Slava Rubin
CEO Indiegogo
Discussion
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Slava Rubin
@gogoslava
Hi - I'm Slava Rubin, Co-Founder and CEO of Indiegogo. My job is awesome because I get to empower people from all over the world to make the ideas they care about a reality. I've seen an incredible diversity of entrepreneurial projects across tech, film, and social innovation, and also some really inspiring causes that the global community has rallied to support. Ask me anything!
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Ryan Hoover
@rrhoover · Founder, Product Hunt
Hi, Slava! Crowdfunding is relatively young. What does it look like in 10 years?
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Slava Rubin
@gogoslava
@rrhoover in ten years
1) crowdfunding will be integrated into everyday funding like social networking is now into communication
2) banks will offer indiegogo as an alternative financing product for small biz
3) Fortune500 will integrate indiegogo into their R&D methods
4) the boundary of crowdfunding and commerce will blend creating "emotional commerce" - commerce that leverages relationship, feedback, and direct to consumer connection
5) equity crowdfunding will be a day to day norm
6) a billion dollar project will be funded, probably for good or supporting a crisis
Farbod Saraf
@farbodsaraf · Co-founder Everboard.io
@gogoslava Hi Salva, Thanks for doing AMA. I have a question which is quite controversial and has been never answered clearly by crowdfunding platforms:
What if a campaign fail to deliver what they initially promised? Does Indiegogo have any responsibilities to take some legal actions against the campaign owner?
Disclosure: I'm a victim of Sondors campaign (2nd Largest Indiegogo Crowdfunding Campaign), got neither ebike, nor refund.
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Slava Rubin
@gogoslava
@farbodsaraf My understanding is Sondors has delivered. If you have not received it yet pls send us a note at support@indiegogo.com or email me at slava@indiegogo.com
DVRK DVD
@garrettgrohman · Indiegogo
@gogoslava behind wannabe, what is your favorite spice girls song? ...asking for a friend.
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Slava Rubin
@gogoslava
@garrettgrohman definitely wannabe. its my karaoke goto. you should join some time
DVRK DVD
@garrettgrohman · Indiegogo
@gogoslava awesome. i will let my friend know and maybe take you up on that one day.
Changyin Zhou
@lightfield · CTO, Visbit
@gogoslava thanks you for doing AMA here. In addition to crowdfunding, I see indigogo adds extra values, like helping with partnership as you mentioned above. Can you talk a little more into this -- an end-to-end solution for hardware startup? Thank you!
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Slava Rubin
@gogoslava
@lightfield totally agreed. here is a nice writeup to show what is possible and where we are going to help our entrepreneurial thinkers - http://nypost.com/2015/11/28/cro...
ilan abehassera
@ilan · Founder, CEO at Insensi
@gogoslava Hi Slava, would love your take on Kickstarter vs Indiegogo. How does a HW startup decide which crowdfunding platform they should pick?
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Slava Rubin
@gogoslava
@ilan Hardware is a sweetspot for Indiegogo. We work with entrepreneurs from Idea to Distribution. Check out cat ear headphones for example. 2 college students look for market validation. raise $2mm with promotion from Indiegogo. then go into our Indemand program and raise nearly $2mm more. then we help partner with Brookstone for support with manufacturing and distribution. We are an end to end solution for hardware with the best support and promotion available.
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Slava Rubin
@gogoslava
send me an email. we have awesome campaign strategists we can set you up with to plan out the best funding and exposure possible. slava at indiegogog.com
Emily Hodgins
@ems_hodge · Community and Marketing, Product Hunt
@gogoslava Thanks for joining us today. During your career to date, what is the best piece of advice you've ever been given? Flip side - what's the worst?
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Slava Rubin
@gogoslava
@ems_hodge best - my dad - people that make it look the easiest are the people that work the hardest
worst - you need a lot of money to do a startup
Erik Torenberg
@eriktorenberg · Former Product Hunt
Slava! Thank you for joining us.
What does the future of crowdfunding look like for funding startups? For gov't & taxes? For any other grand implications? Where is it all going??
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Slava Rubin
@gogoslava
@eriktorenberg whats up sir. thanks for the opportunity
answered some above but i will give you more
1) crowdfunding will be integrated into everyday funding like social networking is now into communication
2) banks will offer indiegogo as an alternative financing product for small biz
3) Fortune500 will integrate indiegogo into their R&D methods
4) the boundary of crowdfunding and commerce will blend creating "emotional commerce" - commerce that leverages relationship, feedback, and direct to consumer connection
5) equity crowdfunding will be a day to day norm
6) a billion dollar project will be funded, probably for good or supporting a crisis
7) govt taxes can have a crowdfunding component. people will create projects - local, state, country, or world. then we will keep 20% of our tax money in an excrow account as opposed to handing to govt. we will then have to allocate the funds from the escrow account into our favorite tax projects set by others. that way we have more control over tax money allocation. its a big idea, but totally can be tested in a small way to start
8)
Kate
@katesegrin · Community @ Product Hunt
Did you anticipate Indiegogo to be the huge success it is today when you were first starting out? What were some of the roadblocks and turning points for you along the way?
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Slava Rubin
@gogoslava
@katesegrin We always thought we could be big. We think there is still lots to go. There have been many stumbles and learnings along the way. Market crash of 2008/2009 was tough. we got turned down by 93 VCs. Lots of competitors along the way. We had to innovate and keep refining the product. We had to navigate maintaining an open philosophy while maintaining integrity and trust. We are proud of all the hard work that goes into creating a good consumer experience