lolgaxe wrote:
I generally dislike Kickstarters, but once in a while a worthy cause pops up.
Yup. Was having an interesting conversation about kickstarters just a week ago, and a co-worker pointed out that while they allow new ideas and projects to gain investment from a broader base of people of more modest means, it's also generally a rip-off for those who invest. If you actually invest in a start up, you usually own a percentage of the company, which includes profits from said company. Of course, random people with $50 to invest aren't likely to be involved at that ground level, but even getting in on an IPO gets you more than the equivalent of a t-shirt.
When you invest via a kickstarter, you get some one time reward or sample of the product. That's it. So basically think of it as charity. And for good causes (or cool ideas in general) that's great. But there are a lot of small businesses who basically use this to get their company off the ground. You get a t-shirt, they get a multimillion dollar company. Great deal for them, really.