Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn. With this in mind, Craighton Bergman, Adjunct Associate Professor of Industrial Design at University of Illinois in Chicago and Kickstarter expert having successfully launched and funded multiple crowdfunding campaigns on the leading American platform, teaches his students the full process of launching a product or brand by leveraging crowdfunding.
Interviewed by Core77, an industrial design magazine for students, he says a few things worth sharing. For example, he claims that crowdfunding helps a student in getting things done, out of their heads and into the world:
The goal of the UIC Entrepreneurial Product Development class was to expose students to entrepreneurship by having them actually DO entrepreneurship.
In this respect, crowdfunding confirms to be a useful tool for experiencing all the elements involved in the entrepreneurial process:
Students are exposed to business models through project spreadsheets. They learn how to talk to the press through writing a press release. They experience customer service through answering messages and emails from customers. They learn how to work with a manufacturer and problem solve on the fly. And finally, they come out the other side with a whole new skill set that most design schools will never provide.
In the end is all about learning that:
the walls are coming down and this stuff is more accessible more than you thought.
Find out more here.
Oliver* 