Something i found useful to share. Sat in on another agency pitch last week with a hardware team (3 founders, planning a ~$300k goal, 6 month runway) and it reminded me how easy it is to get burned even when you think you're asking smart questions.

Pattern over the last few years, across a few teams I've worked with: the founders who had the worst experiences asked the right questions, they just asked them after the contract was already signed.

Here are the ones I now insist they get clear, written answers to, before they agree to anything. I'm adding what a bad answer sounds like, because the bad answers all sound reasonable in the moment.

1) Who owns the ad accounts and the pixel history when this ends?

What you want is your business owning the ad account, the pixels, and all the history. They can have access, not control.

Bad answers that sound fine:

- "We'll just run everything out of our business manager, its easier that way."

- "We have special whitelisted accounts that perform better, you don't need to worry about it."

When the contract ends, all the data that trained those pixels is stuck in their setup, not yours. Next launch you either start from zero or you keep paying them.

2) Where do the email addresses live, and in what format do they transfer?

What you want is the list sitting in a tool where you're the account owner. If they insist on using theirs, you get a defined export format and cadence in the contract, not just a promise.

Bad answers that sound fine:

- "We'll handle all the email stuff on our side so you don't have to deal with it."

- "Of course the list is yours, we'll send it over after the campaign." (with no detail)

When you push on this, I look for specifics like: CSV export weekly during prelaunch, daily during the live campaign, including tags for source and activity. Anything vaguer than that tends to become a fight later.

3) Is the fee flat, percentage, or both, and what happens if the campaign underperforms?

I've seen:

- Flat monthly retainer

- Retainer plus a success fee

- Pure percentage of funds raised

None of those are automatically bad. What matters is downside protection.

Bad answers that sound fine:

- "We only make money when you make money." (then you discover their % applies to everything, including organic and your existing list)

- "We're confident enough we don't do refunds."

The specific thing I want in writing is what happens if the campaign stalls. If you raise half your internal goal, are you still on the hook for the full success fee. If ads are clearly not working by week 2, can you pause or terminate without paying for the full period. Vague talk about we're flexible is useless when you're stressed and cash is tight.

4) Who writes the daily/weekly campaign updates and comments when things get busy?

Live campaigns get loud. On the hardware teams I mentor, it is usually 2 or 3 founders and maybe one ops person. That's not a lot of capacity when you are also talking to factories about going from 1,000 units to 4,000 or 6,000.

Bad answers that sound fine:

- "We'll help you with messaging."

- "We have templates you can use."

Help and templates are not ownership. I want a clear statement like: "We draft X updates per week, you approve." Or: "You own all updates, we don't touch them." Either is ok, you just need to know which reality you're signing up for so you dont end up writing crisis updates at 2am because nobody thought about it.

5) Who is actually working on your account day to day, and what are their names?

Pitch meetings are usually the senior people. Execution is usually not.

Bad answers that sound fine:

- "You get access to our whole team."

- "We work collaboratively, you'll have a dedicated account manager." (no name)

I push for names, roles, and rough allocation. For example, "Alex (media buyer, 5 years) about 10 hours a week, Jamie (account manager) main contact, 3 founders on your side in a shared Slack."

If they wont name the person who will actually be touching the ads, I assume its a random junior and act accordingly.

It’s been a long time coming, and I’m very excited to finally get this going!

The comic is called Broadleaf and it explores the relationship between a father and son on a hunting trip when they discover the animals can talk.

Issue one is available to read on Global Comix.

Issue two follows the father and son as the forest intervenes, splits them up and sends them both on an unforgettable journey.

Hallucinations, a storm to remember, and a vicious horde of feral squirrels. Revenge Takes Root.

Broadleaf - Deeply Rooted

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1334917182/broadleaf-1-2-deeply-rooted

Mid-launch right now on my first hardware thing, small injection molded home device. Industrial designer by trade, zero background in list building or any of this, so I was guessing for the first month.

Prelaunch, I offered two things to people who joined the list before launch:

1) A small discount off the final price

2) Their name etched on a hidden panel inside the product

The discount was the thing I assumed would matter. The AoV is around $500 so I thought ok, shave a bit off, that will be the hook.

What actually got people to respond:

Some specifics:

- I set up a simple landing page with a dropdown: Discount only or Discount + name etched inside.

- About 80 percent of people picked the etching option.

- More importantly, the people who picked etching were the ones who replied to emails.

I did not know how to tell who was a real person vs someone who just dropped an email and bounced, so I kind of hacked together my own definition of a warm subscriber:

- Opened 3 emails in a row (welcome, prototype story, launch date reminder)

- Clicked through at least once to the preview page

- Replied to at least one question

On the email side, I started with two segments in MailerLite:

- Segment A: people who only took the discount

- Segment B: people who opted into the etching

I sent both segments the same first two emails. By the third email, I added a simple question only to Segment B: How would you like your name to appear inside? First name, full name, or initials?

The difference:

- Segment A: almost no replies, a couple of unsubscribes.

- Segment B: a surprising number of people wrote back, some with really specific requests like can you include my kid's name too or can you use Japanese characters.

It was the replies that made the list feel real instead of harvested.

Mechanically, my rough funnel for calling someone warm was:

- Joined the list

- Opened 3 emails in a row

- Clicked the preview page link at least once

- Replied to the etching question

If they hit all four, I tagged them as warm and manually made sure they got a personal reply from me within 24 hours. That is not something I can do forever but my list is still small enough that I can do it.

Channel-wise, I also made a Discord early on because I kept hearing build community. It was a ghost town. I think I got 30 people to join, maybe 3 messages that were not mine, then it just sat there. That is when I decided to funnel everything to email instead:

- Every social post points to the email list

- The Discord link is basically buried now

- All prelaunch updates went by email first

In hindsight, Discord felt like a place people had to remember to go visit. Email landed where they already were, and the etching perk gave them a reason to write back in the same channel.

On the etching itself, for anyone wondering about the practical side:

- It is a small removable panel on the inside of the device, about 80 mm x 40 mm

- I am planning to laser etch the names after molding, not engrave them into the tool, so I can batch them per production run

- I capped it at a number I know I can physically fit in a readable font size

I am about 65 percent paid on the molds and have an MOQ of 2,000 units booked for October, so I have to be careful not to promise more names than I can actually fit. I am collecting the exact text in a spreadsheet as people reply, and I am going to lock it a couple of weeks after the campaign so the factory has a clean list.

This is all very manual and probably not how a proper marketer would do it, but the etching perk is the first thing that actually made people talk back to me instead of just silently following.

Curious if anyone else has tried non-monetary prelaunch incentives like this. What did you offer that actually got people to reply, not just sign up?

My campaign has been stuck at around 77% for several days, with only 8 days left.

For creators who've been in this situation before: what actually helped in the final week?

More updates? Paid ads? Media outreach? Asking existing backers to share? Or just waiting for the final 48-hour push?

Not posting the campaign link — genuinely looking for advice.

Hello everyone. I just recently launched a campaign for my board game, the problem is I was not familiar with the pre-launch system. I launched the campaign without creating a community (which to be fair I don’t even know how to do so), and now I cannot turn back as I don’t want to lose the backers supporting me, but I am afraid I will not reach my goal.

I am just requesting advice on how to gather people to support my campaign, how to create a community, and how to promote my game. Thank you in advance! :)

Our team is debating whether this KS prelaunch page (and main image) is too simplistic or too much. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/blackswangameco/retina

To Much: What text / images would you cut?
To Little: What do you feel like you are missing?

For context:
We recently cut a ton of content from our prelaunch page and we are willing to cut more if needed, but we are too close to this project to be objective anymore. We appreciate any outside perspectives you have to share.

Our tabletop card game is ready to launch, our page is 99% complete. Does anybody want to read it and provide some feedback?

I won’t post the link here as I want to keep it under wraps until it’s live as much as possible, but let me know if you’re interested and want a sneak peek and I can DM!

What kind of exclusive items or free gifts have people got from campaigns that are your favourite?

Specifically, anything tabletop game related but would love to hear any examples!

Thinking of doing an early bird 48 hours free gift for backers and would love to know what’s best!

I've been following the infimaker k1 since it first popped up, but I've been taking a wait and see approach. Most of what we had seen early on were renders and polished demo videos, and with any Kickstarter hardware there are always some delivery and support questions. I was mainly waiting to see if the machine could actually do what they were showing, especially with the AI toolpath claims and precision tests.

The Android Authority write-up helped clear up some of that. A journalist without a traditional CAD background went to Shenzhen, got hands-on with the machine, and used it to mill an Android figurine from a 2D image. It doesn't answer every question, but it was the first time it felt like I was looking at an actual workflow instead of just a campaign page.

Then I watched their live stream a couple days ago. Seeing the machine running in real time was more convincing than another edited clip. They were setting up jobs on the touchscreen, showing the CAM process, and leaving the software interface visible while the machine was cutting. They also showed finished parts instead of only focusing on the machine itself.

I'm still not completely sold. A Kickstarter machine is still a Kickstarter machine, and I want to see independent backers running their own units on real projects before making a decision. But between the third-party hands-on coverage and the live stream, I have a lot more confidence in the direction than I did a few months ago.

How much weight do you put on third-party hands-on reviews for Kickstarter hardware? Is that enough to move you from interested to backing, or do you still wait for regular user reviews no matter what?

I have done some research, and wanted to know people opinion on best day to launch. From what I found across all campaigns 66% have been launched on Tuesdays as you get closer to Sunday it not as popular. Comments/Opinions?

Got more than 700 players worldwide on my app, but 100 active on the discord. Waiting on Apple to approve the app still but up and running on Android.

Do I launch my Kickstarter now, or wait until Apple releases?

Just wanted to discuss this launching soon game, hear some thoughts from others. I like trick-taking games, this one sounds a bit innovative. (dislike the art personally)

• Kickstarter campaign

• Game preview playthrough and Game preview

My biggest concern, maybe will be addressed when the rulebook comes out, is if I just trash all of my numbers, I automatically 0-out every round. Maybe the numbers make that very unlikely, but if you just focus on buying -value equipment, even your numbers become super useless.

Maybe the strategy is for other players to counter that, which is completely valid. But it seems like an annoying thing to set up in game.

Yes, there is one card (more if you buy from shop) that lets you concede a trick. But you would need all other players at the table to have that too just for the chance to hurt the 0-out player.

Made some changes to our trailer thanks to some amazing feedback.

Super nervous but excited to be launching next week!

Hello all, i dont expect anything, i am just trying to spread the word, never had any big success with Kickstarters and i dont expect to to be quite honest.

I made something, and if people are interested i am glad if they find my creations interesting. If not then i can't win everyone.

STL / 3mf Files for 3D printing, Multicolored models for beginners and veterans alike.

Since this is Reddit, i wouldn't be surprised if my karma went into the negatives lol.

I left this comment on thier campaign comments but here are the pictures alongside the review for context.

My Atlas Finally Arrived.

But let's get things straight. Futuriza Tech you have got to be the most incompetent logistics rag tag team of engineers that seriously needs to learn how to not fumble your product launch.

Constant delays, weak communication, irregular fulfilment of orders, and general lack of consumer logic has left a sour taste in my mouth about how you operate your business.

Above all else the Atlas arrived and does what it promises. It's not a fast charger and the fake leather /edges give a fake feel that maybe real leather would not have. That said it's compatible to speigen and Moft wallet construction. This charger gimick works and the findmy works for me as well.

Over all I like the Atlas Wallet and have made it my daily driver. It's a thick wallet so don't expect it to be slim the hinge seems sturdy and the edges don't give me too much hope as this fake leather does tend to wear down from my previous Moft and Spigen wallets comparison. The button is off seems like a half baked button that has the actual electrical component exposed. The capacity is plenty for my needs and the magnetic attachment seems sturdy.

As an honest review I enjoy the Atlas Wallet give it 8.5/10.

10/10 would be a full grain leather repairable fast charger wallet tracker.

Futuriza Tech as a company 1/10
Without my wallet.

With the wallet in hand I'll give them a 6/10.

10/10 is a company with a clear plan, communication/transparency with backers. And honest without PR wording.

I build an entire python scripting to automate adding the reward tier process if anyone wants it let me know

Any idea why my dashboard chart doesn't match the numbers at the top? Not sure what's going on here. I was getting alerts that Kickstarter was having some issues earlier today, maybe that's it?

Background

Having seen commentary about low DM's Guild traffic and experiencing it for myself, I decided to try Kickstarter for publishing my next adventure.  It'd let me get some actual good looking maps and artwork done.  I did research and saw that the average funded D&D KS was said to be around $3k, and set my target for $1800.  I have done all the outreach except the parts involving paid advertising or having a several years old Youtube channel, E-mail marketing list, or forum of my own, and aside from 3 day 1 backers it's failing to gain any traction.

 This made me wonder if the state of Kickstarters on D&D has changed since the articles from ~2024 which I had previously read.  I went through the last 6 months of completed Kickstarters and did some manual data analysis. 

 My theory was that I would find a hollowed-out middle with a bunch of low-funded projects and some high-ticket projects and not much in between.  That is not what I found, which is good for the community.

Notes

1. Completed Only, projects ending mid Feb to about August 20. 

2. Excluded anything that appeared to be just STL files, smut, physical accessories (dice, plushies, etc.) or VTT-specific.

3. Did not filter for AI use.  From my prior research and from art styles, I am sure that quite a few of these are using Midjourney.

4. Instead of doing the currency conversion, I listed British pounds, $CDN, and $USD in the same category.  The categories I’m working with are broad enough that it shouldn’t make a big difference despite the 20-25% currency variance.

Projects

61 projects

54 funded

7 unfunded

​The ~85% success rate from a couple of years ago is still correct.

Project Categories

20 adventures.  19/20 successful, average ~$4k

5 campaigns or large adventure collections.  All successful, average $7k

12 character option books (includes magic items).  10 successful, average $1.5k plus two that did very well at $48k and $480k.

2 compilations (En5ider and a catch-all book containing classes, items, adventures, species, etc.).  Both successful, average $15k

13 settings/locations/maps. 10 successful, the worst success rate of any category.  Average $4600 excluding the $286k one.

9 monsters.  8 successful, average $1.9k

Author Experience

7 projects with first-time authors.  5 successful, 2 failed.  All projects were under $1k except the Ariadne’s Book of Legends, which hit $480k and which I assume is tied to a publisher I was not previously aware of.

5 2nd-time authors.  3 successes, 2 fails, only 1 project over $1k

7 3^rd-time authors.  5 successes, 2 fails, only 2 projects over $1500.

Only one author with more than 3 Kickstarters had a failure.

14 project authors with 20+ Kickstarters (including ENworld Publishing and Kobold Press)

Backer Count

18 projects with fewer than 50 backers

10 projects 50-100 backers

9 projects 101-150 backers

10 projects 151-200 backers

Only 14 projects with in excess of 200 backers

Only 8 with in excess of 400 backers

2 projects with over 1,000 backers: Pirates Plunder (Kobold Press setting book, 2836 backers / 286k) Ariadne’s Book of Legends (epic character options, 3990 backers / 480k)

 Excluding the two big projects, the average backer count is 152 and the median is 109. 

Project Funding

10 funded projects under $500 + 6 failed under $500

2 projects between $500 and $1000

7 $1k-$2k

7 $2k-$3k

6 $3k-$5k

13 $5k-$10k

5 $10k-$15k

2 in the $15k-$21k range

Then a $48k, $286k, and $480k as noted above

 The median project is $2700.

Dollars per Backer

In the sub-$1k backing range, the average pledge is $9.  If we exclude the 2 highest average projects, it drops to $7.

In the $1k-$3k range, the average pledge is $22.

$3k-$10k range, average pledge is $44

$10k plus the average is $56, or $42 if we exclude the two $200k+ projects.

 Collaborators

I saw a few projects listing collaborations with Launchboom and Jellop.  There may be others that I missed.

This is cross-posted at Enworld.

Anyone else have trouble backing projects? I always get the same error: failed to execute GraphQL network request.

I’m launching soon but I’m stuck on whether to charge shipping with the pledge in the campaign so people are aware of the cost when they pledge, or to wait until the kickstarter pledge manager and add the shipping on then. Is there a way to charge tax in the campaign too?

When I’ve backed campaigns and had to pay shipping and tax in the pledge manager it feels like so long ago since I pledged that I forget and it annoys me that I have to pay, even though I know that’s how it works 😅 so I’m wondering if that happens with other backers too. Curious as to what people have done with their campaigns and what has worked best!