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I really can't imagine that these types of scams are the norm, and not the exception. I've backed 33 campaigns, and I've never been burned (yet). Two turned out

I really can't imagine that these types of scams are the norm, and not the exception. I've backed 33 campaigns, and I've never been burned (yet). Two turned out to be pretty shitty executions, though - not sure if I should count that, since I did still receive my rewards. The key is to ask yourself some common sense questions like: * Is this product possible in our current reality? * Does the business exist only for the purposes of this campaign? * Can the product realistically be made with the money raised so far? The first is obviously a deal breaker, and the second can be a red flag. The third might be hard to gauge, but is probably the best filter. For example, raising $6MM to make 6 million milled titanium wallets obviously isn't going to work, even though it's a lot of money. OTOH, $6MM for pretty much any kind of software product is going to scale fine as long as it's not an ongoing service. Note that that third point also means you basically can't back any electronics hardware project unless the answer to the question "Will this company make this product anyway, regardless of this Kickstarter?" is an unequivocal 'yes', since hardware development is so damn hard. Just my 2 cents.

bsder 9y ago
> since hardware development is so damn hard. I think I would put it as hardware development is different. And it's the differences that burn folks used to software. However, even as an experienced "hardware" designer, the BANE of my existence is anything having the word "mechanical" associated with it. I'm so good, I can design electronics that anticipates the failure modes (For example: Want good soldermark coverage? Never use the default green ink.). I can get 100 fully populated boards in about 7 days for about $5K. If I go to China, I can get about 1000 in 3 weeks for the same price. Cases? Clips to hold a component? Packaging? If SLA isn't good enough (and it's rare that it is), God help you, you are about to need it. Dealing with mechanical engineering feels like stepping back into 1953. And not even that good. Back in 1953, lots of people knew how to operate milling machines, lathes, etc. so you could get a small number of parts made for a small amount of money fairly quickly from somebody out of their garage. Nowadays? Anything that touches mechanicals is chunks of $5K NRE and 6-8 weeks. I'm an electrical engineer by background but have had to learn TIG welding, CNC machining, injection mold design, and a whole host of other plastic and metal manufacturing techniques simply because I can't afford to be shelling out $10K up front every time I want to prototype something. I'm really hoping that SLS will evolve now that the patents have all expired. I would pay real money for a machine that lets me torch mechanical engineers and machine shops/injection molders. (Side note: I have had the pleasure of working with a few very good machine shops and injection molders. They are wonderful, but they tend to be quite expensive. It is almost a tautology: a good shop is at 100% production capacity and a shop not at 100% capacity is, by definition, not a good shop. The fact that such shops are at 100% capacity means that they don't want to waste production time on a client who wants a maximum of 1000 units.)
- gonzo 9y ago
  I'm an ME, and still had to learn TIG / MIG welding (long before studying ME), machining (both CNC and not), injection mold design (smallworks.com), CAD (wasn't taught back in the day). Oh, and software engineering, 'cause that's what I ended up doing.
Semaphor 9y ago
32 backed projects. 2 Products turned out pretty crappy but that's the risk. No scams though.

bsder 9y ago

> since hardware development is so damn hard. I think I would put it as hardware development is different. And it's the differences that burn folks used to software. However, even as an experienced "hardware" designer, the BANE of my existence is anything having the word "mechanical" associated with it. I'm so good, I can design electronics that anticipates the failure modes (For example: Want good soldermark coverage? Never use the default green ink.). I can get 100 fully populated boards in about 7 days for about $5K. If I go to China, I can get about 1000 in 3 weeks for the same price. Cases? Clips to hold a component? Packaging? If SLA isn't good enough (and it's rare that it is), God help you, you are about to need it. Dealing with mechanical engineering feels like stepping back into 1953. And not even that good. Back in 1953, lots of people knew how to operate milling machines, lathes, etc. so you could get a small number of parts made for a small amount of money fairly quickly from somebody out of their garage. Nowadays? Anything that touches mechanicals is chunks of $5K NRE and 6-8 weeks. I'm an electrical engineer by background but have had to learn TIG welding, CNC machining, injection mold design, and a whole host of other plastic and metal manufacturing techniques simply because I can't afford to be shelling out $10K up front every time I want to prototype something. I'm really hoping that SLS will evolve now that the patents have all expired. I would pay real money for a machine that lets me torch mechanical engineers and machine shops/injection molders. (Side note: I have had the pleasure of working with a few very good machine shops and injection molders. They are wonderful, but they tend to be quite expensive. It is almost a tautology: a good shop is at 100% production capacity and a shop not at 100% capacity is, by definition, not a good shop. The fact that such shops are at 100% capacity means that they don't want to waste production time on a client who wants a maximum of 1000 units.)

gonzo 9y ago
I'm an ME, and still had to learn TIG / MIG welding (long before studying ME), machining (both CNC and not), injection mold design (smallworks.com), CAD (wasn't taught back in the day). Oh, and software engineering, 'cause that's what I ended up doing.

Semaphor 9y ago

32 backed projects. 2 Products turned out pretty crappy but that's the risk. No scams though.