For consumer-hardware founders · crowdfunding-native

In hardware, demand comes first. We build it before you build the product.

Done Viral fills your pre-launch list and keeps it warm through tooling, manufacturing, and shipping — so your campaign opens strong on day one. We build the crowd; you run the campaign (and any equity raise on Zorro Fund).

Hardware is the original demand-before-you-build category: pre-orders and backing fund the tooling, so no crowd means no campaign means no product. A launch that opens cold rarely recovers — and unlike software, there's no "iterate next week." So we warm the list first.
Pre-launch list Open strong Built for long lead times
The hardware paradox

You need demand before you can afford to build.

Hardware is the cruelest cold start of all. Pre-orders and backing fund the tooling — so the demand has to exist before the manufacturing commit. A campaign that opens weak rarely recovers, the failure is expensive and public, and there's no quiet next-week iteration to save it. The list has to be warm before day one.

01

Demand before you can build

Pre-orders and backing fund the tooling — no crowd, no product. The capital simply never arrives.

02

One shot, in public

A campaign that opens weak rarely recovers; the failure is expensive, visible, and hard to walk back.

03

Long runway, sustained attention

Months of warming, then fulfillment delays — you must hold a list for a long time, not a week.

04

Creative volume for a visual product

Hardware sells on demos, renders, and UGC video — and you can't produce enough fresh short-form alone.

05

Agency mismatch

Campaign agencies are expensive, take a cut, and some drift toward promoting the raise directly.

The fix: warm the list first

Build a pre-launch crowd before the campaign opens — so day one is strong, not silent.

Why strong opens win

A warm list drives the opening 48 hours — the signal that pulls in strangers and press.

Crowdfunding platforms reward campaigns that open loud: a fast early surge feeds the algorithm and earns press, which pulls in backers who were never on your list. That surge doesn't come from luck — it comes from a pre-built crowd warmed before the page goes live. Cold opens stall; warm opens compound.

Grounding context (attributed, not our result): crowdfunding platforms increasingly emphasize pre-launch followers and pre-launch updates — consistent with the idea that pre-built demand drives strong opens. We make no claim about any specific third-party campaign's outcome.

The engine · built for long lead times

Position → build the crowd → ship creative → nurture → open loud → carry through fulfillment.

The hardware runway is long, so the engine is built to sustain attention — not spike for a week. It warms a pre-launch list, feeds it high-velocity visual creative, nurtures it through tooling and manufacturing delays, opens loud on day one, and carries the crowd all the way through shipping.

A
AI volume, human taste

The engine supplies creative volume; humans gate taste so every asset matches a premium product's bar.

B
Built to sustain

Nurture engineered for long lead times — content calendar, community, founder updates — not a one-week spike.

C
Leading indicator

Pre-launch follower / waitlist count and growth rate — the signal of a strong open, tracked from day zero.

D
Commerce, kept clean

Rewards / pre-orders are commerce; any equity round runs on a registered platform, never through your marketing.

Raising equity too?

Turn backers into owners — you on the platform, us on the marketing.

Many hardware founders layer an equity crowdfunding round (Reg CF) on top of product backing. Here's the bright-line, drawn clearly: product crowdfunding is commerce; a securities offering is regulated and lives entirely on a registered platform.

Done Viral · the demand layer
We build audience & demand

A marketing / tools / creative layer that warms a pre-launch crowd for the product campaign — fully unregulated activity.

  • Positioning, short-form creative & UGC at volume
  • Pre-launch followers & waitlist (cost per signup)
  • A warm crowd handed to you — never to "buy securities"
Zorro Fund · the regulated raise
The platform runs any equity round

If you layer an equity round, the regulated offering happens entirely on a registered platform — Reg CF up to $5M / 12 months, as applicable.

  • The offering, disclosures & transactions
  • Investor escrow & funds — handled on the platform
  • You invite your warmed backers to own the company, there

The line: Product crowdfunding (rewards / pre-orders) is commerce, not securities — that's the demand we build. Done Viral is not a broker-dealer, funding portal, or investment adviser; we do not offer, solicit, recommend, or sell securities, give investment advice, or handle investor funds. If you also raise equity, that regulated offering is conducted by you on a registered platform (e.g., Zorro Fund) — the offering, disclosures, and funds live there, never with us. We build the crowd; the platform runs the securities raise.

Premium creative, at volume

Demos, renders, and UGC that look worthy of a premium product.

Hardware sells on visuals. The engine produces high-velocity short-form — and humans gate taste so nothing looks cheap. Enough fresh creative to keep a pre-launch list warm across the long runway, every asset held to a premium bar.

A consumer-hardware prototype and tooling on a workbench — the long-lead physical product whose pre-launch demand Done Viral warms before the crowdfunding campaign opens
From prototype to tooling to ship — a long runway that needs a warm crowd before day one. The engine keeps the visual creative flowing the whole way.
Benchmarks · targets, not promises

The pre-launch metrics we engineer toward — never a funding guarantee.

+
Fresh short-form variations a month — demos, renders, UGC, human-gated
h
Target time-to-first-winner on creative, from a standing start
%+
Creative win-rate we engineer toward across the pre-launch runway
×
Opening-48h momentum target — a warm list vs. a cold open (methodology)

Pre-launch follower / waitlist count and growth rate, opening 24–48-hour momentum, creative win-rate, variations shipped per month, time-to-first-winner, cost per pre-launch signup, and nurture engagement across the long lead time are tracked as targets and methodology — never guaranteed funding amounts, campaign success, or fabricated testimonials. No funding outcome is guaranteed.

Plans · run the long campaign

Autopilot operates the machine for you — through a long campaign.

Hardware founders are heads-down on the product, so Autopilot (done-for-you marketing) is the hero — the engine operated for you across a long pre-launch and campaign. Co-Pilot runs it with you and coaching; Toolkit is the DIY entry. Final scope set after a pre-launch readiness teardown.

For long campaigns
Autopilot
Done-for-you marketing
The full demand machine operated for you — pre-launch crowd, creative, and nurture run end-to-end through the campaign.
  • Always-on creative & media for a visual product
  • Pre-launch list build + sustained nurture
  • Opening-48h momentum, operated for you
  • KPI-based performance terms (marketing, never funding)
Talk Autopilot
Done-with-you
Co-Pilot
Run it with coaching
Stand the engine up inside your team and run it with coaching across the long lead time.
  • Everything in Toolkit
  • Creative production & coaching
  • Pre-launch sequencing & nurture cadence
  • Bright-line guidance on the equity line
Add Co-Pilot
Toolkit
DIY entry
The playbook and templates to build your own pre-launch crowd, in-house.
  • The positioning & hook playbook
  • Short-form variation templates at volume
  • Pre-launch waitlist & nurture framework
  • The compliance bright-line, baked in
Start with Toolkit

Build the crowd before you build the product. Open strong.

Tell us your product and your target launch window. We'll run a free pre-launch readiness teardown — quantify your follower and creative gap, and map how the engine warms a list across your lead time so the campaign opens loud on day one.

Get your free pre-launch readiness teardown