Kickstarter does have an upside: The option of actually receiving a project that was deemed commercially unviable by a VC or other investor/company. Something t

Kickstarter does have an upside: The option of actually receiving a project that was deemed commercially unviable by a VC or other investor/company. Something that no one wanted to produce since "there is no market for it". So by becoming a backer you might end up with a product that otherwise would not be available. Granted, it's a small upside, but the risk is also lower.