By May 20, when he’d persuaded 648 people to pledge more than $34,000 toward the project, Lane also had a business.
Crowdfunding, a concept that’s recently been popularized by sites such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo, allows people to take their ideas directly to the public for the cash to make them happen. In many cases, campaigns return the money to donors if they can’t get the idea off the ground. But if they do, folks who give money usually get something in return — often a discounted version of whatever the project creates.
In the case of several Washington-based crowdfunding projects, funders are finding their real reward is a better fitness routine.
Another recent successful Kickstarter campaign got its start when Debra Zusin, also a Washington lawyer, signed up for Capital Bikeshare. There was a rack right outside her apartment and another outside her office. Riding one of the red cruisers seemed convenient until she arrived at work not feeling professional at all.
“I had four bags with me and a helmet hanging off my arm,” says Zusin, 31, who joined forces with her friend Mariana Chambers, 31, to create a line of luxury bike bags that look professional but have compartments to hold helmets, shoes and anything else necessary for a ride.
After topping their target on Kickstarter last summer, Zusin and Chambers were able to distribute the bags to backers. And now, their company GiveLoveCycle is busily stocking its merchandise in shops in New York and Australia as well as here in the District (at the Daily Rider and BicycleSPACE).
Maybe some of the same stores will soon be carrying the Milestone Pod, which raised $23,000 through Indiegogo earlier this year. Co-founder Jason Kaplan, who lives in Clarksville, Md., teamed up with two pals in Israel to come up with a tiny tracker that runners attach to their shoelaces to keep tabs on their mileage.
“It was a pretty straightforward problem we could address: How do I know when to change shoes? This product tells you that,” says Kaplan, who says it’s hard for him to remember how long he’s been wearing one pair or another for training. The pod can also be plugged into a computer and programmed with emergency information, such as blood type and allergies.
Seems like a good deal for $15, which is what backers ponied up for one of the first devices. Anyone counting on getting the pod in May, when delivery was originally scheduled, however, will have to wait a few more months. There’s a battery-life issue that needs to be resolved.
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