Engadget was an early proponent of crowdfunding and has helped many exciting gadgets become a reality. The only downside of this is that my inbox now overflows with Kickstarter and Indiegogo pitches looking for similar treatment. In 2015 alone, I received almost 1,400 emails relating to campaigns on those two websites. It may be a chore to get through them all, but it's also given me plenty of time to pinpoint what makes a successful campaign. So, before you quit your day job, save yourself some heartache.
1 / 7
It’s been done already
We’ve all heard the phrase “build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door.” But this has led to a situation where thousands of people are all working to build the same mousetrap. Search the site for an iPhone case and you’ll find more than 460 of the damn things, and that doesn’t take into account the whole industry producing these things that already exists.
If each one were a unique and beautiful spin on protecting my phone from scratches, sure, I’d give it a pass, but most of them are just variations on a theme. In a world where every person is connected, no idea is going to be completely unique, but I’d say that you shouldn’t persist if someone’s very clearly beaten you to the punch.
