Startup Revolution

IgnitionDeck is the world's most popular WordPress crowdfunding plugin. Includes free WordPress Crowdfunding Theme. Integrates with Paypal, Stripe, Mailchimp.

Marty Note
At our starutp @Curagami we've been fascinated with the idea of "enterprise crowdfunding". This idea fascinates us because:

* Crowdfunding content is highly social.

* Social Shares - Content is supported by entrepreneurs social net.
* Crazy Guy / Girl In Basement - content is buzz worthy.

Ignition Deck's wordpress plugin means its easy to add crowdfunding to your site. Yes, you give up the "featured" aspect of having your campaign promoted by a big gun like Kickstarter or IndieGoGo, but you gain control and the SEO juice comes to YOU and YOUR SITE not them.

Ethan Mollic's Dynamics of Crowdfunding study showed what we expected:

* Most campaigns get funded by entrepreneurs own network.

* Most campaigns JUST MAKE their funding goals.
* Campaigns that have 25% in first days are 80% likely to meet their ASK. * Even small crowdfunding sites have high PageRank.

That last bullet is because crowdfunding sites benefit from the Facebook effect - create the environment and have everyone else provide the content and links. If most campaigns are funded by YOU anyway using a pluggin like IgnitionDeck may make sense.

Where it REALLY makes sense is at the enterprise level. Our Curagami customer Moon-Audio.com can create a "board" asking for new headphone, headphone amp and audio gear ideas from their Ambassadors and other visitors.  

IgnitionDeck looks like a winner. We plan to investigate further and report back on http://www.Curagami.com . Thanks to Mark Foulkrod at Atlantic BT in Raleigh for the share. 

5 Things You May Not Know About Crowdfunding
* 75% of funds typically come from person who launched the campaign's network.
* Roughly half of all campaigns succeed.
* Average ask for successful campaigns is below $10K.
* Campaigns with 25% or more raised in first week or less have an 80% chance of reaching their goal.
* See our exclusive market share and fees estimates http://sco.lt/5fBvov for the top 3 crowdfunding sites. 

Should your company create a crowdfunding campaign? Enterprise crowdfunding is different than entrepreneur or startup crowdfunding. Enterprise crowdfunding was one of the ideas fueling our Triangle Startup Factor funded startup http://www.curagami.com .

We see crowdfunding as a new marketing channel since no vote counts as much as money. We wouldn't recommend Big Brands place crowdfunding campaigns on existing platforms since they would be out of sync with visitor expectations.

We would recommend Big Brands think about how they can create their own crowdfunding channel and give Curagami a call to help.  

Should Startups CrowdFund?
I think the answer to this question is always yes. Startups have little to lose and everything to gain from crowdfunding. Crowdfunding creates an effective way to introduce your startup and it helps identify your 1%eers - those people willing to support your new idea with advocacy, social shares and money.