When the Yeastie Boys team decided to raise half a million dollars to launch into the UK market, they decided to go to their crowd as one of the first equity crowdfunding campaigns in Aotearoa New Zealand. When told that some traditional investors thought the crowd was “dumb money”, Stu responded by naming the raise the “Love Money campaign” because he wanted people who loved his company to invest.
In the lead-up to launch, they released their video (above) that raised some eyebrows and asked people to register their interest to be kept in the loop. They shared mostly through Twitter, but also directly with their close crowd. Not only did they ask for people’s contact information in their registration of interest form, they asked for ideas of what benefits investors might want on top of shares in the company. They had people ask for things like discounts, and homebrewing sessions with the founders, but also for things like Stu’s pants – because they’re so brightly coloured.
When the campaign launched, it only took a half hour before they’d reached their maximum goal. We think it went so fast because of the way that Stu activated their crowd. You can read their main comms below.
6 Weeks – Sign-ups begin
5 Weeks – Welcome, launch date announced, the Why (values), ask for feedback on specific things
2 Weeks – Register to invest, Pitch Kitchen behind-the-scenes, invite to meet & greet, encourage them to spread the news
4 Days – Offer doc shared, be the first (let’s make history with speed), coverage in the media, let their voice (feedback) be heard, invite to launch party
Launch time – they shared the link to the live campaign and had people madly pledging from their phones in Goldings Freedive bar in Wellington.
