You’re reading edition #3 of the LaunchBoom Newsletter, which is sent every Tuesday to thousands of product creators.
Happy Tuesday!
What does… turning your customer into an investor… using brand jacking in ads… going a little further than we thought possible… have to do with each other?
Well, they’re all topics we’ll explore today.
Enjoy.
Contents
1. Short Story
The customer becomes the investor.
After 10 launches on Kickstarter & Indiegogo, here’s the story of how Patrick turned 2,257 customers into investors…
Raising $2,489,932 in growth capital in the process.
Patrick is the founder of GoSun – they make innovative solar products for everyday life.
It all started back in 2013 when he launched his first product on Kickstarter. It was called the GoSun Sport: a portable, high efficiency solar cooker.
Since then, he’s launched 9 more products using crowdfunding (and LaunchBoom has launched 4 of them!).
But what’s really interesting was what happened in 2021.
Patrick was looking to raise growth capital, but didn’t want to go the traditional route.
He understood the power of crowdfunding and thought:
“Why not ask our customers to invest?”
So that’s what he did.
He launched an equity Crowdfunding campaign on StartEngine.
Since then, he’s raised $2,489,932 at a valuation of $59M.
Customers can invest anytime into his StartEngine campaign.
Patrick makes information available on the website and talks about the opportunity through their marketing channels.
For example, on the homepage of the website he has this section:
Here’s an example of an email sent out to his newsletter:
I love this model.
Not only did Patrick get the capital he’s looking for, but he now has customers who are incentivized to support for the long-term.
If you’re looking for growth capital, consider this model.
And turn your customers into investors.
2. Marketing Tip
Use “brand jacking” to capture attention.
The ad above was from the prelaunch for The Empire, which raised $865,235 on Kickstarter and Indiegogo InDemand.
We used the concept of “brand jacking” to capture attention.
You see, when you’re new, no one knows your brand.
That’s where brand jacking comes in.
Find brands that everyone knows.
Use those brands in your marketing.
If done right, you’ll steal all the positive associations with that brand.
Here are 3 examples of brand jacking we’ve used in ads:
- If Lamborghini and Tesla had an e-bike baby, it would be CyberX.
- These NASA inspired sunglasses are made of Aerospace-Grade Titanium
- This razor thin wallet is James Bond level cool
These ads drove millions in revenue.
Brand jacking was a major reason why.
Use it and fast track your brand’s growth.
3. Favorite Content
One of my teammates, Kevin Liang, shared this in our Slack yesterday:
“Gave David Goggins’ new book to a friend and he went out on a hour long run. It’s not just about doing physical things, it’s about doing pushing a bit outside of your comfort zone and learning a bit more about yourself and getting a little bit better every time.”
The friend’s response is below.
We can push ourselves farther than we think.
Learn to launch your product in 5 minutes per week.
Every Tuesday, I send a newsletter just like this one! You can expect to read about my biggest lessons and most-effective strategies to launch a successful crowdfunding campaign. Sign up using the form right below 👇
