May 18 - 31, 2015
salad. Within a month, he had been interviewed on Good Morning America and raised $55,000 from nearly 7,000 backers. “Whether it’s a joke campaign or something big, people want to be a part of something. It’s human nature,” Brown said. “People want to be a part of something that’s bigger than themselves.” Brown donated most of the profits to the Columbus Foundation, a nonprofit that works to end hunger and homelessness in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio. “One of the key elements to Zack’s success was that it was new and fresh and funny. There was an emotional draw to the campaign,” said Rob Sebastian, executive advisor to Tilt.com, who has managed 30 crowdfunding campaigns in the past two years. Sebastian advises entrepreneurs to use crowdfunding sites, like Kickstarter or Indiegogo, to reach customers, test products and raise money if they do not yet have a large customer base or an avenue to reach consumers. He said crowdfunding could eventually be used by companies to test consumer demand for new products, forgoing focus groups and research and development departments. “Instead, go to consumers and say ‘Do you want this? Yes or no,’ ” Sebastian said. Brown advised ending a campaign if 30% of the goal is not reached in the first
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Founder Stanfield Gray wants startups to make connections at Dig South. (Photo/Adam Chandler)
three days, though others have had luck in the remaining hours of campaigns. Sebastian said lack of preparation and storytelling causes crowdfunding campaigns to fail. “One of the keys to success is the ability to create an emotion and a sense of urgency,” Sebastian said. “Figure out how to create a video or some kind of content that’s just not boring. ...You have to entertain people.”
Bidr wins Rise of Rest, Dig South pitch contests
Bidr won its second pitch competition in less than a week — this time reeling in $100,000 from AOL co-founder Steve Case during the Rise of the Rest tour in
Charleston. Eight startups pitched to six judges and hundreds of attendees at the pitch event on board the USS Yorktown. A week prior, Bidr also won first place and $10,200 at the Dig South Wild Pitch event. The Bidr platform helps nonprofits, schools and companies grow their fundraising event revenues by taking the process from paper to text messaging. Attendees can register for events, bid on silent auction items, participate in raffles and pay for items using their smartphones. Bidr says it increases auction revenues by 47% on average. “Fundraising events aren’t making enough money. We are changing that,” Bidr founder Sam Staley said. Bidr graduated last year from a 12-week business accelerator program run by The Harbor Entrepreneur Center. The four-person company plans to use the money to improve its platform, ramp up marketing and hire more programmers. “We make money by helping nonprofits make more money,” Bidr marketing chief Mindy Taylor said. “In less than a year, while building our product to market, we helped 40 events raise more money.” cr bj
Reach staff writer Liz Segrist at 843-8493119 or @lizsegrist on Twitter.
Overheard at DIG South “If you’re not willing to run as fast as the market, it will crush you.” Gary Vaynerchuk, VaynerMedia
“Do not validate the merits of your business on capital. Be scrappy. Solve problems. Get creative.” Dayna Grayson, partner with venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates
“Execute like a madman. The money will find you.” Derek Willis, senior program manager, SCRA Technology Ventures
“Women want wearable tech but no one is listening to them or trying to court them.” Malarie Gokey, DigitalTrends.com staff writer
“You can have lots of shiny buildings, but a community is what makes coworking spaces and tech hubs work.” Derrick Minor, innovation and entrepreneurship manager with the city of Raleigh