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Return to: 2015 Feature Stories

CLIENT: THE POWER COMPANY

May 5, 2015: BIB Podcast

How to Crowdfund Your Next Launch – Interview with Gene Aikens of The Power Company

Podcast: Play in new window

If you've ever wanted the secret to running a successful crowdfunding campaign, then you'll love this week's episode.

Gene Aikens, inventor, and founder of The Power Company joins me on the show to share his own success story. Gene launched his company back in 2013 with a simple idea: "How do we make a portable battery that can charge my smartphone?"

Through many sleepless nights with product engineers, Gene's company released their first product in January of 2014 called: The Charge Card. It was the first totally self-contained charger for a cell phone that fits in your wallet.

From there, they released three additional products: The Charged Card, Smart Card, and iPocket Drive. The company's premier product the Smart Card, a wallet­sized iPhone and Android charger, was released on Indiegogo in the late summer of 2014.

The Smart Card was successfully funded through crowdsourcing raising more than $60,000 and is now a part of Indiegogo's Forever Funding program and still available for contributions.

Their largest crowdfunding campaign, however, came from the "iPocket Drive", a portable storage drive designed for the iPhone and Android phone. That campaign raised over $180,000!

Their latest product development is "the Flex-card", the first physical storage device to bring together all mobile phone and computer devices. It's current Indiegogo campaign has raised over $26k so far.

On this interview, Gene shares the story of his company's startup and his crowdsourcing strategies for getting your next product successfully funded on sites like Indiegogo.

You'll learn:

  • Why customer engagement is so crucial in a crowdfunding campaign.
  • The key strategy for getting news media to write about your crowdfunding campaign.
  • The key elements of a good crowdfunding campaign video.

You don't want to miss this episode!

Return to: 2015 Feature Stories