19 DAYS OUT - Behind the scenes of a Kickstarter launch.

UPDATE: 19 DAYS LEFT Once we had our video concept underway I turned some attention to the rewards for pledges. Based on my experience in previous Kickstarter campaigns it's important to keep things simple for consumers and for yourself. The customer service and fulfillment effort is much more complex and time-consuming than you'd think. While I'm proud and invested in my brand, I know consumers are not. They are largely not interested in my branded t-shirts, mugs, hats and other swag. They want the goods - so keep it simple - super simple. SnackJones is a service/retail business so we don't have a specific product to highlight. I needed to create rewards that highlighted our service offering. Fundamentally, we are offering a curated selection of better-for-you snacks and a more convenient and delightful shopping experience. So I landed on curated boxes of snacks based on themes, for example, vegan, paleo, gluten-free, keto . . . I also figured we needed to create a remarkable unboxing experience. The challenge to creating the reward boxes was that I had not yet established relationships with any snack brands. I had already gathered a list of brands I wanted to work with. I quickly developed a system for cold contacting each brand, explaining the concept, and acquiring sample product. It was helpful that I am a successful CPG founder with an exit, but not as helpful as I thought it would be. I've been misunderstood, ignored, and ghosted. Over the course of continual outreach, I honed my pitch until I recruited a selection of high-quality better-for-snack products. I also received feedback from the brands that helped to define the themes for the curated boxes. In the end, I landed on - Female-Founded Brands, Plant-Based, and Everytarian. Their feedback was also helpful in refining the SnackJones business model. For SnackJones our brand partners are as important to serve as our customers. We're 19 days out and I'm still reaching out to 2-3 brands to fill a few holes - it's important each box be balanced and interesting in terms of brands, tastes, textures, innovation . . . I've put together a selection of products in each box one couldn't replicate on their own without significant cost and effort. I've also begun relationships with a foundation of brands that I'll need when we launch the full platform in September 2020. It was more work than I could have imagined but well worth the effort. More to come. 20 DAYS LEFT is here - https://www.producthunt.com/makers/1-makers/discussion/31285-behind-the-scenes-of-a-kickstarter-launching-in-20-days