Fund your big idea online with Kickstarter
The next gadget you buy, the next film you see and even the next book you read may make you an unwitting participant in the online revolution changing the way business is done around the world: “crowdsourcing” .
The most successful site by far in this arena, Kickstarter, which began in Manhattan, is a very simple idea. You put details of your business project online, and internet users can then sign up to fund it, giving you money directly through the site, in return for rewards, like a copy of what’s been made. You have a specified amount of time to raise the money you need, and if you don’t get enough backers, then your project dies.
Most projects offer several levels of funding, ranging from enough to secure a product, to getting an executive producer for a film — or even a private concert in your own living room.
Huge amounts can be raised. The biggest funded project to date, a smart watch called Pebble, attracted $1 million in just 28 hours earlier this month through the site — and it has so far raised $6.7 million with two weeks still to go.
For Kickstarter itself, it is also a lucrative business. It takes five per cent of the funds raised; Amazon charges an additional three to five per cent for processing payments (although only if a project is a success and “pays out”).
It is the breadth of projects on Kickstarter that is most surprising — everything from books to wacky gadgets. There are also dance and theatre companies, clothing stores — even TV shows.
All of which is proof that in an age where news of a project can spread like wildfire on Twitter, if it’s good enough, it’s possible to get your idea funded without even having to leave the house.
