I got bored, and tired of waiting. So I was tinkering around with some data from a handful of successful Kickstarters in the past, and copied-pasted it all into Excel. Then I graphed it, because I'm a huge nerd. Then I cast growth of nerd on myself, and fit an equation to that graph. Then I solved it using the expected number of backers and the average amount that each backer pledges.
So I'm putting my guess in at the weirdly-specific amount of:
$20,612,408.57
Let's see how close I get to the right answer, with only 3 days of data. If I'm right, nobody will be more surprised than me. (And also if I'm right, that will mean this is the highest-funded Kickstarter of all time.) Wish me luck!
Oh, and if I win, I will donate the prize to the next runner-up.
I don't know if a difference of more than $612K can be called "edging you out", but I know what you mean.That's pretty cool. And thanks, I was about to say "Hey, thanks for edging me out, dude!"
I don't know if a difference of more than $612K can be called "edging you out", but I know what you mean.
I'm curious how close it comes. It was a pretty sophisticated model; it took into account that the top-tier pledges would no longer be available (and were therefore removed from the "dollars per future backer" calculation), that there would be predictable spikes near each stretch goal and a significant spike near the end of the event, and that both the number of new backers per day and the average pledge of each would otherwise diminish in separate log functions. I'm pretty proud of it.
But when I went online and checked my prediction with a few "professional" models, they gave VASTLY different numbers. So...grain of salt and all that. I probably shouldn't quit my day job.
I'm sticking to my original guess of $20,612,408.57, even though my calculator now gives a very different (and lower) result. Don't wanna disqualify myself by making more than one guess.
I'll let you know on Tuesday morning, after this contest is locked. Don't wanna influence any new guessers!Out of curiosity, what are the latest forecasts from your personal model?