Dutch Boyd, is this true?

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

I just think Kickstarter should separate for-profit and non-profit efforts on the site, and the for-profit efforts should be clearly explained to all donors, so they are clearly understanding that they are giving money to someone who will turn around and attempt to make a big profit from it.

I think a lot of the people donating just aren't thinking it through. They think they're just being nice/generous, when in reality they are putting up funding for a for-profit business and getting nothing in return. For-profit businesses don't deserve charity, especially from the general public.

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The government tried to resolve this actually.

They made efforts to allow micro-lending/micro-investment so you could get something in return for your investment.

The problem like anything the government gets involved in, they fucked micro-lending right in the asshole and made it impossible to do.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

I just think Kickstarter should separate for-profit and non-profit efforts on the site, and the for-profit efforts should be clearly explained to all donors, so they are clearly understanding that they are giving money to someone who will turn around and attempt to make a big profit from it.

I think a lot of the people donating just aren't thinking it through. They think they're just being nice/generous, when in reality they are putting up funding for a for-profit business and getting nothing in return. For-profit businesses don't deserve charity, especially from the general public.

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I agree with you but really people should understand what they're getting, it's made pretty clear on the site. If you think it should be made clearer with a disclaimer or something I think that's reasonable.

I've donated to a couple of for-profit companies on Kickstarter but they were good friends of mine trying to get something off the ground and I didn't mind tossing them $100 with zero expectation of return. Why anyone would just go toss money at someone they don't know with no chance of return is beyond me.

I think kickstareter was a really cool idea that just went very wrong...

I think its good if you can buy some product that is like new , very cool , is not on the market yet and you would like to have it... Then you can take a risk , prepay for the product and when author finish it thank to your funding ... maybe he will really send you the product (as he stated on the website he will do, when he needed the money).

You obviously have no guarantee but if its like a very cool idea and it does look solid , then it might be worth a risk.
For example : "hey im mr.ABC i can make this really cool iphone case for you that will have a beer opener and in it a swiss knife in it. Buy this for like 60usd and when its finished , i will send u the product . "
Iphone case is not worth 60usd , even w the beer opener and knife , so ur clearly overpaying , but if u really like the product and would like to have it , it might be ok to overpay for it and help the autor to fund it imo. (pls dont talk about how stupid my beer opener iphone case idea is :D it was just an example)
Thats what kickstareter should be for imo.

Its fkin stupid to give someone money just so he can build a product and then make a shitloads of money and give you nothing back. Its kinda different when the project is nonprofit or something , but thats called charity , not kickstarter imo.

In this case of Duch Boyd , oh my god how stupid the people that paid him are?
I dont get how someone needs money so he can write a book? U dont need anyting to write a book. You just sit down and write the damn thing :D , even if u dont have a computer or so you can just write it in a public library or somewhere. And then when its written, u can go to kickstarter and try to make ppl prepay for it so u can publish it.
Boyd is clearly shady here , and ppl who paid for this are dumb as fk imo.

And yes , kickstarter is imo like a hybrid between a online market (where u pre pay for a stuff with NO guarantee) and a charity.
Most charites are scams anyway , and prepay online store with no guarantee of getting anything doesnt look very good either so... imo kickstarter is like 25% good idea and 75% scam / site that exploits stupid and naive ppl .

(sorry for a long post :) )

When I think of Kickstarter, I think of projects that aren't good enough to get real investors! I contributed to a family member's Kickstarter campaign once. It was for starting a letterpress business. Sadly, they broke the letterpress while moving.

(I often joke to my wife that a certain generation thinks it is owed an awesome life, and that's the one I associate with Kickstarter. Yeah, I'm a grumpy, old man.)

My wife really liked the idea of Kiva. We gave people little bits of money, but it was stuff that could help change lives. If they couldn't pay back, no big deal. Most people did, though. I'm sure there were tons of scams amid the truly heartwarming stuff.

How about this Kickstarter? (I'd get behind Sam Kinison, if he needed the money.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4aob4zlhIk

Here is a Kickstarter project that was fully funded this month ($13,782) for George Retelas (my nephew) who is a film festival award winning producer. He is not a person of financial means, but is very talented. People who contributed were family, friends, and the Kickstarter community. I am consulting (no charge) to make this a quality project. Everyone who contributed knew they were investing in this documentary about the USS Hornet Carrier Air Group 11 in WWII without a profit motive for them or George. Times are tough these days for youngsters and asking for donations was needed to fulfill his dream. I hope the likes of Kickstarter scammers doesn't ruin it for legitimate artists down the road.

http://vimeo.com/86765279