Crowdfunding helps launch wallet company
By AP | April 28, 2012
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)
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Despite two decades in the finance world,Ken Minn turned to a new vein of funding to cover his own startup'scosts and bring its first product to market.He and business partner Scott Hussa designed the HuMn Wallet, a slim,aluminum or carbon fiber wallet with room for cash and cards, but notmuch else. It also blocks radio-frequency identification devices fromscanning personal information.The pair didn't want to go into debt to launch the product or rely on earlystage investors, who often seek large equity stakes.So they went with Kickstarter to help fill the cash void. The onlinecrowdfunding platform allows entrepreneurs like Hussa and Minn topitch their wares to the website's visitors, who typically gain somethingin return for pledges. The projects are active for a set number of daysand funded only if they hit their product goal. If not, entrepreneursreceive nothing.Through the site, the two product designers hoped to raise $66,000 tomass-produce their wallet. They attracted more than four times thatamount, raising $295,402 from 3,491 people. A $49 pledge guaranteedfans an aluminum wallet. On the spendier side, $356 secured four carbonfiber wallets and accessories for each.When the project reached its 39th and final day April 2, one word rangin Hussa's mind: "Wow."
Minn added: "This proved to me
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and it's proved to the world
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thatthere's not only one way to do things."The two spent nearly a year tweaking the wallet before launching aKickstarter campaign in February. Within four days of introducing theproduct, they surpassed their original goal.Today, three weeks after the project's end, they're preparing to fabricatethe wallet through manufacturers in Estacada, Milwaukie and Tualatin.They've moved their HuMn Design firm into a Pearl District office andare discussing wholesale and retail channels.First, though, they must send out more than 5,000 wallets that backerssecured during the Kickstarter campaign. "They're our bread and butter,"Minn said. "They're what launched us."Crowdfunding validated that a market existed for their wallet, somethingmany product makers don't discover until it's already hit the shelves.Plus, the consumer research that Kickstarter
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through the backgroundsof people that funded the project
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would have cost thousands of dollars, Minn said. "It's so simple, and it's common sense," he said.The biggest hurdle, both said, is setting aside your pride and exposingyour new product to the world. "Wow, we've really exposed ourselves,"Minn remembers thinking, "We're really out there."In fact, extra exposure helped fuel the momentum behind the project.Several bloggers featured the wallet and drove traffic to its Kickstartercampaign.Other area entrepreneurs have found success through onlinecrowdfunding, too. Portlander Casey Hopkins briefly held the honor of the highest-grossing Kickstarter project ever earlier this year.
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