KickstarterForum.org

I'm not a mind reader, but I'm sure there's been some other people with this question on their mind as they launched their campaign. Let me give some background to my story:

I'm 24, I graduated in May 2012 from NC State University with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and 3.7 GPA. I mention my GPA because while I'm pretty smart, I had to work my butt off in college to succeed (plus my financial aid depended on it). After graduating I got a good job at a company that does reliability statistics on turbines. I worked there for 2 years, getting a promotion and a few raises along the way. I was set to have a great career as the bridge between two giant industries – energy and big data. Then, on July 11th 2014, I turned in my two weeks notice and began developing a start-up apparel company…something I had no clue about or familiarity with. I just had an idea, and an ambition to create and share it. I wanted to create comfortable, casual clothing that outdoor lovers could still wear in the city limits. I still had to learn how to start a company, make sure no one sued me, register with the proper authorities (that was a pain), create designs, use the software to do so, online marketing basics, seo basics…the list can keep going for a while (as I’m sure many people here know).

Fast forward 83 days + a couple hours and here I am writing this post. I’m 5 days into my Kickstarter campaign for my startup. I’ve reached about 45% of my 5K goal, 70% of which has come from very supportive family and friends (the other 30% seems to be generally interested backers). With less of a stellar start then I was hoping for, I’ve been left wondering if I made the right decision. But with more thought and meditation, the answer still remains “Yes”. Even if my campaign fails, the answer will still remain “Yes”.

I’m convinced that life is what you make of it, that the human spirit can’t be found in the big data that I used to work with and that life is too short not to pursue your own ideas of happiness. Keep dreaming dreamers, only you can set your limits!

oh yea - here's a link to my campaign: http://goo.gl/ury3Yz
It's called The High Life

Regards,
Ted

I think that if you are pursuing your passion and creating real value for other people, the answer is always yes. As Jim Carrey says “I learned many, many lessons from my father, but not least of which is that you can fail at something you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance doing what you love.”

Funny enough - my friend posted this video on Facebook in June. It was one of the things, along with support from family, that led me to take the jump.

I agree, but only b/c it seems you actually gave it your best effort. Run into a lot of projects that seem to just be throwing it out there and see what happens, hoping they go insanely viral. In that case, being honest, I would question if it was worthwhile.

TedF wrote:Fast forward 83 days + a couple hours and here I am writing this post. I’m 5 days into my Kickstarter campaign for my startup. I’ve reached about 45% of my 5K goal, 70% of which has come from very supportive family and friends (the other 30% seems to be generally interested backers). With less of a stellar start then I was hoping for, I’ve been left wondering if I made the right decision. But with more thought and meditation, the answer still remains “Yes”. Even if my campaign fails, the answer will still remain “Yes”.

From the looks of your project page and your project video, then I am inclined to believe that you did make the right decision.

That aside, if you will add the http:// in front of your shortened URL address, your link might actually work.

Thanks for the tip Charles and for the showing some love on Kickstarter! I appreciate it.

That was definitely gutsy, but in the words of Mark Twain "Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone, you may still exist, but you have ceased to live."

Ted, we're the same person and I'm having the exact same concerns. I'm a recent mechanical engineering graduate too (with a slightly lower GPA...but not a bad one) and could pretty quickly get a decent paying job in a solid industry. But I'd rather make educational toys, so might as well try. You'll be fine, whether this works out or not...but you might have always regretted not trying. That's what I keep telling myself!

Also, I just paused the Daft Punk I was listening to before I played your video...

Matt,

That's a funny coincidence, Daft Punk and both being ME's. I couldn't agree more with what you said though. It's much like the phrase "It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all", just replace "loved" with "tried".

Brian