Things found on Kickstarter

http://kickended.com

The Dausage - a cross between a sausage and a doughnut

Cronut envy.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2015/06/11/the-ftcs-first-crowdfunding-enforcement-is-over-a-failed-board-game-on-kickstarter/

But few, if any, supporters of the project ever received refunds, the FTC alleged in a complaint against Chevalier disclosed Thursday that accuses him of deceiving backers of the project. And instead of spending most of the funds raised through Kickstarter on making the game, he spent it on himself, the agency claimed. "In reality, Defendant never hired artists for the board game and instead used the consumers’ funds for miscellaneous personal equipment, rent for a personal residence, and licenses for a separate project," the complaint said.

Weird thing is that I found that I knew at least two of the parties involved in this just from volunteering at the HPL FilmFest in Portland for several years.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/21/technology/kickstarters-altruistic-vision-profits-as-the-means-not-the-mission.html

nice one

what's the worst thing you've seen someone try to crowdfund?

i feel like i see really heinous stuff all the time - like people who've already accomplished a decent amount in their given profession just refusing to risk money to do a project.

far and away the worst thing i've seen is nuno mendes, a michelin-starred chef in london, doing a kickstarter to open his new restaurant.

Why's that so bad? Because he could have got conventional funding easily enough?

i guess so - and like it just seems weird to me that someone who's going to charge people vast sums of money for food is asking them to pay for the premises.

but i am open to being convinced otherwise.

I think it's equity crowdfunding - so you're investing in the venture with the aim of making a return on your investment (though of course you could potentially lose your money).

I don't think it's so bad myself - as long as people are aware of the risk.

i thought Kickstarter didn't do that?

I think he's using Seedrs?

ah maybe... in that case i'm wrong in his case.

Slight bit of self-promotion here: My ladyfriend wrote a children's book about a three-legged dog who has to learn to deal with bullying

It's called

The Tale of Martina McTripaw - a Story About Standing Up to Bullies and Being Proud of Who You Are

https://c1.iggcdn.com/indiegogo-media-prod-cld/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,h_413,w_620/v1457677245/py7hyl0bft8vvmfkcvkj.png

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-tale-of-martina-mctripaw--2#/

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/aloe/aloe-app-gentle-self-care-reminders-from-yourself
"things like remembering to brush my teeth or drink water became really really hard"

https://www.buzzfeed.com/daveyalba/kickstarter-perry-chen-founder-worship-turmoil

the anti-union thing is very uncool

I was playing thru Thimbleweed Park tonight and saw the name “Yancey Strickler” in the in-game phonebook which sounded familiar, so I looked him up.

Funny what I found. Never connected it before. Amusingly, still lists him as “former music critic.”