We've all have had that one special friend or crazy uncle. He’s got that million-dollar idea, and after years of begging for money like a hobo, he still has no way to get it off the ground.
Fortunately for your Uncle Bob, there is Kickstarter, which allows his idea — a pillow, which is perpetually on the cool side — to get the funding it needs to take off and make him an overnight millionaire.
Kickstarter allows individuals and groups to pitch their ideas to the masses on the Internet and attempt to find the funding to make their dream a reality.
In return, the financers are given a number of rewards based on the amount given. This has varied in the past from simply offering the product early, to parties and tours in the manufacturing facilities.
Enough explaining what it is. The fact is, I have a love-hate relationship with Kickstarter.
The friend — Who hasn’t had a friend in a band or known someone who thought he was a filmmaking prodigy? Now, instead of simply listening to your friend tell you about his idea for a ska band that only does covers of rap songs with choruses done in screamo style, you get bombarded with Kickstarter requests.
The first request is to help purchase musical equipment. It is quickly followed by a request for financing the first album, and before the month is up, the Kickstarter to fund the first tour is here.
Fund one of these, and everyone else you know who has the next big hit for Sundance or the next “Two and a Half Men” wants you to help out. If I cared about these people or their ideas, this would be a pretty
pricey endeavor.
The ideas — Not every idea put on Kickstarter is great: motivational tapes for your cat, a Ron Paul Video Game and the BROpener — a piece of metal, which you tape to any surface, to make an instant bottle opener.
The system isn’t all questionable items for crazy cat ladies and frat houses; some rather ingenious items have come out of it. A plant monitoring device, that can text you when your plant is dry or even turn on your water for you, a credit card-sized elastic wallet for the minimalists out there or a Wi-Fi enabled, multicolor, LED lightbulb that can be controlled by most smartphones.
The payoff — So, you’ve funded that Kickstarter for that great new toothpaste/shampoo/deodorant you’ve always dreamed of, but it never became a reality. As the months go on, the crate you were expecting never arrives.
Finally, the company replies to the dozens of emails you’ve sent, to inform you that the binding agent that would make this product work has been outlawed in the United States.
There is nothing to show for your investment, no crate of miracle cleaning goop, no special edition T-shirt, no factory tour and no plaque in the executive cafeteria. There is no way to get that product and it can be difficult to get a payback on your investment.
Kickstarter allows for some creative people to bring their ideas to life. Fortunately, some really useful and fun ideas have come from the system. It is however not a perfect system, but it’s always worth a look to find that Bug-A-Salt, salt-firing, bug-killing gun you’ve always been looking for.
http://www.westerncourier.com/opinions/why-i-love-and-hate-kickstarter/article_dce3f9a2-7094-11e2-97f1-0019bb30f31a.html
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