Macaw, the Mac-based tool for web design, launched a
Kickstarter campaign yesterday and reached its funding goal of $75,000 in less than 24 hours. Tom Giannattosio, cofounder of Macaw, says he and Adam Christ are using the money to bring two additional developers onboard.
"We have a lot of the product built," Giannattosio says, "but it's just the two of us. I've met with comparable teams at Adobe, and they have six or seven engineers at least. We've had a lot of interest [in Macaw] from the community, and we don't want to miss the window of that demand."
After meeting with VCs and angels in the past few weeks, Giannattosio and Christ ultimately decided to use Kickstarter to raise the funds for the additional hands on deck. "It made a lot of sense," Giannattosio explains. "Kickstarter is a grassroots community, and it fits who we are."
As of press time, Macaw had 893 backers on Kickstarter. Half of them are based in the U.S. and the rest are global, which, Giannattosio says, speaks to the nature of the problem Macaw wants to solve. "It's a global problem," he says. "There's been this gap [between design and code] that has always existed. [The response tells us that] we're headed in the right direction."
"It's a little overwhelming," he allows. "We weren't fully prepared [to meet our goal so quickly]." Giannattosio says he and Christ are planning stretch goals for the rest of the campaign, which closes November 1.
With a pledge of $99 or more, Kickstarter backers will get an individual Macaw license; additional levels include multiple licenses. Giannattosio estimates that roughly 700 people have purchased licenses through the campaign. He attributes the campaign's success to a change in the design industry and the nature of Macaw as a company.
"The industry has been completely ruled by Adobe, and the industry is ready for change," Giannattosio explains. "Adobe hasn't been evolving as quickly as the industry has. Also, we're two guys trying to solve a problem. We're part of the community. People see that and want to be involved."