Cmv: kickstarter is a scam. it's a charitable donation to a for profit company; a bet that you can't win.:
Since it's illegal to offer equity in a company via a Kickstarter, what's the point of funding one? It's basically a charitable donation to a for-profit company, or a gamble that you can't win - you'll never receive anything more than you put in, but you are quite likely to receive nothing at all in return for your investment. The only benefit I can see is that if there's some idea out there that was so revolutionary that it could change the world, if only it had the proper funding - but if it was that good, why didn't some big corporation buy it already? So it's probably just snake oil. I really can't see any rational reason to fund a Kickstarter; the only reason I can see to do so is because of an emotional attachment to whatever product is being developed, and a fear that if one does not fund it, the product will never see the light of day.