Even trying to get the media to cover it was nearly impossible because they won't even reply back to your email unless you have a huge following and social network.
Not to sound like a negative nancy, but at least from my own personal experience, it did feel like having a great idea, even a game-changing idea, won't take off unless you know the right people.
Certainly having a social following / media connections pre-launch (either for the idea or personally) can help greatly, I believe that it can be completely overcome by hard work and a really good product.
Calling it a popularity contest trivializes the effort that many people put into their campaigns.
Source: I launched a Kickstarter campaign that did ~$500k on a $20k goal this year. No media connections, no social following pre-launch.
A platform that allows ideas to rise to the top of the pile without any hustle is indeed interesting. In the past you could hand an idea over to someone to do it for you, but they would take the majority of equity and it wasn't a great deal for creators. The opportunity now is that you can use Kickstarter (and other platforms for other things) that take a much smaller cut, but they leave that hustle to you. I hope my blogpost can aid other creators in learning how to run their campaigns, but there is always the old option in handing your idea over to someone to do the execution/hustle, thereby leaving very little ownership for you, (around 5%).
You need to have a somewhat established online persona before you venture into any sort of thing that requires people 'handing' you money in one form or another. This doesn't apply only to crowdfunding though.
Imagine you plan to offer an ebook for sale on a topic you consider yourself an expert in; you know it, but other people don't. Your book will only sell well if you have verifiable experience (ie: prior blog, maybe guest posts on other blogs, testimonials etc).
I'm a bit familiar with some of Kickstarter's history and I know for instance that they've had at least a few controversial/fraudulent campaigns. This is another reason why people might be reluctant to fund a project, regardless of how awesome/inovative/etc. it seems, if the project founder is almost a mystery as a person.
I always ask me how many projects in the long tail deserve to move to the head? Surely many if we hack the search economy.
It'd be nice to create a true crowd funding platform where your project's success is based off the actual project rather than the creator's "klout".
Even more remarkable, there was only one level of gift: a $25 t-shirt.
I'd say Planet Money, which is kind of like an "American Life" type brand focused on economics, would've made its goal simply by virtue of brand power. But I'd say its huge success is a result of a kickass product and more importantly, a compelling story. I would pay $25 for that t-shirt design simply to support NPR. But the story itself - that the t-shirt would be used as a starting place to investigate the global economy, was just too good to pass up. I didn't even watch the promo video though I imagine its production value is quite good.
Anyway, a little OT, but just wanted to bring up this example as it's the only Kickstarter I've backed where the product itself was ancillary to my desires...I mean, I think the shirt's neat, but I won't be heartbroken if it's a year late. I'm much more excited about the journalism that will be produced.
