Funding the Dream

Some call them Frankenstein plants, but Antony Evans and his team are attempting to combine the DNA from glowing bugs with plants to provide natural light. It sounds crazy and awesome and with ~$500,000 in funding on Kickstarter they have a good shot at showing us how it is done. Take a listen as we visit the future.

Autumn McAlpin took 42 days to create a film and raise money on IndieGoGo. Actors, writers, directors, and other crew all came together in record time. She is my guest and talks about how IndieGoGo made it possible for her to create her film in such a short amount of time.

Mark MacKinnon has been in the board game industry a long time. When his first attempt at launching a Kickstarter project wasn't doing well, he cancelled, adjusted, and relaunched. He discusses the process behind this and why he did it. Mark MacKinnon is with Dyskami Publishing Company.

Does it matter when you fund your Kickstarter project? You bet it does. Take a listen as we discuss the challenges that you face when it comes tax time and you have a Kickstarter project about ready to fund. My guest is John Skeen, CPA and we talk Taxes and KickstarterAnd a surprise visit from Catan Official Gaming Board creator.

Patrick Nickell and I share an open discussion about the delicate nature of handling a partnership that decides to split. He talks about his and I talk about mine. Kickstarter and the unintended consequences of partnerships that don't last. Oh, and a special guest appearance by Lia Bliss. Yes, she is related.

Ali was just on the show as a guest and comes back in one of our special sponsor slots to talk about her final hours as the project winds down on IndieGoGo. Also, you get to hear some of her fantastic music. Her project is Power Hour Victory Tour on IndieGoGo

Days of Wonder is an established board game and video game company. They have very good reasons for everything they do, including launching then canceling, then relaunching their Small World 2 game on Kickstarter. Listen in as Mark Kaufmann, VP of Marketing, discusses their reasoning and shares great insight into doing both video and board games.

Ali Spagnola is a talented artist and a fighter. When she was hit with a lawsuit to stop performing and selling her own music, she fought back, and won. Now she is funding a victory tour to celebrate the three year legal battle.

This is a special edition episode as Zombie House Blitz wraps up with still 82% to go. We take a few minutes to check in with Jeremiah Lee to see how he's holding up.

Jonathan Liu, writer for GeekDad on Wired.com, is my guest as we discuss his Kicking Back program. The idea of giving to the Kickstarter community as a backer BEFORE you become a project owner. It is an interesting conversation as we chat with Jonathan about this and his Emperor's New Clothes project

Since Torn Armor launched as a Kickstarter project, it followed the traditional trajectory of lots of funding activity early then a steep drop off. But then they made an adjustment and pulled out of the dive, trending upward for the rest of their campaign. Listen in as I speak with Alyssa Faden about the creation of Torn Armor on Kickstarter

I love to shoot video and David Basulto has just made it that much easier. Using an iPad Mini and his very cool iOgrapher, you can be decked out like the pros. David shares with us the secrets of filming and the excitement of teaching kids about the new opportunities that all this technology provides.

Drew Tablak sings, dances, and plays instruments while riding a bike as one of Disney's Dapper Dan's. He has created a Kickstarter page as a way of connecting with his fans and shares with us how it is to be a Disney cast member and feel that connection with fans. His Kickstarter page can be found as Drew Tablak

Two guys in Shanghai decided to fight back against the Empire's efforts to Kickstart a Death Star. They are our last best hope. Join me as we talk to Simon Kwan and Ed Dean who launched the Rebel X-Wing Kickstarter project. Join the rebellion against the Empire.

Kickstarter and Crowdfunding are changing everything they touch. Industries and markets are being turned upside down. The gatekeepers of the past are being replaced by people with a dream connecting directly to people who share that dream. Join me in my discussion about what this means to all of us.

A Kickstarter project that is a game. Not a Kickstarter project to make a game but the project itself is part of the game. Hidden clues, small signs, all leading up to the funding of the project called A Maze of Games with Michael Selinker. You have never seen anything like this

Kickstarter Project owner successfully funds $35,000 and then announces the project won't get delivered, pocketing the money. What do you do? If you are Neil Singh, you sue. Neil discusses the circumstances leading up to his suing the project owner who failed to deliver what was promised. This is a great interview that covers topics every Kickstarter owner needs to think about.

Michael Mindes has his 8th Kickstarter project currently on running. He provides advice and insight into what is more important, a lot of backers or a lot of money. Listen in as he lets us in on his secrets

On-site discussion with a board game store owner. Kickstarter continues to have huge involvement from Boardgamers. 36 new tabletop games this week alone. We sit down with Josh Githens, owner of Boardwalk, and tabletop game store in Greenville, SC to discuss what makes a good store, the game industry and Kickstarter

Scott Pfeiffer answers a quick question about Kickstarter and Non-profits and our guest is Dana Lombardy, creating a book of the military campaigns of Ulysses S. Grant on Kickstarter. We record live from Dundracon

Jeremiah Lee struck gold with his first game called Zombie in my Pocket. He now returns with Zombie House Blitz. I have a conversation about finding success twice and the challenges of designing a great game.

No one likes to fail. But one good failure can teach us more than a dozen successes. Michael Keller generously rejoins the podcast to discuss what went wrong with his very successful board game, City Hall. His Kickstarter project failed to catch on and he sheds light on lessons learned.

My most frequent and popular guest, Howard Tayler, discusses his own Kickstarter project for Schlock Mercenary Challenge Coins. Great advice for setting the value of your project. Listen and be inspired.

How to reach out to the media to maximize exposure for your Kickstarter project and how to use Facebook to create demand outside the project. Jamey knows his stuff and after this podcast you are going to be a lot smarter about how to launch a successful Kickstarter project.

Compounded is a board game from Dice Hate Me Games created by Darrell Louder for UnPub 1. It has attracted nearly 2,000 backers and $100,000 in funding. We speak with Darrell about how he found himself with a hit game on his hands.