Blog with Rob: The Kicker to the Kickstarter Craze

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last several years, I’m sure you’ve heard about Kickstarter.com. Crowdsourcing has become a wildly popular way to fund projects from the next Veronica Mars movie to 3D Barbie clothes to… potato salad?

Well, as hundreds of millions of dollars are raised through these sites, have you ever wondered if the funds actually get spent on what they were supposed to? Like the $10 fund to make potato salad that raised over $55,000?? (Yes, you read that correctly) Exactly how much potato salad is that anyway?

If that’s what you were thinking – about how the money was spent, not the potato salad – then Kickstarter understands your concerns.  They launched a new policy mandating that creators complete their projects, or at least make their best effort to bring the project to the “best possible conclusion for backers.”  And if creators cant make good on their promises, they have to return the money or face legal action.

Whew. I know I feel better that creators are now accountable for the money they raise. In a lot of situations we’re taking about pretty serious sums of money. And in case you were really interested in seeing what $55,000 in potato salad looks like, check this out.