These are not new startups with a cool idea. Just businesses that are having cash flow problems that put out an appeal couched in terms like "community" and "neighbours".

I'm curious, are they just asking for money or doing the same thing that starts ups do. "Give us $100 dollars and you get a special mug and 10% discount for 2 years" etc or is it "Please send us money...we really need it...please."

I can see the former and in fact the former would be "Good business" the latter is begging.

~Matt

Yes you're a racist

I think one of the points is that it shows a level of laziness in society. There is a strong trend towards hand-outs over earning your way. It's sad that there is an avenue for people to just ask for money for whatever their little hearts desires, and they get it. Not gonna have too many hard-working people with that as an option.

To be honest, the crowd funding annoys me as well.

To be honest, the crowd funding annoys me as well.

I actually think crowd funding is an excellent tool and opportunity. IT provides and avenue to investors cash that simply didn't exist before.

What I don't get is what people are willing to give money for. I get putting money into a cool new idea where you get something for it. I get giving money for charity. I don't get "Hey I would really like to go to France because that would be cool but can't afford it because the payments on my two BMW's are killing me".

However, clearly there are enough people with enough money or the mentality to give to such causes that they are successful. This shouldn't really surprise me because this is to some degree how our government is set up. In a sense it makes the mess we have with the government and welfare system, government loans etc more understandable.

~Matt

I agree with you. The reason crowd funding was created was an excellent tool for startups. But just like most things, it has been plagued with the people that want to fly home for the holiday or the like. That's what I find annoying. I'm not sure how there are so many people that are willing to donate to so many causes like that.

Super Troopers 2?

I'm not sure how there are so many people that are willing to donate to so many causes like that.

How there are seems to be the question more so then the fact that there clearly are. I suspect that it's simply a case of either very "Heart on their sleeve" individuals or people with lots of money. For the most part we have the same result in politics. Some people are willing to allow the abusers access and will even give to the abusers just so that no one suffers or goes without.

~Matt

Three times in the last year local businesses have passed the cyber hat. They gave offered a variety of incentives but "donate $100, get a free ice cream cone" does not seem like good return on investment.

The ice cream one was crazy. The owners were seeking $10,000 to build a new ice cream making room. This is a business that is lined up all summer long in the Okanagan heat. They charge a ton of money for a cone and the ice cream isn't even homemade. Fuck that.

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Proud member of the MSF (Maple Syrup Mafia)

No, that would be a terrible "ROI". As I said earlier, I have no problem if it's a way of collecting orders before they make the product. "Donate" $100 and get the product that has a MSRP of $100? No issues.

"Donate" $100 and get a Bic pen with the company name printed on it? Yeah, that's pretty lame.

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

Same went on up the street. A woman wanted to venture into artisanal ice cream so she did the crowdfunding thing. Got what she wanted from the public and opened up. The flavors are good, especially The Elvis but $3.55 plus tax for less than a kid scoop and $11+ for a pint is expensive. The place is opened about 30 hrs. a week.

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DISH is how we do it.

Three times in the last year local businesses have passed the cyber hat. They gave offered a variety of incentives but "donate $100, get a free ice cream cone" does not seem like good return on investment.

The ice cream one was crazy. The owners were seeking $10,000 to build a new ice cream making room. This is a business that is lined up all summer long in the Okanagan heat. They charge a ton of money for a cone and the ice cream isn't even homemade. Fuck that.

I don't get it unless people actually really want to support such en devours. Maybe they really want the icecream place to stay open and would be willing to pay $20 a scoop if necessary so instead of the company charging $20 a scope they charge $5 and people who REALLY want to support the place can give during crowd funding.

Better option then being forced to pay in my eyes.

~Matt

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Ive set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for the counseling that will allow you to deal with your crowdfunded rage.

Absolutely. We all need more shenanigans.

Yeah, right meow.

From what I remember the derision was universal. Good to have some unity on here every now and then...

I contributed to a small bluegrass band I know that was raising funds to produce its next record. I think I donated $100. That got me the record in both vinyl (signed) and electronic form once it was released, a couple t-shirts, electronic versions of their past albums, and admission for two to a concert the next time they were in town. The value I got back was at least worth and probably exceeded the $100.

Other tiers included a few songs played on your front porch, or them being the band for your next house party.

But I always thought that was the way crowd funding should work, where you get value for your donation.

That is how it should work. How it is frequently working these days is that you get a pen or a bumper sticker. Although I am pretty certain that the most bang for your buck funds do better than the "Pay my way to Mexico" crowd and the "pay for my company and get this pen" crowd.

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

I think it can work for a startup or for something that's a creative effort. A band looking for funding to produce a record has a lot to offer in return for support. It also helps that people who donate feel like they're a part of the effort.

So far, I've donated to 2 of these, ever... First was a buddy's kickstarter for a project where he needed a large sum to front printing costs for some custom art. Essentially, each backer got one of the final pieces after it was printed (I actually got 2 since he had a few extras left over at the end). Made sense in that you were essentially just paying for the cost of a print at a reasonable market price, but had to have enough customers pre-pay in order to make the entire lot cost-effective for a large enough print run.

Second was for the mom of one of our local U's track team athletes to go to Rio. Family plausibly claimed to not be able to afford the trip on short notice, as the daughter was a bit of an unexpected 'upset' qualifier and still in school on NCAA scholarship so can't accept any extra $$ or sponsorship outside of what USATF provides for the athletes expenses directly, and of course travel and accommodations for that particular time window were jacked up astronomically over what they'd normally cost. If you were a sponsored pro or realistically expected to make the team, I could see having made arrangements or covering costs well in advance to make it more affordable, but neither was the case so it seemed like an honest enough 'charity' case.

Yes, you are freaking out....man.

All you whiners are just upset that you missed out on the Silca torque wrench. :-)

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1400728964/t-ratchet-multi-tool-and-ti-torque-travel-torque-e


Neener, neener.