The Commodore 64 returns in computer and handheld versions
Old computer favorites never die, they just fade away for a bit and then reappear in a new form looking for funding on Indiegogo.
The ZX Spectrum was previously resurrected as Vega, and the handheld Vega+, and now there’s a new version of the Commodore 64 looking for funding. Called simply THE 64, this too will be available in desktop and handheld versions.
Samson launches Go Mic Connect portable laptop-focused USB microphone on Indiegogo
If you are a vlogger, podcaster, or someone who video chats while on the go, you know that a quality microphone is key. Sure, a good camera or webcam is essential, but if people can't hear you well, their interest will fade quickly.
Today, Samson announces a new laptop-focused portable microphone (it can also work with desktop monitors), called the Go Mic Connect. This should meet the needs of many on-the-go vloggers, podcasters and communicators. Unfortunately, the product is not yet publicly available, as the company is instead leveraging crowdfunding to make it a reality.
GPD Win is a pocket-sized Windows 10 laptop
Lugging around a full-size laptop so you can do a spot of work from anywhere can be a pain. Even using a Windows 10 slate, like the Surface Pro 4, doesn’t really lessen the load as you’ll likely need to include a keyboard cover and maybe a mouse.
GPD Win is an interesting solution. It’s a 5.5 inch handheld PC/Gaming console running Windows 10 and it’s clear a lot of thought has gone into the design.
Enterprise Crowdfunding will help big companies pilot and launch products
Crowdfunding has become a popular way for smaller businesses and independent designers to gain backing for their projects. Now though funding platform Indiegogo is turning its sights on bigger business.
It's launching a new Enterprise Crowdfunding service to provide large corporations with specific services for engaging with Indiegogo's audience of early adopters, entrepreneurs and makers. This will allow enterprises to validate and optimize product concepts, as well as source new innovations.
Tips on running a successful Kickstarter campaign
When people decide to start new ventures, the traditional ways of obtaining financing have typically involved asking friends or family for money, using savings or credit cards. Some entrepreneurs may opt to obtain financing via venture capital firms. However, venture capitalists tend to be very picky about the types of ventures that they will fund and there are often stringent terms attached to any funding that is granted.
As a result, crowdfunding has offered an alternative option that allows entrepreneurs to get access to capital without so much red tape. Crowdfunding sites, such as Kickstarter, have built entire companies on the dreams of entrepreneurs looking to make their ventures the next big thing. However, the reality is that working with a crowdfunding site isn’t always a formula for success either.
The Kickstarter paradox
Among the great business innovations of the Internet era are Kickstarter and the many similar crowdfunding sites like IndieGoGo. You know how these work: someone wants to introduce a new gizmo or make a film but can only do so if you and I pay in advance with our only rewards being a possible discount on the gizmo or DVD. Oh, and a t-shirt. Never before was there a way to get people -- sometimes thousands of people -- to pay for stuff not only before it was built but often before the inventors even knew how to build it. From the Pebble smart watch to Veronica Mars, crowdfunding success stories are legion and crowdfunding failures quickly forgotten. I’ve been thinking a lot about crowdfunding because my boys are talking about doing a campaign this summer and I have even considered doing one myself. But it’s hardly a no-brainer, because a failed campaign can ruin your day and damage your career.
From the outside looking-in a typical Kickstarter or IndieGoGo campaign is based on the creator (in this case someone like me, not God) having a good idea but no money. If the campaign is successful this creator not only gets money to do his or her project, they get validation that there’s actually a market -- that it’s a business worth doing. About 80 percent of crowdfunding campaigns come about this way.
Pebble Time raises more than $20 million on Kickstarter
Pebble is one the few startups that knows how to get the most out of a Kickstarter campaign. Three years ago, it was the first on the crowdsourcing platform to raise more than $10 million in funding, and now it is the first to have broken the $20 million mark. Pebble's latest record is likely to last for a while, seeing as it took over two years for its first one to be broken.
At the time of writing this article, Pebble's Time campaign has attracted nearly 78,000 backers, who have pledged $20.16 million in total. The average contribution is $258.9, which exceeds the latest asking prices of $179 for Time and $250 for Time Steel.
How crowdsourcing in Japan is changing ideas about work
Crowdsourcing has become something of a phenomenon in recent years. It has usurped traditional ways of finding work, gathering information and getting projects large and small off the ground.
The category can be segmented into sub-categories like "Crowdfunding" (Kickstarter, IndieGogo, Crowdcube), "Cloud Labor" (Elance, oDesk) and "Distributed Knowledge" (Wikipedia).
Pebble Time can make it without Kickstarter, but why bother?
Pebble launched its first smartwatch through Kickstarter, raising more than $10 million from nearly 70,000 backers. It's one of the most successful campaigns to ever be hosted on the crowdsourcing site. Some might say that it's time for Pebble to move on to the next level.
However, earlier this week Pebble used Kickstarter once again to launch its latest smartwatch, called Pebble Time. The company's second crowdsourcing campaign is a huge hit, days after its start, surpassing its initial goal of just $500,000 by nearly $8 million at the time of writing this article, with 30 more days to go before the grand finale.
Can you trust crowdfunding projects? Not in the UK
Crowdfunding is now an incredibly popular way for startups and individuals to get the funding to get their projects off the ground. It's certainly an interesting approach to things. Ideas that might not otherwise come to fruition receive the money they need to hit production, further development and so on, and investors get the chance to be involved in something from a very early stage, and possibly reap the benefits when it hits the big time.
But in the UK the Financial Conduct Authority found that most British crowdfunding websites were less than honest with the information shared with potential investors. Specifically, the regulator warns that companies are being selective about the information that is shared with would-be investors, whilst simultaneously underplaying the risks that might be involved.
Jolla on Indiegogo campaign: The more money you give, the more features Tablet gets
Jolla's Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, initiated to help it bring its first tablet to market, is already a success with 12 more days to go until the deadline. The Finnish company has raised nearly $1.3 million so far, which is close to $1 million over the $385,000 goal. You may think that Jolla is resting on its laurels now, but you'd be wrong.
Jolla wants to keep the campaign's momentum going, as it just introduced three Stretch goals. The idea is simple -- the more money the company raises the more features Tablet gets. That is a nice incentive to back the campaign. Luckily for those who have already done so, at this point, hitting the first Stretch goal looks like a done deal.
Jolla crowdfunds its first tablet, hits goal within hours
Crowdfunding a mobile device is a tricky thing to get right. Just ask Ubuntu maker Canonical. To make its Edge smartphone happen, it turned to Indiegogo to get $32 million, of which it only managed to raise (a record) $12.8 million. Its failure can be linked to the sky-high goal, a mistake from which Finnish mobile device vendor Jolla appears to have learned from.
Jolla is also turning to crowdfunding, for its first tablet called Tablet, but the goal it set, of just $380,000, is much, much, much more easier to reach. In fact, at the time of writing this article, Jolla has raised more than $490,000 (a figure that is quickly rising), with 21 days left until the crowdfunding campaign ends, on December 9.
Kickstarter reaches $1 billion in pledges
Crowdfunding is a relatively new phenomenon. If you aren't familiar, it is essentially begging on the internet. However, the beggars are not unmotivated slackers -- quite the contrary. No, these people are begging for money to fund their dreams -- electronics, books, movies, etc. When someone chooses to pledge money, they often get perks, like early access to the product being funded.
There are many companies that facilitate crowdfunding, but the most popular is still Kickstarter. While pledges on the site can be very small, like $5, they can also reach into the thousands of dollars. Today, Kickstarter reaches a milestone -- one billion dollars in pledges. In other words, crowdfunding is legit and here to stay.
Ubuntu Edge smartphone falls far short of its $32 million funding target
When Canonical launched its crowdfunded Ubuntu Edge campaign on Indiegogo, few people expected it to succeed. Building a "smartphone and desktop PC in one state-of-the-art device" was a noble and ambitious aim, but seeking $32 million to do it meant the project had little chance of victory.
Before Ubuntu Edge, the most funding a single project had raised on Indiegogo was $1,665,380, for a Tricorder-style medical scanner. Rival Kickstarter’s record was $10,266,845 for the Pebble smartwatch. Ubuntu Edge did manage to eclipse both, which was an impressive achievement in itself.
JOBS Act leaves most startups out in the cold
Earlier this year I wrote a series of columns about crowdfunding and the JOBS Act, which was signed into law last April with several goals, one of which is to help startups raise money from ordinary investors. Those columns were about the promise of crowdfunding and the JOBS Act while this one is about what progress has been made so far toward that end. For startups, alas, the news is not entirely good. Crowdfunding looks like it may not be available at all for the smaller, needier companies the law is supposedly designed to serve.
It’s one thing to pass a law and quite another to write rules to carry out that law. Title 3 of the JOBS Act required the US Securities & Exchange Commission to write rules for the so-called crowdfunding intermediariesor portals specified by the Act, to choose or create a regulator to monitor those new entities, and to write rules clarifying how deals could be advertised to non-accredited middle-class investors.
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