Crowdfunding’s core promise is simple: everyday people, not just banks and venture funds, get to decide which new businesses deserve a shot. The reality of running a successful campaign, though, is a lot less romantic. It’s a marketing grind, and the projects that hit their numbers are usually the ones that treated the whole thing like a business from day one.
Clay Hebert, founder of New York-based Crowdfunding Hacks, has spent years turning that philosophy into practical advice. He stumbled into the field almost by accident. While celebrating his girlfriend’s birthday in Hawaii, he got a call from filmmaker Mitty Mirrer, whose Kickstarter campaign for her documentary Gold Star Children was stalling. Hebert helped her push past her $20,000 goal, and word spread. Since January 2012, he says he has helped 40 entrepreneurs raise $4 million across Kickstarter and Indiegogo.
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The Six-Month Head Start Nobody Talks About
Most first-time founders think the campaign begins when they hit the launch button. Hebert argues the opposite. “Crowdfunding projects get funded before they launch, not while they are live,” he says. By the time the buzzer goes off, the game is already decided.
That means the heavy lifting—collecting email addresses, building buzz, lining up early supporters—has to happen months in advance. He suggests starting six months out, using the pre-launch period to post a video on your company site that invites people to sign up for updates. The video itself should have two endings: one for the pre-launch phase asking for emails, and a second version for the live campaign asking for cash.
Hebert also points out that Kickstarter and Indiegogo keep failed campaigns visible indefinitely. That’s a free research library for anyone willing to look. Before launching a product, you can study dozens of similar attempts—what rewards they offered, how they priced them, where they fell short. “Everything is up there for you to look at,” he says. “It’s very lazy to not look at what’s worked and what hasn’t.”
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Pricing, Perks, and the Psychology of the First Click
There’s also a strategic case for setting your funding goal lower than you think you need. Kickstarter is all-or-nothing, so missing the target by a few hundred dollars means walking away with nothing. Just make sure the lower number still covers platform fees, payment processing, and production costs.
The reward structure deserves attention too. Hebert sees the same mistake over and over: a $5 or $10 pledge tier that offers backers nothing but a digital thank-you. His suggestion is to drop the minimum pledge to $1 but attach a useful, free-to-distribute reward—a video, a tip, a photo—so the donor is already engaging with your concept with their credit card out. Then, for higher tiers, price your product below the manufacturer’s suggested retail price to compensate backers for the risk they’re taking on an unproven venture.
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Design is the last piece, and it’s easy to underestimate. Friends and family will back you no matter what your campaign page looks like, but strangers need convincing. “The community on Kickstarter cares about design,” says Hebert. A polished page signals that you’re trustworthy and that you’ll deliver on your promises.
The broader point, the one that gets lost in the idealism, is that crowdfunding campaigns are won long before they go live. The preparation is unglamorous—spreadsheets, email lists, competitor research—but it’s what separates a funded project from a well-intentioned failure. Hebert’s own course, priced between $500 and $1,000, is his attempt to bring that consulting advice to founders who can’t afford a $10,000 marketing consultant. The market, it seems, is there.
