Probably would get much better results if it said "$50 bounty for this demo" or whatever, and collected pledges of any amount, instead of hoping for exactly 5 w

Probably would get much better results if it said "$50 bounty for this demo" or whatever, and collected pledges of any amount, instead of hoping for exactly 5 whales to show up. And making a subscription makes the value prop even more confusing. Seems like an own-goal.