When you invest in a Kickstarter, you are helping a company get their legs, giving them the money they need to achieve stability with zero risk. The risk is foisted onto those initial investors. Is that a fair trade?
Back in August, 2012, Oculus launched a Kickstarter with a goal of raising $250,000. To date, the Kickstarter raised more than $2.4 million. Since then, the company has succeeded wildly, getting purchased by Facebook for $2 billion.
So what percentage of the company do those first investors get? You know, the ones who took the initial risk?
Yeah, I know, they weren’t truly investors. There were no promises made, no shares traded hands, no documents signed. I guess the lesson is, before you sign up for a Kickstarter, realize that you may be using your hard earned dollars to stepladder some CEO to future riches. The risk is yours to take.