The biggest Kickstarter ever failed the first time around raised over $10 million the second time

[ETRJ]

The Coolest, a tricked-out cooler with a built-in blender, speakers, and USB charger, just set the record for the most-funded Kickstarter campaign ever. At the time of this writing, the project had raised $10,388,188, or 20,805 percent of its goal.

Ten million dollars for a beverage container is an amazing feat. But it's even more astounding considering creator Ryan Grepper launched almost exactly the same campaign ten months ago and failed. He only raised $102,188 on a $125,000 goal.

"When I launched my first campaign for the Coolest last November, I thought that if you started with a good enough idea, people would find it and success was inevitable," Grepper told GeekWire. "When the campaign failed, I took a hard look at what went wrong. I did not give up."

So what did he do differently? Not that much, it turns out.

But the small differences, plus the wisdom of launching a campaign for an outdoor accessory in August rather than November, added up.

Here's Grepper's take:

1. People are much more interested in coolers in the summer rather than the winter.

2. We had a group of passionate supporters from our first campaign, ready to take up the charge and share among their friends.

3. We improved the COOLEST design, took a more targeted marketing approach and focused our video on all the great features offered.

The videos for the two campaigns are almost exactly the same length and feature much of the same footage.

The rewards are very similar, although the new campaign featured a $165-level for "early bird" backers who could get the cooler, and made $2,000 the highest tier rather than $5,000.

The first version of the Coolest had an attachable grill, which Grepper got rid of in version 2.0 due to safety concerns. Otherwise, the second version of the Coolest boasts all the original features as well as a few extras, including built-in storage for utensils and plates, wider wheels, and a USB charger. (The charger was suggested by a backer from the original campaign, and seem like the only feature that may have made a difference, but what do I know.)

Other changes: Grepper asked for $50,000 instead of $125,000. The Kickstarter video shows a final screen that asks people to "please share the video now." The second campaign also featured GIFs and a lengthy FAQ section.

Verge: http://www.theverge.com/2014/8/27/6074101/the-biggest-kickstarter-ever-failed-the-first-time-around

Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ryangrepper/coolest-cooler-21st-century-cooler-thats-actually

[TheKDub]

First potato salad, now this...

[flibberdipper]

This is fucking stupid.

[TheKDub]

This is fucking stupid.

 

Actually after watching the kickstarter video it is actually a really awesome idea.

[Bloodyvalley]

and what does this do?

[NeatSquidYT]

Kinda cool, except what's he gonna do with that 10m?

[StingBull]

What's the power source on this thing, a car battery?

[KakaoDj]

This is fucking stupid.

 

 

First potato salad, now this...

 

 

Im guessing you have never been to a beach party...? 

This is fuggin glorious, it's something we need.

[matin94]

i want one

[Trik'Stari]

They ought to have a small solar panel on the lid to run the charger (so you can charge your ipod or phone while it plays music) but also have the option of running it to a car.

 

I like this idea, now if only it will hold every single beer in the newly released 99 pack of beer (thank you texas for that awesome invention, it's 7 feet long, 3 rows of 33 cans)

[Skylercompany]

This is something that many people will buy and then never use again.

 

All in all its a great beach tool, but it might get wet or broken eventually.

[BarisERY]

This is actually really good for me because im a RC Car ners have over 10 RC Cars and i go to races with some of them and races take more than a day so this might be a lifesaver for me

[PillowSmoke]

People these days.

[TJ_Hack3r]

Linus needs to review this

[KamiKatze]

Awesome! Now i just need friends!

 

For real doe, i think there aren't that many occasions in life to get out your swaggin Coolest. This is geared towards cooler enthusiasts clearly...

[Linus_torvalds]

While i was watching the video total income raised by 3xxx $, fuck!

[Deletive]

Awesome! Now i just need friends!

 

For real doe, i think there aren't that many occasions in life to get out your swaggin Coolest. This is geared towards cooler enthusiasts clearly...

adopt another cat.

This is really cool, but I don't have a use for this.  atleast they created something cool.

[ACatWithThumbs]

This is actually quiet "Cool"(Pun intended).
 

[VSG]

This is actually pretty cool. I don't have a need for this just yet though!

[DigitalHermit]

I would've wanted the coolest if I didn't already have a large, strurdy Coleman...

 

It's a really good design though...

[Equlix]

It needs a fold out solar panel on the top.

[IdeaStormer]

If I was homeless or a full time camper sure makes perfect sense, but really basically people will buy it and just lose the parts 90% will end up in the back yard collecting solar rays till it decomposes like all coolers do, expect to see them floating in pieces by your local watering hole/ocean in 9 months.

[thirdworldking]

ill have to see a review first but it looks promising. btw anyone else notice the iPhone joke in the video i found it quite funny.

[Heisenbleurgh]

College frats must be fighting each other over these.