Success Factors in Reward based and Equity based Crowdfunding in Finland

Master’s Thesis 
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that had gotten media attention during their crowdfunding campaign, felt this publici-
ty aided their success. 
Duration and timing of projects also seemed to affect success. Projects with larger 
funding goals were found to have longer durations, as suggested by earlier research by 
Frydrych et al. (2014). Since equity crowdfunding tends to involve larger target 
amounts, they consequently have longer durations (Belleflamme et al., 2014). Moreo-
ver, several interviewees expressed preference towards shorter durations, because it 
would make the project more efficient and less likely to bore potential funders. These 
findings are in accordance with research by both Frydrych et al. (2014) and 
Ward and 
Ramachandran (2010). As for the timing of funding; early funders were found to be 
important for the herding behavior of other funders. However, most of the interviewed 
projects followed a U-curve, having a peak at the beginning and at the end of the 
campaign. And one campaign attracted a substantial amount of its funding at the end 
of the campaign. This would suggest that the timing of contributions does not directly 
influence the success of the project.
Additionally, once the funding target had been 
reached and the crowdfunding project was already successful, some attracted a large 
amount of new funders. This finding might suggest that funders prefer to contribute to 
projects that others have contributed to – as implied by 
Ward and Ramachandran 
(2010) and 
Frydrych et al. (2014) – and are guaranteed to be successful. 
Information sharing and communication was found to be very influential to crowd-
funding success. Results indicate that being transparent and providing necessary in-
formation, such as business plans, were important for crowdfunding. This affirms 
similar findings by Frydrych et al. (2014). However, financial data and business plans 
were not perceived as highly important to funders. This contradicts earlier research by 
Ahlers et al. (2015) indicating such information is very important to equity crowd-
funders. Instead, narrative was found to be very important for a project’s success. As 
suggested by 
Lounsbury and Glynn (2001), stories helped legitimate entrepreneurs 
and enable them to acquire funding. Stories and narrative were viewed to be at least as 
important than business data. Perhaps the well-narrated, charismatic and persuasive 
projects attract attention and popularity in similar fashion as opinion leaders do in 
social dynamics. This would align with research by 
Frydrych et al. (2014) stating 

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