It may look simple from the outside. Post a project on Kickstarter, people pledge, and the money comes rolling in. This myth is the attraction of crowdfunding. But as one who may seem like one of those overnight successes, I want to ask you to look a bit deeper than the last 24 hours...
Yes, folks pledged money for this product within a very short time. I was blown away by the response! Thanks to each and every backer for supporting the project and making it successful beyond what I could have imagined.
When you look at the project I released today, keep in mind the previous 800+ days from when I decided to make the backpack until it launched. The days where I got no response and no funding. I produced some kind of sketch or prototype almost every day… and on the days I didn’t produce anything tangible, it was because I was stuck on something. And I’d work through the options until a solution emerged.
During most of this process, I never knew if I would get to a point where I would arrive at a design which was good enough for other people to like. Or even for me to like for that matter. It was entirely possible, maybe likely, that I would do all that work and nothing would come of it. But I still invested the time, money, and energy based on the hope that at least some of you would also need and appreciate this product.
I say this not to pat myself on the back for the work I did, but to emphasize that this was a big risky bet. And I view the last 24 hours as the last day of this 2 year process to bring the product to you. Now that the product is funded, you have made it a reality. So the next chapter begins and this is the first day of that journey.
Thank you for joining. It’s going to be a lot of fun!
