What does a smartwatch have in common with a cooler, a travel jacket, a card game about exploding kittens (no, really), and a cult TV show about sci-fi B movies?

The answer is simple: all of these are examples of the most successful crowdfunding campaigns in history.

Bringing your idea to the masses and letting them vote with their wallets has never been easier. Who needs investors or bootstrapping, when you can simply bring your business idea to the masses and let them vote with their wallets?

And yet, 69-89 percent of crowdfunding campaigns fail. And of those who succeed, many fail to meet people’s expectations or quietly die without seeing the light of day.

If you’re considering crowdfunding as a way to raise money for your product idea, you will enjoy this week’s episode of Get Genius podcast – because we have interviewed Brandon T. Adams, the top crowdfunding expert in the world!

Here’s what makes Brandon the go-to expert on raising money with crowdfunding:

  • Brandon started out selling ice and working in his father’s business. There he got an idea for his first product, ArcticStick, that could rapidly cool bottled drinks. He invested over $100,000 into the venture before it started generating revenue. Before launching ArcticStick, Brandon turned to crowdfunding – and raised $26,000 in 33 days.
  • His first crowdfunding campaign showed Brandon that many people were failing to raise money for their business ventures. So he decided to become the expert on crowdfunding. He traveled all over the country, sleeping in his truck, and interviewed every entrepreneur he could…
  • …and it paid off! As of now, Brandon has worked on some of the most successful crowdfunding campaigns in history: for John Lee Dumas, Kevin Harrington of Shark Tank, and others. He also crowdfunded his own TV show, and a docudrama based on the “Think and Grow Rich,” considered by many the best business book ever written.

Don’t get us wrong, though – this episode isn’t just about crowdfunding. Brandon and Summer have a deep and varied conversation about everything from building businesses to entrepreneurial resilience, marketing, and more.

So if you’re interested in becoming a sought-after authority in your space, building an audience, or crowdfunding your business ideas, this interview is unmissable. You’re bound to walk away with a major insight – or ten. Give it a listen!

Note: Brandon doesn’t mince words, so there’s a fair amount of strong language in this interview. You will want to listen anyway, because it’s a valuable interview and you will walk away with more than a few insights about building businesses, crowdfunding, and following through on your ideas. That said, if you find strong language severely off-putting, maybe sit this one out.

Click here to view the full transcript

Here’s what you will learn:

[00:16] Introducing Brandon

[03:30] How Brandon became an entrepreneur

[08:50] How crowdfunding changed the trajectory of Brandon’s business – and life

[14:30] Why you have to execute on your idea, even if it fails

[16:52] Brandon’s advice for becoming an influencer

[25:25] How to build an audience through crowdfunding

[31:30] Biggest crowdfunding mistakes Brandon has made

[32:54] Ambitious Adventures

Resources from Brandon:

Accelerator

Ambitious Adventures

Live to Grind