We Started by Failing

TCF Team founders launched their first crowdfunding campaign in 2015. It flopped. But that failure taught them something nobody was talking about: crowdfunding has its own psychology, its own rhythm, its own rules. Traditional marketing thinking does not apply.

So they did what curious people do. They experimented. They documented. They built frameworks from scratch and tested them on real campaigns. Narek Vardanyan wrote 57 Secrets of Crowdfunding, which became an Amazon bestseller. And in 2017, The Crowdfunding Formula was officially born.

Today we're TCF, the world's largest crowdfunding marketing agency, with over 100 people, 1,000+ campaigns, and more than $500M raised for creators across the globe.

And this month, we became an official Kickstarter Premier Partner.

What Premier Partner Status Actually Means

Not every agency gets Premier Partner status. Kickstarter doesn't hand it out for showing up. It reflects a track record of performance, consistency, and trust built over years of real campaigns, real results, and real accountability.

For founders, that matters more than it might sound. When you're about to put your idea, your money, and your reputation on the line, you want to know the people next to you have actually done this before. A lot. And that they know what it costs when things go wrong.

We're proud of this milestone. But honestly, what excites us most is what it signals to the creators we work with: that this is a partnership built on proof, not promises.

A Team, Not Just an Agency

We think of ourselves as a football team. Everyone has a position. Everyone plays toward the same goal.

When a campaign comes in, it gets its own in-house marketing department. Strategy sets direction. Paid ads handle performance. Social builds the community. PR creates credibility. Copy and design turn complex products into clear stories. Influencer specialists find the right audiences. Everyone moves together because every decision is made with the full picture in mind.

That's the difference between a vendor and a team.

The Real Campaign Starts 90 Days Before Launch

Most creators think launch day is the starting line. It isn't.

We start 60 to 90 days before launch. That's when assumptions and anticipation get tested, audiences get validated, and messaging gets refined. Ads test which angles resonate. Social explores content that drives early signals. Pricing gets tested too, and creators are often surprised to discover their audience will pay more than expected.

Every department works its discipline independently, then the data is turned into a strategy. By the time we launch, we have a clear strategy, goals, and the roadmap of how to get there.

With Kode Dot, our prelaunch process helped validate a $150K preliminary goal. We hit it in 48 hours and finished at ten times that number.

When launch day comes, it feels like a spaceship launch. Everyone is at their station. Every system has been prepared and tested. When we hit Go Live, everything fires at once.

What This Looks Like in Practice

Circular Ring 2 became one of the most funded projects in its category in 2025. It also came with real challenges.

The ring was the world's first AFib detection and ECG ring, which meant the product's most compelling feature was also the one we couldn't lead with. Kickstarter has strict rules around medical claims, so we had to strip that language from the campaign entirely and rebuild the story around the ring's other strengths. At the same time, we made sure AFib and ECG reached the right audiences through outside channels where we had more room to speak directly.

Many backers were also first-time supporters with expectations shaped by traditional ecommerce, which added another layer of education to manage. What held everything together was the founders. They stayed transparent, stayed present, and treated their community as partners. That kind of trust compounds.

That same year, we also won Best PR Campaign for Kamingo, which became another seven-figure campaign.

What We've Learned From 1,000+ Campaigns

Campaigns that win share a few things in common. They prepare with clear ownership across every discipline. They validate before launch with real data rather than hope. They set realistic goals and communicate honestly.

The ones that struggle do the opposite. They overpromise features and delivery dates. They treat the campaign as a one-time event instead of a launchpad. They skip prelaunch because they're excited and impatient.

Something will always go wrong. The strongest campaigns come from teams that know how to test, learn, and adjust.

Failure Is Where Progress Begins

Our story started with a failed campaign. So did the stories behind a lot of great companies.

Failure sharpens insight. We encourage experimentation and bold thinking because we've seen what happens when teams are willing to try, reflect, and apply what they learn.

At TCF, failure isn't the end. It's usually where progress begins.

We've helped founders raise over $500M. We've watched creators turn products into communities, habits, and entirely new categories. Becoming a Kickstarter Premier Partner is a reflection of that work.

But the milestone that matters most is always the next one. Yours.

If you're planning a campaign, let's talk.

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