So you have a successful Kickstarter campaign. Now what?
blog.hdtradeservices.com
blog.hdtradeservices.com
I come from the magazine industry, so I knew what was in store, but for newcomers to this game, I expect the sudden prospect of having to pack up and ship 400+ individual packages could be fairly daunting.
We went to Noisebridge, formed an assembly line, got pizza, designated one person as the central source for names, numbers, items, and then spent about 4 hours packing and readying for shipping.
Then, and this is the real kicker, I had to take all this stuff to the post office and mail it out. It took about 4 more hours, and cost a good chunk of change, almost $1000, as we had to ship to the east coast, overseas, etc....
But this is the kind of silly little detail you don't think about when you do a Kickstarter. You really need to do your numbers before you create a project. Make sure you can afford to print all those shirts, and stuff all those envelopes. And, if you can, get all those prizes out ASAP.
I cannot imagine the pressure of having to bring to market a major product from a Kickstarter. It's hard enough to get something made at scale. When you work in private industry, you have 3 or 4 people who want your blood if you screw up, or miss a deadline. Imagine an angry mob waiting on your doorstep when you slip up by a few weeks.
Just look at what's happening on Code Hero. Those donors are preparing a class action lawsuit, and it's only been a year since the Kickstarter. Most 3D games take far longer to create, but neither the creator nor the investors there seemed to understand this. Imagine if Duke Nukem Forever had been Kickstarted? Broussard would have been Shot in the open at E3, Jack Ruby-style.