Kickstarter funding is a gamble, how is this not clear to everyone?

now i'll say pledging to projects by industry veterans like Schafer, Fargo or Jensen is a pretty safe bet. if the project comes from a guy or a team with no experience, no industry background, no reputation, then the risk goes up exponentially.

that's the same risk a publisher takes. money invested can be lost.

Or just some spammy accounts to try and raise the popularity of the project.

This + 1 . Donations to make a project come true or complete. Thats ALL it is. They dont have to offer rewards or enticements if they didn't want to. People donate with the hope the project turns out favorably.

Btw have any noticeable KS projects flopped lately?

Right, which is why they give you goodies. Now, if they blow the funds on something unrelated and you don't get your goodies, then there may be cause for legal action.

However, as long as they're spending the money on development activities or as promised there's not likely to be any culpability on the part of the people taking the money.

I suspect that the most likely cause of lost money is when the developers are overly optimistic and don't really know what they're doing.

DAMN!

Of course they don't, but then they'd get 10% of the money.

Just googled it - Ron Paul apparently believes them, and Adam Kokesh pre-ordered them: http://www.dailypaul.com/223633/eyez-by-zioneyez

So if this really turns out to be a scam, some (sorta)important people will be pissed too.

>_>

Sorry about this, I just need to vent a little bit.

FUCK!

As projects I backed started to reach the end of their funding period (successfully funded), I became aware that my bank's virtual credit card application doesn't work with Amazon. The first time said virtual card is used, it gets locked to the "card terminal" it's used at, and won't work with any other terminal. Amazon (and Google Wallet, which is used for the Android marketplace) does a reservation when the card is first added (to check if the card works, I assume), then the actual payment transfer from different terminals, but since the card got locked to the "reservation" terminal, it won't work for the payment.

I have ordered a real plastic Mastercard, but missed the Wasteland 2 funding period (I WANTED that collector's box, DAMMIT!), I hope at least the Paypal option for Banner Saga worked, despite the payment being slightly late (wanted the poster).

/end venting

EDIT: Awesome. inXile replied to my query with a link where I could make a Paypal pledge. I'm happy again!

You raise an interesting question. What is stopping people from using sockpuppets with fake/expired credit cards donating a ton of money to a kickstarter project to give the impression that it's a project worth buying into due to it's amount of backers and/or the amount of people with really large donations? It is my understanding that the accounts will not be charged until the completion date, at which point say some scam artist, let's call him "Seth Quest", has gathered enough real payments through actual donators that when the project is completed and Amazon spits out the bogus payments they still have reached their goal and can cash out on the unfortunate saps they deceived. I was already wary of Kickstarter, only donating to a few projects that I could easily read up on their creators to weigh whether their body of work/history made it worth the gamble to donate to them. This, however, throws a massive monkeywrench into how I will approach Kickstarter projects in the future if the scam detailed above can be carried out.

It never gets taken from your account. You only pay in case of a successfull kickstarter at the end of the kickstarter.

Oh, I see. So it's perfectly ok and how it's supposed to be.

Bookmarked
Some people might confuse KS with IndieGoGo

on KS your money is taken only if the project is funded

on IndieGoGo you give your money upfront regardless or what happens

It's why AVGN begged for money there, it's why scams like the Arkh project are there

Some notes regarding any kickstarter project under consideration:

1) A project's funding success is not the success of, nor does it guarantee the success of the project itself. It is like thinking the first day "pop" of a newly-IPO'ed stock (provided it pops at all) represents success for the company that went public. Initial funding success, sure (and even most of that is unrealized). But in terms of product, logistics, delivery, company roadmap of growth and sales, not at all.

2) I have critically examined a number of projects in the past year, and have not backed any, because in performing the due diligence that (in my opinion) Kickstarter should be doing for you, I have seen too many red flags in terms of actually getting these things to market. Too many of them are someone making a one-off widget that does something novel, then trying to spin it into an easily mass-produced item. Exhibit A:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/natronics/iss-notify

This poor kid ran into the big monster in the closet regarding mass production: you need a factory and logistics system already in place. He has been utterly blindsided by the real tenets of production management. Still, he is trying to see it through, moreso than many other projects that have run aground.

3) Too many projects seem to hinge on a trendy splash video and not enough proof of ability to market. I have pondered trying to get something to market via kickstarter. However, I need to decide if I really want to deal with that sort of hassle, and I own a factory! I can make a thousand widgets a month. I have a supply chain setup (since 2001) for worldwide delivery. I only relate this information because I like to think I speak from experience. Too many project hopefuls are caught up in the "cool" aspects of their project and ignore the drudgery of actually manufacturing and shipping them, then keeping customers happy with their product. It isn't "cool" to do maintenance. It is cool to build item #1, but not as cool to build item #1000. The project authors get weary and want to move on.

4) Since Kickstarter seems to love intro videos, focus on the back-end structure of your endeavor first, then focus on the project itself. Show the factory, show the logisitics (heck a pic of the UPS build would do). Show prospective investors you are really thinking beyond the novelty of the device and far enough ahead into production management that it convinces one to back you from the standpoint of readiness alone.

More blather on this in my blog, http://www.oldcrows.net/blog/

Crow
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