

Kickstarter to hit $300m this year? - gbsi
http://venturebeat.com/2012/04/20/kickstarter-funding-growing-explodes-crowdfunding/

======
ajays
This is very cool. Kickstarter is the leading edge of a tectonic shift.

Quite often with these new ideas that come out of left field, the pendulum
swings the other way after a certain point. While I like Kickstarter and other
such projects (a lot of cool gizmos would not see the light of day were it not
for Kickstarter), I fully expect the next year or so to be peppered with
reports about fraud, etc. in the popular media.

It used to be that if you had a widget that you wanted built at scale, you had
2 options: mortgage the house (and bug the relatives for cash), or approach
one of the big guys and beg them for help. With Kickstarter, you don't need
the big guys anymore. And as with any other such change where the Old Guard
gets sidetracked, expect them to fight back with scare stories and mockery.

~~~
olalonde
I completely agree. I predict there will be a "but think about the children"
argument made for regulating Kickstarter within one year.

------
cienrak
If they wanted to, Kickstarter could be one the biggest and best platform for
startup crowd funding. They have the infrastructure to capture the promise of
the JOBS act/ crowd funding act

~~~
citadrianne
They don't want to. That would detract too much from their ability to serve
creatives.

~~~
bproper
Entrepreneurs are creatives. it's no different than the pebble smartwatch or
light table project, except you are offering stock in the company instead of
physical rewards.

~~~
jonathanjaeger
That's all the difference in the world. One is a finite project where you act
as a patron and get something in return no matter what (assuming the creator
doesn't fall off the face of the earth). If you fund a startup, most of the
time your money doesn't have any sort of return.

~~~
_delirium
In particular they're very clear on the finite-project angle. You can't just
raise funding for your art studio, but for some specific piece of art or
project your studio is doing. A startup can already use Kickstarter to fund a
specific project that way, if they want (several game studios have). But they
can't just raise funds for the company "in general", which I don't think is
something Kickstarter will be looking to change.

------
waterlesscloud
I expect other players to come in for big name creatives. Maybe the Hollywood
agencies, CAA for example. Or maybe the creatives themselves set up their own
infrastructure.

Say Joss Whedon wanted to raise $10 million for a show. With Kickstarter he'd
have to give them $500,000 of that, and it's not at all apparent that he would
actually need them. If you had an agency roll this into existing services,
maybe with a nominal fee, the big names may be more comfortable with that
anyway...

~~~
goatforce5
I have no idea how the traditional Hollywood system works, but if Whedon
raised $10m from a studio via an agent and, I dunno, a production house or
something, how many middle men would get their fees from that $10m and what
would it add up to?

~~~
bproper
Joss Whedon might be able to raise the money on his own due to his exceptional
internat fame, but for most indie producers, the incumbent system takes a way
bigger slice of the pie than 5%.

------
jonursenbach
Wonder how long until Kickstarter sheds its Amazon Payments dependency so they
can keep a larger share of the pot.

~~~
draggnar
Wouldn't they have done that already? Maybe there is some partnership at work.

------
bizodo
Very cool. Shows a new trend in social funding. And inadvertently provides
proof of concept. Would like to see something like this for music industry.

------
bproper
where is the data on this coming from?

------
ronnier
Thank you for not posting as "$300mm"

~~~
cryptoz
Yeah, eh? What's that extra m for anyway?

~~~
ianterrell
I think it has its roots in Roman numerals. i.e. MM = 1000*1000, or 1 million.

And regardless of whether you like it or not, it is the standard abbreviation
in the financial world.

