A team of only two can run a viral crowdfunding campaign, says the man behind the crowdfund Greece campaign

Running a well-publicised and high-earning crowdfunding campaign can be done with a team of only two people, according to crowdfund Greece founder Thom Feeney.

Speaking at a Hipsters, Hackers and Hustlers event at Google Campus in London, Feeney told the audience that he and his girlfriend, who he said “turned into a PA” during the campaign, handled everything themselves.

“She did an excellent job but there were only two of us, at most, managing any of this,” he said. “You don’t need a big team. You don’t need a marketing department, you don’t need a press manager – you can do it.”

The initial crowdfund Greece campaign on Indiegogo, set up to pay off Greece’s defaulted debts and “bail out” the struggling nation, ended with a total of just under €2m raised.

Although an impressive amount, it was still well short of the €1.6bn target and subsequently all of the money was refunded as the campaign was set up with a fixed target.

>See also: Five ways to give your crowdfunding campaign a shot at success

Feeney immediately went on to set up a second Indiegogo campaign with a more moderate target and, crucially, an arrangement that meant the money would be kept even the final target wasn’t reached.

This raised close to €300,000 and the money will be put towards securing 20 apprenticeships in Greece – where youth unemployment is currently around 50%.

Feeney says not setting the first campaign as a fixed target, meaning the money would have been kept, is one of the biggest regrets he has. Although he describes having to give all the money back as “heartbreaking”, he feels a lot of positives have come out of it in terms of raising awareness for the second campaign and beyond.

And while insisting it is possible to run a successful campaign with just two people, Feeney admits there are some things he would have done differently if he’d had access to a larger team.

“Looking back I’d have loved to do some video content: being able to capture the many TV interviews I did and getting that out,” he said.

Another aspect of any crowdfunding Feeney told people to expect was criticism from some corners; however successful you’ve been.

“One of the main things about doing something like this is that you can get swept up thinking that you’ve done something amazing,” he said. “But you’ll always have people telling you that you haven’t done something amazing. So I know that whatever happened I could have done things a lot differently to how I did them.”

Further reading: Entrepreneur attempts to start business with £50