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Can a mother of three be an entrepreneur?Can she run a crowdfunding campaign to success?Can she deliver her promises? The answer to those questions lies within the story of Erin Harrison, a mother from Utah, who decided to follow her heart’s call: She was impressed by the difficulties that thousands of mothers and children halfway around the globe were going through. So she did her research and found out exactly what she could do to help. The only thing that stood between her and the change she wanted to make was a financial benchmark. But she didn’t let that be an obstacle for too long: Erin went to Indiegogo, built her ideas into a campaign and used crowdfunding as her main instrument for success. At Maker Paradise, we love sharing inspirational stories like Erin’s. The dedication and commitment she involved into reaching her goal are elements we can all learn from. Give a listen to our interview with her and get inspired to reach your own objective. Join our community to find out what too

Why do you feel pressured to make a good video for your crowdfunding campaign? Is it because everybody around you talks about how much it contributes to the success of your project? They are right. But only partially. Let me show you why: When decide that you want the perfect video, what is the first thing you think about? Getting a good videographer, right? A few years back, Joe Lemay did the same thing on his first campaign. He hired the best man he could find and was absolutely delighted with the result. But the campaign ended up failing. Instead of giving up, he improved his idea and came back to the crowdfunding space for a second try. Only this time, he decided to do things a little differently. The lessons he learned from his failed campaign helped him raise over $1million on Indiegogo alone. Recently, he launched a Kickstarter as well. However, he says “only half of the people who’ve bought our product have actually watched the video”. Now that’s an interesting statistic for th

You might think that reaching hundreds of people per day in your pre-launch stage requires a money-eating advertising strategy. So how can you achieve it on a budget? A year ago, Dan Meropol came across the statistics that would get him thinking: 50% of people don’t maintain a good oral hygiene. A light-bulb moment followed: You might think that reaching hundreds of people per day in your pre-launch stage requires a money-eating advertising strategy. So how can you achieve it on a budget? A year ago, Dan Meropol came across the statistics that would get him thinking: 50% of people don’t maintain a good oral hygiene. A light-bulb moment followed: What if we turn the drag of brushing into the most sought-after event of everybody’s morning? This is when he decided to create the world’s first caffeinated toothpaste. But the real challenge was getting it to that 50% audience from the statistic. Instead of throwing money on advertising on half the globe, he did something that you can easily

Are you a first time entrepreneur who feels intimidated by the thought of going to China to manufacture your product? I know, basic aspects like the language barrier and the cultural gap can get your heart racing. Before you know it, you’re feeling anxious and worried: Will I be able to find the right factory? Will they be able to understand my requests? How will I manage to establish an efficient business relationship? Gavin Munro asked himself the same questions when he flew to Asia for the first time. After 5 years of working with Chinese staff and reaching 1.3 million customers around the world, he shared a powerful insight. It really eases your troubled mind, even before you get on the plane: There is a very close network of people, especially the expat community, that is very supportive. It’s not elitist at all, everybody mixes with everybody else, socially and professionally. That’s your first hook! Now you know that you have no reason to feel lost: once you get there and face any dif

Michael Coe has raised $1,4 milllions creating his games. So we are really excited to share his insights. Creating a game which will convert your fans into backers can send your mind spinning in different directions. So, What are the two most important things you should focus on? This time Michael wanted to make a board game that represented the wild west theme like no other game had done before. But let’s go back in time to the beginning of his journey. Many years ago, he drained his bank account to develop his first game. He flew hundreds of miles to attend a game convention. He needed to find a publisher. Everyone turned him down. Can you imagine what it feels like to put everything you have into creating something you love and then face rejection? He didn’t give up. Instead, he went back home and continued to improve. There was a lot to work on: What is the golden number of players? How should the rules be set up? What should the graphics look like? Michael shared on Maker Paradise the two cor

How do you find out if a common everyday problem is worth your attention as a crowdfunder? A few years back, Janne Kyllönen was passing through an airport in one of his frequent travels. Without thinking about it too much, he grabbed a pair of noise cancellation headphones and tried them on. It was in that moment that he realized what a constant issue the background noise is. Imagine you were in his place. Did this problem grab your attention as it did Janne’s? If not, let me help you: Do you realize how large is the market you would be tapping into? Fact: An estimated 40% of people are suffering from lack of sleep (sleep deprivation). Let’s go a step even further: Would your product belong in the hands of every person that travels, lives in a busy city or works in an office environment? People in these environments often are irritated by constant noise. If your answer is yes, as was Janne’s, you can be sure you have a golden idea. But what do you need to do to turn it into a successful

Is making an innovative product enough to be successful in crowdfunding? You might have guessed: It’s not. Ok. Maybe you are thinking that making a great product + marketing it is the key, right? Well, that’s the right path. Even after finding the right target market, having good press coverage, and building a smart campaign page, many crowdfunders still struggle. Let me introduce Anne Tham, our most recent guest on Maker Paradise. Anne’s been a leader in education for over 29 years in Singapore. She runs a very successful learning center with multiple branches. So what’s her secret technique for dealing with the challenges that every crowdfunder faces? “You have to have a big WHY” - Anne Tham Your WHY is more than your own personal motivation. Use it to connect with your partners, customers, backers and the press. Anne was facing a harsh truth every day: As a chemistry teacher, she knew textbooks had no chance in winning kids’ attention over video games. So she allie

Iterations can be expensive. So what’s the secret to getting the most out of them? Shamil Hargovan wanted to custom insoles because every single person’s foot is unique. He went through 72 iterations of his product before he was satisfied. Can you imagine what it would cost to go through 72 iterations at a factory? Shamil explained to Maker Paradise his secret weapon to iterate affordably. You might be familiar with 3D printing. But what you might not know is that 3D printing services are available in almost every country. You can also partner with a local hackerspace to access one for next to nothing. Shamil went a step further. “We purchased our 3D printer. It actually saved us a lot of money.” Let’s dive into the 3 lessons Shamil shared with Maker Paradise, when he used 3D printing technology to optimize his expenses and get a competitive product into the market. Lesson #1. Finding your niche How do you make sure your product will be well received and there will be a large req

We want our kids to have freedom, and we want to know they are safe. But giving your six to eleven year old child a smartphone might also expose them to a lot of unwanted experiences. Casper Chien faced a moment of panic when his young nephew disappeared from sight at the mall. He thought there should be a better way to let young children contact their parents when they need help, so he created the dokiWatch. What makes the dokiWatch special? It’s designed for children to enjoy. Casper feedback showed him that if the kids like the watch, they are going to keep it on while they are out of the house. For the parents, you can know where your children are at all time because of the built in GPS. And it has a panic button your child can press at any time to alert you they need help. Having the ability to quickly see your children any time of the day is really a big difference and it’s incredible that it’s available in a $150 smart watch. Thanks @dokitech. Casper shared in his interview with Maker

When you go out into the world and observe people feeling uncomfortable or frustrated, do you ever do anything about it? Dennis and April did. “I was working out regularly at a local park with a group of people. But I noticed many of the women were uncomfortable with their lack of options to change clothes. They had to choose between dirty bathrooms or hiding in their car.” Dennis thought to himself... there had to be a better way! In order to make The Undress, Dennis partnered with April who was one of the women in the group that was also unhappy with the lack of options for changing after a workout. The Undress is a really unique solution to a very common frustration. Instead of having to change in a dirty bathroom, The Undress lets you pull the special strap under your bra and becomes a full dress. It’s brilliant, right? Now women can change quickly, anywhere.In this second campaign, Dennis and April improved the product to make it more of a dress that women can keep on. “ We got fe

There are millions of people whose access to technology is limited by their budget. Not everybody affords a shiny Macintosh or Dell, when their income is just a few hundred dollars a month. The next computer mastermind or the next technology prodigy kid might get lost in the crowd, because of financial difficulties. Johnson Jeng decided to give everybody a chance to accomplish their tech dream. He created the world’s first $15 supercomputer: the PINE A64. PINE A64 is a single board computer that has everything you need to build your project. You don’t need to buy any add-on components to put together your CPU. Just start by connecting a monitor, keyboard and mouse to it and there’s your full computer! At 64-bit, 512 RAM and a 1.2Ghz processor, this makes it the most powerful single board computer on the market, at an amazingly affordable price level. Johnson shared in his interview above with Maker Paradise the key factors that made him the prosperous entrepreneur he is today, and offered hi

How many times did you play air guitar on your favorite song and wished you could do that with a real instrument? But learning guitar may be very difficult to a lot of people. Many people who tried and gave up, still dream of playing guitar. @kurvguitar, they believe the joy of playing music shouldn’t be limited to the gifted ones. So they created a real life version of an air guitar, that you already know how to play. The Kurv Guitar is made of two tiny devices that fit comfortably in your palms and use your touch, motion and gestures to make the sounds of an acoustic, electric or bass guitar. No strings, no swollen fingers, no painful hand positions. Just your regular air guitar choreography. Suran Goonatilake and Tania Fauvel shared their moments of hardship to the last days of their successful crowdfunding campaign. Hear their crowdfunding story in the exclusive podcast interview above with Maker Paradise Notes from the audio interview with maker: (listen here) Part I02:04 The frustration that Suran

People sometimes ask me if crowdfunding requires an innovative idea. Lorenzo’s recent project shows that creating a simple design is often even better. He recently raised $74,000 for a watch that emphasizes simplicity and functionality. “People told us they are of wearing brands.  Our idea was to make a watch that was minimal and didn’t promote any brand on the watch face whatsoever.” Isn’t that an interesting idea? Instead of making something fancy, keep it simple. People responded to Lorenzo’s approach and over 380 people backed his project. “People also said that they wanted one watch that would work with many outfits. That’s also part of keeping it simple.” So Lorenzo made it possible to exchange the watch strap so that you can match it to whatever you are wearing. Lorenzo’s approach to crowdfunding has a lot of interesting lessons for us. Learn more about his thought process, how he zeroed in on the most important features, and what you can

Do you know that feeling you get when you finish playing a game you really love: it’s like losing a good friend. You start imagining alternative scenarios and wish there was more of it to enjoy: an extension, another edition, a movie! That is exactly what Ming Yang Yu and Edmond Courtroul of Rayark decided to do, to reward the 5 million + fans that downloaded their mobile game. Implosion: ZERO_DAY is a full-length animated film, that unravels to you the extended story of the post-apocalyptic world you got to know in the mobile game. @ImplosionMovie depicts events that happened 20 years before the story in the Zero Day - Never Lose Hope. There is so much more to learn about this universe! Ming Yang and Edmond shared with us their whole entrepreneurial experience, from the first elements to create their game to the last days of leading a crowdfunding campaign. Notes from the audio interview with maker: (listen here) Part I02:17 Why they decided to make an animation movie inspired by the game Implosion03:5

The inspiration?People understand how to lock their cars, but are they aware how to stop someone from accessing their internet connected devices? Internet connected devices are anything from your phone, computer, gaming console, baby monitors, home video security cameras, even your wifi router. Every single one of these devices should be monitored for unusual access. Is the threat real?This isn’t meant to scare you, but at the same time… it is much better to take action now before something happens. Recently there have been cases of folks taking over baby monitors from outside the house. But really this could happen to any internet connected device you bring into your house (including your phones and tablets). The worst part is that you don’t always know when someone has gotten access to your internet devices. The unique solution?CUJO watches for the pattern of access from your devices and automatically prevents unusually access. You are notified in case you want to make an exception.

The inspiration?Mantic Games knows how to make games that people love. This is their 10th campaign, so they had gotten a lot of feedback and requests for a sci-fi themed game with solid game dynamics playable on a tabletop. They listened to their players. That's a humble and direct way to create your next product. The unique solution?A lot of care went into making the different aspects of Warpath work together to make it fun, challenging, and something you will enjoy customizing. With the add on Army Paint set, you can design your own look and feel for the different units. The scale of the larger ships, the types of units, and the customization of the figures on the tabletop - all make the game more immersive. Who are the makers behind Warpath?In the audio interview, you can hear Ronnie Renton talking to us over some construction going on outside. It was clear that he is a very down to earth guy who cares about delivering games that people will enjoy. Ronnie knows that details are everything. So a lot of time

If you’re dodging spells and fighting off monsters, while you’re being chased by steampunk robots on a tabletop, I’ve got news for you: You’ve contacted the gaming virus of Warmachine and Hordes, that will probably last you a lifetime! Eric Dupuis gets you perfectly. He and his colleagues at Wyrmwood Gaming are all gamers, and they love craftsmanship. So they though your gaming accessories should last for as long as your passion does. After teaming up with Privateer Press, they created officially licensed Dice Trays and Dice Vaults, to enhance your Warmachine and Hordes experience. @WyrmwoodGaming Handcrafted using only high quality materials that are guaranteed to last you a lifetime, the Trays and Vaults are beautifully engraved with the logos of all 12 factions of the game. Dice Trays and Dice Vaults for Warmachine and Hordes means you never have to worry again about your dice falling on the floor, getting lost, or knocking down pieces in your game. Eric shared with us his crowdfund

As a family man who grew up loving the outdoors, Spencer Taylor was looking to get an action camera to capture his adventures, but just couldn’t justify spending $400 dollars. He realized a lot of other families and backpackers might want a good quality camera that was affordable and easy to use. He really believed that quality was the key difference. So he created a crowdfunding campaign to make it possible. Thanks Spencer for creating a quality camera for families and travelers who do not have big budgets. @ViDiofficial Spencer shared that everyone who listens to this episode will get a fully charged battery and an SD card already in it. (just kidding, they are doing that for EVERY backer). Hear Spencer talk about it all, from his first entrepreneurial sparks to ViDi’s crowdfunding success, in our latest podcast. Notes from the audio interview with maker: (listen here) Part I01:35 People without big wallets want this...03:49 How he shows that it’s high quality camera Part II13:05 Spencer&r

Did you ever want to control a drum beat while you play guitar? Percussive guitar players, do this by hitting their guitar with their fingers as they play. Robin Sukroso, a dedicated acoustic guitar player, realized this idea could be extended to allow you to control a full orchestra of sounds. Robin wanted ACPAD to feel natural while you are playing the guitar.   It had to be very thin. But it had to be smart enough to handle variable touch. ACPAD is a super-thin controller that you can attach directly on your guitar, without affecting its original acoustics. It brings effects and sounds from other instruments at the reach of your hand, that you can play along with, in real time. I love @RobinSukroso 's ACPAD on my guitar. I'm creating whole songs, at the very moment of inspiration: no more waiting for a studio appointment, no more wasting time: just making music. Notes from the audio interview: Part 1 01:46 How Robin's wish to mix acoustic and electronic music gave birth to ACPAD04:40 The unique featur

How would you like to fire up your creativity with a different tech project every month? Oscar Pedroso and David Brenner know how hard it is to find all the right materials and information to accomplish even one single DIY electronics project. So they are making it easier for you. Thimble is scheduled to show up at your door every month, with a new set of parts and step by step tutorials on how to assemble a hand picked DIY electronics project and make it work. 21-century skills, such as engineering and programming, are literally at your doorstep with @Thimbleio. Notes from the audio interview with maker:  (listen here) Part I01:53 How Oscar turned every challenge that a technology fan is facing, into his inspiration for Thimble04:40 What’s the solution that Thimble brings Part II13:35 Oscar’s first entrepreneurial experience16:18 How to surpass moments of crisis and keep believing in your project19:47 The valuable contributions that mentors from different backgrounds make31:06 Best practices