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Thanks Matt. Totally get it. I think because Kickstarter starts feeling like a store, its easy to forget the situation of the campaigners: super early on, havin

by ajiang 10y ago

Thanks Matt. Totally get it. I think because Kickstarter starts feeling like a store, its easy to forget the situation of the campaigners: super early on, having invested their own funds to come up with a prototype that they're now crowdfunding to come to life. Thinking about it in terms of expected value, Kickstarter never makes sense. Thinking about it in terms of providing an incremental X% chance that something cool will succeed and come to life is I think a much more realistic representation of what Kickstarter provides.

brudgers 10y ago
Wouldn't the availability of financial data allow individual crowdfunders to better assess the incremental X% chance of delivery?
mattmaroon 10y ago
You're right. And I think it feels that way for inexpensive items. If I put $30 into a board game and it never gets made, oh well. But if I buy a $300 smart lock and it never ships or it ships to me a year later and is so poorly-designed as to be completely useless, it starts to feel like a really bad store. I think if it feels to backers like a store, it'd be nice if Kickstarter and the people who put projects up treat it like one too.