http://consumerismcommentary.disqus.com/NoneenSun, 13 Sep 2009 04:28:08 -0000http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2009/09/08/hip-new-funding-site-kickstarter-com/#comment-21322072<p>I think KickStarter is a great idea! Corey is right, people do have a desire to help people. And I certainly would rather be "funded" than to take a loan from someone who I also don't know. I would also feel more accountable to finish the product.</p>MattSun, 13 Sep 2009 04:28:08 -0000http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2009/09/08/hip-new-funding-site-kickstarter-com/#comment-21322070<p>Awesome list. I’m in the midst of site review. You literally posted this the day I started on it</p>david hausdorffWed, 09 Sep 2009 10:26:30 -0000http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2009/09/08/hip-new-funding-site-kickstarter-com/#comment-21322069<p>Business partners are not for funding. Sure, loans are one option for funding a business venture, but depending on the size of the company and its credit history (zero at this point), they don't come easy. Getting funding from private investors in exchange for stock in the company has become the default for companies in the tech industry, and it's growing popularity in other sectors. It's long been the investment model for companies starting from nothing that need a large amount of funding (greater than 5M).</p><p>People have a natural desire to help other people innately, and that's exactly what they get a chance to do at Kickstarter. They can put their money towards something they support (see the Kickstarter project about saving old records) and they can get a little something back as a thank-you. Not everybody is going to be interested in doling out cash to someone over the internet, but we're getting more and more web-savvy and there are plenty of people that ARE willing to do just that for the whole project to be a success.</p><p>If you've not already, I suggest checking out <a href="http://Kiva.org" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" title="Kiva.org">Kiva.org</a>. They're a micro-loan website dedicated to lending to people in need. Not unlike Kickstarter, they're crowd-funded, but the loans they give out do get repaid (98% repayment rate, in fact) and you're helping someone in need.</p>CoreyTue, 08 Sep 2009 08:56:41 -0000