Behind the Scenes: My Adventure Creating a Kickstarter

If you’ve ever thought about running a Kickstarter, let me tell you—it’s a wild ride.
I decided to do this not just to raise funds for a fabric printer (though, yes, that’s a big part of it), but also to test the waters on an idea that’s been bouncing around my head: the Death Bunny Society.

Now, if you’ve been following us for a while, you already know the Death Bunny. Born from a leather carving, half trickster and half skull, it’s a symbol of being skilled, a little mischievous, and not taking yourself too seriously. That spirit carried over into this project—and it turns out, it’s the perfect spirit for trying to build a Kickstarter too.

The Learning Curve

Kickstarter sounds simple: put up your project, add some rewards, and watch the pledges roll in.
The reality? There are about a million decisions to make before you even hit “submit.”

• Rewards: Do we offer stickers and patches? T-shirts? Knife slips? Bundles? Add-ons? (Spoiler: yes to most of them.)

• Exclusivity: Should this be a design that comes back later, or should we make it a one-time-only drop? (We went with one-time-only—the exclusivity felt right.)

• Pricing: How do you balance making it affordable for backers but still cover costs, shipping, and Kickstarter’s cut?

• Storytelling: How do you explain to someone who has never even heard of a pocketknife slip why they should be excited about one?

Every answer raised more questions.

Asking for Help

I can’t tell you how many times I got stuck.
Luckily, I’ve got an amazing circle of small business friends, outdoor makers, and even some Kickstarter veterans. They’ve been generous with advice—from “keep your tiers simple” to “use add-ons for upsells” to “make sure you tell your origin story.”

And wow, the Death Bunny story has been such a joy to tell. It’s the backbone of this whole campaign—because Kickstarter isn’t just about buying a product, it’s about buying into a story.

The Fun Parts (and the Not-So-Fun Parts)

The fun parts?

• Making mockups of patches and stickers (I got to see the Death Bunny as a real embroidered patch for the first time—it looks awesome).

• Filming the project video (and yes, there’s already a blooper reel).

• Brainstorming witty lines for the digital certificate, which may or may not say “Because you were awesome enough to back the Death Bunny when it was just a whisper of an idea.”

The not-so-fun parts?

• The endless checklists. (How many times can one person rewrite a reward description? Answer: a lot.)

• Trying to figure out add-ons, pledge managers, Stripe connections, and all the behind-the-scenes Kickstarter rules.

• The nervousness of putting it all out there and hoping people show up.

What I’ve Learned So Far

The biggest lesson? This is not just about funding. It’s about community.
Every decision I made along the way, I kept thinking: Will this excite people? Will they feel like they’re part of something fun, something wild, something a little fearless?

That’s what the Death Bunny represents—and that’s what I want this Kickstarter to feel like.

The Launch

We’re going live on August 24th. It’s a one-time-only drop of an exclusive Death Bunny design that will never be made again. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.

We are live, check it out!