights and get paid fairly for their work. Her clients include comics creators, game designers, authors, illustrators, and musicians. Katie loves: teaching people how to negotiate, reading contracts with a red pen, bow ties, and Star Trek.

Tabletop Gameroom!

Throughout the entire Office Hours event, we will have a tabletop gaming room set up featuring a variety of awesome games. Here you will be able to try out some really fun games and play with the creators behind them. Featured games will include Illimat and Action Cats! from Twogether Studios, God Hates Charades by the God Hates Games crew, Ursa Miner from Room and Board Games, and Maybe Capital from creator Andréa Koval. 

Excited to meet everyone above to share stories and advice!? Be sure to head to the official Bond website for more details and announcements including our impressive lineup of conference speakers. Space is limited, so reserve your tickets today! And thanks to our generous sponsors, we still have a handful of subsidized passes available for $49!

The post Bond Office Hours Spotlight and Featured Speakers appeared first on Crowdfunding Blog & Resources | BackerKit.

In our search to attend and participate in more community events, we discovered Kickstarter’s awesome SF Hardware Startup MeetUp. This event is geared towards helping designers, artists, engineers, and other creators find the resources and support they need to make their ideas a reality. After attending a few of Kickstarter’s events last year, we thought it would be a great opportunity to team up with them and host one at our new office here in San Francisco. Upon entering our space, attendees had the opportunity to socialize and strike up conversations with each other while taking advantage of the catered food and drinks. After about an hour, hardware creators were given the chance to talk about their projects for 2 minutes each. It was really fun learning about all the different types of hardware creations including a fun tabletop gaming console called PlayTable, a next-gen breadboard called the BadgerBoard, and an affordable haptic feedback suit for VR called Hardlight Suit. Once everyone was finished with their presentations, people continued to network honing in on creations that peaked their interest.

It was a pleasure to team up with Kickstarter and help support the local hardware community. The format was fun, the attendees were all excited to be there, and the creations on display were most impressive. I highly recommend attending this event if you have a project to show off or if you just want to network and gain some valuable insight on what it takes to create something from the ground up.We look forward to hosting more events like this at the BackerKit HQ, and encourage those reading to attend any future events we host. Also, big thanks to Clarissa Redwine and Kickstarter for bringing in some great hardware creators. Be sure to subscribe to their official Meetup page to learn more and see when and where the next Hardware MeetUp will be happening.

And be sure to head to the official Bond website for details about our upcoming conference exploring how creators make a living through the internet. Space is limited, so reserve your tickets today!

The post Kickstarter’s SF Hardware MeetUp at BackerKit! appeared first on Crowdfunding Blog & Resources | BackerKit.

We’re excited to officially announce Bond, an intimate conference examining how creators make a living through the internet.

Bond will focus on the realities of running your creative practice as a business on the internet. We’ll cover everything from establishing a community to building a sustainable career using crowdfunding and community patronage. Let’s trade stories, learn from one another, and figure it out together.

Conference

The Bond conference will take place at the historic Gray Area Grand Theatre located in San Francisco on March 9th, 2018 to a limited audience. It’s a fun and versatile location in the heart of the Mission district close to all kinds of cool restaurants, bars, and small businesses.

We will be featuring an eclectic lineup of speakers who all have a unique perspective on building communities and embracing your passions. Featured speakers include Jamie Wilkinson (Kickstarter), Erica Baker (Patreon), Indhira Rojas (Anxy), Kat Blaque (vlogger & illustrator) and Austin Kleon (writer) with more to be announced on the official website in the coming weeks.

Office Hours

Our office hours will take place at the BackerKit headquarters located in San Francisco on March 10th, 2018 to a limited audience. Join the BackerKit team along with a variety of knowledgable experts and experienced independent creators for a day of intimate conversation and advice. Guests include Joel Bush (Amplifier), Karlee Esmailli (Blackbox), Nathan Peretic (Cotton Bureau), Michelle Sharp (Cotton Bureau), and Katie Lane (Work Made For Hire) with more to be announced in the coming weeks.

Head over to the official Bond website for more details and exciting announcements.

Space is limited, so register for your Bond tickets today!

The post Announcing Bond 2018 appeared first on Crowdfunding Blog & Resources | BackerKit.

Since the BackerKit team recently moved to a new and bigger office in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood, we’ve decided to host more events at our headquarters. Last week we teamed up with Eliot Miller of the Bay Area Tabletop Devs to co-host a developer playtest aimed at brining together local members of the tabletop, card, and roleplaying community. Our doors were also open to those looking to network and/or just play some games.

The event featured four developers who brought in games to playtest in order to refine rules, adjust game duration, and observe overall enjoyment. There was an eclectic variety of games to play and attendees wasted no time diving in. I appreciated how inviting all the creators were, and felt comfortable jumping into any of the playtests.

The Box / Rick Dean

Featured creator Ben Glickstein brought in a fun movie-themed game called Writer’s Room prompting players to craft fun narratives. Brian Cronin brought in a fun two-player heist card game called One Last Job. Mike Kolin, Mirko Micanovic, and Ali Hajighafouri were playtesting Department of Spin allowing players to escape real-life politics putting their own spin on absurd scandals. And creator Rick Dean showcased an immersive multiplayer game called The Box challenging players to work together as they used their collective imaginations to craft fun scenarios together. I spent time observing each game and was impressed by the variety and overall enjoyment each game offered.

By the end of the night I met a lot of cool new developers, played a handful of fun games, and gained some insight on what it takes to create a tabletop game from the ground up. Playtesting is a really fun way to experience a game shaping and defining the experience for the developer as they work out all the fine details. A crucial step before mass production and/or embarking on a crowdfunding adventure.

We look forward to hosting more events like this at the BackerKit HQ, and encourage those reading to attend any future events we host. Big thanks to Eliot and the Bay Area Tabletop Developers group for bringing in some great developers. Be sure to join their facebook group and subscribe to their Meetup page to see when and where their next event is happening.

Department of Spin / Mike Kolin (pictured) Ali Hajighafouri, and Mirko Micanovic

Writer’s Room / Ben Glickstein

One Last Job / Brian Cronin

The post BackerKit HQ: Bay Area Tabletop Devs Playtest appeared first on Crowdfunding Blog & Resources | BackerKit.

The BackerKit team recently moved to a beautiful new office in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood. With all the new space, we decided to throw a big bash inviting staff, community members, and local creators to come hang out with us and check out the new headquarters.

The event was a blast bringing together our growing staff, local creators, and a handful of awesome local businesses. Special thanks to Bicycle Bánh Mì, Little Star Pizza, and City Beer for joining us. We ate, we drank, listened to good tunes, and took advantage of all the great photo ops made possible by bringing together all these great people in one place!

BackerKat staff photo

Throwing this party has us excited about hosting more events in the near future. The new space will be a wonderful place to connect the crowdfunding community. In fact, we’re already hosting another event later this month partnering with The Bay Area Tabletop Devs group. You can get more details and RSVP HERE.

Now that our new office space is bigger, we’re looking to make our team bigger too! If you love supporting the creator community, we’re looking to hire passionate people to join our team here in San Francisco.

Visit the BackerKit Jobs page to apply!

With Grant and Jason from GOD HATES GAMES and Ben from INDIEGOGO

Hanging w/ Nick from LAY WASTE GAMES and Eli from ROOM AND BOARD GAMES

With our neighbor Craig from CITY BEER

Christine and Troy from Ample Meal

*Photo Credit: Sadie Mellerio / Check out her videos on Vimeo

The post BackerKit HQ: Office Warming Party! appeared first on Crowdfunding Blog & Resources | BackerKit.

When we say a product is ‘well-designed’, it’s not only aesthetically pleasing, but it also meets and anticipates the needs of its users. A product’s functionality, as well as its user experience, is often determined by the work of a skilled designer.

It’s no different at BackerKit. Here, design plays an integral role in making our app a simple yet powerful tool for project creators. 

Today, head of design Kaz Nakanishi explains the importance of design at BackerKit, delves into his approach to his work, and gives us a snapshot of what an average day looks like at the office.

What’s your job?

I’ve been the designer at BackerKit for 4 years. My role encompasses the full length of product development process, which starts with the product roadmap meeting and research topics that come up from that, all the way to writing the stories that our developers will work on.

I also do wireframes and mocks and front-end development, where I code and deploy features in our software. I also do a bit of marketing work, including our public website, setting up the blog, and any visual design needs that arise in terms of graphic design.

What’s it like working in a cross-functional role?

I love it because I like to be aware of every aspect of the process, and I enjoy doing a lot of different things. It’s really interesting to be able to look at the entire operation of a company. When our support and success teams started to develop within our company, I had the opportunity to really engage with their needs and integrate them into the product. That was really fun work.

The challenge is that there’s a lot of work to be done. You can’t do everything, so you have to be good at time management. You have to prioritize what should be done today versus what needs to be pushed aside.

As a designer, there’s always an aspiration of making things perfect. That’s in our nature. What I learned is that you don’t always want to shoot for that at the beginning. I learned a lot about that from Max (BackerKit’s co-founder) especially. He’s not afraid to make something really quickly, ship it, get feedback, and make improvements. The key is to make sure you have someone that is willing to use it before you build anything, so it’s important to float the idea early with customers. This ensures that you get an immediate response, so you can iterate and improve.

What informs your design approach?

The most impactful thing is the conversations I have with customers. There are so many opportunities to chat with customers. It’s really inspiring to listen to their stories and how they deal with challenges with their crowdfunding journey. The challenge is to understand their core issues and try to figure out an immediate solution for them. Shipping the MVP (minimum viable product) brings a lot of value to our customers. That’s always been an important part of our approach.

How we design software was definitely a new approach that I had to figure out as I grew into the role. Our customers are some of the most creative individuals in the world, and the way they do things are always evolving. We felt like BackerKit evolved with them, so in a way, we designed this software with our customers. We adapt with our customers, and they’re part of our DNA.

What’s an average day like at BackerKit?

There is no average day! I was recently trying to map out my daily routine, but it’s usually different almost every single day. I work independently most of the time and try to work on the most impactful thing that’s happening that week.

We run a weekly sprint cycle as part of our product development process. On Monday we have an IPM – an iteration planning meeting – where all the product team gather in one room and review all the work that needs to be done that week. Part of my process is to make sure I’ve prepared everything for that meeting. That involves working with the product manager, working on wireframes or screens that might help the developers and any other needs that clarify each story. To prepare for IPM, there’s a pre-IPM session that’s more of a one-on-one discussion with a member of the dev team to make sure they understand the stories that will be reviewed.

Throughout the week, there’s a lot of research, writing, and ideation, as well iterating back on any ongoing features that need attention. Depending on what kind of problem we are solving, I might reach out to a customer, chat with another team member, or look up various metrics. I also try to sneak in a few design chores that come up to make small improvements in the app, but I try not to let those things take over my day.

What qualities are you looking for in a designer?

The most important quality for me is how scrappy you are. I think scrappiness comes from being really curious and really caring about what you do. At BackerKit, a designer is asked to do a lot of different things. You might have to do something that you’ve never done before, or you might encounter a problem that you could have never imagined thinking about. If you have the willingness to try anything and want to make things happen, this is a great place for you. 

The post Behind the Scenes: Meet BackerKit’s Head Designer appeared first on Crowdfunding Blog & Resources | BackerKit.

This month, BackerKit reached an exciting milestone: over 3,000 crowdfunded projects have now used our pledge management software to manage their post-campaign and deliver rewards to backers.

BackerKit projects represent over $549,048,021 in total funding across Kickstarter and Indiegogo– a number that is certain to grow.  

In 2015, BackerKit helped 1,000 crowdfunded projects deliver on their promises to 2 million backers. This month, we’re well on our way to helping six million backers receive their rewards through BackerKit and should reach that mark by the end of June.

Our first 1,000 projects raised $12,351,904 through pre-orders and add-on sales in BackerKit. That figure has now swelled to $60,168,130.

Top Ten Largest Projects

1. Kingdom Death: Monster 1.5 ($12,393,139)
2. The Everyday Backpack, Tote, and Sling ($6,565,782)
3. Fidget Cube: A Vinyl Desk Toy ($6,465,690)
4. Bring Back MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 ($5,764,229)
5. Reading Rainbow: Every Child, Everywhere ($5,408,916)
6. Dark Souls – The Board Game (£3,771,474)
7. The Everyday Messenger: A Bag For Cameras & Essential Carry ($4,869,472)
8. KAISR Original: The Ultimate Inflatable Air Lounge ($4,125,804)
9. Micro Drone 3.0: Flight in the Palm of Your Hand ($3,589,946)
10. G-RO: Revolutionary Carry-on Luggage ($3,307,773)

Our top 10 most-funded projects list has almost completely changed since we last listed them in our 1,000 Projects blog post. Over half of the projects that raised over a million dollars on Kickstarter in 2016 used BackerKit to manage their backers post-campaign.

Reading Rainbow, which previously held the number one spot, now stands as our fifth largest project. Kingdom Death: Monster 1.5, the highest funded tabletop game on Kickstarter to date, tops the list. Peak Design has two projects in our top ten with The Everyday Backpack, Tote, and Sling and The Everyday Messenger.

Million-dollar projects tend to hog the spotlight, but BackerKit caters to projects across the funding spectrum: 30% of our projects raised over $100,000, 45% raised between $20,000 and $100,000, and 15% raised less than $20,000.

BackerKit’s most popular categories for crowdfunding campaigns are tabletop games, product design, and technology, but we’ve helped plenty of creators with interests spanning video games, fashion, food, comics, publishing, and many more.

The diversity of categories represented in our top ten list is striking: tabletop games, product design, hardware, apparel, and TV projects have all captured the imagination of backers on Kickstarter and Indiegogo.

Support

Providing responsive frontline support has always been a fundamental part of BackerKit’s commitment to project creators and backers. Our dedicated support team has handled 308,845 support tickets from January 2013 to present. Their hard work has helped countless project creators navigate the post-campaign phase with confidence.

BackerKit has implemented a number of self-service tools to lessen project creators’ workloads and give backers more flexibility to update their addresses and make changes to their surveys on their own.

New Features

Our product team has worked tirelessly to improve the BackerKit experience for creators and backers alike. We’ve introduced shipping tables, which allow project creators to design more complex fee structures according to item quantity or weight; coupon codes, which lets project creators to give backers discounts on pre-orders or add-ons; and partial fulfillment support, which makes it easier for creators to manage split shipments.

At BackerKit, we know that learning by doing is an important part of the crowdfunding journey, which is why we’re creating tools to empower project creators. One such tool is BackerTracker, a projection model that predicts how much a crowdfunding campaign will raise based on the historical performance of past campaigns. BackerTracker’s trending page showcases high-performing projects on Kickstarter and Indiegogo and is an invaluable research tool for project creators.

We’ve also revamped the BackerKit blog to provide project creators with the tips and tools they need to succeed in their crowdfunding journey, and have published in-depth guides to answer questions for crowdfunding novices and veterans alike.

Events

We’ve been energized by the breadth of ideas and products we’ve seen in action at festivals and conventions like XOXO, Essen Spiel, CES, and PAX East. This weekend, the BackerKit team will be making our third trip to Maker Faire; in August, we’ll be exhibiting again at GenCon, the largest tabletop game convention in the United States.

We also travelled to China and Taiwan to gain a firmer grasp on the challenges that our creators face when choosing factories for manufacturing, and learned about the regional differences in crowdfunding communities in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

In March this year, BackerKit held its first-ever panel event with Kickstarter at San Francisco’s The Archery, featuring Eddie Lee from Podo Labs; Greg Long, co-founder of product design firm GAMAGO; Emily Nathan photographer and creator of Tiny Atlas Quarterly; Kickstarter design and tech outreach lead Clarissa Redwine; adventure apparel-maker Zane Lamprey, and BackerKit’s own Rosanna Yau. The panel discussed post-funding triumphs, interactions with backers, and fulfillment war stories with an eager audience of prospective creators.

We hope to host more events at our spacious new digs in the heart of SoMa. The new HQ is light-filled, expansive, and well-equipped to accommodate our rapidly growing team of BackerKats.

A vibrant community of creators and backers make the crowdfunding economy like no other: it’s driven by collaboration, openness, and a fondness for new and unusual ideas.

Thank You, Creators

We’re thrilled to have helped 3,000 creators take control of the post-campaign stage of their projects, and would love to extend our thanks to all that have trusted us to manage their projects. We’re always inspired by the ingenuity, innovation and passion of our creators, and look forward to working with more of you in the future.

The post BackerKit Celebrates 3,000 Projects appeared first on Crowdfunding Blog & Resources | BackerKit.

At BackerKit, we sometimes get a sneak peek at product prototypes before they’re shipped to backers. It’s a sweet office perk!

Yesterday we had the opportunity to playtest Bears vs Babies, the brainchild of The Oatmeal’s Matthew Inman and game designer Elan Lee, the duo behind Exploding Kittens. It’s a card game where mutant bears and magnificent, poly-limbed creatures are pitted against armies of tyrannical babies.

BackerKat Anna with Buzz, our office bat.

Bears vs Babies is designed to be the kind of game you could play at a party. The rules are easy to follow, but there’s a layer of complexity in the gameplay to keep adults entertained. The general gist: build bears; provoke babies; fight to the death.

A neat trick is to provoke the babies into war when your opponents aren’t battle-ready. Crucially, this means players aren’t just waging war on the babies — they’re also waging war on each other.

There’s a specific kind of joy to be derived from being a real-life Frankenstein without any of the dystopian consequences. Throughout the game, each player creates a battalion of mutants, but they’re monsters like no other. Some of our man-made monsters included a sloth who is actually a taco; a uni pug in a saucy sombrero, armed with knives and burritos; and a happy squid on a peg leg. 

Silliness is encouraged — the only limit is your imagination! Behold our creations:

The more body parts your monster accumulates, the greater chance it has to triumph against a baby-led onslaught. The winner of each battle eats its foes; the player who devours the most babies is crowned the victor.

If you’re keen to get in on the action, Bears vs Babies is holding playtest parties in cities all over the world. Happy baby-eating!

The post Behind the Scenes at BackerKit: Playtesting Bears vs Babies appeared first on Crowdfunding Blog & Resources | BackerKit.