4 ms·

This looks legit backed by MIT patents and grad students, but I wonder why a group making this "breakthrough" is going directly to Kickstarter to raise hundreds

by beggi 12y ago

This looks legit backed by MIT patents and grad students, but I wonder why a group making this "breakthrough" is going directly to Kickstarter to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars, instead of selling the technology directly to companies like Apple or Samsung and make tens of millions of dollars.

stoev 12y ago
Because it is a lot easier to attract new customers and do a free PR campaign this way. It doesn't prevent them from selling the technology later on.
dragonwriter 12y ago
Because Kickstarter is used to get the resource to accelerate the business which they may well eventually sell to Apple or Samsung for far more than they raise from kickstarter. (See, e.g., Oculus Rift.)
- probably_wrong 12y ago
  That's a fairly cynical and negative point of view that goes against the core ideas on which Kickstarter was created. And yet, there's a high chance that you are 100% right. I find it sad that we'll have to always consider that particular scenario from now on. Stupid Facebook.
  - stoev 12y ago
    Kickstarter's core goal was to help inventors bring their ideas to life and help them fund initial production. It has since evolved into a platform that often helps their most engaged users find new ideas and get early access to new technology. Both of these processes benefit from one another, so I don't think that "it goes against the core ideas on which Kickstarter was created".
  - dragonwriter 12y ago
    > That's a fairly cynical and negative point of view that goes against the core ideas on which Kickstarter was created. I don't think it really does. Kickstarter is expressly a way of getting resources people interested in offerings to launch them when the funds to start the to launch the offering wouldn't otherwise be available, in order to create sustainable businesses that would otherwise not get started because of lack of access to funds to start them. Obviously, one of the very common things to do with a viable business once it is running -- and one that maximizes the return for people who are best at (or most interested in) launching things -- is to establish the business, sell it to someone interested in running it for the long term, and use the proceeds to start more things. While particular exits might bother some people, I don't see how its contrary to the core ideas on which Kickstarter was created, or a sad thing. People who are well suited to getting the ball started on something aren't always best suited for later stages.
  - cdash 12y ago
    Whatever kickstarter was meant to be it is clearly being used for nothing more than preorders far in advance and you don't even have a guarantee you will ever get the product you preorder. In exchange for that risk and tieing up your money for such a long time before the product is available you possibly get a product that might not otherwise exist. The truth is you don't really know if it wouldn't have existed without kickstarter or not.
    - ansible 12y ago
      Yeah, this particular product is nice, but maybe I'm suffering from kickstarter-fatigue too. This is nice, but not unique enough to warrant special effort (and waiting months) to get it though.
  - amirmc 12y ago
    > "I find it sad that we'll have to always consider that particular scenario from now on." People have had to consider that scenario for pretty much any business. Especially fledgling companies, as they might get bought by someone else or they might simply go bust. There's nothing specific to Kickstarter about this.
- mattgrice 12y ago
  It seems like they have already received about $5M in funding: http://www.crunchbase.com/company/finsix-corporation http://www.crunchbase.com/company/finsix-corporation The implications of the technology are a lot bigger than laptop supplies and I am sure they know that. Laptop supplies seem like a good way to raise some cash without dilution while they work on harder problems.
djhworld 12y ago
Maybe they want to go down the occulus rift approach, use kickstarter to gauge whether theirs a market, use this buzz as a platform to attract VC, then sell to one of the big players in a few years time?
- goeric 12y ago
  Regarding market and buzz, that's exactly what they're doing. They certainly have proved their market. The rest really depends on their long term goals.

by beggi 12y ago

stoev 12y ago

Because it is a lot easier to attract new customers and do a free PR campaign this way. It doesn't prevent them from selling the technology later on.

dragonwriter 12y ago

Because Kickstarter is used to get the resource to accelerate the business which they may well eventually sell to Apple or Samsung for far more than they raise from kickstarter. (See, e.g., Oculus Rift.)

probably_wrong 12y ago
That's a fairly cynical and negative point of view that goes against the core ideas on which Kickstarter was created. And yet, there's a high chance that you are 100% right. I find it sad that we'll have to always consider that particular scenario from now on. Stupid Facebook.
- stoev 12y ago
  Kickstarter's core goal was to help inventors bring their ideas to life and help them fund initial production. It has since evolved into a platform that often helps their most engaged users find new ideas and get early access to new technology. Both of these processes benefit from one another, so I don't think that "it goes against the core ideas on which Kickstarter was created".
- dragonwriter 12y ago
  > That's a fairly cynical and negative point of view that goes against the core ideas on which Kickstarter was created. I don't think it really does. Kickstarter is expressly a way of getting resources people interested in offerings to launch them when the funds to start the to launch the offering wouldn't otherwise be available, in order to create sustainable businesses that would otherwise not get started because of lack of access to funds to start them. Obviously, one of the very common things to do with a viable business once it is running -- and one that maximizes the return for people who are best at (or most interested in) launching things -- is to establish the business, sell it to someone interested in running it for the long term, and use the proceeds to start more things. While particular exits might bother some people, I don't see how its contrary to the core ideas on which Kickstarter was created, or a sad thing. People who are well suited to getting the ball started on something aren't always best suited for later stages.
- cdash 12y ago
  Whatever kickstarter was meant to be it is clearly being used for nothing more than preorders far in advance and you don't even have a guarantee you will ever get the product you preorder. In exchange for that risk and tieing up your money for such a long time before the product is available you possibly get a product that might not otherwise exist. The truth is you don't really know if it wouldn't have existed without kickstarter or not.
  - ansible 12y ago
    Yeah, this particular product is nice, but maybe I'm suffering from kickstarter-fatigue too. This is nice, but not unique enough to warrant special effort (and waiting months) to get it though.
- amirmc 12y ago
  > "I find it sad that we'll have to always consider that particular scenario from now on." People have had to consider that scenario for pretty much any business. Especially fledgling companies, as they might get bought by someone else or they might simply go bust. There's nothing specific to Kickstarter about this.
mattgrice 12y ago
It seems like they have already received about $5M in funding: http://www.crunchbase.com/company/finsix-corporation http://www.crunchbase.com/company/finsix-corporation The implications of the technology are a lot bigger than laptop supplies and I am sure they know that. Laptop supplies seem like a good way to raise some cash without dilution while they work on harder problems.

djhworld 12y ago

Maybe they want to go down the occulus rift approach, use kickstarter to gauge whether theirs a market, use this buzz as a platform to attract VC, then sell to one of the big players in a few years time?

goeric 12y ago
Regarding market and buzz, that's exactly what they're doing. They certainly have proved their market. The rest really depends on their long term goals.