Olympics Torpedo Crowdfunded Startups on Kickstarter

San Fransisco, CA, August 06, 2012 --(PR.com)-- With an estimated 1.2 Billion viewers watching every second of the Olympics, advertisers and vendors are capitalizing on a captive audience to make huge gains. However, not everyone is winning gold when it comes to web traffic during the 2012 summer games.

A July 31st study by Procera Networks uncovered that web content provider Netflix reported traffic down by up to 25% during the games, with web traffic at small startups also feeling the pain as billions watch Phelps swim and Gabby flip.

BYU MBA student Bryce Craig learned this the hard way when he launched a tech organization invention on crowdfunding website Kickstarter, just two days before the opening ceremony. “We knew the Olympics were coming, but we didn’t think it would cripple us like it did. Since the torch was lit, we’ve gone from 20 backers a day, to about three.”

Craig’s project, called Sprocket Stand, seeks $27,000 to purchase production tooling and get his dream off the ground. Since Kickstarter relies on an “all or nothing” funding model, if it doesn’t reach the goal by September 7th, the project will get nothing.

With about half of his project timeline overshadowed by the Olympics, Bryce reflected on his chances, “We feel like we are living a David versus Goliath story. Except Goliath isn’t a bad guy, he just showed up to the same party with a gold medal around his neck and stole all the attention.”

You can read more about Bryce’s story on his Kickstarter page.

Contact:
Bryce Craig
brycecraig@gmail.com
974 E. 620 N.
Provo, UT 84606
USA