DTC POD: How The Best Brands Are Built

How to raise over $3M on Kickstarter while launching your product (with Conor Lewis, founder of FORT)

Episode Summary

Conor Lewis, CEO and founder of FORT, joins the POD to talk about FORT’s successful crowdfunding campaign and strong Facebook community. His company FORT, sells magnetic pillow fort for children. Conor lost his job in April 2020 and started FORT soon after. The idea was one of many startup ideas on Conor's phone. FORT was developed in only a couple of months due to Conor’s push to develop a product fast. Because of the nurturing of this community, FORT’s Kickstarter campaign was able to raise over 2 million dollars in less than a day. Stay tuned as Conor shares her experience launching his successful magnetic pillow fort product on Kickstarter thanks to a strong online community. If you’d like to learn more about Trend and our influencer marketing platform for influencers and brands visit trend.io. You can also follow us for tips on growing your following and running successful campaigns on Instagram and LinkedIn. We Speak About: [00:55] About Conor and FORT [02:25] FORT’s product development timeline [04:45] How FORT raised over $2 million on Kickstarter [10:55] Gamifying FORT’s marketing strategy [09:55] Creating virality with a product [12:00] Expanding reach while limiting advertising costs [19:40] FORT’s Kickstarter timeline [16:35] Building FORT’s online community [20:20] Using sustainable materials in your product [23:35] Advice for other founders [27:50] What’s next for FORT

Episode Notes

  1. “There are two components to going viral, either the product itself is viral or the creator or the person who uses it as viral.” @conorblewis #DTCPOD
  2. “I did most of my funding because I was sending out to eighty thousand people that I had nurtured and gotten to know personally. That is the power of generating a strong list and educating your customers.” @conorblewis #DTCPOD
  3. “Building a community was a really personal touch from the beginning where you need to nurture it as it grows.” @conorblewis #DTCPOD
  4. “You can make a product and put it out in a short amount of time if you're willing to learn and research. It’s about three things: making it, sourcing it and putting it out to get it validated.” @conorblewis #DTCPOD
  5. “Use all the free resources at your disposal to make that happen. For me, it was podcasts, books, a ton of online research.” @conorblewis #DTCPOD

We Speak About:

Strong research and product development lead to successful products. 

Conor Lewis, CEO and founder of FORT, joins the POD to talk about FORT’s successful crowdfunding campaign and strong Facebook community.

His company FORT, sells magnetic pillow fort for children. 

Conor lost his job in April 2020 and started FORT soon after. The idea was one of many startup ideas on Conor's phone. 

FORT was developed in only a couple of months due to Conor’s push to develop a product fast. 

FORT already had a strong email list and community before deciding to crowdfund on Kickstarter. 

Building an online community and how to leverage it into a successful crowdfunding campaign. 

FORT gamified the sharing of their product, allowing them to expand their reach using their strong online community. 

Using a private Facebook group, Conor was able to build personal connections with his audience.

He used the Facebook group as a way to get feedback on the idea of his product and answer questions personally to his audience. 

Because of the nurturing of this community, FORT’s Kickstarter campaign was able to raise over 2 million dollars in less than a day. 

Stay tuned as Conor shares his experience launching FORT on Kickstarter thanks to a strong online community.  

If you’d like to learn more about Trend and our influencer marketing platform for influencers and brands visit trend.io. You can also follow us for tips on growing your following and running successful campaigns on Instagram and LinkedIn.

Mentioned Links:

Follow Conor on Twitter: https://twitter.com/conorblewis

Follow Conor on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conorblewis/

FORT’s website: https://getthefort.com/

FORT’s Kickstarter campaign: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/conorblewis/fort-magnetic-pillow-fort

FORT on Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/getthefort