Posted by BenjaminDyer on Thu, 16/12/2010 - 11:21
I think I can successfully predict that most people reading this article probably watch the BBC’s Dragons' Den. BusinessZone often features interviews and advice from those that have graced the tatty leather chairs to impart both wisdom and cash to would be entrepreneurs. It’s been a huge success, both as a programme and business incubator.
Time for a confession, personally I find the whole show an exercise in patience, not for the idiots that over value their businesses and under deliver on their products, but the fact there isn’t a another chair and the resources for me! But realistically not going to happen any time soon.
However, some good news for would be investors; I recently discovered a fantastic website with a brilliant ethos for cultivating new business ideas. The site, www.Kickstarter.com is a collaborative funding portal allowing individuals to privately fund ideas or future services. I came across it while searching for information on the Facebook competitor Diaspora, which it turns out raised the majority of funding via the site.
I love ideas like this. Sure there are some fairly wacky products and projects on there but that’s all part of the appeal. Since discovering Kickstarter I have funded a company to produce a special watchstrap for my iPod nano and helped a great sounding band into the studio for a signed copy of their EP.
The total cost of all my investments is probably $100 but working together as a group Kickstarter is raising some serious money. The watchstrap is the idea of a Chicago-based company called MINIMAL and at the time of writing it has raised nearly $700k which gives it enough cash and backers to produce nearly 10,000 products.
We can be forgiven for believing raising money, especially in tech circles, is easy. I read every day about the next up and coming “thing” raising millions through VC rounds and angel investment. Raising money is hard work, and you have to be kidding yourself if you think the hard-nosed venture capitalist you are trying to get face time with is thinking of anything other than his or her exit.
Kickstarter and the various clone sites it is spawning is creating a whole new wave of collaborative investment opportunities for normal people to get involved. Go and take a look, we can all become Dragons.
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