Munich Startup: How did you prepare for the Beachdome campaign and where did you find good support?
Florian Runtsch, Beachdome: Every crowdfunding campaign is very individual. General advice and help pages are helpful at the beginning, but they are certainly not the ultimate solution. Ultimately, you should look at successful projects that are as similar as possible to yours, learn from them, and be inspired. This has helped us by far the most. Beachdome helped.
Munich Startup: In many crowdfunding campaigns, market testing or marketing are the primary focus, in addition to funding. How was that for you?
Florian Runtsch: For us, too, it was a mix of both. We primarily offered the product or service. This naturally generated revenue, which couldn't be invested in the 100%. But it also provided excellent feedback on the demand and needs of potential customers. Some of it also involved donations for the Beachdome and reciprocal services at no direct cost.
“Jump over your shadow”
Munich Startup: What was the most helpful tip you received while preparing the campaign?
Florian Runtsch: Get over your fear and pester everyone and anyone with your project, using every channel and contact you have. Don't be afraid to include your personal contacts! These are the people who will ultimately trust you and support you the most. It might be a bit awkward at first, but you'll quickly get used to it and realize you get more positive feedback than you thought.
Munich Startup: What advice would you give to other founders who are considering starting a crowdfunding campaign?
Florian RuntschStart building your community early. Take them along on your startup journey and let them become part of the project long before you ask them for money. For me, that was about a year in advance. This builds trust in you and the project. Because the most important thing you need for your campaign, besides the actual product, is the crowd's trust in you personally. You should be mindful of this in everything you do for the campaign.
Munich Startup: How did you benefit from the crowdfunding support from the City of Munich?
Florian Runtsch: Without the funding, we wouldn't have been able to shoot such a great campaign video. You can easily get around €3,000 to €5,000 for this. Depending on the funding goal, this represents a significant portion of the costs and is often simply too expensive.
Munich Startup: What are you most proud of about the campaign? What experiences did you have during the campaign? What surprised you, positively or negatively?
Florian Runtsch: You often read about possible funding amounts like €1 per lead. According to that calculation, we would have had to generate 40,000 leads, which certainly wasn't the case. And for a regional project with a narrow target audience, that would have been very difficult. We had pledges worth several thousand euros in our program and were thus able to raise an enormous amount with relatively few funders. This, in turn, underscored the demand and also shows that every campaign is very individual, and it's difficult to make blanket statements about its progress.
