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.
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.
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.
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 :)
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.
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.
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.
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.