A couple of days ago, GeekDad posted this entry: “Kickstarter Is Broken, and It’s All Our Fault.” It’s a hyperbolic title, designed to draw attention. And I have to call B.S. on it.
Okay, not total B.S., but certainly exaggeration. Kickstarter isn’t broken. For every monumental collapse like The Doom That Came to Atlantic City mentioned in GeekDad’s post, there are scads of small projects being funded as always, and delivering on promises (though delays aren’t uncommon).
I’ve backed 94 projects so far myself. A very few have been cancelled. Some few are still pending. Most have delivered and been very satisfying. I’ve also run five projects of my own: one unfunded, three successes (one, two, three), and one currently underway. All have been modest undertakings, designed to accomplish a specific goal, not shooting for the moon.
As for GeekDad’s Veronica Mars criticism? Please. I’m one of that project’s backers, happy to be involved, thrilled to see closure on a story line Fox left hanging—and more importantly, enjoying the ongoing experience of a backer’s behind-the-scenes updates. That’s something almost uniquely Kickstarterish.
In a nutshell: Kickstarter isn’t broken. Posts like GeekDad’s threaten to break it, however, just as sewer-tunnel stories threatened Dungeons & Dragons in its early years. They put people on their guard and force Kickstarter to retrench, making it more difficult for all the little, modest projects to get launched and reach their goals.
So please, tone it down a little, GeekDad. Kickstarter abides.
—Les