I’ve never done this before so I’ll take any constructive criticism on any topic (like even if you think it’s a viable project). Here’s what I’m most looking for:
[ul]
[li]Is the write-up clear? I’m not a good writer. Can you easily understand what I’m trying to do?[/li][li]Do the rewards make sense? It’s an open source project so it’s hard to know what I can actually offer outside of giving the software away.[/li][li]Do the pictures help?[/li][/ul]
You’ll see a couple of sections of text that are repeated; I’m trying out some different phrasing. I’m sure I’ll have more follow-up questions. If any of you have experience creating a Kickstarter project I’d love to hear your opinion and advice. Thanks!
The tiers of rewards don’t really add a lot of value. Hell, for $500 of input on a $75 product, I’d expect an actual piece of hardware, not a pat on the back. When I kick in $50 to some other products, I get a t-shirt or a secret song download, not a support email address…
Also, you might want to reconsider your actual product name. UTC is already a common acronym in software dev.
The kickstarter is very technical. That’s fine, because it sounds like what you’ll be developing could only be used by people capable of putting together various electronics on their own without instructions. However, it does mean that you’ll have no appeal to a general audience. Considering that you’re only asking for $1000 that seems fine. The $500 level seems a bit odd, especially since it’s half your total amount. The most common amount pledged I believe is $20 so you would be better served by having a tier at that level.
You seem very much in the clear by not offering any physical goods. That is what wrecks most kickstarters: underestimating production costs and/or shipping costs.
However, a successful kickstarter is almost always used to motivate an existing client base. If you don’t know anybody at all already interested in and following your progress, it will be difficult to engage enough people to reach even $1000. You’ll know if you have a chance of a successfull kickstarter if you get about 75-80% by the halfway point. Most successful kickstarters start strong with at least 50% of their goal funded in the first three days. Then it will be quiet for the rest of the kickstarter until the last three days. However, the last three days will only work out if you’ve had a lot of people favorite the project so that kickstarter notifies them that it’s about to end, and they’d better pledge or lose out. That’s when a lot of people come back to the project, re-evaluate if they really want it and its chance of success, and usually back it then. But again, it only works if you have a lot of iffy people sitting in the wings.
Finally, I’ve only had one kickstarter deliver ahead of schedule. I’ve learned that whatever you think it will take you, it will take you minimum three months more to do it. You at least seem to have a long development cycle laid out for yourself, but really think and evaluate your timeline. I’ve watched experienced people on their 8th kickstarter, whose entire business model as a publisher is based off kickstarter funds, blow their deadline by months, again. It’s incredibly hard to stay on target.
Also, there’s a typo in the first paragraph - “The UTC can control any process that can me monitored” should be “be monitored”
I’m not seeing the value proposition here, you are basically asking to be paid to undertake this project and what they will get is not hardware but how to instructions. You’re addressing (real world) a fairly narrow base of people who are both DIY techs and slow cooker aficionados and you are (effectively) trying to sell that client base on giving you money for technical work most enthusiasts would be doing themselves and giving away for free.
Your third stretch goal says you “may be able to” hire somebody to design the box. That’s a bad stretch goal since you’re not even promising anything.
For your higher tier, why not actually build and ship the thing? You could limit it to as few backers as you like, but you might get a lot more nibbles if you can offer the hardware. I have no idea what kind of liabilities you may be taking on if you do that, though. It could be easier to say that for x dollars you will ship a hardware package that has all the necessary components included.
May I ask what real problem you are trying to solve that simpler technology cannot handle? It’s fine if the answer is “it’s a fun use of modern technology” but what function are you are you asking people to fund that an off-the-shelf item would not provide?
I’m not stating that your approach is without merit but if we were in a design review I’d ask these questions:
You talk about generating a PWM signal driving a fan or heater element. That’s a 5-pin Analog Devices IC, why do we need to extend effort beyond pointing to a data sheet?
If you are driving a heating element, why can’t currently available products do the same thing?
These questions are not meant to be mean or otherwise disrespectful but I manage a staff of 25 EEs in a reasonably high technology industry and have to ask this sort of question every day. Like I said above, if this is meant to be a fun project, I can see the appeal but if it’s meant to solve a real problem, investors may consider the issue already solved in a reasonable manner.
Perhaps it would be worthwhile for your write-up to explain WHY this technology offers value beyond simpler solutions.
I’ve always wanted an excuse to point to this (fairly old) story…
I’d question the utility of a Kickstarter for something that is already in the marketplace.
You’d have to price it cheap enough to where tinkerers like myself wouldn’t just rig one up with a 25 amp solid state relay and a digital PID controller. (what I did, and have used it for sous-vide AND controlling a Bradley smoker). And my ghetto controller uses pretty much any thermocouple or RTD sensor I choose, within certain parameters.
I mean, it sounds cool, but what does it do that the existing PID controller solutions don’t, other than add an extra layer of complexity?
Thanks all! I really appreciate you taking some of your time to read the proposal. I’m always struck by how things that I think are cut-and-dried are really much more ambiguous.
I don’t know how common it is %-wise but it doesn’t appear to be rare. Here are some open-source projects on Kickstarter. The first one in particular is one that I used as a template for my proposal.
$500 may be too much but here were my two thoughts on that particular reward:
Part of the reward is getting your URL on the eventual web page which someone could use as advertising. Would some BBQ or sous vide company spend $500 on a small advertising campaign?
It also creates a high-end for the tiers. $20 may seem more reasonable. Besides, who knows? Maybe someone will pay for the PCB development and build 10 controllers.
In light of that, does $500 seem ok? Or should I lower it?
Really good advice. Given what a number of you have said maybe I’ll lower some of the tiers and get rid of one.
This is maybe the thing I was most worried about. Glad to hear it’s clear.
This is the hardest part to judge. I’ve had a few people contact me about my previous controllers and asking for increased functionality, etc. It’s not a big number, certainly not enough to fund $1k. Do you have any suggestions on how to reach out to a possible client base. The tricky part is reaching out without spamming/annoying people. I’m not helping if I’m irritating people.
More good advice. I think I’ll be OK (hah! How many times has that be said?) This is my third iteration and, other than the hardware particulars, won’t be that much different from the previous one. We’ll see if I’m eating those words come June.
And typo fixed! (sigh FIRST paragraph? I told you I’m not a good writer.)
That’s a really good point. I’ll have to think about what to do. I guess I should research how much it might cost to hire someone.
I’ll consider it but I’d really like to avoid supplying hardware. My soldering skills are just adequate and the amount of time it would take me to put a controller together wouldn’t be worth the price that anybody would pay.
No offence taken txjim; I appreciate the question. If I can’t answer such questions from Dopers than I don’t have much hope of succeeding.
The main advantage of this project is that a single controller can be used in multiple scenarios. For example, it can control a BBQ smoker, a crock pot, or hot plate. It has multiple thermometers that can be used for monitoring food as well as the main (or “pit”) thermometer. For ~$75 you can have a really flexible controller. I don’t know of any commercially available product that can do that.
If you agree that this is unique should I spell this out better in the description?
In base functionality my project doesn’t add much more than yours. Having a web interface gives it more UI power, though. E.g. it can chart a 72-hour sous vide cook and let you know if you lost power for a few hours (which happened to me one time when I was cooking for a large party). For a smoker it will trigger an alarm if your temperature goes below (or above) a set threshold, which could happen if you run out of coals.
I’d cap it out at $100. I don’t think the remote chances are a good enough reason for that tier, the top tier should really be set at a reasonable level not for some sort of a Hail Mary investment angel. IMO, of course, that kind of thing in a KS campaign makes me leery.
Or, at $500, you should be able to offer actual hardware and get someone else to make it for you, and still see money off it.