What made this project so successful? After all, there are other iPod Nano projects. And it's a wristwatch, which even with the addition of a Nano, might not be the coolest or most necessary of accessories.
Bryce Roberts, the Managing Director of O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, points to some reasons he's identified that contributed to the success of the Lunatik/TikTok fundraising endeavor. These lessons that can be seen in other successful Kickstarter projects (such as Diaspora), but they're also applicable in many ways to more "traditional" funding efforts.
Tell a personal story
The Lunatik/TikTok "pitch" wasn't a bulleted list of qualifications or clients. Rather, the members of the team "told personal stories that created a connection to the project that had nothing to do with their professional pedigree." While this sort of storytelling doesn't boost their professional credentials, Roberts argues, it does give the entrepreneurs a certain personal authority and helps to connect them to funders and potential funders in a different way.
Roberts argues that the best fundraising pitches always emphasize this personal aspect. "It's a given," he writes, "that if I chose to invest in you I believe I can make money, but there are the intangibles around personality, perspectives, and life experiences that will make a potential funder more likely to want to believe you."
Tell the product's story
If you watch the TikTok video (below), you'll see the product is featured throughout. This demonstrates what the product can do - and that it can do what the startup promises. The video also demonstrates the larger potential of the product. These might be "small, nice little features" that some investors would dismiss. But with the crowdfunding model, the right storytelling around this seems crucial. "The difference between a nano strapped to a wristband and a premium quality, highly designed, customizable piece of wearable technology is simply a matter of how you tell the story."
But even when you aren't using a site like Kickstarter to raise money, it's crucial that your product be front-and-center in your presentations.
Give rewards and issue progress reports
Investors, by definition, invest in order to make a financial return. Nonetheless, argues Roberts, you should offer more than simply the promise of "making money." These sorts of non-financial rewards can be personal and personalized. By design, Kickstarter tells its users, "the best way to inspire support is to offer people great rewards. Everyone loves limited editions, one-of-a-kinds, and fun experiences (parties, screenings, balloon rides!). Spend some time brainstorming your rewards and people will respond. No one needs another coffee mug."
And as your project and your company are constantly evolving, it's good to keep investors and potential investors up-to-date on your progress. In the case of TikTok, the creators even filmed themselves in China when they traveled to the factory where the watch kits were being made. But the same could be said for all funding relationships; keep your investors apprised of "how you're making progress and how your story is continuing to unfold in a big and important way."
After Blue Shield shocked the nation with 59% premium hikes in California last week, the company just refused a request from the elected insurance commissioner to stop the increases for 60 days.
Blue Shield is making the case for tough premium regulation, because is has proven that it has the power to raise rates as much as it wants at will and refuse even a modest request from the elected insurance commissioner.
After spending the day walking the halls at the state Capitol in Sacramento yesterday, I can tell you Blue Shield made a big mistake when it decided to price gouge its customers. The state legislature is ready for a fight to give the insurance commissioner power to approve or to deny health insurance premium increases before they take effect. If that fight fails, Consumer Watchdog will help the voters decide through a ballot measure whether government should have the power to regulate and roll back excessive premiums.
Blue Shield made an offer in an errant press release it later recalled which no regulator or policyholder can accept. The company said it would let an independent actuary decide rate justification, and decided to live by the policy when news broke. The problem is that in the absence of legislated standards for what is an excessive premium, an independent actuary has no basis for review of the premium's reasonableness other than whether there is an error in addition, multiplication or subtraction.
Questions abound about how Blue Shield can justify its 59% premium hike other than by the means it seeks -- an actuary to say all the math is good. The standard Californians deserve is that the rates are not excessive or discriminatory. That's the standard for the prior approval of auto and homeowner insurance rates in California that are rejected or accepted by our elected insurance commissioner. The standard saved drivers $62 billion on their auto insurance according to the Consumer Federation of America.
Blue Shield is more opaque than any health insurance company in California because of its unique tax status. We don't know how much the CEO makes, nor can we adequately see the company's the books since it is neither publicly traded nor a tax exempt charity that must make its tax returns public. Suspicion is Blue Shield cooked its books, and hid big sums of money, to justify the 59% increase.
Only subponeas and special investigative hearings will determine the truth in the absence of new authority given to the elected insurance commissioner Dave Jones. Legislation by Assembly Member Feuer will give the commissioner that power and it is precisely what Blue Shield's second PR problem in two weeks sought to derail. Once again, Blue Shield has made the case for exactly the tough regulation it seeks to stop.
Source:http://removeripoffreports.net/
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epic fail photos - Probably Bad News: Feline Jury Duty.
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