Crowdfunding

[PeteD]

How about www.fiverr.com ?

Some people are doing crazy shit for $5...

[M-technik-3]

Given Sharks a thought....just kidding Pete psydo drama shows are so real.

[PeteD]

haha - the fakeness of reality tv is sad. Though, I can't see myself getting my soul ripped out on sharks real or fake. We have pitched to angels and venture caps in the past. That has been interesting - I'm glad we have been able to hold out on needing investment thus far.

My friend who invented the "Kook'n Kap" www.kooknkap.com might end up on the show. I'm hoping they hold off, but we'll see.

[M-technik-3]

Good for professional cooks.

[PeteD]

I look at it as more of a novelty item for LA chicks and the like, but they are selling them and growing a decent following...perhaps they will start a brand of bitch'n the kitch stuff. I can see the sharks eating this up though. It's well developed, already has a proven model and the founders are easy to look at at.

[JinormusJ]

Isn't this exactly like Kickstarter?

[PeteD]

Isn't this exactly like Kickstarter?

Kickstarter is one of the more popular websites/platforms for crowdfunding. Indiegogo and Kickstarter are probably the top two in popularity. Kickstarter is project based,they like more film, thearture, general art stuff and the funding structure is different in terms of getting funded and the cut they take from the campaign.

If you don't hit your goal with Kickstarter, you don't get any of the funds. With Indiegogo you can choose that structure, or flex funds, which means you still get to keep the funds and deliver to your contributors even if you don't hit your goal. At the moment, Indiegogo is less expensive in both cases.

[GarrieM]

So I need some shocks and M60 parts, and I have a stack of unpaid medical bills. Can I do crowdfunding to help pay for those?

Yes, you can do it to pay for those medical bills. Health care is costly and individuals are turning to numerous ways to cover it. Numerous people have taken to crowdfunding medical bills through crowdfunding sites.

[Mr. Tasty]

spam bot bump?

[CHIF8008]

i could use free money. feel free to mail me any extra cash you have so i can have it. ThankYou

[TexasTerp]

I laugh at all of the crowdfunding dissenters, you guys have no idea what you're talking about. Sure there are plenty of stupid things like the girl trying to get her boobs funded, all of those fail miserably.

The SEC has already passed legislation to regulate and formalize crowdfunding options. IndieGoGo and Kickstarter are primarily for cultural works, one off technology and gaming. They work great for selling general consumer products.

Then there are sites like CrowdRise, EquityNet and GoFundMe that focus on small business funding in the more traditional sense. Small businesses have an insanely difficult time raising seed money - banks don't loan anything unless you have perfect credit. Crowdfunding is the best way to raise money so you can market test your company prior to seeking Series A funding from investors.

After raising 30K from crowdfunding, my company launches tomorrow in Vancouver (I'm at the airport now) and the crowdfunding money has brought interest to our perspective investors that we've been courting for over a year. Without it, we would have had a much more difficult time building our app.

All the best to Pete and his company! I know how tough it is to raise money and crowdfunding is an excellent source of seed money.

Kickstarter is project based,they like more film, thearture, general art stuff

So you know, this part of your statement is not correct. While Kickstarter has a very strong art project base, the majority of their campaigns revolve around technology and gaming projects. 9 of the top 10 highest grossing Kickstarter projects were video games and technology (Pebble).