GoLocal Tech: Harnessing the power of crowds

Thursday, August 09, 2012

GoLocal Tech: Karl Hakkarainen

When Jackie Rosenlund returned from a trip to Europe, she didn’t feel well. She ached. She was nauseous. She suspected it was the food. She knew she needed a change. She was going vegan.

In her late teens, Jackie learned she had rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Medical research is showing a correlation between diets, particularly diets featuring a lot of meat, and a worsening of RA symptoms.

While Jackie was preparing for her transition to life without meat, a Connecticut friend was starting a new project with GoodTV, looking for someone to do an online TV series about gluten-free diets.

Jackie mentioned her vegan plans and the idea for a video series, Eatin’ Vegan, took form.

Projects Need Money

Along with hard work, ideas need supporters and money. Increasingly, projects large and small are turning to crowdfunding as a way to generate interest and cash. Crowdfunding is a relatively new concept. It lets people with ideas finance projects with relatively small contributions from a large number of people.

According to GigaOM, monies raised by crowdfunding nearly quadrupled from $33M in 2010 to more than $128M in 2011 and may quadruple again this year to $500M.

The team used KickStarter to fund Eatin' Vegan. They set and met a goal of $35,000 with nearly 90 backers.

“It’s not about trying to persuade anyone to go vegan,” said Jackie. “We want to bring awareness to it and help people lead a healthier lifestyle.”

GoodTV helped Jackie set up the KickStarter project. Jackie initially sought support from family and friends and then turned on the social media firehose. “We were all over Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn,” she said.

Soon, however, it was time to do face-to-face marketing. She visited several Boston-area restaurants that featured vegan dining. If the manager was interested in sponsoring the project, she immediately recorded their pledge using her iPad.

The show starts production in September and be online in late October.

Grady Booch, IBM Fellow, raised $30,000 to begin an ambitious project, Computing: The Human Experience, to tell the human story of computing. It is a multiphase project, encompassing a book, lectures, online presentations, and, most importantly, as Booch said, “stories of how computing has changed humanity, one person at a time.”

As an added incentive, Grady said that if backers met the goal, he’d do the Happy Dance online. They did and he did.

Other Crowdfunding Groups

KickStarter is just one crowdfunding service available. Indiegogo lets people enlist backers for projects such as paying a person’s way to the Democratic National Convention, make COBRA payments while finishing a Ph.D., or supporting the family of a corrections officer who was stabbed by an inmate.

At the federal level, President Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act to ease investment regulations and allow small businesses to raise capital without brokers or investment bankers.

Many projects exceed their goals, sometimes by a little, as did Jackie’s, and sometimes by a lot. The Pebble smartphone watch sought $100K and eventually raised more than $10M through KickStarter.

“Other projects, as you might suspect, do not reach their goals for a variety of reasons. Projects have a specified time to reach their goal. If they don’t receive enough pledges, the money is returned to the donors.

It's really important to use your network, especially online social networks, to spread the word,” said Brian Jepson.” People won't find the project on their own.” Jepson, an editor for Make Magazine, met his target for Rhode Island Mini Maker Faire 2012, a block party to showcase the handiwork of local hackers.

This year’s gathering is the third project that Jepson has funded with Kickstarter. “One of our biggest donors was from someone in Pittsburgh who is a friend of a friend.” The fundraising effort is one part of supporter participation. “Some people are exhibitors, some are volunteers, but there are quite a few people from afar,” Brian said.

“It can be stressful to ask people for money,” said Jackie. “But, it’s still fun to be pitching an idea you’re passionate about.”

[Full disclosure: I have contributed a nominal amount to both Goin’ Vegan and Computing: The Human Experience.]

Karl Hakkarainen is an IT and social media consultant at Queen Lake Consulting. His grandchildren still ask for his help and advice about computers and related technology.