Help fund my project!

[GradnerLives]

Originally Posted by August [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

The problem is that the dog treats don't cost $10. If you need to raise funds, you should get a loan.

Get a loan - be able to produce dog treats - sell dog treats - pay back loan

Banks wouldn't fund apple because they thought it was a dumb idea for a company. Venture capitalists wouldn't fund the mini-printer I backed because they thought it was a dumb idea. Sometimes its hard to convey an idea as being potentially successful without prior success in an industry no matter how good the idea itself is. Investors looking to invest are going to scrutinize a company's perceived value and chance of success where a consumer will simply see a product they want to buy.

Originally Posted by August [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Get a kickstarter - be able to produce dog treats - send them to your backers (for way less than they paid to your kickstarter ) - end of step.

Backers that only really wanted different dog treats than they can buy currently. Value is in the eye of the beholder and most kickstarters actually offer more than the market price of their rewards to those that back. Maybe not in this case, but who knows what dog treats sell for, you might actually be getting a discount here. I hate dogs, so I can't comment.

I'll agree $10 for a haiku is pretty steep, but $50 for a jar full of treats + jar sounds about right for market value of a special interest pet product. I also think it's dumb that people pay millions of dollars to get a new ship in star citizen every week when the game isn't out yet. In either case, you've paid and got something in return.

Originally Posted by August [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Yes, consumers are getting taken for a ride. Acknowledge that kickstarter is at it's heart, a CHARITY. If you are doing a kickstarter on a for-profit venture, you're taking advantage of people. period.

It's not a charity if you're paying money to get something back.

You can criticize specific campaigns for being disingenuous or greedy, and you'd be right as there's a ton of examples of people making exploitative/dumb campaigns. They also aren't usually the ones that get funded. The model itself works quite well and has brought a huge number of innovative products to market, specifically in the realm of niche tech products like Naez brought up earlier.

As a consumer, I like it being around. As an investor, I have no opinion of it because it's not used to invest.

[August]

Sorry Gradner, I just don't buy into your propaganda.

Apple could have been financed by micro-lending.

All those niche companies could have also been successfully funded by microlending.

Kickstarter has a very niche role. It should not be used for people looking to profit off of their business, period.

Money as an asset always has a return, even if it's 0%. You take a loan out on a hope that the return you can get on it will beat the return that a bank demands.

With kickstarter, the rewards they give are almost universally less than what they're getting. $50 bucks for a big thing of dog treats? I'd be surprised if the actual cost was more than $20. $50 at retail? sure.

It is a business model where the return required of you is negative - and that is by definition charity. That's why PBS can give out tote bags.

I'm not knocking Kickstarter as a platform at all. I myself have contributed to over 15 Kickstarter projects - every single one of them exploratory or non-profit. My beef lies solely with kickstarter being used as a lending platform where there is no insurance on the investment and the returns are basically charity.

[Rellapse40]

tldr

[Briscoe]

Originally Posted by Shannacore [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

My undergrad (and the two graduate degrees I am working on now) are all focused on Community Planning and Community Engagement, so that's where my interests lay. This is another way for me to involve myself in it!

Two graduate degrees at one time?

[Shannacore]

Originally Posted by Briscoe [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Two graduate degrees at one time?

Yes

Two full masters degrees in the time it would take to do 1.5. WOOP.

[Daldolma]

charity = utility, moran

if the utility gained by giving $10 to a chubby student with pumpkin flavored dog cookies shaped like stars in her eyes is greater than the utility you gain from buying a take-out small cheese pizza, then you're making a good investment. if it's not, then don't fucking do it

tralina is opening an otherwise closed avenue for utility creation by allowing you to donate to her dog cookie business. $10 doesn't get you much. helping out an elf pal might be worth more to you than whatever else you're gonna do with $10 this week

[heartbrand]

Will give you $800 for 25% from sale of each treat until my $800 is paid back, then 5% from each treat in perpetuity

[Ahldagor]

eq·ui·ty
ˈekwitē/Submit
noun
noun: equity
1.
the quality of being fair and impartial.
"equity of treatment"
synonyms: fairness, justness, impartiality, egalitarianism; More
LAW
a branch of law that developed alongside common law in order to remedy some of its defects in fairness and justice, formerly administered in special courts.
(in the US, UK, and several other countries) a trade union to which most professional actors belong.
singular proper noun: Equity; noun: Equity
2.
the value of the shares issued by a company.
"he owns 62% of the group's equity"
synonyms: value, worth; More
stocks and shares that carry no fixed interest.
plural noun: equities
3.
the value of a mortgaged property after deduction of charges against it.



doesn't equal to the product being sold. business is cruel. much crueler than trolling could hope to be.

and grats on the degrees. mountain of debt?

[Shannacore]

Originally Posted by Ahldagor [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

and grats on the degrees. mountain of debt?

<$20k for my undergrad + two masters. Job pays for most of my school. Hoping to sell $20k worth of dog treats though!~

[Ahldagor]

Originally Posted by Shannacore [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

<$20k for my undergrad + two masters. Job pays for most of my school. Hoping to sell $20k worth of dog treats though!~

wut. there's a job that'll pay that much of someone's schooling?