This piece in the link was written by an entrepreneur I recently met. He was serving up his excellent beer at an event in Durham NC. If you are in NC or elsewhere and you see Mystery Brewing, buy yourself a pint or better yet, a growler.
Have any of you utilized kickstarter? Have you known anyone that has? Have you backed a project?
My friend Timothy Monger successfully funded his last album via Kickstarter. You can check out his campaign here. As you can see he surpassed his goal. It was a lot of work though and I would wager that in the future he may go another route.
So what say you... is Kickstarter worth it?
I feel like this article was poorly written. He states in the beginning that crowdfunding isn't worth it, which drew me into reading the article - but by the time I got to the end it was like he left out 4 paragraphs explaining why it isn't worth it. The only reason given seemingly is that there are fees and you have to pay taxes on profits. But -everyone- who goes into it already knows those things. Anyway, I think crowdfunding is a great thing, and I hope it continues to grow.
I can see why you would think that. I got the impression that the author was essentially saying that if you are doing a kickstarter campaign the real advantage isn't necessarily the funding but rather building a group of people that now have emotional equity in the project. If you're doing it for the money, it may not be worth it. If you're doing it to build interest and also for the money, then perhaps it is worth it.Anyway, I think crowdfunding is a great thing, and I hope it continues to grow.
-I like it too. I have supported several music projects and I've been excited to receive the record and listen to it once it's finished, knowing I had a small role to play in it's coming to fruition.
This may be somewhat infantile but I am waiting to see if WasteLand 2 turns into a game that I would want to play or not as a signal to the profitability of enterprise-sized Kickstarter projects. Seriously, if something as complicated technically as a contemporary video game is impressive and emotionally/viscerally compelling ... well I might put some more faith towards Kickstarter et. al. But I have yet to buy into any of these reconfigurations of a meta-tribal marketplace. Bully for those that do. I have been trying to find a quality 3D printer for under $600 (that I do not have to spend) to make a project happen (that I am not smart enough to make happen alone) ... and I have looked at the various Kickstarter projects about them. Which reminds me to ask this community something ...
Nice segue, for anyone catching this comment -Here is the post being referenced. It is regarding 3D printing, something I wish I could help you with...
It's definitely a nice new funding option. I've never run one or donated to one, however. I think they new micro-investing legislation has the possibility to produce some interesting new models. From what I gather is that I could say "I am selling 10% of Hubski for $20", and people could divvy the shares up amongst themselves. At the very least, it would produce some new pressures in valuations.
So 10% of Hubski for $20. If you have 1 person donate, they just purchased 10% for $20? If you have 10 people at $20, they just bought 1% each? Is that how it would work? That's an interesting idea. Dangerous but it gives you the "real" current perceived value.
That goodwill is what the author of the post put the most value in. My friend Tim made this promise at the $100 or more level: All of the previous rewards PLUS: I will learn and record a cover song of your choice, package it in a cool hand-designed CD sleeve and send it to you.
I recently saw him at a wedding and although it's been over a year since his kickstarter campaign, he is still learning and recording cover songs. -A really cool gesture, no doubt about it, but time consuming (especially for a perfectionist like Tim).