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Indiegogo Launches a Crowdsourcing Business For Big Businesses (computerworld.com)

Posted by samzenpus on from the helping-the-big-guy dept.

Lucas123 writes: Indiegogo announced at CES today that is now has a crowdfunding site exclusively for big businesses, which often have hundreds of internal R&D projects or ideas that never see the light of day and could benefit from getting public exposure online. Companies such as Google, Anheuser-Busch, GE and Hasbro have already run crowdsourcing campaigns on a pilot of the new site in order to raise money for projects, garner customer ideas, or validate pre-retail products. In July, GE ran a campaign to prove market demand for a countertop nugget ice-making machine for the home. GE offered the Opal icemaker for $399 to early buyers on Indiegogo, with a future retail price of $499. GE's Opal icemaker project raised $2.64 million total from 6,177 contributions by the end of the 30-day Indiegogo campaign. The campaign also garnered 510,000 page views and 15,000 Facebook shares. Natarajan Venkatakrishnan, head of R&D for GE Appliances, said crowdsourcing allows development and marketing to be conducted at a fraction of the cost of a traditional R&D project. "If it flops, no worries. Upfront costs were some 20 times less than a traditional product rollout, which can cost tens of millions of dollars," Venkatakrishnan said. "If we're going to fail, we want to fail fast."

7 of 23 comments (clear)

  1. No. Fucking. Way. by BitZtream · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If you participate in this, you're a fucking moron.

    We're not only going to be ripped off by companies, but we're going to pay for them to do all the research and development up front ... and you think what, the price will be lower? They'll be more altruistic? Something will magically be better?

    This is fucking stupid, and I can't say the word fucking enough her to get the point across.

    You do not crowd fund a fucking company, thats the companies job. They aren't going to crowd fund your ass when you get laid off or fired, why the fuck would you give them a bone?

    --
    Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
    1. Re:No. Fucking. Way. by Fire_Wraith · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I don't see this as a way to get cheaper products. And that's fine - there's nothing wrong with putting up extra cash for something you REALLY want. Think of it as being an early-early adopter. It's up to you and I to decide if we want something that badly to put in the money for it. The alternative of the standard model where the corporation does market research, and tries to figure out what consumers want and will pay for, does the research/design/etc, and then offers it for sale, means that you're not likely to see anything too outside the box. When the corporation is assuming 100% of the risk, why shouldn't they go with the "safe" option?

      On the other hand, with this model, they can offer something a little more cutting edge, because if nobody is interested, it'll become apparent quickly. Also, you won't be running into the common Kickstarter problem of people who overpromise their ability to deliver because they have no idea of what the real costs are going to be, or how to budget, etc.

    2. Re:No. Fucking. Way. by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If you participate in this, you're a fucking moron.

      The whole thing reads like some pecuniary extraction end game scenario, where millionaires and billionaires take to begging for the last pennies of the kids working for minimum wage at the local fast food joint.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    3. Re:No. Fucking. Way. by supremebob · · Score: 2

      It's a great way for companies to pilot test new ideas, though. Not sure if the market really wants... say... a fitness tracking watch with a built in MP3 player and Bluetooth earbuds? Put the prototype on a Kickstarter type of crowdfunding site and see if you get any buyers. If you get them, you already have a built in market for your product. If not, you can stop at the prototype stage and not worry about tooling up for mass production.

  2. And if you use them, you're a lame by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

    Big businesses collect big piles of money and then hand them to people who don't deserve them, or actively spend them in ways that harm you, like lobbying for their interests against yours. If you then go on to pay their R&D budget, you're a real dumbshit.

    It would be a nice place to look for good ideas to crowdfund from someone who actually needs the funding, though, instead of rewarding businesses for slashing R&D (which eliminates jobs for skilled workers!) and maximizing profits by turning out the same crap year after year.

    If you use this site and fund some corporations' R&D, you're funding job reduction, and I hope you lose yours.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  3. Seriously? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This is redundant. We have a "Crowdsourcing Business For Big Businesses" service already. It's called the "stock market".

  4. "If we're going to fail, we want to fail fast." by tibit · · Score: 2

    IRL Erlang FTW :)

    --
    A successful API design takes a mixture of software design and pedagogy.