5 ms·

Did Facebook Just Build a Kickstarter Competitor?

59 points by devhxinc 11y ago

mistagiggles 11y ago
I think this could be abused horribly, the campaign and payment information appearing inline with facebook content may make a fraudulent page appear far more legitimate than they are.
- bsbechtel 11y ago
  It's Facebook's responsibility to manage that. If it becomes a problem, users will stop trusting Facebook and it will damage their brand. Facebook is assuming the risk and reward of building this.
gondo 11y ago
just a small observation: it is interesting that they use vimeo instead of facebook video player on newsroom.fb.com specifically in this case here http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2015/11/introducing-new-tools-for-nonprofits/ http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2015/11/introducing-new-tools-fo...
lagudragu 11y ago
I'm not entirely sure with the outcome of this possible evolution in crowdfunding, should it be succesfull. The crowdfunding business would get more saturated with 1000's of copycat / flavor of the month crowdfund setups or any random flavor of the month "i need money for XYZ, please fund me" crowdfund page. In addition, as the article states, the possibility of scams would rise as well on such a massive platform. I do get that facebook is a great platform on which to introduce your product on, but in the long run shifting the crowdfunding platform to facebook would harm the quality of innovation.
- sleepychu 11y ago
  I don't think Facebook, or their userbase, care. :/
try_catch_throw 11y ago
Moving forward it could transform into a Patreon competitor, and it would make sense to do that. Since social networks help creative personnel capture a lot of eyeballs, they might aswell help them raise funds.
- mmahemoff 11y ago
  This. I think this is much more in line with the recurring donation model they have already launched. The next logical step is simply to say "Hey you know all those non-profits there? They will now be accompanied by your favorite personalities, publications, podcasters, apps etc that you're already sharing here." Facebook being Facebook, it could morph still further to become Kickstarter and even an investment platform (AngelList) eventually, but patronage is the more natural fit.
kevindeasis 11y ago
This is not a Kickstarter competitor if it only serves non-profits. But, it does not mean they will not be a competitor in the future. Look at Paul Graham's tactics section about 'Want to start a startup' [4]. 4. http://www.paulgraham.com/ambitious.html http://www.paulgraham.com/ambitious.html
- mattlutze 11y ago
  I would be interested to see a follow-up to that post. It looks like 3, 4, and 7 are well underway in a number of companies. What are the current batch of insanely ambitious ideas?
  - kevindeasis 11y ago
    I can't find the fellowship list anywhere. I've been trying to find them since they started giving the grants. Anyways, thanks for asking. I wanted to see the batches as well so here are the links 1. http://ycuniverse.com/ycombinator-companies http://ycuniverse.com/ycombinator-companies 2. http://techcrunch.com/2015/08/19/here-are-the-52-startups-that-launched-at-y-combinator-summer-2015-demo-day-2/ http://techcrunch.com/2015/08/19/here-are-the-52-startups-th... 3. https://triplebyte.com/ycombinator-startups#q=&page=0&refinements=%5B%5D&ts=1447933710 https://triplebyte.com/ycombinator-startups#q=&page=0&refine...
paublyrne 11y ago
I find headlines that ask a question very grating.
- akx 11y ago
  See Betteridge's law of headlines. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_Law_of_Headlines http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_Law_of_Headlines
  - Kiro 11y ago
    Hacker News's law of Betteridge's law is even more accurate: "Any submission that ends in a question mark will contain at least one comment referring to Betteridge's law."
    - akx 11y ago
      Ha. I suppose there's a meta-law for referring to this law, too.
_lce0 11y ago
The .gif shows that fb already knows your CC number. I'm curious about how many people have given fb such information? None of the people I know have done that.
- edent 11y ago
  From https://www.facebook.com/help/414383411931263 https://www.facebook.com/help/414383411931263 If you've ever paid for an in-game purchase, donated to charity, sent payment to a friend, bought an item through their groups - they'll have your details. I've never done any of those - but I'd wager several of my friends (and yours) have done so.
- ErrantX 11y ago
  * People who have used the donate/buy buttons before now * People who have bought in-game items for FB games The dialogue supports CC and PayPal & appears to use their existing payment infrastructure (e.g. using any cards/paypal you've used before).
- Kiro 11y ago
  I've probably done it. Why is that so surprising?
mistermann 11y ago
I've always thought FB with its massive userbase has a tremendous opportunity to enter most any business it wants with a huge advantage - kicking myself for not buying shares, time will probably show it is even cheap now.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

59 points by devhxinc 11y ago

I think this could be abused horribly, the campaign and payment information appearing inline with facebook content may make a fraudulent page appear far more legitimate than they are.

bsbechtel 11y ago
It's Facebook's responsibility to manage that. If it becomes a problem, users will stop trusting Facebook and it will damage their brand. Facebook is assuming the risk and reward of building this.

gondo 11y ago

just a small observation: it is interesting that they use vimeo instead of facebook video player on newsroom.fb.com specifically in this case here http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2015/11/introducing-new-tools-for-nonprofits/ http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2015/11/introducing-new-tools-fo...

lagudragu 11y ago

I'm not entirely sure with the outcome of this possible evolution in crowdfunding, should it be succesfull. The crowdfunding business would get more saturated with 1000's of copycat / flavor of the month crowdfund setups or any random flavor of the month "i need money for XYZ, please fund me" crowdfund page. In addition, as the article states, the possibility of scams would rise as well on such a massive platform. I do get that facebook is a great platform on which to introduce your product on, but in the long run shifting the crowdfunding platform to facebook would harm the quality of innovation.

sleepychu 11y ago
I don't think Facebook, or their userbase, care. :/

try_catch_throw 11y ago

Moving forward it could transform into a Patreon competitor, and it would make sense to do that. Since social networks help creative personnel capture a lot of eyeballs, they might aswell help them raise funds.

mmahemoff 11y ago
This. I think this is much more in line with the recurring donation model they have already launched. The next logical step is simply to say "Hey you know all those non-profits there? They will now be accompanied by your favorite personalities, publications, podcasters, apps etc that you're already sharing here." Facebook being Facebook, it could morph still further to become Kickstarter and even an investment platform (AngelList) eventually, but patronage is the more natural fit.

kevindeasis 11y ago

This is not a Kickstarter competitor if it only serves non-profits. But, it does not mean they will not be a competitor in the future. Look at Paul Graham's tactics section about 'Want to start a startup' [4]. 4. http://www.paulgraham.com/ambitious.html http://www.paulgraham.com/ambitious.html

mattlutze 11y ago
I would be interested to see a follow-up to that post. It looks like 3, 4, and 7 are well underway in a number of companies. What are the current batch of insanely ambitious ideas?
- kevindeasis 11y ago
  I can't find the fellowship list anywhere. I've been trying to find them since they started giving the grants. Anyways, thanks for asking. I wanted to see the batches as well so here are the links 1. http://ycuniverse.com/ycombinator-companies http://ycuniverse.com/ycombinator-companies 2. http://techcrunch.com/2015/08/19/here-are-the-52-startups-that-launched-at-y-combinator-summer-2015-demo-day-2/ http://techcrunch.com/2015/08/19/here-are-the-52-startups-th... 3. https://triplebyte.com/ycombinator-startups#q=&page=0&refinements=%5B%5D&ts=1447933710 https://triplebyte.com/ycombinator-startups#q=&page=0&refine...

paublyrne 11y ago

I find headlines that ask a question very grating.

akx 11y ago
See Betteridge's law of headlines. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_Law_of_Headlines http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_Law_of_Headlines
- Kiro 11y ago
  Hacker News's law of Betteridge's law is even more accurate: "Any submission that ends in a question mark will contain at least one comment referring to Betteridge's law."
  - akx 11y ago
    Ha. I suppose there's a meta-law for referring to this law, too.

_lce0 11y ago

The .gif shows that fb already knows your CC number. I'm curious about how many people have given fb such information? None of the people I know have done that.

edent 11y ago
From https://www.facebook.com/help/414383411931263 https://www.facebook.com/help/414383411931263 If you've ever paid for an in-game purchase, donated to charity, sent payment to a friend, bought an item through their groups - they'll have your details. I've never done any of those - but I'd wager several of my friends (and yours) have done so.
ErrantX 11y ago
* People who have used the donate/buy buttons before now * People who have bought in-game items for FB games The dialogue supports CC and PayPal & appears to use their existing payment infrastructure (e.g. using any cards/paypal you've used before).
Kiro 11y ago
I've probably done it. Why is that so surprising?

mistermann 11y ago

I've always thought FB with its massive userbase has a tremendous opportunity to enter most any business it wants with a huge advantage - kicking myself for not buying shares, time will probably show it is even cheap now.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]