Munich Startup: You hit your funding goal with Octavi within three hours. How do you explain this success – aside from having a great product?
Felix von Plehwe, Octavi: That certainly surprised us positively, but it wasn’t entirely by chance. We followed the widespread assessment that first, only a fraction of supporters discover a product through the actual crowdfunding portal, and second, a large part of marketing has to happen before the campaign. That’s why we made an effort to get media attention beforehand, built a simple but appealing landing page, and collected a four-digit number of newsletter subscribers and Facebook followers before launching. The share of subscribers who actually supported us ended up being over 10 percent. That was significantly more than expected and led to reaching our goal very quickly.
Octavi: “Success didn’t come entirely by chance”
Munich Startup: How did you specifically prepare for the campaign and where did you find good support?
Felix von Plehwe: We actively used available offers, both locally in Munich and digitally. At the Crowdfunding Breakfast, we were able to pick up a lot of experience that you only get through dialogue. We also got to know other startups with crowdfunding experience through other formats (for example, the Innovation Café of the SCE). However, there’s also a lot of freely available knowledge about this on the internet. The important thing is to use this knowledge in a disciplined manner.
Munich Startup: What went completely wrong?
Felix von Plehwe: Kickstarter has just five lean rules for campaigns. We completely overlooked rule number two – computer renderings of products are not permitted. We had incorporated finely detailed renderings throughout the campaign page and in the video, which we then had to replace shortly before the already announced campaign launch. That could have gone badly – but fortunately an extended night shift saved the day.
Munich Startup: How were you able to benefit from the city of Munich’s crowdfunding support?
Felix von Plehwe: The city of Munich’s crowdfunding support helped us a lot. Through the funding of creative services, we were able to realize a professional video shoot at Schleißheim airfield including drone flybys. That certainly generated more trust among potential supporters. Additionally, the preparation became much more concrete because for the funding application we had to document our project in writing for third parties.
Several good ideas for product features from supporters
Munich Startup: What experiences did you have during the campaign? What surprised you positively – or negatively?
Felix von Plehwe: We’re really enthusiastic about our supporters. In addition to very encouraging feedback on our product, we also received many good ideas for product features and other things we would never have come up with. We were able to get to know our customers and their wishes much better than would have been possible through regular sales. And that in addition to the fact that we were able to finance all manufacturing costs entirely from the campaign. A negative consequence of the high demand was that the early-bird deals sold out in minutes and we upset some supporters. A time limitation instead of a quantity limitation would have worked better there.
Munich Startup: What lasting effects did the campaign have? And where do you go from here?
Felix von Plehwe: Quite quickly after delivering the product, we realized that we had more than met our customers’ expectations. Fortunately, this also led to great interest from new customers and organic PR. We receive inquiries daily about when our product will be available for regular purchase. We’re working at full speed to be able to supply again as quickly as possible. An announcement about this will come in our newsletter in the coming weeks!
