Now it is very interesting times when the long-established laws of economics and marketing simply cease to apply. They are replaced by new ones that at first glance seem unusual. The clearest example is www.kickstarter.com. What is its feature? How does Kickstarter work? Using this site you can raise money to start a project. Let's consider in more detail the principle of operation of Kickstarter. The Russian analogue of this system (Boomstarter) will also be described in this article.
What are crowdfunding platforms?
It's no secret that creating and, most importantly, promoting your project on the market (be it a music album, book or a new technological gadget) is extremely difficult. And of course, a large amount of money will be required . The money goes to create the first prototypes and run-in technologies, as well as materials and technological equipment. A writer must write something for another masterpiece. But how to collect the necessary amount? This is where www.kickstarter.com comes to the rescue. Thanks to this resource, you can collect the first users of the project who will be ready to contribute a certain amount (sometimes even several hundred rubles). Basically, Internet users go to the startup page, read its description, and then can make a donation. Its size is determined independently.
Kickstarter working principle
The site has a semblance of a social network, so you can use Kickstarter for direct interaction with businessmen.
As a result, it turns out that the author of the project has a chance to quickly raise money for his project, and users will be the first to receive the finished product. For example, recently, Pebble raised funds to start the production of a new “smart” watch. They were so impressed with the users that the company raised $ 10 million in just one day. And there are more such cases.
Developers often manage to convince people of how good their project is, and the amount required for its implementation is collected literally in a matter of hours. For example, few people know that the manufacturers of the popular accessory for the iPhone Elevation Dock (this is an aluminum dock) raised money for its production using Kickstarter. This required not the largest by the standards of a crowdfunding platform - 75 thousand dollars. The required amount was collected in just three days. Rather, they managed to collect as much as one and a half million. Thanks to this money, the creators of the accessory have established sales through a huge number of intermediaries and are currently flourishing. And all this thanks to Kickstarter.
How to use this site for those users who do not know the Russian language is an open question.
World analogues Kickstarter
Previously, project support services already existed, but it was with Kickstarter that their popularity began to grow.
Kickstarter counterparts have helped raise money for millions of users. For example, the Kiva website has helped successfully launch its project on 760 thousand entrepreneurs from all over the world. The total amount of funds passed through Kiva is already more than three hundred million dollars. The main specialization of the site is entrepreneurs from developing countries, where it is almost impossible to find money to start a project. The user must invest at least twenty-five dollars, which will go to start a small business.
Another Kickstarter counterpart is the Zidisha Fund, which allows borrowers to interact with investors in more than seventy countries around the world. In two years, 750 projects were successfully funded. The fund can hardly be called profitable against the background of the same Kickstarter. It is registered in the USA, and the main calculations are made in PayPal. Zidisha has big differences from its competitors: it will not work to get money without at least one successfully paid loan. The share of successfully repaid loans is at 97 percent.
Briefly about Indiegogo
One of the most popular Kickstarter analogues abroad is the Indiegogo platform. The work of this crowdfunding platform is based on maximum transparency of actions. The user can add absolutely any project to Indiegogo, which is the biggest difference from the main competitor. The type of project can be absolutely any. This may be a device (and it is not necessary to present a working prototype), entertainment, education or charity. But the most interesting is that the user can collect money even for his own needs. The funding model at Indiegogo is very flexible. There are no geographical restrictions: users can be anywhere in the world. In fact, the only thing required to work with this platform is a valid legal bank account.
Crowdfunding in Russia
Russians can use the crowdfunding platform without any restrictions, but, unfortunately, Kickstarter does not work in Russian. For convenient work, you will need knowledge of English at least at an intermediate level. It is very pleasing that in Russia there are similar services, but until recently, most of them were aimed at promoting young music groups. However, now the situation is beginning to gradually change for the better, but still, the Russian Kickstarter has not yet been created.
Boomstarter
One such project is the Boomstarter website. Here, anyone can post a project that requires investment. It can be either a small business or a music group. There are practically no restrictions. Very convenient, because until recently Kickstarter did not work in Russia.
After raising funds, the author of the project will have to share with investors part of what happened in the end. For example, if it is a musical group, then the author sends a ticket to the concert. If the product, then it is sent by itself or a discount on the purchase.
All projects undergo strict moderation, therefore, before publishing, you should carefully read the rules of the system. In the event that the required amount has not been collected within the prescribed period, the sponsor is guaranteed to receive his money back. It is also implemented on Kickstarter.
The Russian analogue of foreign crowdfunding systems will allow you to evaluate how much your project will be in demand among the population. In case of success or failure of fundraising, it will become clear whether it is necessary to continue to work in this direction. Many users have already started working with their business, and some had to change the direction of their talent.
Features of crowdfunding in Russia
But it is worth noting that it is much more difficult to collect funds on Russian analogues of Kickstarter than abroad. Perhaps this is a matter of mistrust, or maybe most users simply do not have free money that they could invest in any project.
At one time, a large number of sites began that their developers called as much as “Kickstarter” in Russian. But it doesn’t turn out as rosy as on foreign crowdfunding platforms. As noted above, there a startup can raise a huge amount for a very short term, the main thing is to interest people. In the Russian realities, this has not yet happened.
Features of projects on Boomstarter
Boomstarter is by far the most successful Kickstarter site in Russia. The vast majority of projects that people strive to start here are things more or less related to art. Some try to raise money to shoot a video clip, others - to record a musical composition. Still others are interested in an art project. And what about technological projects?
If there are a lot of technological projects on foreign platforms like the ones mentioned above, and most importantly, there are a lot of those that have successfully raised the necessary funds and are already actively selling, then in Russia the situation is different than on the same Kickstarter. The Russian counterpart of this crowdfunding platform - Boomstarter - has only one technological project for twenty-five more or less successful art projects. One of them is the zoom for the iPhone, which is called Focality. He collected a little more than 31 thousand rubles, which before the change in exchange rates corresponded to one thousand dollars. The most interesting thing is that it is still not clear for what purpose this money was spent. It is difficult to imagine how it is possible to organize any production with such a small amount.
Unsuccessful projects on Russian crowdfunding platforms
Consider a couple of projects that at one time did not manage to raise the right amount of money:
- Bombsquare - three days before the end of the fundraising campaign, I managed to collect only 2010 rubles, and it took 60 thousand.
- Fundraising for the creation of the Bestvuz.ru site was completed in the amount of 1250 rubles, while 110 thousand were required.
The picture is somewhat sad, and it is not yet time to say that Russian startup sites can compete with Kickstarter. The Russian analogue of foreign crowdfunding platforms is still unable to provide decent returns. It will be extremely difficult for a descent to give an example of a successful site related to any technology. Projects that are aimed at art, cope with the task of raising funds is much better, but raising the amount from one hundred thousand rubles and above is almost impossible here. Only 5 out of 25 successful startups decided to swipe at that amount. However, many such projects raised money with the participation of well-known representatives of show business. And this already resembles unfair competition.
Prospects for crowdfunding in Russia
Despite this, crowdfunding in Russia is gradually getting on its feet. This direction is still quite crude, and most likely, if you do not have a distinguished assistant, then there will be no sense in raising funds. Indeed, you must admit that so far no one in Russia has been able to raise enough funds to produce a full-fledged computer game. And, for example, the developers of the increasingly popular Wasteland 2 strategy gained money for its development precisely thanks to the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform.
It is hoped that such platforms in the Russian Federation will reach world level, and many talented people will be able to start their own small business. In the meantime, “kickstarter in Russian” is a distant dream.