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How many Kickstarter projects have actually shipped a finished product? A serious question, not a jab. It seems "success" in the world of Kickstarter is define

How many Kickstarter projects have actually shipped a finished product? A serious question, not a jab. It seems "success" in the world of Kickstarter is defined by achieving a funding goal, not necessarily producing anything. I'm very tempted to sign on for this one, but I've already kicked into a handful of projects, none of which are anywhere near shipping or this price.

chime 14y ago
I've only signed up for one and it is supposed to be shipping very soon: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/joylabs/makey-makey-an-invention-kit-for-everyone http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/joylabs/makey-makey-an-i...
- bockris 14y ago
  I too pledged for the MakeyMakey. It was a no brainer because they already on V3 of a working prototype. The money was to gauge interest and get a deal on parts. Nathan Seidle had an interesting blog post on it. http://www.sparkfun.com/news/909 http://www.sparkfun.com/news/909
tinkertron5000 14y ago
The Zombies Run project I donated to has a finished product and it's a blast!
doug11235 14y ago
I've kicked into 2 projects and one has delivered so far. I expect the other will eventually. Jot stylus - http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/531383637/jot-capacitive-touch-stylus http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/531383637/jot-capacitive... They are still making progress albeit slowly. Openvizla - http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bushing/openvizsla-open-source-usb-protocol-analyzer http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bushing/openvizsla-open-...
tibbon 14y ago
Its a good question that I think lacks good statistics. Kickstarter is trying to encourage people to actually ship/finish projects with little things, like the "expected ship date" on backer rewards to give people a little pressure. It also all depends why you back projects. I back them for the same reason that I'm a trustee of the Awesome Foundation- I want to encourage amazing things to happen in the world. Sometimes, this involves a lot of failures or false starts. Some people are ok with that, others aren't. How many Y-Combinator companies have actually shipped a finished product? Same thing.
- alttab 14y ago
  I agree with this. Giving money to a kickstarter is like Angel investment. Sometimes you win, sometimes you don't. The running idea is here "if its a bad idea, it won't get funded." Clearly in our industry that isn't true. And if you ask me, if a bunch of Kickstarter projects fail to deliver and the money is simply squandered, that says more about the "kickerstarters" than Kickstarter itself.
  - tibbon 14y ago
    Yes. People need to not think of Kickstarter as a store- because it isn't. At a store you buy something and then own it. With Kickstarter you back a project, and then hopefully have one sent to you. Of note, money is often squandered in startups too :)
  - prodigal_erik 14y ago
    It's more like a donation. When angels invest in startups, they're hoping a few pay off so well that they make up for all the others. Kickstarter projects can't offer that with no equity, so the expected value is negative.
sp332 14y ago
Keep in mind, KS is not a pre-order system. It's a way of funding something you want to see accomplished. Often the product itself will be a "reward" for a certain pledge level, but not always.
napillo 14y ago
There's a lot of them that have yet to deliver years after they have gotten funding. In the technology sector, the link is here: http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/technology/successful?ref=more http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/technology/su... Scroll down until you get to projects a year older or more, then take a look at the comments and updates of those projects. You'll find that few have delivered yet and a lot of them failed outright. Some that have delivered have quality issues (what did you expect) and a few have actually delivered. My advice is don't kickstart a project if you think you are actually purchasing a product. You're funding someone who promises that they will deliver you a product if they are successfully able to make it at or below their initial estimate. If they underestimated, don't expect a refund. Nobody gets a refund from kickstarter.

chime 14y ago

I've only signed up for one and it is supposed to be shipping very soon: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/joylabs/makey-makey-an-invention-kit-for-everyone http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/joylabs/makey-makey-an-i...

bockris 14y ago
I too pledged for the MakeyMakey. It was a no brainer because they already on V3 of a working prototype. The money was to gauge interest and get a deal on parts. Nathan Seidle had an interesting blog post on it. http://www.sparkfun.com/news/909 http://www.sparkfun.com/news/909

tinkertron5000 14y ago

The Zombies Run project I donated to has a finished product and it's a blast!

doug11235 14y ago

I've kicked into 2 projects and one has delivered so far. I expect the other will eventually. Jot stylus - http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/531383637/jot-capacitive-touch-stylus http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/531383637/jot-capacitive... They are still making progress albeit slowly. Openvizla - http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bushing/openvizsla-open-source-usb-protocol-analyzer http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bushing/openvizsla-open-...

tibbon 14y ago

Its a good question that I think lacks good statistics. Kickstarter is trying to encourage people to actually ship/finish projects with little things, like the "expected ship date" on backer rewards to give people a little pressure. It also all depends why you back projects. I back them for the same reason that I'm a trustee of the Awesome Foundation- I want to encourage amazing things to happen in the world. Sometimes, this involves a lot of failures or false starts. Some people are ok with that, others aren't. How many Y-Combinator companies have actually shipped a finished product? Same thing.

alttab 14y ago
I agree with this. Giving money to a kickstarter is like Angel investment. Sometimes you win, sometimes you don't. The running idea is here "if its a bad idea, it won't get funded." Clearly in our industry that isn't true. And if you ask me, if a bunch of Kickstarter projects fail to deliver and the money is simply squandered, that says more about the "kickerstarters" than Kickstarter itself.
- tibbon 14y ago
  Yes. People need to not think of Kickstarter as a store- because it isn't. At a store you buy something and then own it. With Kickstarter you back a project, and then hopefully have one sent to you. Of note, money is often squandered in startups too :)
- prodigal_erik 14y ago
  It's more like a donation. When angels invest in startups, they're hoping a few pay off so well that they make up for all the others. Kickstarter projects can't offer that with no equity, so the expected value is negative.

sp332 14y ago

Keep in mind, KS is not a pre-order system. It's a way of funding something you want to see accomplished. Often the product itself will be a "reward" for a certain pledge level, but not always.

napillo 14y ago

There's a lot of them that have yet to deliver years after they have gotten funding. In the technology sector, the link is here: http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/technology/successful?ref=more http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/technology/su... Scroll down until you get to projects a year older or more, then take a look at the comments and updates of those projects. You'll find that few have delivered yet and a lot of them failed outright. Some that have delivered have quality issues (what did you expect) and a few have actually delivered. My advice is don't kickstart a project if you think you are actually purchasing a product. You're funding someone who promises that they will deliver you a product if they are successfully able to make it at or below their initial estimate. If they underestimated, don't expect a refund. Nobody gets a refund from kickstarter.