Improve Your Product by Running a Second Crowdfunding Campaign

Once you have successfully launched your first crowdfunding campaign, it’s possible for you to run a second crowdfunding campaign to improve your product based on the feedback received from your first crowdfunding campaign.  For instance, Trakline belt has already run four successful Kickstarter campaigns, and three of these have offered product improvements and variations over its initial crowdfunding campaign.

A Trakline belt adjusts to different waist sizes more precisely than traditional belts by offering 40 different sizing positions when compared to the 5 normally offered on a standard belt.  Also since it uses a track and locking buckle there are no holes with a Trakline belt.  You can think of it as a giant zip tie for your waist. Karl Kozak was inspired to create the Trakline belt after his wife bought him an expensive belt that didn’t fit very well.  He tried to fix it by adding some additional holes, but managed to ruin it in the process.

Here’s the Kickstarter crowdfunding history of Trakline belt to date:

1. The first crowdfunding campaign ran from May 10, 2013 to June 9, 2013 and 4,121 backers pledged $315,960.
2. The second crowdfunding campaign ran from April 15, 2014 to May 26, 2014 and 1,864 backers pledged $157,146. The second version of the Trakline belt offered some mechanical improvements suggested by the initial backers and also a slimmer version than the original.
3. The third crowdfunding campaign ran from January 30, 2015 to March 30, 2015 and 882 backers pledged $46,786.  The third version of the Trakline belt was designed for a different segment of the belt market as it was created for people that needed a heavy duty utility belt to carry all types of things like tools, flash lights and knives.
4. The fourth crowdfunding campaign ran until mid-February 2016 and 4,511 backers pledged $364,990. The fourth version of the Trakline belt offers different finishes for the belt buckle, comes in three leather colors, and are interchangeable with existing Trakline belts that are the same size.

To date, the four different Trakline belt crowdfunding campaigns have raised nearly $900,000 by offering improvements and variations over the first product launched in May 2013.

If you decide you run a crowdfunding campaign, pay attention to the feedback you get from your initial backers so that you can incorporate it into future versions of the product.  You don’t need to run more than one crowdfunding campaign to improve your product, but that is certainly an option to improve your product and expand your product lines.