Kickstarter Thoughts with Doug TenNapel
Doug Tenapel has a long background that includes
successfully creating video game concepts/characters as well as many well-loved
graphic novels that he writes and draws.
He has animated, done comic strips, character design, art direction-
basically all forms of media you can think of.
He has done one very successful Kickstarter for a huge sketchbook that
he asked for $18k but exceeded his goal by receiving over $100k. He and two partners are now running a
Kickstarter for a video game called Armikrog.
They are the creators of Neverhood and Earth Worm Jim. After a huge start, the Kickstarter is about
midway through with a goal of reaching a goal of $900k. They are about half funded as of this
writing, with 20 days to go.
His first big break in video games came when Steven Spielberg
funded Neverhood and just said, “What do you want to do?” They were starting a video game company and
just gave him a million- 2 million and said go make a game. He made a stop motion video game that was a
worldwide hit. #1 pirated game worldwide-
especially in Japan and Iran. That
overseas black market has given Doug a strong following worldwide which is
helping his current Kickstarter projects, ironically. Most popular game in Iran so he is getting a
ton of backers for Armikrog- in Iran.
Q and A:
What was the one thing you learned/discovered that you
didn’t know about Kickstarter when you started this- even with all your
research beforehand?
IN A GOOD WAY, THE GENEROCITY AND KINDNESS OF THE FANS, I
DIDN’T EXPECT. KICKSTARTER DONORS ARE
DIFFERENT FROM CON FANS. THEY ARE VERY
GENEROUS AND SELFLESS, USED TO GIVING TO PROJECTS WITH THEIR MONEY. THEY ARE THE MOST HEART-FELT MEMBERS OF MY
FANBASE. LOTS OF PLEASE AND THANK
YOUS.
Can someone with very little to no social networking
following run a successful Kickstarter/Indiegogo program?
IT’S VERY HARD. ITS
HARD ENOUGH EVEN WITH A HUGE FOLLOWING/FAN BASE. I HAVE A DECENT SIZED FOLLOWING CAN’T
COMPARE. BUT ONLY A PORTION OF THAT
FOLLOWING INVESTS IN MY KICKSTARTER PROJECTS.
SO IT CUTS DOWN QUITE A BIT. IF
IT IS A LOW PRICE POINT, THE NEWBIES WILL HAVE A MUCH BETTER CHANCE AT
SUCCESS.
I EVEN DECIDED ON THE VOICE CASTING BASED ON THEIR TWITTER
FOLLOWINGS A BIT TOO. NOT COMPLETELY BUT
YOU DO WANT TO CONSIDER HAVING PEOPLE INVOLVED/EXCITED IN YOUR PROJECT THAT
HAVE HUGE ONLINE FOLLOWINGS.
HOW DO YOU BUILD AN AUDIENCE? YOU GIVE THEM STUFF FOR FREE. YOU HAVE TO PROVE TO THEM YOUR CREATION IS
WORTH FOLLOWING FIRST. YOU CAN’T MONETIZE
THEM BEFORE THEY ARE A FAN. YOU HAVE TO
CREATE A PROJECT AND GET IT OUT THERE.
LATER, YOU CAN START ASKING THEM TO HELP YOU ON YOUR NEXT PROJECTS. BUILD YOUR AUDIENCE FIRST, THEN ASK FOR MONEY
FROM THEM.
Do you think the crowd-funding craze will go away/die
soon?
NO, IF YOU LOOK AT WHERE ENTERTAINMENT HAS COME FROM, IT WAS
GEARED TOWARD A UNITED VIEWERSHIP. NOW
WE HAVE CABLE AND ONLINE VIDEOS WHERE THE AUDIENCE IS “INDIVIDUALISTIC” AND
MORE NITCH. THE INCOME OF THE NETWORKS HAS
GONE DOWN. IT ALSO GIVES US THE CHANCE TO
SEE STUFF WE NEVER WOULD HAVE BEFORE.
KICKSTARTER IS FEEDING INTO THE INDEPENDENT MOVEMENT AND NITCH MARKET
SELLER/CREATORS. WE DON’T NEED TO GO TO
PUBLISHERS, WE CAN HAVE OUR FANS FUND THE PROJECTS THEY WANT. THIS GENERATION IS USED TO/WANT TO DO THIS
STUFF. NO PUBLISHER WOULD LET ME DO A
PROJECT THAT ONLY SELLS TO ABOUT 1000 PEOPLE.
BUT I CAN CROWD FUND IT AND ACTUALLY MAKE A PROFIT OFF OF A SMALL
PROJECT. PEOPLE ARE MAKING THEIR OWN
DECISIONS ON WHAT THEY WANT AND THEY ARE PUTTING THEIR MONEY WHERE THEIR MOUTH
IS.
Besides funding your dream project, do you set out to make a
profit with your projects?
THERE’S NO ROOM FOR ASKING FOR PROFIT. I PUT ABOUT TWO MONTHS OF FULL TIME WORK INTO
ALL THE INCENTIVE FULLFILMENTS AFTER THE SKETCHBOOK WAS FINISHED. THAT WAS UNPAID TIME. YOU HAVE TO PUT A TON OF TIME INTO A PROJECT
(WORKING FOR FREE) BEFORE YOU CAN LAUNCH A KICKSTARTER ALSO. WHAT IS YOUR WALK AWAY AMOUNT? YOU SHOULDN’T EXPECT KICKSTARTER TO FUND YOU
WHOLE PROJECT. I THINK, WHAT IS THE MINIMUM
AMOUNT I NEED TO DO THIS PROJECT THAT I WOULD DO ANYWAY? DON’T HAVE KICKSTARTER LIFT THE WHOLE THING
AND YOU HAVE A LOT BETTER CHANCE TO HIT YOUR FUNDING. IF PRINTING COSTS ARE $10K THEN ASK FOR $9K
AND GET SOME HELP ON THE BACK END FROM FAMILY OR FRIENDS TO RAISE THE REST IF
NEED BE. OR YOU MAY GET OVER YOUR AMOUNT
ASKED FOR. FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU THINK YOU
CAN GET ON KICKSTARTER AND NOT WHAT YOU NEED.
Stretch-goals?
I REALLY BENT OVER BACKWARDS TO DO MORE MANUAL LABOR (EARTH
WORM JIM COMMISIONS,ETC.) TO GET PEOPLE EXCITED ABOUT THE KICKSTARTER TO MAKE
THE KICKSTARTER MORE EXCITING. I THOUGHT
THEY MAY NOT BE AS EXCITED ABOUT THE ACTUAL SKETCHBOOK, BUT I KNEW THEY WANTED
THE COMMISSIONS AND WOULD GET THE SKETCHBOOK WITH IT. IN THE END, I THOUGHT THEY WOULD WANT THE
SKETCHBOOK, BUT THEY DIDN’T KNOW IT. I
MADE SURE I HAD STRETCHGOALS THAT WOULD MAKE THE SKETCHBOOK BETTER AND BETTER
BUT DID IT BY DOING MORE AND MORE COMMISSIONS OF EARTHWORM JIM AND NEVERHOOD,
ETC. THEY WANTED THE CHARACTERS MORE
THAN THEY WANTED MY WORK EVEN. THE VALUE
TO MY FAN BASE IS IN THE WORLDWIDE POPULARITY OF THE CHARACTERS, SO I SOLD
THAT.
Is there an incentive you would NOT do again? One you wish you had?
NO REGRETS ON THE SKETCHBOOK PROJECT BECAUSE IT WENT SO WELL. NOW THAT I’VE BUILT THAT AUDIENCE AND GAVE SO
MANY SPECIALTY COMMISSIONS, I MAY COMBINE A FEW TIERS. NOW THAT PEOPLE KNOW I AM GOOD FOR IT
(FULLFILING COMMISIONS AND PROJECTS) I CAN ASK FOR MORE MONEY AT THE STARTING
POINT OF THE KICKSTARTER.
What proportionately “paid off” better? The lower priced tiers or the higher priced
tiers?
IN MY CASE, THE HIGHER PRICED TIERS. IN AMRIKROG, IT’S THE LOWER PRICED
TIERS. FOR THE SKETCHBOOK, I WAS KNOWN FOR MAKING THE VIDEO GAMES (Earth Worm Jim, The Neverhood), SO THEY WERE INTERESTED IN GETTING THE BOOKS. THEY KNEW EARTHWORRM JIM BUT DIDN’T CARE I
DID THE COMICS. THEY DIDN’T CARE ABOUT
THE SKETCHBOOK PROJECT ITSELF, BUT THEY REALLY WANTED THE HIGHER PRICED
ORIGINAL ART OF EARTHWORM JIM AND NEVERHOOD.
I SOLD IT AS “THIS BOOK IS HOW I DID IT”- ITS WHERE THOSE IDEAS- AND
OTHERS STARTED. WE HAVE 10K BACKERS ON
ARMIKROG AND THE AVERAGE PER PERSON DONATION IS $44. THAT TELLS ME THAT I NEED TO HIT A LOT OF PEOPLE
SO THEY CAN GIVE SMALL AMOUNTS FOR US TO HIT OUR GOAL. A LOT OF MY TIER STAGERING WAS ME FIGURING
OUT HOW I COULD MAKE THE NEXT TEIR UP LOOK IRISITABLE. IF ITS $5 MORE, HOW CAN I GET THEM TO JUMP UP
TO THAT TIER AND WHAT DO I NEED TO GIVE THEM TO MAKE IT EASY TO JUMP UP TO IT? SOMETHING THAT THEY WANT.
Is 30 days a good amount of time to do a Kickstarter
project?
YOU DON’T NEED MORE THAN 30 DAYS. IF YOU GO LONGER THAN THAT YOU JUST INCREASE
THE “LULL PERIOD “ IN THE MIDDLE. MOST
GIVE AT THE BEGINNING AND AT THE END.
THE LATE GIVERS ARE IMPULSE BUYERS.
NO ONE IS BRAVE ENOUGH TO DO A 20-DAY CAMPAIGN BUT I THINK YOU’D MAKE THE
SAME AS THE 30 DAY. THE BEGINNING AND
THE END ARE THE WHOLE DEAL!
"If you 20% in your first week, you have an 80% chance of
being successful in your Project funding."
–Brian Fargo
