48 ms·

Kickstarter is being used, more and more, as a way to build interest and create revenue before the official "launch" of a product; even a product that would be

Kickstarter is being used, more and more, as a way to build interest and create revenue before the official "launch" of a product; even a product that would be produced anyway. It seems to be a rather effective way to get press coverage for a percentage of projects, and presents a clean interface on a trusted system for interested potential purchasers. The risk, of course, is that a huge goal is less likely to be reached than a smaller goal. The ideal situation is that you have a reasonable goal that will actually help maybe some outsourcing or consulting costs or distribution set-up or what have you, blow away the goal early, and keep interest to drive revenue. Personally, I don't find this kind of Kickstarter project very interesting, and I believe it's a suboptimal way to launch a product that could instead just be released as a MVP and iterated on based on user feedback.

jack-r-abbit 14y ago
It feels like a lot of kickstarters are barely more than a "pre-order" mechanism. I'm not sure what happens if a project gets funded but then fails to deliver. It seems like when you give to a kickstarter, you should go into it fully prepared to never get your money back and never get the finished product.
- objclxt 14y ago
  It's a cynical way to pre-order, because you're not really pre-ordering at all: you're giving some money and the rewards are a side-effect. You don't get any of the usual consumer protection at all.
- EwanG 14y ago
  You mean like the Astronaut MMO that got all the press earlier this year, and now even the forums are gone? Yes, that is the risk with Kickstarter and any other investment. It's just there seems to be less visibility into the viability of the company or person behind the project than most investments. Since I rarely go beyond the $20 range, I only feel mildly burned on the ones that don't go anywhere. For folks who hit the maximum (I've seen some with $10K options), I suspect the hurt is a little more real.
pippin 14y ago
Running a Kickstarter project early on in a product's life allows anyone to see what kind/size of audience they'll be dealing with. I don't believe all products should do this, but they'll receive valuable feedback, and if they don't meet their goal, they'll be better off with decent feedback from potential customers.

jack-r-abbit 14y ago

It feels like a lot of kickstarters are barely more than a "pre-order" mechanism. I'm not sure what happens if a project gets funded but then fails to deliver. It seems like when you give to a kickstarter, you should go into it fully prepared to never get your money back and never get the finished product.

objclxt 14y ago
It's a cynical way to pre-order, because you're not really pre-ordering at all: you're giving some money and the rewards are a side-effect. You don't get any of the usual consumer protection at all.
EwanG 14y ago
You mean like the Astronaut MMO that got all the press earlier this year, and now even the forums are gone? Yes, that is the risk with Kickstarter and any other investment. It's just there seems to be less visibility into the viability of the company or person behind the project than most investments. Since I rarely go beyond the $20 range, I only feel mildly burned on the ones that don't go anywhere. For folks who hit the maximum (I've seen some with $10K options), I suspect the hurt is a little more real.

pippin 14y ago

Running a Kickstarter project early on in a product's life allows anyone to see what kind/size of audience they'll be dealing with. I don't believe all products should do this, but they'll receive valuable feedback, and if they don't meet their goal, they'll be better off with decent feedback from potential customers.