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FLATHEADBEACON.COM MARCH 25, 2015 | 31
BUSINESSMONTHLY
HIGH TECH
Robert Knox of Whitefish holds up a cork and porcelain travel mug that he desiged in his woodshop. BEACON FILE PHOTO
FINDING BUSINESS FUNDINAG ONLINE
Crowdfunding websites like Kickstarter offer entrepreneurs a new way to finance projects
BY MOLLY PRIDDY
bout a year ago, Whitefish build- Instead of going the traditional route er Robert Knox broke yet another of pitching his idea to investors and having coffee mug. It wasn’t the first, and them buy into the business, Knox went on-
probably won’t be the last mug to meet its end at a construction site, but Knox was tired of the waste.
Then, while designing a fly fishing rod, it hit him: a porcelain mug wrapped in cork. Not only would it be durable, it would be en- vironmentally friendly and would save him from drinking hot liquids out of a metal cup.
After a quick online search found no products like it, Knox decided to pursue what is now the Cortiça mug.
“I knew I had a great product and a great idea, I just needed the money to put it to- gether,” Knox said.
line to Kickstarter and the world of crowd- funding websites.
By the time he was finished fundrais- ing online in July last year, 1,486 people had backed his project for a total of $64,739.
As the world continues to stitch to- gether an online network with more access, social media, and more ideas flooding the Internet, spaces such as Kickstarter have emerged for budding inventors and busi- ness entrepreneurs, where their ideas can meet a much larger audience than ever be-
See Crowdfunding PAGE 33