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Ask HN: My Kickstarter failing? What's special about the US?

6 points by MrQuincle ↗ HN
Our product is a presence-aware power outlet (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dobots/crownstone). It went like crazy in the first few days! However, we didn't get traction in the US for now.

It might be just the fact that we got unlucky about our media coverage on the big American tech sites.

However, perhaps you have better ideas about the mechanisms that make an open-source product like this go viral.

Any insights will be really appreciated!

1 comment

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drugsAreBad0001
Maybe it's because people in the US would get charged foreign-transaction fees? (probably twice, once from their originating bank, and another by stripe)

Not to mention I don't see how any of the claims you make can be substantiated. How exactly do you determine a modem from a fridge if both use the same 120V source? Even if you could determine device class, how can you narrow it down to actual device-type?

Maybe it's because the "rewards" are obscenely expensive? 17 dollars for a circuit-testing screwdriver? I can get one at lowes for less than $5.

Finally, maybe it doesn't have "viral" potential in the US. We already have power-monitoring devices that you can run on your home network, and the number of people in the US who actually use one is minimal.