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.
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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
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