Kickstarter recommendations (also other crowdfunding sites)

In My Humble Opinion
1

Crowdfunding is continuing to grow in popularity with several different projects making over a million dollars (Order of the Stick, Double Fine Adventure). This thread is not for them. They’re popular enough to get their own threads. This thread is for the less popular projects at places like Kickstarter, IndieGoGo,RocketHub and others. However, I’m only one person and I can’t study every potential project.

So, what open or closed projects interest you? Projects that are interesting, different, weird, or maybe just personal.* Projects that would otherwise fall through the cracks.

I found this card game recently that looked very interesting but I didn’t want to spend the money to buy it (and it’s closed now). Road to Enlightenment, which is about controlling monarchs of 17th and 18th century where you battle it out not just in warfare, but also in philosophy (there’s a Descartes card!), culture, religion, science, and politics.

I’m currently backing the documentary Detropia.

What projects have you found?

*I don’t have any current projects nor do I plan on starting any.

2

I don’t currently have any projects to recommend, but there’s another crowdfunding site that might be of interest to Dopers:

http://www.petridish.org/

It’s dedicated to funding scientific research projects. Currently, the site is in beta, with relatively few projects listed, but it already has a few fully funded projects.

3

I thought this would be about motorcycles.

4

Per TubaDiva’s suggestion, let’s put this in IMHO.

5

Thank you to Wolverine for starting this thread.

Posters should be aware that some crowd sourcing platforms have less protections than Kickstarter, and that furthermore Kickstarter is not invulnerable to scams. Caveat Backer.
Discussion: Kickstarter expects to provide more arts funding than the NEA

Or that’s what I said back in March anyway. I’m still having difficulty wrapping my head around the concept, but I’ll reiterate #2: Keep a diary.

Dave Sim (or rather his contact in North Carolina) is putting Vol 2 of Cerebus onto a DVD. It appears to include all the material from the original issues, along with readings and commentary by the author. CEREBUS: High Society - Special Audio/Visual Digital Edition.

I read some of the issues during the late 1990s and perceived the author to be rather eccentric to put it mildly. I wonder whether the letters pages from the early 1980s were as effusive.

6

Hopeful entrepreneur wants to launch a burger joint next door to his cafe. A gourmet burger joint, using top ingredients and blah blah blah. All this happens in a borderline neighborhood, one in transition. He sets a rather high funding minimum: $25,000. Now with 5 days (and some $12,000) remaining, he breaks out some of the numbers. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/401016102/victory-burger/posts/239468 We’re spending a total budget of somewhere around $250,000 to get the place built. That’s about $150,000 of construction cost ($25,000 or more of which will go into the facade and patio), $65,000 of equipment, $20,000 for drawings and permits, and the rest for supplies and startup labor costs. We’ll lose money for at least a half a year, and maybe longer - our staff costs will be something like $15,000 a month, and we’ll have to pay our utility bills, rent, interest on bank loans, etc., etc., etc. Restaurants are expensive.

And, with economic realities being what they are, banks are still being pretty conservative with their lending practices. Even with a successful running business next door, I can’t qualify for a loan for anything close to the full amount of our budget. I’m depleting the cafe’s cash reserves, and diverting all the cafe’s operating profit to this project. I don’t pay myself much, but until we turn a profit at Victory, I probably won’t be able to pay myself at all. Also, every dollar I borrow from a bank raises our monthly operating cost, and keeping those costs low is the right way to run the business. I’m looking at loan payments of $2,300 a month (when interest rates go up, that number will get even bigger), and I’m doing everything I can to reduce that monthly bill by making the amount I borrow as small as I can get away with. I’ve wondered about the extent to which Kickstarter can compliment the existing capital market. The money raised here might be at most 10% of the total, but it could also signal to other investors the degree of interest in the project.

Kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/401016102/victory-burger
Cafe next door: http://actualcafe.com/

Separately, I hope that we can take a critical view of this new funding mechanism in this thread. Due to a recent change in the law, businesses will be able to exchange small sums of money for small equity interests, with less SEC oversight. Kickstarter is not following this path, but presumably other websites will. There is vast potential for abuse: see Felix Salmon’s discussion of crowdmuppeting. Admittedly the language of the JOBS act was tightened at the last minute, but I haven’t read a solid recent treatment of it.

7

The public library in Nyack, NY, Edward Hopper’s hometown, is raising funds to digitize their microfilm of a defunct local newspaper, the Rockland County Journal, which was published during Hopper’s formative years. They are already successfully funded, but looking through old newspapers is so wonderful and fascinating, they deserve all the resources they can get. (I am not from nor have I ever been to Nyack.)

8

Airbudz: AIRbudz are alternative earbud attachments that can be utilized while listening to music in environments where it’s necessary to be aware of your surroundings in order to stay safe. The difference between AIRbudz and earbud attachments that came with your earphones are air channels built into the AIRbudz. These air channels allow you to simultaneously hear music, without distortion, while also allowing ambient noise into the ear to help reduce the risk of accident or injury due to not being able to hear your surroundings. Seems like a sensible idea. It might even save lives. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1415303287/airbudz
54 hours and $1100 to go! It’s going down to the wire – deadline is Saturday in the early AM.

Victory Burger runs out on Friday evening.

9

Critiques of the following projects are welcome. Due diligence is even better.

WFMU is one of the greatest college radio stations in the country. Originally affiliated with Upsula State College in scenic (ha!) East Orange New Jersey before the financial collapse of that academic institution, WFMU is the oldest freeform radio station in the country. Equipped with legions of fans and perpetually dubious finances, somebody finally wants to make a documentary. It’s about time. 4 days left. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/timksmith/freeform-or-death-a-documentary-about-wfmu?ref=users
Osamu Tezuka is consider the Godfather of Manga in Japan. Without manga, anime wouldn’t be as good. So the man is probably one of the 10 most influential artists of the 20th century. He was also incredibly prolific. Much of his work remains untranslated in the US, which is unfortunate.

Digital Manga publishers earn their bread and butter publishing Yaoi comics. Don’t ask. No really… stop that! No! Anyway, they’ve already translated 2 works by Tezuka, Swallowing the Earth and Barbara. The latter was released thanks to the support of a kickstarter campaign earlier this year.

Now here’s where I balk a little. Barbara hasn’t been delivered yet. And already they are passing around the cup. What wins me over (sort of?) is that they have 2 stretch goals. Not only are they translating Unico, but they are also publishing ATOMCAT! (a sequel to Astroy Boy) and maybe, possibly, Triton of the Sea. Ok, ok, these are kiddie comics, unlike the earlier ones. Still, this is worth checking out. Tezuka was truly a master. There are some artists that are so brilliant that they inspire other artists to up their game or even begin producing work at all. Tezuka was that kind of guy. 14 days to go. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/digitalmanga/publish-osamu-tezukas-unico-in-english-in-full-col?ref=users
P. Craig Russell’s Guide to Graphic Storytelling Series 2. Well Part I was successfully delivered. Fine comic book artist shares his techniques. I sorta wish they waited another month though. 54% funded and 11 days to go. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/251462428/p-craig-russells-guide-to-graphic-storytelling-ser
OpenROV - The Open Source Underwater Robot

Mobile underwater housing for a camera. So cool. So very, very cool. Goes up to 100 meters. Sport divers generally cap out at 100 feet. This could make all manner of new research possible. Extremely exciting. Works in caves. Marine biology is the poor man’s space exploration. I can’t get over how cool an idea this is.

COOL!

25 days to go and at 300%+ funding. But who cares?
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/openrov/openrov-the-open-source-underwater-robot?ref=users
The Waiting Room - What are you waiting for?
The documentary is in the can and has been shown at film festivals. Now they want to release it and need promotional funding. It’s about a hospital in Oakland, CA. It’s about the uninsured. It’s about the US health care system. [del]If it was that great it would have been picked up by HBO.[/del] About one sixth of the US economy is related to health care and much of it is dysfunctional. Other countries do things both cheaper and better. There is plenty of work showing the way forward, but the sorts of human stories shown in this film (which I haven’t seen) have their place as well. 12% funded and 22 days to go. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/openhood/the-waiting-room-theatrical-release

10

I’m new to Kickstarter myself, but I’m having fun with it, and am happy so far.

I’m excited about these two:

CLANG is a video-game thing, where they are trying to get a realistic sword-fighting simulation, based on medieval handbooks (like Campo Dei Fiore etc.). Apparantly Neal Stephensons baby, looks like it could be quite a game. Getting close to the wire, and I’m biting my nails to see if it will make it.

Curiosities is a art book/comic-like thing whose art is just deliciously spooky/cute. Looks like exactly the sort of thing I love.

11

I’ve hung out on Kickstarter a bit, well a lot actually. Backed 59 projects, 7 failed, 2 haven’t ended yet, and I have several I am watching buy have not backed yet. Most of the backing has been at the low end, $10 - $30, but I have splurged on the OotS and OGRE projects, and one I am planning on going big on.

Some of the more interesting ones I have not yet put money into are:

ArduSat - creating a small satellite to enable orbital experiments by individuals. - Already funded, but nice stretch goals.

Escape Pod Comics - The Future of Comics - Opening a comic book store with a lot of additions to spread the owners love of comics and educate. - Needs lots of funding yet, some really nice rewards.

The Dylan Meconis Library 2012 - Getting all of Dylan Meconis’ works into print. - Very well funded, but if her style is your thing, this would be a good way to pick up her stuff.

DUSTER: The Graphic Novel - A graphic novel set in Texas at the end of WWII, with a widow crop duster taking on Nazis. - Already funded, but the story and art look pretty good.

A Thousand Natural Shocks by Sharp & Fine and Kat Howard - Helping a dance company pay for production costs for a new show, based on stories by Kat Howard. - Already funded.

The Girl Who Would Be King - A novel about the emergence of super powers in two girls, and how they handle them. - Already funded, but the story sounds interesting and the start is up for free so you can check out the prose and other unknowns that are part of self-published novels.

Marian Call European Adventure Quest!!! - Independent singer/songwriter Marian Call is financing her tour of Europe, with a live album being recorded there. - Already funded, but the album is available for only $5. If you are a European fan, this is a good way to get her to your country or even your house for a concert. And Americans can get the album, plus she is working on other rewards for them. (Full disclosure, I am a huge fan, and plan on giving her money, despite being in American and already owning all her music.)

Those are the most interesting projects I am following right now. Except for Clang, which Septima mentioned. and I have already backed. I will probably back all of these, plus some I haven’t mentioned. And more that I haven’t found yet. :slight_smile:

12

Oh, definitely the Dylan Meconis library, I’m such a fan it’s ridiculous. I’m backing that by way too much.

13

Yeah, it looks pretty good, so I will most likely pick up at least one of the products. Maybe more, depending on how much I have left after backing Marian Call.

14

OK, the stretch goals for Curiosities just got really, really cool. Please take a look if you like comics, or quirky/spooky childrens books. I really want this thing now!

15

I have participated in Be Here Now, a documentary about actor Andy Whitfield’s struggle with (and ultimately, his death from) Non-Hodgkins lymphoma. I really enjoyed his turn in Spartacus: Blood & Sand so I watched the trailer on the Kickstarter site - I got sucked in pretty quickly.

16

The Waiting Room has secured support from PBS. Here’s the Newshour segment: it will be aired on PBS’s Independent Lens in 2013, and there’s a theatrical launch next fall.

That’s where kickstarter comes in. Marketing costs for movies are astronomical. Amusingly, the documentary covers a topic covered intensively by Hollywood: hospital dramas are fairly common. It might be interesting to compare the 2 artistic treatments. The Newshour piece implies that the film makers have a light touch, lighter than I may have implied above. The project has 62% funding with with 6 days to go. Various awards are listed at the official website:

17

42 hours and a little under $12,000 to go. 82% funded. New review up at the Washington Post (scroll down). I guess it’s a decent documentary after all. In the interests of buzz, the filmmakers will acknowledge everyone who gives as little as a dollar during the last 48 hours.

During the health care debate, conservatives correctly noted that a fair amount of health care was provided to the uninsured in public hospital emergency rooms. This documentary shows a day in the life of exactly that sort of health care delivery system, from the POV of provider and client. Now I admit I’m wary of having a message jammed down my throat. But I take it from the PBS interview that the filmmaker Pete Nicks tried to avoid pedantics. We’ll see. At any rate, this is a piece of the puzzle that deserves to be aired, in my view.
At Kickstarter: The Waiting Room.
Website: http://www.whatruwaitingfor.com/

18

Two thirds of the earth is covered by water. Less than 5% of the world’s oceans have been explored. Wouldn’t it be cool to do it with robots?

Space has NASA. Oceanographers have to make do with kickstarter. The Robotboat Mark VI has 71% funding with 5 days to go. They’ve already built 5 prototypes and are working on the sixth. Man, I wish this were an over-funded project.

It seems to be a serious group made up of aerospace engineers. They are keeping patents on the device to themselves, but research data will be made public. (Of course if a private buyer purchases one of these kits, that would be a different matter presumably.)

Hijack: Their updates section links to these images of underwater crop circles: Mysterious Underwater 'Crop Circles' Discovered Off the Coast of Japan — Colossal
Apparently they are created by puffer fishes.

19

Thanks, I really needed another project to fund. :stuck_out_tongue: I have had to do a spreadsheet in Excel to keep track of rewards. And when I added in the amount I have spent in pledges this year it was really, really depressing. And also made me fell kind of good. :smiley:

At present, in addition to my new pledge to the Mark VI, I have pledged to:

[ul]
[li]“SMASHING SONGS OF STAGE AND SCREEN” - An album of Broadway and Movie songs done '50s style by the band Big Daddy.[/li][li]Project Eternity - An isometric, party-based computer RPG set in a new fantasy world developed by Obsidian Entertainment. I loved Baldur’s Gate, this sounds good.[/li][li]Geek A Week: Version 4.0 - I like Len’s Geek A Week projects, so signing on for this one was not difficult.[/li][/ul]

20

I’m sponsoring “YOU are the Maniac! The Card Game” I’ve really gotten into board/card games this year and I’ve really been amassing a large collection. (Then it’s also the fact that it’s being done by a high school friend so there’s that too)