The Titan behind Singapore’s most successful crowdfunding campaigns

Whether it’s holding down a gym in Pokemon Go, earning free rides on Uber, or helping clients gain thousands of Facebook likes, life’s a computer game for Titan Lee.

His parents didn’t give him that name. Titan is a gaming handle he’s used since his youth, and it’s stuck ever since. He doesn’t mind because the name is memorable and good for branding purposes, he tells me.

A digital marketer running his own consultancy, Titan uses a mix of conventional and unconventional methods to achieve whatever the goal is: getting press coverage, growing social media reach or – as he tends to do lately – acting as a crowdfunding whisperer.

He successfully ran two crowdfunding campaigns. The first was that of 3D-printing startup Pirate3D, which still holds the record for Singapore’s most successful crowdfunding campaign with US$1.43 million raised.

He also managed Singapore startup TinyMOS’ effort for a tiny astronomy camera. It raised almost US$400,000, over three times its original goal.

Titan calls himself a greyhat growth hacker, which means he sometimes employs methods that other marketers wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole.

“My exposure to the dark side of digital marketing was from very young,” he says. “I realize that the strategies and the mindset that they use can be used for good. So you don’t have to go illegal or be unethical. You can be along the grey line and still produce results.”

Titan’s presentation slides on the good, bad, and ugly of digital marketing. Via Slideshare:

Mailing list hacks

It’s this mindset that led to Pirate3D’s record-breaking outing on Kickstarter. That and meticulous preparation which began months before the launch of the campaign. A sizable US$37,000 budget helped.

Titan came up with the product’s sales pitch – “the world’s cheapest 3D printer.” He studied past successes on Kickstarter via Kicktraq, and saw a trend: the best campaigns see a huge spike in pledges in the first five days, which then tapers off.

The most important objective for any campaign, therefore, is to create momentum at the beginning, which increases your chances of getting highlighted on Kickstarter’s homepage. This leads to more visibility and more pledges.

Media publicity hacks

Bot army