Kickstarter

[AleForce1]

I've backed three different Kickstarter Campaigns related to Homebrew, and would like to share my experience.

Kickstarter Campaigner - A person or company that is in need of backers to produce a product.

Kickstarter Backer - A person who supports the campaign with their money in return for a product.

Campaign Deadlines
The Kickstarter Campaigner creates unattainable deadlines for themselves and then the KS backers are ignored when trying to find out about the status of their stuff.

Communication
After the Kickstarter Campaigner has received the money, communication is very sparse. KS Backers comment on the KS site, but is usually not replied to by the KS campaigner.

KS Backers have to search thru other social media outlets for information beyond kickstarter updates & comments by finding twitter or facebook communication by the "campaigner"

Not Focused on their Promise to Backers
Before you even get your product the Kickstarter Campaigner starts "focusing" on selling their product on their own website to new potential buyers, when they should be focused on taking care of the backers of their project.

Bait & Switch/False Marketing
Kickstarter Campaigner market their project with special features and abilities, but change key elements prior to fulfilling the product. The backer has no recourse since the time the credit card has been charged and by the time the change comes to their attention the kickstarter backer cannot create a credit card dispute.

They create add-ons during their campaign that should be part of the original product.

"It will be shipping Next Week"
When it comes to fulfillment, they can't handle getting the product out fast enough. They make it worse by telling everyone it'll be shipping "next week"... and repeating that every few days and before you know it months have passed...

A recent WSJ article on Crowdfunding is an interesting read: http://online.wsj.com/articles/should-crowdfunding-sites-do-more-to-vet-projects-1416942266

I will share some more details about the 3 Kickstarter campaigns (Beer Bug, Bru-Gear, and BrewNany) that I supported, but wanted to see what other HBtalkers that have used Kickstarter experiences are.

 

[govner1]

I think you've summarized things pretty well & accurately.
I have participated in several and only once has the campaigner met (even exceeded) their promises.
My most disappointing experience was w/ a growler that could be carbed. In fact, the box is on a shelf somewhere in my brewery still unopened after over a year!

 

[passedpawn]

I love the idea of kickstarters, but the truth is if you have the wherewithal to start a company and get a product to market, you probably also know how to find investors without crowdfunding. IOW, if you lack the ability to find investors, you probably also lack other equally necessary talents (project management, marketing). I'm speaking generally here; I'm sure there's been lots of successful exceptions to my comment.

I have a good friend who is a serial entrepreneur. Every 3 years or so he starts a new company and gathers millions in startup money. He won't even start one without 2 million. NEVER a penny of his own money.

 

[jleiii]

My daughter has participated in a number, and has been generally pleased.
I found one the other day, but she'd already found and pledged it on my behalf (ie christmas gift).

ukegtm pressurized growler for fresh beer

She also got me a spin chiller for quick chilling cans and bottles that works well.

 

[AleForce1]

All of these Kickstarter Campaigners marketed their projects as ready to go as soon as they get the money to purchase the hardware, but it takes months and months past their deadlines, and problems that should have been solved before money was taken arise. It gives you the feeling that they are flying by the seat of their pants. It's not a great feeling to have when you spend several hundreds of dollars to back a project. It also creates negatives for Kickstarter and the company that is campaigning "brand".

Examples of the 3 KS projects I backed:

BeerBug
They marketed their product that could be communicated with using a software application and a bluetooth connection (a WIFI version was to follow). When the product came to the fulfillment stage it came out as a product that was on your local network but to communicate to it you had to log into the beer bug website. Over the months that followed their site changed several times and data was lost due to those changes. Also they promised developer information, but the information provided was sparse and useless.

BruGear
Changed the way the HERMS was placed in their kettles. Instead of the in/out ports being available on the side of the kettle, they placed them on the kettle lid. This design was such that due to the amount of stainless steel tubing used you would have to have your kettle full to utilize the HERMS. I didn't purchase a kettle with the HERMS option, but have been in communication with a few backers that did. They were not pleased. I purchased the BruGear kettle for the Tri-Clover fittings and Induction capabilities. I just received my kettle yesterday after waiting months to receive. It looks and feels sturdy. I am going to try the induction capabilities out next week when I have time.

BrewNanny
I have yet to receive this product as it's in the "It will be shipping next week" mode.

 

[grathan]

It would be nice to know how much skin they have in the game. Like if they put up %80 of the total funding themselves instead of sitting back and waiting on %100 from others.

I really like projects that start smaller. Like if someone produced a couple items and sold them on a forum I would be more likely to support that person than someone looking to make 1000 items right out of the gate.

 

[jleiii]

A recent WSJ article on Crowdfunding is an interesting read: http://online.wsj.com/articles/should-crowdfunding-sites-do-more-to-vet-projects-1416942266

Got any reference that does not require a login to view?

My daughter just showed me her KS history, and shes done more than 20, mostly gaming figurines, and has had some delays, but no failed projects.

Crowd funding and business investment are very different things with different objectives. If you have investors, and history, then you don't need crowd funding. As child of the 60's I'm much more 'traditional' in my thinking, but my daughters generation thinks in a very different way, and the internet has molded much of that thinking. Things like KS are 'modern' methods for individuals and small business.
As a small business owner I would probably have better success with KS than investors, if we needed to fund a special project. We have no history with investors (or even business loans), so that route would be difficult for us.

I agree that protecting your investment is a real concern, and I've seen some that address this concern.

 

[AleForce1]

Got any reference that does not require a login to view?
Sorry about that... I didn't realize that article was protected. If I could copy/paste without getting into some kind of Copyright trouble I would..

- nuggets on the article. Kickstarter charges the campaigner 5% if it meets it's goal.
- refunds are not given on kickstarter.
- a site called kickscammed.com was created to track and report scams and troubled campaigns on KS.

 

[kombat]

I've only ever contributed to 2 crowdfunding campaigns.

Road Hard - Adam Carolla's second independent film, raised $1.4 million (goal was $1 million) on FundAnything.com. Principal photography was completed months ago, film is currently in editing and has already been screened for a handful of select insiders. Expected release date is February 2015, appears to be going exactly as planned.

uKeg - The stainless steel premium growler from Growlerwerks in Portland, Oregon. This campaign still has a couple of weeks left, but is currently way, way over their original goal (goal was $75,000, pledges are currently closing in on a cool million). I'm optimistic about this one, as the developers seem to know what they're doing, they've already produced several prototypes that they've been touring around, and they've raised far more money than they originally requested. My only fear is that they're too successful, and are overwhelmed trying to fulfil all the rewards while simultaneously getting their company off the ground.

 

[ong]

I've had pretty good luck with the dozen or so projects I've supported so far. Many of them have been delayed, but I expect that from people with little experience bringing product to market.

 

[user 194292]

These comments are very helpful to me as I am entertaining the idea of starting a campaign. I'm not going to go into detail because I will not spam anybody here on the forum other than to say it is brewing related. But reading the comments I can say that I will fulfill the promised items for backers and that I also have a little over 50% of my startup costs already in hand and 90% of my startup "items" are already purchased and in place. The campaign itself will be for around $5k just to get me past this last little hump and to stay comfortable and not under the gun and pinched for capital. But anyway - I like seeing the comments so I learn, not only what not to do but also some things to use for working or in the description about what I will do for the backers. And not to promise anything that I am 100% positive can and will be delivered.

 

[D-Train]

WSJ will let you read the full article if Google is the referer. Try this link.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Should+Crowdfunding+Sites+Do+More+to+Vet+Projects