You know there’s something broken about business funding mechanisms when you WANT to give money to a company and yet you can’t. I would be willing to give Google $50 to implement a feature in gmail, for example to be able to schedule and send emails in the future. I’m sure a lot of other people would be willing to give small amounts for such features as well. But Google and many other businesses haven’t found a way to tap into this type of crowd funding opportunity. It is really an amazing opportunity: not only do you get money for doing what you probably needed to do anyways without having to give out equity, but many of your customers will feel more attached and more invested in your product.
Fortunately, small businesses and entrepreneurial projects have started taking advantage of the crowd funding model. One of the most famous crowd funding platforms is Kickstarter and one of its darling success stories is Ministry of Supply. They initially aimed for $30,000 but have raised $430,000 so far! Being a big fan of entrepreneurship, I was happy to spend money to help fund this small business started by MIT students. I learned about Ministry of Supply from this Techcrunch post and decided to “invest” in them. Well it’s not really investment in the traditional sense because I get no ownership equity in their company. It’s more of a purchase. I pay money and I get an amazing product in return. But it is investment in another sense because without the collective purchases of many Kickstarter backers like me, the product may not even have been possible. So the “return on investment” is not dividends or stock value, it is the making possible of a value added in my life. And now I have become a big fan and supporter of Ministry of Supply as well. Nobody asked me or paid me to write this post, I just feel a sense of pride in them.
The product they make is amazing dress shirts with advanced space-suit fabric and design technology that makes them wrinkle-free, odour-free and anti-perspiration. In the words of Rip Empson on Techcrunch, “in essence, it’s a magic shirt.” For me, someone who often finds the need to look good, professional and business-ready, without having much time to spend worrying about what to wear and when to wash it and iron it, etc. this kind of shirt seems like exactly what I need. You can learn more about Ministry of Supply and their amazing products by visiting their website, their youtube channel, their vimeo channel, or their facebook page (which just passed 1000 likes today!). The current shirts are for men only so far, but when I asked them about women’s shirts they said they are planning to roll them out in a few months.
Now crowd funding may be a great new opportunity, but it’s not all that easy. A lot of the companies on Kickstarter miss their promised deadlines for product delivery and cause frustration. Ministry of Supply is also behind schedule, as are most technology-based businesses backed by Kickstarter investors. Furthermore, managing so many small funder relationships as opposed to a few big ones can be a hassle at best and an investor relations nightmare at worst.
In my particular case however, Ministry of Supply has impressed me with their relationship management. When I wanted to try on their shirts before deciding which size fit me, I asked if I could drop by their office on my trip to Boston for the Academy of Management 2012 annual meeting. They invited me with open arms, and in fact invited all their Kickstarter backers to visit their office at 105 South Street. When I went there, they were incredibly nice, and took time off from their busy schedule to chat with me. I especially had a pleasant conversation with Kevin Rustagi who told me little about their history and ambitions. For example, he told me that they are not a company that is “born to flip” unlike others that he knows well and that I am currently researching. We also discussed their marketing strategy a little bit and the possibility of doing an academic case study on their company. After trying on their shirts and performance layers, I got to take a picture with Kevin, Aman Advani, and Sean Coffey.
I also took a picture of their bookshelf, because you know, as Bishop Potter is quoted to have said: “people will not be better than the books they read.” So perhaps by extension, knowing about the business books that entrepreneurs read can tell you a little about how likely they can be to succeed.
A couple of weeks after my trip to Boston, I got a very nice little gift in the mail along with a thank you note. How very delightful guys, thank you Ministry of Supply!
4 comments
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December 13, 2012 at 6:31 pm
Samantha
When my boyfriend told me about these shirts and send me the link to their page on kickstarter I thought that it was a brilliant product. He ordered two shirt and some t-shirts, and I looked forward to seeing this new product. The shirts came a few weeks ago and alas! I have to admit: I HATE them. 100% polyester? they feel only a little bit softer to the touch than soccer jerseys! what is new about non-iron polyester? Anyone knows that 100% polyester does not need ironing, it never wrinkles and it does not cost $100. you can buy a 100% polyester polo for 10-15$. The only new idea in this product is is that the manufacturers used polyester to produce dress shirts. which is something nobody does as it is a very dumb idea. Unlike what they promised- you sweat in it more than in any other shirt and end up stinking. My Boyfriend wore it only once and it stank. I should mention that he does not have a naturally strong body odor either.
All in all, I am very disappointed in this product. I feel like we were cheated by the descriptions and paid a lot for a useless product that he wore once and would probably never wear again.
However, for all those guys who are looking for away to avoid cuddling their partners at night, this t-shirt is a great product: my boyfriend wore it one night and I could not cuddle him for more than 5 minutes as the polyester shirt made me feel sweaty and overheated too.
December 16, 2012 at 9:46 pm
Mohammad Keyhani
Dear Samantha, thank you for your comment. I have actually received my Ministry of Supply shirt now and I do agree with some of your points. It is not that impressive that 100% polyester is non-Iron, but it is still an innovation to make a viable dress-shirt out of that material. Compared to other shirts that are advertised as non-Iron, but sometimes do need some Ironing, this one really is non-Iron and does not wrinkle at all in the body of the shirt, although I did find a need to iron the collar after the first wash. Also the shirt is very comfortable when you wear it, although it sticks to the body a little too much and must be worn with a base layer. Since the Ministry of Supply base layers are from the same stick-to-body material, I actually recommend wearing it with a normal non-MoS base layer. I suspect one of the reasons it feels so comfortable is its thermal properties, but I’m not sure. One other thing I like about the shirt is that it is stylistically flexible to wear with very formal outfits (suit and tie) as well as with more informal sporty outfits. About the issue of sweating more in a Ministry of Supply shirt compared to normal shirts, I have to wear it a bit more to judge that, but when I wore the shirt for a full day, I did sweat quite a bit and the shirt did smell by the end of the day. It was a busy day though!
June 5, 2013 at 12:09 pm
Kit HIckey
Hey Samantha!
Sorry to hear you’re not happy! If you email Q@ministryofsupply.com we’ll refund your money ASAP.
Also, sorry for the delay! Just happened to be re-reading this blog and saw your comment. Hope you get a refund!
Kit
MoS co-founder
December 26, 2012 at 11:16 pm
Mohammad Keyhani
After wearing the Ministry of supply shirt for 8-10 times, I think I have found the perfect use for it. It serves great in cold weather as a middle layer on top of a non-MoS shirt or base layer and under a thermal or sweater layer. Having worn this combination several times in temperatures around -20 degrees Celsius, it keeps me warm outside and yet when I go inside I don’t feel too warm and I don’t sweat or feel the need to take off a layer.