It's really really not an investment, it's a gamble. An investment has the chance of paying off more if it's successful (e.g. I invest in a small company and i

It's really really not an investment, it's a gamble. An investment has the chance of paying off more if it's successful (e.g. I invest in a small company and if they turn out to be the next Oculus I would get a great return on my money). With Kickstarter/indiegogo the best possible outcome is getting the product you wanted on time, the worst possible outcome is that you get nothing for your money and wait a load of time. The problem (to me) is that both indiegogo and kickstarter have a financial incentive in downplaying the risks as they get their cut when the project finishes on their site (whether the product is delivered or not) so there's minimal incentive for them to push back on risky projects and/or make the project be very clear about the risks of their approach. Personally I avoid hardware style kickstarters unless the creators have previous history of successful delivery.