Shopify Masters

How to Run a Successful Kickstarter Campaign (From a $60M Pro)

Episode Summary

Kickstarter isn’t for testing ideas—it’s a sales channel. Peak Design’s founder shares how $60 million in campaigns built a $100 million company without investors.

Episode Notes

Peak Design has raised over $60 million on Kickstarter across multiple campaigns, making them one of the most successful crowdfunding brands in history. Their most recent campaign alone generated $13.5 million. Founder Peter Dering shares the exact strategies, lessons, and controversial decisions behind building a $100M+ business entirely without venture capital.

In this episode, Peter reveals:

• The Kickstarter Strategy: Peak Design uses crowdfunding as a fundamental building block of their brand, not just a sales channel.
• The "Omnichannel Sandwich" Approach: For their $13.5M campaign, Peak Design launched in retail stores at full price before fulfilling all Kickstarter orders, despite the backlash, they'd do it again.
• Building Without Investors: Kickstarter's upfront payment model solved cashflow challenges and allowed Peak Design to stay completely investor-free while reaching $100M in revenue.
• The Origin Story: A four-month motorcycle trip through Southeast Asia sparked the idea for a camera clip. That idea would evolve into an entire ecosystem of gear for photographers and adventurers.
• Company Culture & Transparency: The stated purpose of Peak Design is for employees to live happy and meaningful lives, and Peter shares all financial figures with his team.
• The Climate Change Project: Peter co-founded the Change Climate Project, creating the most robust climate certification now used by over 300 companies including REI, with Peak Design spending $350,000 annually on carbon mitigation.

Chapters:

00:00 Introducing Peter Dering, Founder of Peak Design 

3:13 How Peter Pivoted from Construction Engineering to Being His Own Boss 

4:00 Where to Find Life & Business Inspiration 

5:27 Peter’s First Invention: How to Bring a Product to Life 

6:55 Breaking Down One of the Most Successful Kickstarter Campaigns Ever 

8:28 The Steps for Scaling Sales From $700,000-$100M 

10:22 The Best (Timeless) Kickstarter Tips  

13:40 How Peak Design Hit Their Best Crowdfunding Campaign To Date: $13M

17:00 Peter’s POV On VC Dollars  

19:10 Company Culture: The Key to Team Building & Being a Successful, Meaningful Leader 

24:20 The Impact of Climate Change & The Creation of The Change Climate Project 

28:10 Peak Design’s Lifetime Warranty & How They Maintain High Customer Lifetime Value 

30:00 Immersive Community Tactics That Create Value