Hummii’s Tiny Tuffin trail to a Kickstarter Launch
By: Hank Hummii
Tags: Vegan, Startup, Plant Based, Crowdfunding, Kickstarter

(Part 1 of 2 in a Kickstarter info series)

A Plant-Powered Preview of our Kickstarter Page

Initial Thoughts/Plan

Hey there!

Just to provide a brief background, I’m Tyler Phillips and serve as Chief Edible Officer at Hummii. We are creating a Healthy & Yummy Plant-Powered Snack Universe and soft-launched our first product line back in January of 2020. (see more here for lessons from that)

Our Plant-Powered Popsicles were tested in the DMV region with around 15 locations. As a first-time founder, I had no idea what we were getting ourselves into with cold-chain logistics and challenging distribution/production. Soon afterward, I realized it may be smart for us to explore a pivot.

Serendipitously in timing, we just so happened to have met an incredible Michelin-starred pastry chef, Bethany Costello, who was moving to the Maryland area from NYC. We connected on the idea of recreating Little Bite’s muffins with a Hummii spin of health-conscious, clean ingredients plus a hefty dose of extra fun!

Deciding to adapt like this was actually easier than some may expect, but after deciding so I wanted us to pursue this new direction with 110% focus, energy, & passion.

Immediately we started thinking of a way to test product validation while garnering support from the community, and Kickstarter seemed like the perfect platform for doing so.

Tiny Tuffins are Vegan, Gluten-Free, Top 8 Allergen-Free, Powered by Chickpeas, & FlavorFULL

Below is a collection of advisor’s insights & stats of their very own campaigns. (this collaborative google sheet may also be helpful & feel free to request permission to add your analysis to it)

Hummii Kickstarter Advisor Analysis

Kathy Kiernan

What buckets/tiers can you put your network of family, friends, mentors, fans, etc?

After answering this, tailor customized messages/news depending on these buckets/your connections

What’s an achievable goal for your startup based on other comparable brands on Kickstarter, your own confidence in your network, traction/fan base, and willingness to devote resources to this?

Develop some sort of marketing strategy leading up to & during the Kickstarter campaign

The Strategy Should At Least Cover:

Micro Influencers

PR — local, national, blogs, etc.

Events/In-Person Marketing

UGC from Taste Testers/Existing Customers

Kickstarter Video/Copyright Material

Sandro Gerbini

Kickstarter Campaign — Gatherer’s Granola

STATS

Goal — $15,000

Raised — $19,112

Backers — 323

Average Donation/Backer — $59.17

Sandro’s Kickstarter Campaign for Gatherer’s Granola

INSIGHTS

Make sure you have high tiers with high-profit margins to balance out the lower tiers

Try to make the Kickstarter viable with a decent profit margin since you will underestimate the costs/time associated

At the end of the day though, it is easier to see a Kickstarter campaign more as a marketing/product validation test than a profit-making venture/project.

Push very very hard on the first 48 hours with your personal network

Find out the busiest day on Kickstarter and launch the day BEFORE

This gives you one day to reach out to all of your personal networks before leaning on the larger Kickstarter community.

David Downing

NextSeed (now part of Republic) — ChipMonk Baking

Slightly different because it’s crowdequity funding

STATS

Raised — $150,000

Investors — 161

Average Investment/Investor — $930

David’s NextSeed Campaign for ChipMonk Baking

INSIGHTS

Recommends launching on a Monday

Have a STRONG MISSION/CALL TO ACTION

Have backers involved in packaging design/decide exclusive flavors via voting contests

This makes them feel involved and see the benefit of becoming part of a larger community.

Spend at least 1 hour a day sending personalized messages to backers and/or potential backers

Issue the backers a code to redeem free product on the website

Some backers will support you but then never redeem the code. This also gives them the ability to gift the code to someone else who may be interested.

Courtney Boyd Meyers

Kickstarter & Republic — AKUA

Here’s a SUPER HELPFUL blog by Courtney that we first read before reaching out

Reached out to her by email after reading this and we were it was awesome to have received a prompt response answering our additional questions while guiding expectations

STATS

Goal — $20,000

Raised — $71,141

Backers — 1324

Average Backing/Backer — $53.73

Courtney’s Kickstarter Page for AKUA’s Kelp Jerky

INSIGHTS

Helping us decide on the ideal time for a Kickstarter video (Somewhere between 90–180 seconds)

Originally, before our conversation, Hummii was thinking of an 8-minute video.

Courtney helped us clarify the need to identify what’s important & share quick, congestible clips with the Kickstarter community.

Budget for Kickstarter Video

Find out as much as possible what you can get done yourselves or for free from friends before spending on the campaign.

Don’t be surprised though if a good video ends up running you $4k.

Challenged our thoughts on very outside the box prizes/tiers

Hummii was originally thinking of using NFTs. Courtney said how we don’t need to be overly complex or feel the need to reinvent the wheel right away.

She recommended we make tiers that people can understand but also are unique, fun, & interactive if possible.

Setting an initial fundraising goal

Initially, Hummii was thinking of $15k as an achievable goal. However, Courtney pushed us to reconsider & set higher expectations.

Now we will have a larger goal of $20k with a stretch goal upwards of $30k

In times like this, it’s incredible to have others in the community like Courtney that challenge your existing beliefs by saying that you may not be thinking big enough!

Miscellaneous Tips

Courtney recommended hiring a Kickstarter consultant by using Sloane’s List

She also helped us realize how valuable & fun a launch day party might be!

Jabari Martin

Kickstarter — Grit Superfoods

Reached out to Jabari after seeing him highlighted in Foodboro magazine

An extremely kind founder who truly lives & breathes his product (a gritty CPG entrepreneur who also happens to be thriving on great nutrition)

STATS

Goal — $8,000

Raised — $18,060

Backers — 248

Average Donation/Backer — $72.82

Jabari’s Kickstarter Page for GRIT Superfoods

INSIGHTS

Jabari launched his Kickstarter kind of on a whim without too much planning

Still found lots of success which he mainly attributes to his video & health-conscious background

His video was very down to earth with UGC content shot on an iPhone

This demonstrated the real nature of Grit Superfoods at the time instead of putting up a facade that they were some VC-backed startup (although there’s nothing wrong with this either)

Achieved Project We Love status by Kickstarter

He didn’t know this until he noticed a large influx in support. But Jabari believes this came from a stalling out point after showing early promise/traction. The great video & sense of validation it gave to the product also helped achieve this Project We Love status

GOOOO TIME!!!

Pay it Forward and Help other Founders with Their Kickstarter Dreams!!!

Ultimately you can only do so much research before diving headfirst into the experience yourself. We are continuing to reach out to founders/mentors for their advice but also beginning to prep the page & campaign based on everything we learned.

Check out a preview of the Hummii Kickstarter here and we greatly appreciate any feedback/support from the community!

Also, stay tuned for a follow-up article detailing what we learned first-hand after the Kickstarter campaign is completed…