Scanadu and Planetary Resources Crowdfunding Initiatives
Brand and Product Marketing via Crowdfunding, SpaceRef Business
“Crowdfunding is becoming a familiar word for those who need to fund a project or product. In the case of a startup, it can replace the role of the angel investor to get the initial funding. However the scope of what is being funded, and why, is evolving as startups use this collective effort for brand recognition and marketing a specific project or product.”
This confirms what many of us surmised, that the crowdfunding is not being used for increased company start-up capital, but rather for follow-on activities that are quite separate from the activities funded by the initial investments. I think this is a smart way to go, and it spreads the added risk around (small risks for may contributors, each of whom decides their own level of risk/investment). This is an example of how the capitalist system can rather painlessly achieve results that other economic systems can’t achieve at all. Perhaps capitalism shouldn’t always be treated as a four-letter word.
I hope the crowdfunding approach survives and grows. It allows people to make choices, and “vote” for ideas with their money, and it allows people to contribute at their own rates. Best of all, start-ups, new research, and diversifications that previously would have failed or never been born because of a (relatively speaking) small amount of funding being unavailable now potentially have another investment source to turn to.