Kickstarter: A newfangled idea for newfangled ideas.
Got an idea? Need backing to make millions? Knocking on doors and getting nowhere?
Move over, venture capitalists: now there’s Kickstarter.
The idea behind the site is brilliantly simple. Entrepreneurs and artists submit an idea. If it’s accepted, it goes up on the site with a target amount to be raised and a timeline. It can be a movie, a project, an album, a prototype, you name it. Investors — angels — contribute funds.
Too much like charity? Entrepreneurs offer a range of incentives to contributors.
Venture capitalists are probably not quaking in their John Lobb shoes. The Kickstarter investor is most likely simply a regular Jane who browses the site and sees something that tickles her fancy. Send a designer to the Athens design show? Help support a local musician in his quest to make his latest album?
There’s the allure about being part of the next big thing. Grassroots financing for the rest of us.
Maybe the next Microsoft is hidden in the depths of Kickstarter, or the next Godfather. The possibilities are endless, and now anyone can be a part of it.
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For more on Kickstarter and this kind of alternative “donor” financing, check out this new article on AllBusiness.com: Kickstarter Offers Creative ‘Donor’ Financing Option http://www.allbusiness.com/company-activities-management/company-strategy-startups/15463230-1.html
That’s a great article, thanks! There are so many avenues for funding a great idea, and turning those ideas into viable business models.
Money really does make the world go round. ; -)