Tag: Kickstarter

Taskin’s Very Problematic Kickstarter Campaign

I posted a version of this on Reddit.

Taskin, a San Francisco-based company that primarily sells bags and luggage, has done a crowdfunding bait-and-switch on their recent Kickstarter campaign and a gone silent on responding to backers (and possibly gone under as a company, not sure).

Don’t buy from them, you might not get what you paid for.

Crowdfunding campaigns not delivering what they promise is certainly not new, but what is surprising about this is that Taskin has been doing crowdfunding for seven years. They’ve done 16 campaigns in total, raising $1.36M in funds over the years. They were a reputable company that made great products; I backed several of them, and purchased others. I really liked their stuff!

Continue reading Taskin’s Very Problematic Kickstarter Campaign

The Harsh Reality of Crowdfunding Time to Market

The first time I backed a Crowdfunded project was in 2011. It was a documentary about MMA legend Jens Pulver and from that moment on I was hooked. It always bothered me that the only technology I could buy was whatever large companies decided was what would sell; dumbing down to sell to the general market doesn’t always generate the best products. It’s similar when it comes to movies and creative endeavours, though those artists have had a someone easier path of direct support since the dawn of the Internet age and electronic payments.

Since that first project, I’ve backed 20 more products on Kickstarter, and another 27 on Indiegogo; 48 total campaigns, mostly in the technology or entertainment realm. While only one has truly flamed out into oblivion – a D&D documentary project that got sued by, I think, another D&D documentary project – many are in the vague “we’re building it” phase. Continue reading The Harsh Reality of Crowdfunding Time to Market