For some startups, this leaves a chicken and egg problem. I've certainly been there with BidNear.Us. You can't afford to self-fund everything, you've got a mort

For some startups, this leaves a chicken and egg problem. I've certainly been there with BidNear.Us. You can't afford to self-fund everything, you've got a mortgage to pay, and your product requires a critical mass, not just early adopters, to finish the sale. I think if the product requires a crowd to complete a sale, it might make sense to crowdfund. What if those game developers on Kickstarter had tried to directly sell their games for $50 today with no working product for two years later without any proof that the game was funded and could exist. People would rightly call it a scam.