Amen. I try not to be conspiracy theorist, but how freaking over dramatic. It feels like they are all scam artists.
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Here was one I got bit by
Techjects Robot Dragonfly.
Took all our money and left everyone hanging.
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Weāre big advocates of crowdfunding. Weāve run 10 successful campaigns of our own that have all shipped on time, as promised with 1,000ās of awesome, happy backers. Weāve backed 12 projects as well.
Itās painful to see these high-profile, headline grabbing blunders; it sends a chill across an otherwise amazing platform that has enabled a tremendous number of start ups like ours to get off the ground.
Truth be known, an extremely small percentage of projects are truly āscamsā - more often itās beginners getting in over their heads, burning through their production funds with a poor understanding of their manufacturing challenge or costs.
Coming up with ideas is easy, putting a product in a box at scale is really hard for even the best of companies.
Weād love to see a rating system for creators to help backers understand the experience, preparation and back up plans that will support their investment.
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While I realize Kickstarter is only providing a platform and receiving a commission based on providing that platform and handling the money, perhaps their should be some sort of system in place for creators/startups to prove that they have the capabilities to bring a product to market.
I know - do your own due diligence. But geez, feels like their should be some sort of litmus test that could be put together for whether a startup has the capabilities to get done what they say they can.
This Peachy Printer reeks of a scam.
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Thereās a new company, whoās name eludes me, who has pledged to make sure their campaign creators understand the risks and hurdles ahead of them in the crowdfunding arena, especially those new to manufacturing etc.
Supposedly they will play a more active role in crowdfunding campaigns and offer some assurances as well as monitor campaign viability on behalf of the funder. This is something that is sorely needed on the major cf platforms. Kickstarter, and indiegogo even moreso. Paypal has even started to become wary of indiegogo campaigns.
If Kickstarter were to offer a similar service to select campaigns as a trial, along with a catchy name like Kickstarter Waypoint or something along those lines I bet it would be pretty successful. They could definitely use it to help bolster confidence after the last few major blow ups.
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Youāre probably thinking of Dragon Innovation and their Dragon Certified program.
At the most basic level, Dragon is a manufacturing rep service focused on the startup end of the business. The ācertifiedā piece means they have spent time with the creator, crafted a schedule and a realistic BOM cost, and otherwise prepped them for a successful execution.
There are no 100% guarantees, though. While Dragon stepped in and helped ārescueā the original Pebble watch from certain failure, they are also involved in the Coolest Cooler, the latest high-profile train wreck currently unfolding. āDragon Certifiedā doesnāt eliminate embezzling, but might have prevented Zano Drone and Central Time engineering/manufacturing failures.
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As long as Kickstarter and other crowdfunding sites get to keep their cut regardless of whether a project delivers, thereās not as much incentive for vetting. Iāve seen discussions about starting some kind of rating project at various place (IIRC some folks at HackaDay were talking about it) but itās not clear how you would set it up.
Money would have to come from somewhere, and youād need a serious legal defense fund.
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Iām reminded of the years-long triton debacle. Probably something youāre all familiar with and clearly ātoo good to be trueā, but many people had their money āborrowedā by this company.
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So true. I think the super weird video makes the whole thing seem contrived or something. Itās a very odd approach to an apology or coming clean because it doesnāt seemā¦ genuine or natural or something. I imagine a straight forward video of them just explaining the situation, without being so rehearsed or dramatic, mightāve been better received.
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I started my side business via Kickstarter and have pledged on dozens of projects. That said, I am not going to pledge for any more high-technology projects. The complexity of such endeavors is too much, and without an obvious capital backing like GlowForge has, I think the chance of failure is simply too high to risk my money anymore.
I did finally get my KS funded 3D Printer, but the struggle they went through to get it done would break most new companyās efforts, so I think itās a rarity. Yes, you could potentially save some money by going the KS route, but you could also lose all of it, so for highly complex things I think itās best to just wait for it to actually come to market for real and buy it then, even for a premium.
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I have backed 19 on Kickstarter, and a couple in other places (Fig, Pledgemusic, I think one Indigogo). There is only one that I havenāt received yet (movie, and itās comingā¦ it may be two years late, but itās coming). I have never backed something at the level of Glowforge, though I did back a 3d printer (Micro M3D). I received it and it worked ok, but nothing like as was promised. I sold it eventually for more than I paid for it.
This one reeks of being a scam, but one in which they want you to feel ok about losing your money because the ācompany was cheatedā. Iām sorry, but if Iāve stolen more than $300k from my business, Iām not sitting down for an āinterviewāā¦ and certainly no lawyer is recommending that they handle the issue outside the law. If Iām the guy who was cheated, Iām not sitting down to interview the guy. Iām taking the police with me and having him arrested for the theft.
Sadly, that has little to do with us, the consumer. What recourse do we have in these cases? I suppose there must be some lawyer out there who has decided to become an expert in crowdfunding cases, so I suppose there is always a class action lawsuit possible. But if the company has filed bankruptcy, then the company isnāt liable to refund the $, and if it was the right kind of company, then the individuals involved arenāt liable either. So then it has to become a criminal case right?
Iām not put off of crowdfunding because a few jerks have decided to be criminals, and a few others just didnāt know what the heck they were doing. Mostly I see campaigns simply, and greatly, underestimate the cost of shipping. Overall Iāve had a positive experience, and lately Iāve been incredibly happy with the level of communication and support that Iāve seen from the campaigns that Iāve helped to crowdfund.
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If anybody here signed up to back the Fontus water bottle on IndieGoGo, you might want to back out.
Independent reports say that it is thermodynamically impossible for it to anywhere anywhere near its claimed performance.
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The utter lack of science knowledge among the general population is depressing. Unless youāre a scammer, in which case itās great.
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Very insightful
Not disagreeing at all, but I think the average person can distinguish possible from impossible fairly well. Where it all falls apart is when the average person has to determine if something is as possible as advertised. Which is why things like the above water bottle can be very convincing. I also think some people just like to back ideas. Just because something isnāt possible now, doesnāt mean itās impossible entirely, and it seems like some people like to bet on that.
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One needs to look no further than this story, where someone invented a way of doing complete blood tests from just a pin prick, instead of having to draw a whole vial of blood:
"
This article originally appeared in Business Insider.
āThe next time you get a blood test, you might not have to go to the doctor and watch vials of blood fill up as the precious fluid is drawn from your arm. No more wondering to yourself, āAh, how much more can they take before I pass out?ā Instead you might be able to walk into a Walgreens pharmacy for a reportedly painless finger prick that will draw just a tiny drop of blood, thanks to Elizabeth Holmes, 30, the youngest woman and third-youngest billionaire on Forbesā newly released annual ranking of the 400 richest Americans.ā
Sounds SO great, right? Big name VCās invested, huge money tossed aroundā¦
Then it was recently exposed as complete bunk, and an SEC investigation has even been launched.
Lehman Brothers got swindled out of hundreds of millions several times: http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2008/0128/042.html
Even by an imposter!: http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB120686751070074911
So, even the pros who do this for a living get suckered, and suckered BADLY.
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Thatās true so long as you arenāt violating the laws of physics or thermodynamics as the Fontus people are trying to do. Years ago, someone approach me with the idea of making electricity by running a generator with an electric motor. He was well on his way and only needed solve his last problem of making more energy from the generator than the motor consumed. Sometimes I wonder if he is still working on that problem.
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