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Another $1 Million Crowdfunded Gadget Company Collapses (techcrunch.com)
An anonymous reader writes: In 2012, a company raised over a million dollars on Indiegogo to build a robotic dragonfly. It was originally supposed to be delivered in 2013. Unfortunately for backers, the company seems to be struggling to complete the project. They haven't been able to resolve issues with the drone falling apart after just a few seconds of flight. Unless they locate investors soon, they're going to run out of funds to continue work at full force. They're in the process of uploading all design work and their knowledge base, in case they have to officially cancel the project. They say some part-time work will continue as long as funds allow. The TechCrunch article warns, "This is just the latest example of how consumers need to be more careful with crowdfunding. There are no guarantees with crowdfunding and there is more risk involved than what's advertised."
I've "bought in" to 3 kickstarter like projects... One - an RC paper airplane, came off very much like a long lead time order fulfillment. Another, attempting to compete with Amazon Firestick and Chromecast, perhaps predictably, faltered when they tried to swim with the competition in delivery of "protected content" and ultimately refunded the "investment;" personally, I didn't want delivery of protected content and they weren't going there when I bought in, but I understand why they later decided it was "essential to the product," and from that point, their failure was all too predictable. The third: Jolla Tablet, remains to be seen.
I've worked in a half dozen startup environment companies where a 33% success rate would be huge, and investors rarely get anything back from failures in "the real world." If you're putting money into kickstarter and similar projects, you have to know that money is at risk, subject to anything from delays to total loss. I view it more as "philanthropic investment" than product purchase. You're tossing these guys a few bucks because you believe in them, and maybe if they succeed you get the first round of cool widgets when they come out. So far, I've always eventually gotten product or a refund - that's a really amazing track record in the world of inexperienced business people.
If you want to purchase products with hard delivery dates and money back guarantees, stick to Amazon. Startup ventures are something else entirely.