Crowdfunding in Russian: how it was

My crowdfunding project “Russian Audio Cards” is nearing completion. Working on this task gave me an interesting experience in both sales and product design. I want to share this experience, because I am personally interested in such projects as a consumer: I would prefer the domestic macro series, which is developed primarily for the consumer, in order to show my professionalism and author’s handwriting. So, crowdfunding in Russian - as it was ...

Before the publication on Habré , the conversion was absolutely zero. After publication, the situation changed dramatically, and it became possible to observe what was happening.



And the following happened:

• First, people shared a link to the project in such places of the Internet, the existence of which I had no idea. Information flowed like liquid.
• Secondly, posts and letters appeared on how to improve the product.
• Thirdly, it turned out that not everyone considered the project as an online store: apart from customers who transferred the cost of the product to the project, there were sponsors who transferred amounts either less than the declared price of the product (that is, without calculating the receipt of product copies), or more than the stated price. Thanks to them, free money began to appear, which would further improve the product and send a device to the customers, already markedly different from the basic one, with improved characteristics.

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The path to perfection

For the developer, it is absolutely natural for the desire, if not to come to the ideal, then bring its brainchild to mind. In order to do this, we need feedback. The Internet provides a unique opportunity to get feedback (criticism, advice) with minimal effort. I got very interesting people, professionals who spent their time to help the project. For example, comrade GReY Rage made an expert evaluation and measurements of the first sample of the sound card, which allowed us to speak in detail about upgrades.

Modification first. Since the situations in which you intend to use the card are different for everyone, I left the customer the opportunity to choose the length and color of the USB cable.

Modification of the second. The money of patrons will allow you to order a fee with a new topology. The capacity of the output capacitors will be increased to 420 μF, which made it possible to obtain, for example, for the Sennheiser CX 300-II , a lower limit of 23 Hz.

In the picture you can observe the test stand:



These two upgrades will definitely be implemented. If there are more sponsors, then the following upgrades can be made:

Modification of the third. Power supply for the microcircuit and transfer it to self-powered mode. Theoretically, this solution can reduce the nonlinear distortion factor by half when working with an amplifier.

Modification of the fourth. Suddenly it was discovered that quite decent TTL generators are being produced in Moscow. Even the use of the simplest oscillator instead of a quartz resonator allows for a more accurate and transparent sound at the output. It will be possible to install one of the Russian generators and the second voltage stabilizer for it and the analog part of the DAC. This will allow the audio card to become the first product of this class, on which the quartz oscillator is installed.

Prospects and opportunities for crowdfunding

Leading a crowdfunding project, I made important conclusions for myself:

• First, crowdfunding is a very real opportunity for developers who do not have the money to release a series. If we talk about production, then there has long been the practice of single-piece sales of their products to a narrow circle of consumers. Such products are very high quality, but usually have an uncompetitive price. The release of the series with the help of collective sponsorship allows you to significantly reduce the price due to the bulk purchases of components. Yes, you have to make an experimental copy for your money - but this is no more expensive than doing amateur radio. Here, instead of money, time is invested.
• Secondly, crowdfunding is a universal way to test the adequacy of any new product, even if we are talking about a new line in an existing company. Crowdfunding technology eliminates the need to make high-risk investments. At best, you can sell a batch, and at worst - get a bunch of useful analytics. Even in case of failure, you get new acquaintances and a significant upgrade of the original product: those who pay money are interested in improving the final product. This is a unique opportunity to get really high-quality feedback: in this case, it’s not about abstract “forum ideas” in the style of “everything is bad” and “can not be!”, But about a truly constructive criticism, useful for the result.