Kickstarter - Fund and Follow Creativity

Kickstarter Beta is new internet based service that enables project creators to gain financial pledges for their creative endeavors, and allows interested individuals and parties to back creative projects.

Kickstarter is fund-raising with a twist – and an inteligent way to gauge interest in your project.

I stumbled onto Kickstarter while researching alternatives to Facebook.

Kickstarter: "Kickstarter is a new way to fund creative ideas and ambitious endeavors". – That is the opening statement of the Kickstarter FAQ file. (Click the quote for more FAQ answers).

At the Kickstarter website you'll find listings of current projects looking for a 'kickstart'. – Essentially, it's a vehicle to provide funding to projects that seem worthwhile to you. Maybe something like Diaspora, the 'open source' social networking project that has taken up the call for an alternative to Facebook.

This funding method is different from investing in a project or 'seeding a startup', in that the project creators get to keep all the money. – There is no 'return on investment' other than the rewards, (ie T-shirts or CDs), projects may offer as an incentive for people to 'make a pledge', and, hopefully, the success of the project you've pledged to.

Contributions are called pledged. The reason for that is that Kickstart is a 'fund-raising' venue. Project-hopefuls have to specify the amount of funding sought, and specify a deadline by which the required level of funding must be reached in order for the project to continue, and if either of those conditions aren't met, all 'pledges' are canceled.

It's not a free for all either – applications are screened.

It's a pretty cool concept. Possibly a godsend for artists and creative thinkers.

At the moment, only US projects are eligible, but according to the info at the site that will be changing soon .

Here's a link to Kickstarter.com