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328 PART 3 I MOVING FROM AN IDEA TO AN ENTREPRENEURIAL FIRM
encouraging students and others to "get out of the building" and talk to as many
potential customers as possible while developing a business idea. Brooks and Chen
followed Blank's advice. They interacted with over 200 girls in their target age range
(ages 6-12) to see what worked best. They also asked young girls to experiment with
early prototypes of Roominate at local events and the Children's Creativity Museum
in San Francisco. They took time to talk to parents and educators and did a lot of
prototyping. Brooks and Chen followed Blank's class with two stints at StartX, which
is Stanford's start-up accelerator. Through this program they were put in touch with
mentors and subject matter experts, such as attorneys, who helped them develop the
business side of Roominate.
The next step was raising funds. Money was needed for two reasons. First, the
entrepreneurs needed financial capital so they could scale production through large-
quantity orders of wood, electronics, and assembly costs. At this point, Brooks and Chen
were assembling Roominate kits by hand, which was unsustainable. Second, because
Roominate was designed to be played with by children under the age of 14, money was
needed to fulfill the tests required to certify compliance with toy safety standards.
Brooks and Chen decided to launch a Kickstarter campaign. The campaign was
launched in mid-2012 with a $25,000 goal. Pause for a moment and go to [Link]
[Link] and type "Roominate" into the search box. Although the Roominate
campaign is long since over, Kickstarter archives all campaigns indefinitely. You'll be
able to view the video pitch, see what the Roominate toy looks like, and examine the
specifics of the campaign. The $25,000 goal was easily exceeded, with $85,964 raised
from 1,154 backers. The successful Kickstarler campaign was a big plus for Brooks
and Chen. Not only did it help fund their initial production run, but the overwhelmingly
positive response was a big confidence-builder.
Since the Kickstarler campaign concluded in mid-2012, Roominate has pro-
gressed. !n defining the first three years of Roominate, Brooks characterizes year one
(2012) as developing the product and raising money via Kickstarter, year two (2013) as
finding customers and slowly building sales, and year three (2014) as finding retailers
and ramping up. ln 2013 and 2014, Brooksand Chen raised approximately$1 million
from angel investors to fund the buildup. Several things happened along the way that
demonstrated momentum, which was important in securing the angel investments.
First, Roominate won several toy awards, which provided external validation for the
efficacy of the idea and the product. Along with that, it attracted positive PR, including
an appearance by Brooks and Chen on the Today Show in 2013. Second, sales started
to build in 2013, primarily through specialty stores, the Roominate website, and via
[Link]. Third, mainstream retailers, including Toys"R"Us and Walmart, started
showing interest.
The next logical step for Roominate, in terms of funding, would be a Series A round
of venture capital. Roominate's ability to get to that point will depend on whether it dem-
onstrates broad product acceptance and is seen as a potential high-growth business.
Being an entrepreneur
in the biotech industry
requires a lot of
determination and drive.
The path to getting a
new drug approved takes
up to 10 years. This
"tortoise-like pace" of
new product development
takes substantial up-front
investment.
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Capital lnvestments
Firms often need to raise money early on to fund capital investments. Although it
may be possible for the venture's founders to fund its initial activities, it becomes
increasingly difficult for them to do so when it comes to buying property, con-
stmcting buildings, purchasing equipment, or investing in other capital projects.
Many entrepreneurial ventures are able to delay or avoid these types of expendi-
tures by leasing space or co-opting the resources of alliance partners. However, at
some point in its growth cycle, the firm's needs may become specialized enough
that it makes sense to purchase capital assets rather than rent or lease them.
Personal Funds
The vast majority of founders contribute personal funds along with sweat
equity to their ventures.5 In fact, according to data complied by Fundable,
57 percent of start-ups are funded by the entreprene_urs' personal savings
and credit. The average amount invested is $48,000.6 Sweat equity, which
represents the value of the time and effort that a founder puts into a new
venture, is also important. Because many founders do not have a substan-
tial amount of cash to put into their ventures, it is often the sweat equity
that makes the most difference.
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lnvolves both financial i Often comes in the form
resources and sweat i of loans or investments, the need for external
but can also involve financing through
represents the value of outright gifts, foregone creativity, i ngen u ity,
the time and effort that a i or delayed thrift iness, cost-cutting,
founder puts into a firm. i compensation, or obtaining grants, or any
reduced or free rent. other means.
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334 3 I *ou,*o FR.M AN To AN ENTRE'RENEURTAL F'RM
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located, rather than working from home, may be worth it if it provides entre-
preneurs access to a network of people who can be relied on to provide social
support and business advice.l I
ing (we discuss all these sources later in the chapter). Equity funding
is not a loan-the money that is received is not paid back. Instead,
equity investors become partial owners of the firm. Some equity in-
vestors invest "for the long haul" and are content to receive a return
on their investment through dividend payments on their stock. More
commonly, equity investors have a three- to five-year investment
hortzon and expect to get their money back, along w"ith a substan-
tial capital gain, through the sale of their stock. The stock is typi-
cally sold following a liquidity event, which is an occurrence that
converts some or all of a company's stock into cash. The three most
common liquidity events for a new venture are when it goes public,
finds a buyer, or merges with another comparry.
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336 PART 3 I MOVING FROM AN IDEA TO AN ENTREPRENEURIAL FIRM
The business has high risk with Personal funds, friends, family, and other forms
an uncertain return: of bootstrapping
High leverage
Unproven management
Low leverage
Audited financials
Good management
High growth
Niche market
Proven management
Venture Capital
Venture capital is money that is invested by venture capital firms in start-ups
and small businesses vrith exceptional growth potential.2a There are about 875
venture capital firms in existence, which have approximately $tgS billion un-
der management. In 2013, venture capital firms invested $29.6 billion in just
over 4,041 deals.25 The peak year for venture capital investing was 2OO0, when
$gS.O biltion was invested at the height of the e-commerce craze. A distinct dif-
ference between angel investors and venture capital firms is that angels tend
to invest earlier in the life of a company, whereas venture capitalists come in
later. The majority of venture capital money goes to follow-on funding for busi-
nesses that were originally funded by angel investors, government programs
(which are discussed later in the chapter), or by some other means.
Venture capital firms are limited partnerships of money managers who
raise money in "funds" to invest in start-ups and growing firms. The funds,
or pools of money, are raised from high-net-worth individuals, pension plans,
university endowments, foreign investors, and similar sources. In 2013, the
average fund size was $f tO.S mi11ion.26 The investors who invest in venture
capital funds are called limited partners. The venture capitalists, who ma.n-
age the fund, are called general partners. The venture capitalists who manage
the fund receive an annual management fee in addition to 20 to 25 percent of
the profits earned by the fund. The percentage of the profits the venture capi-
talists get is called the carrSr. So if a venture capital flrm raised a $f OO million
fund and the fund grew to $500 million, a 20 percent carry means that the
flrm would get, after repaying the original $tOO million, 20 percent of the $4OO
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I
340 PART 3 I MOVING FROM AN IDEA TO AN ENTREPRENEURIAL FIRM
Seed funding lnvestment made very early in a venture's life to fund the development of a prototype and
feasibility analysis.
Start-up funding lnvestment made to firms exhibiting few if any commercial sales but in which product
development and market research are reasonably complete. Management is in place, and
the firm has its business model. Funding is needed to start production.
First-stage funding Funding that occurs when the firm has started commercial production and sales but requires
financing to ramp up its production capacity.
Second-stage funding Funding that occurs when a firm is successfully selling a product but needs to expand both its
capacity and its markets.
Mezzanine financing lnvestment made in a firm to provide for further expansion or to bridge its financing needs
before launching an IPO or before a buyout.
Buyout funding Funding provided to help one company acquire another.
to ensure that they are a good fit. An entrepreneur should ask the following
questions and scrutinize the answers to them before accepting funding from a
venture capital firm:
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I
342 pART g lI HaOUTO FROM AN IDEATO AN ENTREPRENEURIAL FIRM
4. The opening features for Chapters 6, 7 , and I feature at [Link] accessed on September 14, 2014;
student start-ups that have launched smartphone J. Constine, "With Tiaction but Out of Cash, 4chan Founder Kills
off canvas/DrawQuest, " Techcrunch, available at [Link]
apps. What lessons can these start-ups learn from h/, posted on an ary
com/ 201 4 / A1 / 21 /when-g oods- not-g ood-eno ug J u
DrawQuest's exPerience? 21,2014, accessed on September 15,2014;E. Hamburger, "Achan
creator chris Poole Draws a Future Where Anyone can Make Afi,"
Sources; C. Poole, "Today My Startup Failed," Chris Hates Writing
The Verge, avai lab le at http ://[Link]. com/ 2A1 3 / 2 / 8/ 39 421 1 0 /
blog, avai lable at http ://chri shateswriti n g. com/posV7 4083032842 /lo-
drawquest-for-ipad-chris-poole-moot, posted on February 8, 2013,
day-my-startup-failed, accessed on September 1 5, 201 4; DrawQuest
accessed on September 14,2014.
blog, "A Recent Security Breach and the End of DrawQuest," available
cash flow, low leverage, audited financials, good ma"nagement, and a healthy
balance sheet. Although many new ventures have good management, few have
the other characteristics, at least initially. But banks are an important source
of credit for smali businesses later in their life cycles.
There are two reasons that banks have historically been reluctant to lend
money to start-ups. First, as mentioned previously, banks are risk averse. In
addition, banks frequently have internal controls and regulatory restrictions
prohibiting them from making high-risk loans. So when an entrepreneur ap-
proaches a banker with a request for a $25O,OOO loan and the only collateral
he or she has to offer is the recognition of a problem that needs to be solved,
a plan to solve it, and perhaps some intellectual propert5r, there is usually no
practical uray for the bank to help. Banks typically have standards that $uide
their lending, such as minimum debt-to-equity ratios that work against start-
up entrepreneurs.
The second reason banks have historically been reluctant to lend money to
start-ups is that lending to small firms is not as profitable as lending to large
firms, which have been the staple clients of commercial banks. If an entrepre-
neur approaches a banker \vith a request for a $25,OOO loan, it may simply not
be worth the banker's time to complete the due diligence necessary to deter-
mine the entrepreneur's risk profile. Considerable time is required to digest a
business plan and investigate the merits of a new firm. Research shows that
a firm's size is an important factor in determining its access to debt capital.3T
The $25,OOO loan may be seen as both high risk and marginally profitable
(based on the amount of time it would take to do the due diligence involved),
making it doubly uninviting for a commercial bank.38
Despite these historical precedents, some banks are starting to engage
start-up entrepreneurs-although the jury is still out regarding how signifi-
cant these lenders will become. When it comes to start-ups, some banks are
rethinking their lending standards and are beginning to focus on cash flow
and the strength of the management team rather than on collateral and the
strength of the balance sheet. Entrepreneurs should follow developments in
this area closely.
and RocketHub. These sites allow entrepreneurs to create a profile, list their
fund-raising goals, and provide an explanation (typically via video) of how the
funds will be used. Individuals then pledge money in exchange for some type
of amenity, like being one of the first lOO people to obtain the company's prod-
uct. The site takes a small percentage of the funds raised by the individuals for
their service. Once a novelt5r, rewards-based crowdfunding has become a major
source of start-up funds. TWo of the student start-ups profiled in this book,
LuminAid (Chapter 3) and Roominate (in this chapter), raised money via crowd-
funding. ln 2014, COOLEST, the subject of the You Be the VC Ll.2 feature,
raised $f S.Z million from 62,642 donors on Kickstarter, which at the time'was
the all-time crowdfunding record. There are currently over 45O crowdfunding
platforms. Some, such as Kickstarter, help fund a wide range of creative projects
and business start-ups. Others, such as Giveforward (subject of the You be the
VC 7.1 feature), are n€rrrow in scope. Giveforward utilizes crowdfunding to help
people raise money for medical expenses. If you're not familiar with how crowd-
funding works, go to [Link] and type 'COOLEST Cooler" into the
search engine. Although the campaign is over, Kickstarter leaves the campaign
proflles up on its site indefinitely. Looking at COOLEST's campaign \ dll provide
you a good sense of how rewards-based crowdfunding campaigns work.
The second type of crowdfunding is equity-based crowdfunding. Equity-
based crowdfunding helps businesses raise money by tapping individuals
who provide funding in exchange for equity in the business. Three of the more
popular equity-based crowdfunding sites are FundersClub, [Link],
and Circle Up. The catalyst for the advent of equity-based crowdfunding was
the JOBS Act, which was passed in April of 2012. The act is still going into
effect, so the full set of rules and regulations that will govern equity-based
crowdfunding sites are unknowrl. As of the time this chapter was written
(September 2014), it appears that equity-based crowdfunding will be confined
to entrepreneurs raising money from accredited investors. An accredlted in-
vestor is a person who is permitted to invest in higher-risk investments such
as business start-ups. In the United States, a person must have a net worth of
at least $ t million (not including the value of their house) or have an income of
at least $2OO,OOO each year for the past two years (or $3O0,0OO together with
their spouse if married) and have the expectation to make the same amount in
the current year. Still, there is substantial enthusiasm surrounding the poten-
tial for equity-based crowdfunding in the future.
Leasing
A lease is a written agreement in which the owner of a piece of property al-
lows an individual or business to use the property for a specified period of time
in exchange for payments. The major advantage of leasing is that it enables
a [Link] to acquire the use of assets with very little or no down pa5rment.
Leases for facilities and leases for equipment are the two most common types
of leases that entrepreneurial ventures [Link] For example, many new
businesses lease computers from Dell Inc. or other PC manufacturers. The
advantage for the new business is that it can gain access to the computers it
needs with very little money invested up-front.
There are many different players in the leasing business. Some vendors,
such as Dell, lease directly to businesses. As with banks, the vendors look for
lease clients with good credit backgrounds and the ability to make the lease
payments. There are also venture-leasing fir:nrs that act as brokers, bring-
ing the parties involved in a lease together. These firms are acquainted with
the producers of specialized equipment and match these producers with new
ventures that are in need of the equipment. One of the responsibilities of these
firms is conducting due diligence to make sure that the new ventures involved
will be able to keep up with their lease payments.
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I
348 ,ART 3 I n or,*u FR.M AN To AN ENTRE'RENEURTAL F'RM
'DEA
Phase lll Period in which Phase ll innovations move Open No SBIR funding available; however, federal
from the research and development lab to agencies may award non-SBIR-funded follow-on
the marketplace. grants or contracts for products or processes
that meet the mission needs of those agencies,
or for fufther R&D.
'Some agenci€s have a fast-track program where applicants can submit Phase I and Phase ll applications simultaneously. Government
agencies that participate in this program include the following: Dopartment ol Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Dsfense,
Department of Education, Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Sorvices, Department ot Homeland Security, Oepartment
of Transpodation, Environmental Protoction Ag6ncy, NASA, National lnstitut€s of HEalth, and National Science Foundation.
350 PART 3 I
I
MOVING FROM AN IDEA TO AN ENTREPRENEURIAL FIRM
Chapter Summary
I*S3. Commonly, entrepreneurs discover that putting all profits back into the busi-
tryrng to operate their business without ness, establishing partnerships and shar-
borrowed funds or invested capital is diffi- ing expenses with partners, and sharing
cult. Because of this, entrepreneurs need to office space and/or employees with other
understand the different approaches avail- businesses.
able to them to gain access to the amount fr$4 " The three steps involved in properly pre-
of capital needed to successfully support paring to raise debt or equity financing
their ventures in the pursuit of orgariza- are as follows: Determine precisely how
tional success. much money is needed, determine the
fr{}*" For three reasons-cash flow challenges, type of financing or funding that is most
capital investment needs, and the reality appropriate, and develop a strategy for
of lengthy product development cycles- engaging potential investors or bankers.
most new firms need to raise money at Cash flow statements are helpful to efforts
some point during the early part of their to determine the amount of capital a firm
life. Firm growth can generate cash flow requires at a point in time. When deciding
problems, typically because of the lag how to finance their venture, entrepre-
between the need to spend capital to neurs commonly choose between equity
generate additional revenue and the time financing (where partial ownership of the
required to earn positive returns from firm is exchanged for financial support)
those investments. Founders of entrepre- and debt financing (where the entrepre-
neurial ventures may be able to fund their neurs gain access to capital by taking out
firm's initial capital investment needs. a loan). Entrepreneurs then develop an
But, larger investments are required to elevator pitch (which is a brief, carefully
support firm growth that is the foundation constructed statement outlining a busi-
for long-term success. In some instances, ness opportunit5r's merits), identiff the
the time required for a product to be intro- best prospects to contact to seek financ-
duced can be lengthy. When this happens, ing, and prepare themselves to present a
additional investments are necessary to potential investor with an effectively devel-
keep a firm going during what may be a oped business plan.
lengthy product development cycle. f-OS. Business angels, venture capital, and an
I*$S. Personal funds, friends and family, and initial public offering (IPO) are the three
bootstrapping are the three sources of most important sources of equity fund-
personal financing available to entrepre- ing available to entrepreneurs. Business
neurs. It is very common for entrepre- angels are individuals who invest their
neurs to use their own funds to invest in personal capital directly in start-up ven-
their ventures while simultaneously pro- tures. These investors tend to be high-
viding their "sweat equity" (or hard work) net-worth individuals who generally invest
to keep the firm going. Entrepreneurs also between $1O,OOO and $[Link] in a single
receive support through funds provided by company. Venture capital is money that is
members of their family and their friends. invested by venture capital firms in start-
These investments come in various forms, ups and small businesses with excep-
including loans and gifts. When bootstrap- tional growth potential. Tlrpically, venture
ping, entrepreneurs find ways to avoid the capitalists invest at least $1 million in a
need for external funding. Exercising their single company. An initial public offering
creativity and ingenuity and finding ways (IPO) is an important milestone for a firm
to reduce their firm's costs are examples for four reasons: It is a way to raise equity
of what entrepreneurs do to reduce the capital, it raises a firm's public profile, it
need for support provided through exter- is a liquidity event, and it creates another
nal funding. Indeed, entrepreneurs are form of currency (company stock) that can
often very creative in finding ways to be used to grow the company.
bootstrap to raise money or cut costs. L$6. The sources of debt available to entre-
Additional examples of bootstrapping in- preneurs include commercial banks, SBA
clude minimizing personal expenses and
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I
I
g52 pART 3 I vovtruo FRoM AN IDEA To AN ENTREpRENEURTAL FIRM
1O-9. Describe the most common sources of 10-15. What is meant by the term uenhtre capital?
debt financing. Where do venture capital firms get their
10-10. What is the purpose of an elevator speech? monef What types of firms do venture
Why is preparing an elevator speech one of capitalists commonly want to fund? Why?
the first things an entrepreneur should do ro-16. Describe the purpose of an initial public
in the process of raising monef offering (IPO). Why is an initial public
10- I 1. Why is it so important to get a per- offering considered to be an important
sonal introduction before approaching a milestone for an entrepreneurial firm?
potential investor or banker? to-L7. What is the purpose of tJle investment
LO-12. What are the three steps required to bank in the initial public offering procbss?
effectively engage potential investors or 10-18. In general, why are commercial banks
bankers? reluctant to loan money to start-ups?
10-13. What are the three most common forms 10-19. Briefly describe the SBA s 7(A) Loan
of equity funding? Guaranty Program. Do most start-up
10-14. Describe the nature of business angel firms quali$z for an SBA guaranteed
funding. What types of people typically loan? Why or why not?
become business angels, and what is the lO-2O. What is a Small Business Innovation
unique role that business angels play in Research (SBIR) grant? Why would a
the process of funding entrepreneurial firm want to apply for such a grant if it
firms? qualifies for it?
Application Questions
LO-21. Write a 6o-second elevator speech for paternal grandmother over the weekend,
Carelinx, which is the "YoLl Be the VC and she has agreed to lend him $25,000
10.1" feature in this chapter. to launch the firm. When you asked Jim
lO-22. Samantha Smith, a friend of yours, was what [Link] he has made with
recently telling you about a company his grandmother to formalize the loan,
that her father is starting in the solar he lookedpuzzled and said, "She plans
power industry. Samantha's father is to send me a check in a week or so-she
using a technology he developed, which just needs to get the money out of her
has received favorable write-ups in sev- savings account." Jim seemed concerned
eral technical publications. He has been by the worried look on your face and
approached by two angel investors who said, "Tell me what you're thinking. I
are eager to invest in his proposed ven- really want to do the right thing here."
ture. He's also been offered a spot in a What would you say to Jim?
prestigious technologz incubator, where lO-24. Kathy Baker is in the midst of starting a
he can maintain an office and a lab to computer hardware firm and thinks she
work on his project. Samantha says that has identified a real problem that her
her dad has turned away the potential company will be able to solve. She needs
investors and is opting to work out of a investment capital, but doesn't know
shop on some property he owns, rather much about the process and doesn't
than move into the incubator. He'Il be know where to begin. She's turned to you
able to fund the company from personal for advice. Write Kathy a 25O- to 3OO-
savings, at least for the first two years. word e-mail message introducing her to
Do you think Samantha's dad is making the process of raising investment capital.
good decisions? What are the pluses and LO-25. Imagine you invented a new type of car
minuses of his decisions? seat for children, which is lighter and
LO-23. Jim Carter, a classmate of yours, is pre- safer than the car seats currently on
paring to launch an e-commerce com- the market. You have a business plan
pany to sell home repair guidebooks, and have won two business plan con-
tools, how-to videos, and related material tests based on your idea. You also have
for home repair and remodeling projects. a working prototype. You'd like to find
He just told you that he talked to his an angel investor to fund the launch of
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I
354 PART 3 I MOVING FROM AN IDEA TO AN ENTREPRENEURIAL FIRM
Frankovich used this insight to improve on the ini- They starled showing videos of their most recent proto-
tial prototype. To provide for more side visibility at night, type to bike shop owners. The response was very posi-
he decided to not only mount lights on the front tire but tive. They felt that they were on to something but still
on the back tire as well. To make it not only functional couldn't be absolutely sure that such was the case.
but super cool, the design was for white lights on the To test the waters in a substantive fashion, they de-
front tire and red lights on the back. The result was cided to launch a Kickstarter campaign. The campaign
360 degrees of illumination, offering not only improved launched in mid-2011 with a $43,500 goal.'The money
lighting (for the person riding the bike) but improved would be spent on the final design and development work
visibility from all sides. for the Revolights system and on the first production run.
At this juncture, put the case aside for a moment and,
go to [Link]. Type "Revolights" into the search
bar, and select the Revolights campaign that was funded
After settling on the initiat design, Frankovich met Adam on September 27,20'11 (Revolights ran two subsequent
Pettler at a friend's get-together. Pettler was complet- Kickstader campaigns). Watch the 2-minute, S0-second
ing an MBA from the University of California, Davis. video pitch. You'll see Revolights's original pitch. The
According to an interview with Frankovich and Pettler video also provides a nice demonstration of the Revolights
on the Core77 website (Core77 is a site for industrial system. The Kickstarter campaign raised $215,621 from
designers), Frankovich told Pettler about his idea, and 1,442 backers (496 percent of the original goal). That suc-
pulled out his phone and played a video of the proto- cess provided Frankovich and Pettler the confidence to
type. "Dude," Pettler reportedly said, "We should start a proceed with Revolights and make it an all-out effort.
business." Coincidentally, Pettler had to write a business
plan for a class and was looking for an idea. The two hit
it off and formed a partnership.
Over the next several months, Frankovich and Frankovich and Pettler proceeded to build Revolights.
Pettler produced several iterations of the original idea. Because the Revolights system is a physical product, in-
They formed a company named Revolights. At this ventory must be bought and paid for before the product
point, the Revolights bike lighting system consisted of is sold. As a result, scaling the company has required
two narrow rings of LED lights that mounted directly Frankovich and Pettler to raise money. The nearby table
to each bike wheel using a series of rim-specific clips. shows the funding that has taken place.
2011 Kickstarter Campaign Finish design and development work and pay for $215,621
initial production run
2011 SBA Loan Fund additional production $250,000
2013 Kickstarter Campaign Fund the company's second-generation product, $94,793
Revolights City
2013 Shark Tank Fund R&D and production $300,000
2014 Series A Round Led by Expand the team, grow sales and marketing, and $1 million (includes $900,000
Sierra Angels expand product line Shark Tank commitment)
As mentioned, the first funding was the initial The next round of funding was a bold one.
Kickstarter campaign. Buoyed by a positive response, Frankovich decided to take his chances on Shark Tank.
Frankovich and Pettler decided to expand the pro- The advantages of appearing on Shark Tank are three-
duction run and took out a $250,000 SBA loan. ln fold: first, the possibility of raising money; second, the
early 2013, they ran a second Kickstarter campaign. potential to get an investment from a high-profile inves-
The $14,500 goal was easily met, in that they raised tor, such as Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, or Robert
$94,793 from 233 backers. The differences in the vid- Herjavec; third, the exposure an appearance brings. ln
eos that accompanied the 2011 and 20'13 Kickstarter 2013, each episode averaged over six million viewers.
campaigns showed how much the company had ma- Appearing on Shark Tank also exposes a product's com-
tured. The purpose of the 2013 campaign was to fund pany, like Revolights, to potential retailers, distributors,
the company's second-generation product, Revolights and business paftners.
City. Revolights City fit more bike rims and would The Shark lank episode was filmed in late 2013
make Revolights more widely accessible. The com- and aired on March 7,2014 (Season 5, Episode 19). A
pany also announced a partnership with Mission Bike transcript of the episode is available at [Link]
Company, which would start selling a family of bikes com/pages/shark-tank. Frankovich asked for $1 50,000
with Revolights lights built in. in exchange for 10 percent of the company. The sharks
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I
358 PART 3 I MOVING FROM AN IDEA TO AN ENTREPRENEURIAL FIRM
GASE 10.2
Kickstarter: .H,n Increasingly lrnportant fiorum
for ltaising Seed Capital
, Web: [Link] , Facebook: Kickstarter " Twitter: @kickstarter
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360 PART 3 I MOVING FROM AN IDEA TO AN ENTREPRENEURIAL FIRM
$128 or more FOUR x "Letter Memobottles" with black or white lids-includes recycled paper packaging and a
thank you card for supporting Memobottle and for helping to stop the single-use bottle disaster.
$250 or more MEMO ONE YEAR WONDER Receive one of every product that Memobottle manufacturers for the
next 12 months.
$SOO or more MEMO AMBASSADOR Get your mug featured tor 12 months on our website. And of couide one of each
bottle.
$'1,000 or more MEMO LIFEMEMBER Receive one of every product that Memobottle manufacturers for the next five
years!
The Memobottle campaign includes a 3-minute, long, people lose interest. Fourth, it's important to not
'16-second video that shows exactly how the Memobottle set your financial goal too low. lf a Kickstarter cam-
conveniently slides into a messenger bag and that drives paign is successful, it tends to quickly lose momentum
home the negative environmental impact of single-use once it reaches 1 00 percent of its goal-even though
water bottles. more money can be collected. Finally, it's imperative
that a video pitch be included. lt's much easier to do-
l'low to Run a $uccessfui Kicksta*er Oampaign nate money to a person or organization's project if you
can hear someone talking about it and see the passion
There are several things that people who have run suc- in their eyes.
cessful Kickstarter campaigns learn. First, Kickstarter
shouldn't be thought of as a tool for funding one-off lIt/lrat's Ahead?
projects or events. lnstead, it's best to think of it as a
mechanism for providing seed capital to help a project Kickstarter has no immediate plans to broaden the
or event get up and running, and then grow it from there. scope of its platform. lt does have a growing number
Second, it's impoftant that the person or organization of competitors. There are now over 450 crowdfunding
that initiates a Kickstarter campaign promote it. Most platforms. Some, such as lndiegogo and RockHub, are
people who contribute to a specific campaign don't find broad-based platforms like Kickstafter. Others focus on
it by chance. lnstead, they go to [Link] looking specific industries, such as PledgeMusic, which helps
for it. ln the table shown next, several methods for pro- musicians raise money for albums, concerts, and music
moting a Kickstarter campaign are listed. DVDs. There are areas in which Kickstarter is becoming
Third, the majority of donations are made at the more adventurous. For example, it periodically hosts film
beginning and the end of campaigns. As a result, festivals that feature animations, short films, documen-
shorter campaigns are typically more effective than taries, and more, all funded on Kickstarter. ln 2014, a
longer ones. A Kickstarter campaign can last between Kickstarter film festival was held in Brooklyn in July and
one and 60 days. Campaigns lasting less than 30 days Los Angeles in September, and one was in the planning
have the highest success rates. lf a campaign is too stages for London in the later part of the year.
Platform Execution
E-mail Send an e-mail to your e-mail distribution list, describing the campaign. Kickstafter campaigns
aren't funded entirely by strangers. lnstead, they're often funded largely by the campaign
initiator's friends, family, business associates, and so forth.
Twitter and Facebook Reach out to both your Twitter and Facebook audiences. Provide frequent updates. Try to find
the balance between saturating your Twitter followers and Facebook friends with Kickstarter
info and providing them with timely reminders.
Blogs and media Reach out to bloggers and news outlets in the industry that your campaign focuses on. Ask
that they mention your campaign and offer support. For example, it would make sense for
Memobottle to reach out to bloggers and journalists who write about environmental issues.
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362 PART 3 I MOVING FROM AN IDEA TO AN ENTREPRENEURIAL FIRM
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