KickstarterForum.org

[bryanedds]

So, I really don't think I will be able to raise the necessary monies needed for my game OmniBlade on the first try on KickStarter. I've only completed the game engine, game design, and sound track, and have barely started implementing the game itself (but I have at least started!). This project is going to require roughly $50k to fund all the art and programming time that remains.

But then I thought to myself - what if I did a KickStarter with no expectation of succeeding?

And if it fails, why not just do it again, still not expecting to succeed, but at least trying to raise more than the last round?

Repeat this enough, and using the percentage of goal reached as a feedback mechanism, perhaps someday I can reach my goal!

I called this wacky scheme a 'FailStarter' That's probably a terrible name, but hey, it can be changed.

Does anyone think this idea is even partially sane? What would you anticipate as the downsides?

[RogueMW]

I figure the downside'd be that people who backed your previous campaign wouldn't necessarily feel comfortable backing the subsequent ones after it fails.

[bryanedds]

Hmm... What if I made it explicit that I actually estimate that I will fail the first few times?

[RogueMW]

That wouldn't give a very good image, since people might look at that and think "well, maybe they're not prepared if it IS successful," and so you'd lose backers that way. Don't get me wrong, I'd love for this to be viable, but I think at least on a platform like Kickstarter it may not work real great. Of course, I could just be off the mark altogether.

[bryanedds]

Ya, that's a definite potential downside.

[sbriggman]

I do like it when creators or entrepreneurs have a healthy attitude towards failure. If I remember correctly, in the offices of facebook, there was a quote when they were just starting out "Fail harder."

However, I wouldn't set out to fail. I would do your best, put in thorough research and planning, and hustle 100% during the duration of your campaign. If you fail, you can learn from it, but focus on success, not planning to repeated failure.

Also - I would like to see that I do see a lot of creators on Kickstarter who fail the first time and then succeed the second time, because they learned from their failures. I've included a few examples below:

http://www.crowdcrux.com/how-to-success ... -campaign/
http://www.crowdcrux.com/the-story-of-r ... nd-myself/

[bryanedds]

Heh, maybe I take it too far in the other extreme - I am having difficulty seeing the downside of failure

You're probably right though, I shouldn't explicitly expect failure - that might be the wrong attitude. I guess I should just expect to do my best with the little resources and time I will have, but still be just fine to run my campaign better next time if I do fail.

[WishfulLie]

Oh man, I am also currently running a campaign at 50k. I wish I have your freedom to go "well if it doesn't work, ill try again" Took me 2 years to climb my way out of student debt and living 80 dollars a month to my current spot, just enough to regamble EVERYTHING into my project again ><

[voidrpg]

I know that we have considered the same thing with our campaign (even though we are only a few days in). We are really hoping that it is successful, however. Anyone that has created something and runs a Kickstarter knows how much work goes into the project, and to relaunch definitely takes dedication for the project. Best of luck!