INDIEGOGO

INDIEGOGO © Shutterstock.com | Rawpixel.comIndiegogo is one of the biggest crowdfunding platforms online. In this article, we will look at 1) what is Indiegogo?, 2) why and when to use Indiegogo, 3) benefits of using Indiegogo, 4) options to raise funds and fees on Indiegogo, 5) how to be successful on Indiegogo, 6) Indiegogo success stories.WHAT IS INDIEGOGO?Indiegogo is a well known international crowdfunding platform based in San Francisco, California. It was created in 2008 by Danae Ringelmann, Eric Schell, and Slava Rubin. Indiegogo is one of the pioneers in the crowdfunding arena.Unlike some of its major competitors, the website allows people to request funds for an idea, a charitable venture or a start-up business. The company aims to empower and enable anyone with a good idea to raise funds and attempt to reach their goals. Approximately 9 million site visitors are recorded from around the world every month.Much like other crowdfunding models, the website runs a rewards based system. This means that donors and investors receive a gift in return for their investment rather than an equity stake in the product or business. The company has expressed an interest in the equity based system as soon as the laws governing these transactions are made clearer by the United States government.HistoryThe idea for the website was generated by Danae Ringelmann, who was working as an analyst on Wall Street in 2002. During this time, she worked on co-producing an Arthur Miller play. Despite its popularity with the audience, there was very little financial incentive to continue work on the project. Given this situation, Ringelmann began considering alternate ways to generate revenue for the endeavor. Her inspiration was a senior filmmaker who approached her for funds for his film. A few years later, she went on to the Haas School of Business to begin a company focused on a democratic way to raise funds.At the school, she met her future partners, Eric Schell and Slava Rubin. Both h ad experienced issues with fundraising similar to Ringelmann’s, with the House Theatre Company in Chicago and a charity fundraiser for cancer research. The three began developing their idea in 2007. The project was titled Keiyaku and the official site launched in 2008 at the Sundance Film Festival with a focus on films. By 2010, the company partnered with MTV New Media to develop content for site projects and in 2011 the website managed to raise $1.5 million in a seed financing round. In 2012, the company partnered with President Obama’s Startup America to offer crowdfunding services to US based entrepreneurs. The same year, the company raised a further $15 million dollars in funding from Insight Ventures and in 2014, added $40 million to the financing amount.Unlike Kickstarter, Indiegogo does not provide publicly accessible data and information regarding its performance. According to independent research, in 2013 the company had 44,000 crowdfunding campaigns with a success rate of about 34 percent. These successful campaigns raised about $99 million collectively, and 40 percent of this amount was from campaigns that managed to raise more than $100,000.The website puts very little restrictions on the kind of project that can be put up for funding requests. There is a special discount in fees for nonprofit campaigns.WHY WHEN TO USE INDIEGOGOThe projects that are put forward for funding on Indiegogo feature a variety of categories from the arts to technology, business, and charity or cause-based projects. It is a good option for when a more passive monetary stream is required, or there is a danger of not meeting target fundraising amounts. It also requires less planning and detail than a kickstarter campaign since those have to go through a vigorous approval process. A project can be put on Indiegogo if it fulfills the website’s terms of service which are not overly complicated. A person needs to be over eighteen or if over 13, needs the approval of a gua rdian. Projects listed need to be legal and not for the purpose of a scam or intended to cause any harm. As of now, no share in the business can be offered as a reward.Because of these easier rules, the projects listed on the website include ideas, charities, business startups, products and cause based crowdfunding. Often people may use this platform to test the viability of an idea as a successful project or a money making endeavor. If there is not much response than it may be a good way to take the learning and rethink the idea or its application.BENEFITS OF USING INDIEGOGOSome of the benefits of using Indiegogo over other similar crowdfunding platforms are:The website allows both partial campaigns as well as all-or-nothing.There are more than one payment options including both PayPal and ordinary bank accounts.The website allows international projects along with US based ones.There are very few restrictions on the type of campaign. There are some terms of service, and the propose d project has to be legal.There is no screening process or wait time for projects to get approved.There is no limit on the dollar worth of the rewards offered.Some negatives of the website include:The biggest negative may be that the lack of regulation may let some unnecessary projects through, and these may never materialize.The community of backers or investors is much smaller than market leader Kickstarter.There is less buzz around Indiegogo campaigns and there is not enough parity in credibility with the market leader in crowdfunding, Kickstarter.The option to keep whatever is collected may make it less urgent for some backers to donate. There may be less investment in the potential success or failure of the campaign owner and their product offering.OPTIONS TO RAISE FUNDS FEES ON INDIEGOGOSetting up and launching the campaign are free for everyone. Before the campaign is launched, however, a choice needs to be made between flexible funding and fixed funding. This choice is not so concerning if the product goals are met. In this situation, the funds raised are kept whether flexible funding was selected or fixed funding. A fee equal to 4% of the total funds raised is charged by the website, and this fee is reduced to 3% for nonprofits.However, if the goal is not reached, then a flexible funding campaign means that the campaign owner is allowed to keep whatever they have raised, but a higher percentage is charged. This percentage is 9% of the raised funds. When a fixed funding campaign is selected and the goal not reached, then all the money is returned to the investor, and no fees are charged either.Once funds are about to be received, there is an additional charge for the payment solution. This fee is between 3 and 5 percent depending on the payment option selected.HOW TO BE SUCCESSFUL ON INDIEGOGOOne service that Indiegogo offers is the gogofactor. Gogofactor is a strong algorithm that helps campaigns gain visibility on the website and be able to reach th e right people. Several factors may affect the gogofactor. These include the scope of social engagement such as a presence across social media and response there as well as the reach of the campaign globally. Campaigners can raise their gogofactor by:Updating campaign information on social media outlets and spreading the word through the campaigner’s community to share the information further.Offering interesting and exciting rewards to engage the audience and move them to action through donations.According to the Indiegogo blog, some other actions can help raise 8 times as much money for people who use them as those who do not. These actions show a commitment to the campaign through an investment of time and effort.A Pitch Video â€" A video can make an incredible amount of difference to a campaign. A good video will show the people behind the campaign and their journey based around their campaign idea. There should also be an aspect of the mechanics of the business by showing whe re the money will go and a clear call to action. It is important to keep this short and crisp, preferably under 3 minutes.A Good Amount of Perks â€" A good number is three or more creative and generous rewards. A good idea is to reward based on specific contribution amounts such as $25 and $100.Offer Regular Updates â€" Updates can show progress, thank contributors, offer new rewards and showcase any press or attention that the campaign has been getting. These updates can help keep backers engaged and bring in others.A Good Media Gallery â€" It is a good idea to keep at least 5 or more items in the media gallery. These can be videos, images or artwork. This media can help build a context for the motivation behind the campaign and bring the backers close to the campaign. The same media should be shared across social media as well.Link to Other Pages â€" Any personal websites, blogs, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts or other social media outlets should be linked back to the campaign. This link across channels will help build credibility and allow a strong story line to be created over the course of the campaign and beyond.Keep the Campaign Short â€" Though Indiegogo does not put any time restrictions on campaigns, it is a good idea to have a short campaign. Short means less than 60 days. This allows more buzz and fewer chances of people putting off contributing to a later time. Before deciding timeframe, factors such as time needed to run an effective campaign and the amount of money required and other aspects of strategy should be considered carefully. Mistakes to AvoidSome common crowdfunding mistakes to avoid include:Don’t make the video a short film. An endless video will lose an audience no matter how much effort went into making it. The video should be short and crisp but still manage to portray all the right information to the audience in a compelling manner.Don’t wait for the backers to show up. A campaign needs to be pushed for it to be effective. I t is important to reach out to family, friends, coworkers, acquaintances as well as other influential people who may be relevant to or interested in the campaign. A strong social media will also help the campaign raise its gogofactor and be more visible.Don’t write too much text in the description. No one is interested in a long essay on how the project came to be here. Instead, use visual aids to push the message across.Don’t create unreasonably high rewards. Rewards should cover all levels of donations from small ones to large contributions, and the reward should reflect these levels as well.Don’t ignore past successes and failures. Once a campaign ends, its page stays on the website. This can provide valuable information about what works and what does not and can help improve a campaign.INDIEGOGO SUCCESS STORIESMost Funded ProjectsSome of the most funded projects on Indiegogo are not necessarily successful ones given how the website allows both fixed and flexible funding.Te chnology: Ubuntu Edge: This project raised over $12 million of its $32 million goal, about 40 percent. This was a fixed funding project which means that it was not a successful campaign despite being the highest funded project on the website. The proposed smart phone was to be released as 40,000 units only via Indiegogo to show the evolution of technology. Education: An Hour of Code for Every Student: This was a nonprofit flexibly funded project that managed to raise 80 percent of its target. Over $4 million have been raised, and the project remains open. The aim of the project is to allow every student to be able to learn computer science. Technology: Accent Wear Cat Ear Headphones: These are a fashion and technology project, a pair of headphones shaped like cat ears with LED lights built in that is a forever funding program. The campaign has managed to raise well over its $250,000 budget and was continuing to raise funds Rewards allow contributors to pre-order. Community: Stone Gr oundbreaking Collaborations: This was a flexibly funded program that is now closed. The campaign managed to reach well over its target if $1 million by raising over $2.5 million in about six weeks’ time. The product on offer is a rare beer from a highly rated brewery.Film: Lazer Team by Rooster Teeth: This flexibly funded campaign managed to raise 382 percent of its target goal of $650,000 by raising a substantial sum of over $2.4 million dollars in one month. This science fiction film offered rewards starting from a $5 contribution to a $10,000 one.Successful Product LaunchesThough there are many interesting projects and products on Indiegogo, a few that made it to commercial success in 2013 include:iSmartAlarm â€" Apple Store: An amazing home security device that gained backing from over 1500 supporters is now being sold in Apple stores for $250 each.StickNFind â€" Brookstone: Created by Jimmy Buchheim, the product helps people find lost items such as glasses, keys and almost an ything else by touching a button. A crowdfunding campaign that raised $931,870 on Indiegogo led to Brookstone taking on the product.Spuni â€" Amazon: A specially crafted spoon for babies, this ergonomic invention raised $37,000 and manufacturing began in Brooklyn, New York. These can now be purchased on Amazon.com.Misfit Shine â€" Best Buy, Target, Apple Store: This activity tracker had already raised funding required to bring it to market, but the founder ran an Indiegogo campaign to see what the customers wanted from this product. The campaign met with resounding success by raising $850,000 and is now sold at three major stores.Celebrities on IndiegogoIn 2013, the following celebrities turned to Indiegogo to fund their campaigns:James Franco launched a campaign to turn his book of short stories into three feature length films. He has promised to donate profits from these films to a non-profit organization encouraging actors and artists to dedicate time to terminally sick children. Nick Carter launched a campaign to raise money for his little known passion of horror films. He aims to use the Indiegogo funds to produce, write and costar in a horror film, Evil Blessings.William Shatner is collaborating with Egard to create a masterpiece wristwatch that is affordable yet limited editionLil Wayne is partnering with nonprofit The Motivational Edge to empower inner city children to have access to culturally relevant programs after school. IndieGoGo INTRODUCTIONMartin: Hi, today we are in  Berlin  with Indiegogo. Danae, who are you and what do you do?Danae: Hi. Im Danae, Im one of the founders and Chief Development Officer at Indiegogo. And we are now the largest, global, open funding platform in the world.Martin: Great! When did you start Indiegogo and why did you start it?Danae: I started thinking about it and working on an idea in 2001. I quit finance to go start it in 2006, met my co-founders then and we launched in January 2008.And the reason I started it was because I pretty much grew up my entire life around a problem and had to witness a problem actually, became part of the problem. And that was the problem of access to capital, inefficient access to capital.So, I watched my parents struggle for 30 years to grow their business because they never could access an outside loan. I went into finance and started working with filmmakers and theater producers on the side. Failing it, helping them raise money and realize that the finance was broken, because what was happening is that ideas were only getting born if they were lucky enough to find a gatekeeper to roll the dice and bet on them. And that, the way to fix finance was not rely on gatekeepers but actually put the power back in the hands of the people to decide which ideas came to live. By letting people fund the ideas that matter to them. So I quit finance in 2006 and started Indiegogo to do that.Martin: Great!INDIEGOGO BUSINESS MODELMartin: Danae, how is the current business model working for Indiegogo?Danae: So the way Indiegogo works, is that anybody anywhere in the world can create a campaign on their side by the create button. You can be an entrepreneur raising money to start a business, you can be an artist raising money for your next album or film that you want to make, you can be an activist or community citizen trying to raise money for a local charity or a local community effort.All you need to do is literally create  a campaign and get going and share it with your friends, family and supporters and funders and customers and empower them to help you fund. Indiegogo adds a lot of amplification on top of that. So we integrate with social media, we do a lot around helping elevate the exposure so you can actually raise the most money possible using our site than anywhere else.And what people do is that people fund in exchange for what we call perks, which is like a token of thanks. So a great example is here in Germany, a campaign for the Panono was launched and raised $1.2 million. It was a new startup with a product which is basically a ball that you throw in the air and it takes a 3D picture. Its very cool.  Well, they use Indiegogo as a way to get the startup funding so they could launch to the market.And we have  a campaign like the TinkerBots which is a really cool robotic Lego set for kids. It teaches kids about robotics. Theyd actually raised  â‚¬1 million in venture funding but then they still used Indiegogo as a way to raise another $300 thousand to really validate their market, refine their product market fit, really understand what their funders and customers wanted, so when they did the full launch, they knew who their customers are, or where they were, what theyre willing to pay, what features they wanted, all that stuff.Martin: And they adjust their pricing or business model during the campaign?Danae: Well, what they did is they learnt a lot about what peoples willingness to pay. So when you know a lot of, the old way of doing things before you launched a product is youd have a focus group, which is gathering a bunch of strangers and ask them would you pay for this. And they might say yes, they might no, but still its hypothetical. Indiegogo says, well if you pay for it, why dont you do it right now. Lets put yourMartin: Money where their worth is.Danae: Money where their mouth is. Yes. And so, its a great indication of whether there is a market there or not. And so thats why were seeing, Indiegogo has become a place not just to raise money if you cant access the traditional capital like bank loans or venture investment, or even government funding. But now Indiegogo has become a place for that as well as for ideas that maybe you can access traditional funding, but still want to use Indiegogo as a platform to really proof that market and proof that product market fit so that when they launched fully, theyre as bottom up as possible.Martin: Today Indiegogo is quite big. So, from a user or entrepreneur perspective it totally make sense to use them because you have tons, millions of users on it who could potentially purchase perks at your company.Danae: Fun perks. Its not a store, its not a purchase.Martin: When you started in 2008, why should an entrepreneur put his business on your company when you didnt have a lot of distribution?Danae: Thats a great question. I always like to say, the hardest part about starting a market place business which I consider us as a market place business. We dont have buyers and sellers, but we have you know, funders and raisers. The hardest part about starting a market place business is starting. Its the chicken and the egg issue.And so, in the early days, what we focused on, was just proofing that this was a way to raise money efficiently. Maybe more efficiently than offline. When Indiegogo started, the word crowdfunding didnt exist, we were the first platform. This concept is very novel and theres a lot of skepticism. And so what we just did is, we focused on campaign first and we did whatever it took to help them raise money.  And in the process of helping them, we learnt what the needs were, what the pain points were and then we build product around that to help address those pain points in need.So, very early it became clear that the whole point of using Indiegogo is to raise more money than you ever could have a loan. So we ask the question, well you know, yes, were removing a pain point. So if someo ne want to raise money online, they could just put up a website, put up a PayPal link for something and raise that way.So in early days, we remove that pain because we allow them not to have to go through their own website and their own PayPal, etc. But that quickly, that functionality became sophisticated and so then the point of Indiegogo became the ability to reach more people. And so with that, were able to add functionality around social media integration, where people fund Indiegogo and theyre automatically prompted to share it and post it on Facebook and Twitter. We like to say that, when Indiegogo started, I think Twitter had just launched, Facebook was still college only and YouTube was big but MySpace was a big social network then.Were still in very early days, but we realized the whole point is amplification. Indiegogos reason for being is to help ideas amplify themselves. So now with a platform known as the platform that will help you raise the most money possible becaus e we focus on this, and were continuing to focus on this. Were still rolling out product features and enhancements to help with amplification.BEST CAMPAIGNS GOGOFACTORMartin: What type of business ideas run very well on Indiegogo, in terms of which type of business model can raise a lot of money?Danae: Its interesting, a lot of people say what industries do the best. What really, what a successful campaign comes down to is not what industry its in, its what work and effort youre willing to put in it, and how much you audience actually cares. So, we see all kinds of campaigns from businesses launch to food trucks or gadgets get launched, but then we also see filmmakers and professional musicians like leaving their labels and using Indiegogo to raise money. Like We the Kings or Protest the Hero, theyve each raised hundred and thousands of dollars to make an album and  go direct to their fans.So, one thing that a lot of people think that Indiegogo is about is a larger campaign is bet ter, we dont believe that. At Indiegogo, everyone has the right to raise money, and every idea, large and small, is equal in our minds. And so, if your goal is to just open up a coffee shop in your neighborhood and you just need €20 thousand, then go for a campaign to raise €20 thousand. Just because youre not raising 2 million, doesnt mean youre not as important.But then we also have the platform, so that if you do need that 2 million, we have the infrastructure to support that as well. And so the end goal with Indiegogo is a world where everyone is funding what matters to them, whether its a really cool gadget because you love gadgets or its your local coffee shop because you love coffee. Theyre both equally important in your eyes and Indiegogo wants to be the place where you can fund whatever matters to you.Martin: Are there any business model that you are trying to promote on your first page so when people are coming to your website and they see them and what would be the al gorithm behind choosing this kind of business?Danae: So Indiegogo at our core, our core believe is that everyone deserve the right to raise money. And so because of that, Indiegogo pioneered an open approach to online funding. So at Indiegogo  we don’t pick and choose projects, its totally open, no application, no judgment. But we also believe in meritocracy. So the ideas that rise to the top that end up on our homepage, for example, or in our newsletters, are ones that earn their way there. And they earn it by doing all the things to engage a community. Its not just a funding popularity contest but its the engaging, its having the audience thats engaged, its really having a community and a conversation with them, and really kind of bringing everybody together that matters the most.The way weve done this is we created what we call a gogofactor, which is a merit base algorithm similar to Googles PageRank algorithm that determined the placement and the promotions. So the higher you r gogofactor, the higher the chances youll show up on the homepage. And I like to say, I love going to the homepage in the morning to see whats there because I dont even know.Martin: Interesting.ADVICE TO ENTREPRENEURS FROM DANAE RINGELMANN We meet Danae Ringelmann, chief development officer of Indiegogo, in Berlin. She shares her story of how she started her company and what drove her decision to become an entrepreneur. Then Danae talks about the business model of Indiegogo and what you need to consider to create a well performing Indiegogo campaign (hint: the gogofactor has something to do with it). Lastly, she gives some applicable advice for entrepreneurs to become more efficient and grow their companies.The transcript of the interview is below.INTRODUCTIONMartin: Hi, today we are in  Berlin  with Indiegogo. Danae, who are you and what do you do?Danae: Hi. Im Danae, Im one of the founders and Chief Development Officer at Indiegogo. And we are now the largest, global, open funding platform in the world.Martin: Great! When did you start Indiegogo and why did you start it?Danae: I started thinking about it and working on an idea in 2001. I quit finance to go start it in 2006, met my co-founders then and we launched in January 2008.And the reason I started it was because I pretty much grew up my entire life around a problem and had to witness a problem actually, became part of the problem. And that was the problem of access to capital, inefficient access to capital.So, I watched my parents struggle for 30 years to grow their business because they never could access an outside loan. I went into finance and started working with filmmakers and theater producers on the side. Failing it, helping them raise money and realize that the finance was broken, because what was happening is that ideas were only getting born if they were lucky enough to find a gatekeeper to roll the dice and bet on them. And that, the way to fix finance was not rely on gatekeepers but actually put the power back in the hands of the people to decide which ideas came to live. By letting people fund the ideas that matter to them. So I quit finance in 2006 and started Indiegogo to do that.Martin: Great!INDIEGOGO BUSINESS MODELMartin : Danae, how is the current business model working for Indiegogo?Danae: So the way Indiegogo works, is that anybody anywhere in the world can create a campaign on their side by the create button. You can be an entrepreneur raising money to start a business, you can be an artist raising money for your next album or film that you want to make, you can be an activist or community citizen trying to raise money for a local charity or a local community effort.All you need to do is literally create  a campaign and get going and share it with your friends, family and supporters and funders and customers and empower them to help you fund. Indiegogo adds a lot of amplification on top of that. So we integrate with social media, we do a lot around helping elevate the exposure so you can actually raise the most money possible using our site than anywhere else.And what people do is that people fund in exchange for what we call perks, which is like a token of thanks. So a great example is here in Germany, a campaign for the Panono was launched and raised $1.2 million. It was a new startup with a product which is basically a ball that you throw in the air and it takes a 3D picture. Its very cool.  Well, they use Indiegogo as a way to get the startup funding so they could launch to the market.And we have  a campaign like the TinkerBots which is a really cool robotic Lego set for kids. It teaches kids about robotics. Theyd actually raised  â‚¬1 million in venture funding but then they still used Indiegogo as a way to raise another $300 thousand to really validate their market, refine their product market fit, really understand what their funders and customers wanted, so when they did the full launch, they knew who their customers are, or where they were, what theyre willing to pay, what features they wanted, all that stuff.Martin: And they adjust their pricing or business model during the campaign?Danae: Well, what they did is they learnt a lot about what peoples willingness to pay. So when you know a lot of, the old way of doing things before you launched a product is youd have a focus group, which is gathering a bunch of strangers and ask them would you pay for this. And they might say yes, they might no, but still its hypothetical. Indiegogo says, well if you pay for it, why dont you do it right now. Lets put yourMartin: Money where their worth is.Danae: Money where their mouth is. Yes. And so, its a great indication of whether there is a market there or not. And so thats why were seeing, Indiegogo has become a place not just to raise money if you cant access the traditional capital like bank loans or venture investment, or even government funding. But now Indiegogo has become a place for that as well as for ideas that maybe you can access traditional funding, but still want to use Indiegogo as a platform to really proof that market and proof that product market fit so that when they launched fully, theyre as bottom up as possible.Martin: Today Indie gogo is quite big. So, from a user or entrepreneur perspective it totally make sense to use them because you have tons, millions of users on it who could potentially purchase perks at your company.Danae: Fun perks. Its not a store, its not a purchase.Martin: When you started in 2008, why should an entrepreneur put his business on your company when you didnt have a lot of distribution?Danae: Thats a great question. I always like to say, the hardest part about starting a market place business which I consider us as a market place business. We dont have buyers and sellers, but we have you know, funders and raisers. The hardest part about starting a market place business is starting. Its the chicken and the egg issue.And so, in the early days, what we focused on, was just proofing that this was a way to raise money efficiently. Maybe more efficiently than offline. When Indiegogo started, the word crowdfunding didnt exist, we were the first platform. This concept is very novel and theres a lot of skepticism. And so what we just did is, we focused on campaign first and we did whatever it took to help them raise money.  And in the process of helping them, we learnt what the needs were, what the pain points were and then we build product around that to help address those pain points in need.So, very early it became clear that the whole point of using Indiegogo is to raise more money than you ever could have a loan. So we ask the question, well you know, yes, were removing a pain point. So if someone want to raise money online, they could just put up a website, put up a PayPal link for something and raise that way.So in early days, we remove that pain because we allow them not to have to go through their own website and their own PayPal, etc. But that quickly, that functionality became sophisticated and so then the point of Indiegogo became the ability to reach more people. And so with that, were able to add functionality around social media integration, where people fund Indiegogo and theyre automatically prompted to share it and post it on Facebook and Twitter. We like to say that, when Indiegogo started, I think Twitter had just launched, Facebook was still college only and YouTube was big but MySpace was a big social network then.Were still in very early days, but we realized the whole point is amplification. Indiegogos reason for being is to help ideas amplify themselves. So now with a platform known as the platform that will help you raise the most money possible because we focus on this, and were continuing to focus on this. Were still rolling out product features and enhancements to help with amplification.BEST CAMPAIGNS GOGOFACTORMartin: What type of business ideas run very well on Indiegogo, in terms of which type of business model can raise a lot of money?Danae: Its interesting, a lot of people say what industries do the best. What really, what a successful campaign comes down to is not what industry its in, its what work and effort youre willing to put in it, and how much you audience actually cares. So, we see all kinds of campaigns from businesses launch to food trucks or gadgets get launched, but then we also see filmmakers and professional musicians like leaving their labels and using Indiegogo to raise money. Like We the Kings or Protest the Hero, theyve each raised hundred and thousands of dollars to make an album and  go direct to their fans.So, one thing that a lot of people think that Indiegogo is about is a larger campaign is better, we dont believe that. At Indiegogo, everyone has the right to raise money, and every idea, large and small, is equal in our minds. And so, if your goal is to just open up a coffee shop in your neighborhood and you just need €20 thousand, then go for a campaign to raise €20 thousand. Just because youre not raising 2 million, doesnt mean youre not as important.But then we also have the platform, so that if you do need that 2 million, we have the infrastructure to supp ort that as well. And so the end goal with Indiegogo is a world where everyone is funding what matters to them, whether its a really cool gadget because you love gadgets or its your local coffee shop because you love coffee. Theyre both equally important in your eyes and Indiegogo wants to be the place where you can fund whatever matters to you.Martin: Are there any business model that you are trying to promote on your first page so when people are coming to your website and they see them and what would be the algorithm behind choosing this kind of business?Danae: So Indiegogo at our core, our core believe is that everyone deserve the right to raise money. And so because of that, Indiegogo pioneered an open approach to online funding. So at Indiegogo  we don’t pick and choose projects, its totally open, no application, no judgment. But we also believe in meritocracy. So the ideas that rise to the top that end up on our homepage, for example, or in our newsletters, are ones that e arn their way there. And they earn it by doing all the things to engage a community. Its not just a funding popularity contest but its the engaging, its having the audience thats engaged, its really having a community and a conversation with them, and really kind of bringing everybody together that matters the most.The way weve done this is we created what we call a gogofactor, which is a merit base algorithm similar to Googles PageRank algorithm that determined the placement and the promotions. So the higher your gogofactor, the higher the chances youll show up on the homepage. And I like to say, I love going to the homepage in the morning to see whats there because I dont even know.Martin: Interesting.ADVICE TO ENTREPRENEURS FROM DANAE RINGELMANNMartin: Danae, we always try to share some insights or advice to first time entrepreneur so they make less errors. What advice could you share?Danae: Fail fast, dont worry, dont wait for perfect, really. That was probably my biggest lesson I learnt, I thought about, work through what became Indiegogo for years, and finally when I just quit and took an action and went for it, thats when. Its within months I found my co-founders, within a month after that we have started working on it, within a year we launched the product. So, I think I was trying to get perfect in my head about what the exact thing is, and you cant underestimate the value of getting your idea out in the world and getting that quick feedback. So dont wait for perfect.In a way, Indiegogo is a great way to fail fast because a lot of people put their idea up on Indiegogo, try to raise awareness, try to get engagement, invite people in, and if no ones funding you, that means you probably dont have something that has legs yet and you need to go back  and try again.And so a lot of people use us as a testing platform of checking the street because you can then iterate, fail fast, iterate, come back, and when you are successful raising money you know youre r eally on to something.I would also, my advice to entrepreneurs is, second piece of advice is really be clear with your why, your reason for being. So, what problem are you solving and why do you care so much about it? A lot of, I live out in  San Francisco  and theres always a word, like, Ooo entrepreneurs are sexy. I only became an entrepreneur because I wanted to solve a problem and finance wasnt solving it. And so I had to go start a company to solve a problem, which is make access to capital efficient and fair.And I think it ultimately was one of the reasons that has kept me so motivated for so long and help persevere is because Im obsessed with this problem. A lot of entrepreneurs that you know, want to start a company because its sexy or cool or make a lot of money. I think their chance of failure is higher because there isnt something deeply rooted that is calling them to the work you need to put in everyday for years to make it happen. Because most, very rarely are there com panies that like, start and pop the next the day. It’s going to take, its a journey and you have to be in it, you have to be really have meaningfully motivated to solve a problem to actually be successful.Martin: Thank you very much, Danae.