This could start a trend towards moving away from Kickstarter. So far, the more famous projects that have pursued funding from a similar model without using Kickstarter itself (e.g. Lockitron, App.net) have done so out of necessity – they weren't allowed to use the Kickstarter platform. But if people keep succeeding without being hosted on Kickstarter itself, that 5% fee might look more and more unattractive to peopl…
I guess it depends on how viral and interesting your product offering is and how well you market it. Kickstarter has the benefit of a large user base with lots of traffic. Though as more projects are listed on KS it becomes harder to be found.
Show HN: We open sourced Lockitron's crowdfunding app
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Re: Show HN: We open sourced Lockitron's crowdfunding app
#72Spent the better part of an afternoon cloning the lockitron site a few days ago... you guys are fucking awesome. And I'm impatient. I'll share a python version when I have a chance to clean it up. Thanks for being awesome.
Re: Show HN: We open sourced Lockitron's crowdfunding app
#73I'm curious to see what happens to Amazon FPS if these product based crowd-funding apps take off. We may be in for a bit of a Paypal style crackdown debacle. I actually spoke with the Kickstarter guys back in 2009 when I was considering branching off their idea specifically for product based ideas, thinking that it could be "Amazon for stuff that doesn't exist yet". We all agreed that the idea should happen, but Kick…
Re: Show HN: We open sourced Lockitron's crowdfunding app
#74I'm curious to see what happens to Amazon FPS if these product based crowd-funding apps take off. We may be in for a bit of a Paypal style crackdown debacle. I actually spoke with the Kickstarter guys back in 2009 when I was considering branching off their idea specifically for product based ideas, thinking that it could be "Amazon for stuff that doesn't exist yet". We all agreed that the idea should happen, but Kick…
I'm surprised that the idea that anyone other than the backers are going to lose money keeps coming up; it's always looked pretty clear to me (even though I've gotten rewards delivered from around 30 out of 45 projects, mostly hardware, and the remaining ones are still pretty visible and active - past success doesn't feel like a guarantee on anyone's part, it's just pretty cool.) It's helped that I'm pretty well-qual…
I’ve also backed quite a few Kickstarter design projects. The biggest risk backers face from Kickstarter design projects is personal safety, not failure to deliver. I’ve spent many years in new product development and the items delivered to me wouldn’t come close meeting even the most basic consumer safety codes. Plus I have no expectation that the project creators have any sort of product liability insurance.
That being said, I think the Selfstarter model can directly address that risk. Backers are dealing directly with project creators. The liability is clear. I expect that in the future, project creators will need to demonstrate product liability insurance coverage and that they will meet safety regulations. I hope to see that option somehow added to the Selfstarter code so that project creators can show they have insurance coverage and that they will meet safety standards.
Re: Show HN: We open sourced Lockitron's crowdfunding app
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
Given the new Amazon Lending program, I'm guessing they're starting to move in that direction. It's for sellers buying inventory now, but Amazon has a lot of data about what sells that can help it determine what's a good risk for investment. Cam, you rock.
Amazon has a "lending program"? Can you point to it. That's the magic that holds this together. Get prefunding that's only available when you are ready to ship. Secure a loan with the prefunding to go into production.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000087239639044349330457803... (google "Small Businesses are Finding An Unlikely Banker: Amazon" to get around paywall)
Re: Show HN: We open sourced Lockitron's crowdfunding app
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
Amazon has a "lending program"? Can you point to it. That's the magic that holds this together. Get prefunding that's only available when you are ready to ship. Secure a loan with the prefunding to go into production.
Amazon Lending through Amazon Capital Services http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000087239639044349330457803... (google "Small Businesses are Finding An Unlikely Banker: Amazon" to get around paywall)
Re: Show HN: We open sourced Lockitron's crowdfunding app
#77Spent the better part of an afternoon cloning the lockitron site a few days ago... you guys are fucking awesome. And I'm impatient. I'll share a python version when I have a chance to clean it up. Thanks for being awesome.