The Problem With Kickstarter And Software

I do wonder what impact a failed Kickstarter has for venture funded projects like Pixate. Does it kill any chance of future funding by proving that customers aren't <i>that</i> willing to pay?<p>I ran a Kickstarter for OpenPhoto. But it had a few unique properties, mainly being open source. We raised a modest $25k which paid for my time since I already quit my job to do this. So, I needed the funds to complete the work.<p>I'm considering running a second Kickstarter for a set of large features to the product. Thankfully, I'm not in a position where I need VC funds so shooting myself in the foot there doesn't matter.<p>Also, I'd be Kickstarting for features that aren't already planned in the main roadmap (which I'm going to rely on for revenue). If the Kickstarter fails then those features don't get added in but the product still remains viable without losing face.<p><a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jmathai/openphoto-a-photo-service-for-your-s3-or-dropbox-a" rel="nofollow">http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jmathai/openphoto-a-phot...</a>

The point of this article is great: have a clear reason of the benefits of using kickstarter, which aren't creating buzz and interest in your product.

Yep...there are a lot of questionable kickstarter projects...even ones that have done incredibly well despite having no real product to show. The bigger problem, in my view, is how your actions affect the rest of the Kickstarter community. As soon as people start failing on delivering and running out of money (which has already happened), people will begin to lose faith in Kickstarter, and this hurts people who want to launch legitimate, rational, and honest fund-raising efforts.

Kickstarter is for investment, not generating interest. Generate interest by building a good product.

Is "socrates" the actual name of the interviewer or an attempt at a cutsey nod to the ancient philosopher?

From the dialogue, it sounds like a promotionally-minded Kickstarter <i>might</i> provide some early incremental awareness and money, or might fizzle.<p>That's not a strong case against trying it... just against relying too much on it, to the exclusion of other customer-acquisition efforts.