Darin Brockman on the rise of crowdfunding.
The world of crowdfunding has always fascinated me. The constant stream of people coming up with ingenious ideas never ceases to amaze, and the resource and commitment of individuals to fund and connect to a particular project is incredible. That “people power” – not corporate or investment organisations driven by profit over innovation – is driving technology forward is exciting. I love the fact that crowdfunding is a community of backers creating future products, and closing out the really bad ideas.
Reading about the ‘Kickstarter’ Tech predictions for 2017 occupies my Sunday morning (alongside feeding my 4-month-old, and taking her to swimming lessons…!). In 2016 there were over eleven thousand projects in just the Design and Tech categories alone, making it easier to predict the projects that will and won’t succeed in 2017. I’m sure if Kickstarter shared the stats it would help reduce the failed projects.
Next-level listening was high on the list in 2016. Companies like Ossic are bringing “spatial immersion to the audio realm”. I didn’t understand what that meant either, but basically it’s the first 3D audio headphone calibrated to the listener’s individual anatomy. The project raised 2.7 million dollars in less than two months. The concept and development are truly fascinating and I’m excited for a July delivery of my very first 3D headphones.
Artificial intelligence has come on in leaps and bounds over the last 12 months and we can see AI interfacing with all manner of products in the future. One of my favourites, Dashbot is a talking car accessory for hands-free activation of music, audiobooks, navigation, and messages. Hopefully, this will help continue the growth of audio books!
Publishing has seen a huge uptake on platforms like Kickstarter and, as I write, there are currently 494 live publishing projects requesting funding – from a few $100’s to the $10,000’s. The thing I love about this type of publishing is the commitment and dedication of fans willing to put money up front and mitigate the publisher’s risk. It’s also a great way for the publisher to know what not to publish.
I was under strict instructions to avoid selling in this Intro Article…, but I’m afraid I can’t resist…., Firsty has just finished developing a crowdfunding module for one of our clients – launching soon, just watch this space!
Darin Brockman is Firsty Group’s CEO and Founder
Twitter: @DarinBrockman
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