>>1126578
When people became retards. My roommate was spouting off about how he likes crowd sourcing sites because it makes him feel like hes helping his fellow man. Has no interest in learning the stock market though. He could throw his money away on it and at least have a chance on making it back.

I thought about kickstarting a hedge fund. People will give you money just to give it to you and you don't have to return it. Trying to get my buddies sister to do it since she's black and kick starter retards eat that shit up. You don't even have to have a good hedge fund because none of your investors expect any return.

>>1126603
its fucking retarded shit for retarded millennials.

obv they are going to have lackluster follow through when they are under no obligation to succeed.

>need money for clothing label
>need money for restaurant
>need money for recording studio

>>1126603
Wait, they dont get a return on their money on these sites? They dont even get their money back?

>>1126612
some will offer some sort of compensation but nothing even close to the dollar value they put in.

i know Occulus actually gave people dev units for x$ but its not required (look at Anita Sarkeesian).

>>1126624
Wtf who in their right mind would give away money to strangers on the internet. What a strange world

>>1126630
its fucking retarded and most things people are seeking funding for are in no way new or innovative things
>please give me 100$K for a food truck
they just want all the benefits of doing /biz/ without any risk. its fucking sickening.

>>1126630
Retards. I don't get it. They could go invest in retards who will give them equity. I know tons of idiots with tech start ups who would love more money to waste on booze.

There was a site that was planned which used crowd sourcing but promised return on investment. They were relying on law changes from Obama this year so not sure what happened to them.

Honestly, what's wrong with this funding model? You market your business at the same time as funding it. Which one of your people wouldn't transfer business risk to an outside party given the opportunity? Crowdsourcing also fills a niche for new and unique products which may not be so easily funded using traditional means.

Yes, of course, there's a risk that you would lose your money. However, people are aware of that and yet they are still willing to assume that risk because the product or service being offered appeals greatly to them. In addition, individual risk is also decreased because it's distributed among hundreds if not thousands of backers instead of one or a few investors or lenders. The people investing in crowdsourced businesses are not interested in growing their money or maximizing their income in the first place so investing in stock markets as you people seem to be suggesting is not an option to them. Furthermore, there is no prohibition to investing in or donating to crowdsourced businesses every now and then and maintaining a sound investment portfolio.

>>1126640
It's fucking genius, you idiot.

These hipsters are making the most money with the least risk involved -- it doesn't matter how they're doing it or the intelligence of the retards buying into it; they're making money.

That's biz

>>1126612
the ethical ones are basically a pre order for a new product. But yeah, you should never back a project for more than you're willing to lose.

>get free money from retards

Thats not risk averse, its smart.

>>1126696
I agree. Crowdfunding took off because banks don't loan and companies aren't listening to customers.

>>1126630
normies

>>1126701
Ya this. Free capital is biz as fuck. It's the idiots funding them that need to be institutionalised

>>1126701
the goal of any business endeavor is to survive.

whoop de do they make some temporary gains but that is about it.

>>1126805
>free money is bad
Dude you arent /biz/ at all

>>1126805
If these entrepreneurs are already intrinsically motivated to "survive" and to grow their business then it would not matter where their funding came from. You put too much faith in the need be tangibly beholden to others in order to be motivated to work.

Furthermore, it's not temporary if they actually put the money to good use. Crowdsourcing also serves the added function of testing whether a market for your idea already exists so it wouldn't be completely unwise for someone to make use of it to gauge their odds of survival as you put it.

>>1126823
>If these entrepreneurs are already intrinsically motivated to "survive" and to grow their business then it would not matter where their funding came from.
the problem is they are not adequately motivated. they are mostly hipsters who want nice things for free.

>>1126819
temporary free money, once they fuck up they dont owe anyone shit and their track record is fucked.

>>1126696
Nothing is wrong with using it to finance your shit. Everything is wrong with putting your money into somebody else getting wealthy with no return. Like I said, I'd use it to fund my shit because I have no qualms with taking money from careless people. I'd never contribute money though.

>>1126847
So what if some or even a majority of people who make use of crowdfunding are just "hipsters who want nice things for free"? As long as people know up front that there is no guarantee that they would receive a return on their investment then they are making an informed choice and taking a calculated risk. Obviously, people have different appetites for risk and the crowdfunding model doesn't appeal to you. That's fine. Conventional equity and debt financing methods are still available to you. Again, crowdsourcing fills a niche and should be welcomed on that note. In any case, crowdsourcing is still relatively young and open to refinement and innovation. For instance, I expect that as the model becomes more familiar, people will become more savvy and more judicious with their investments in general. I also expect innovations in legal frameworks that give more protection to investors such as those which developed in public equity markets.

>>1126869
So many people here seem to be paranoid about getting ripped off. Again, it's only an alternative and not a replacement for conventional financing methods. If you're not happy with the risk involved with it then that's alright.

Would you believe that there actually people out there who just give away money to causes that they respect or admire without expectations of anything in return? Amazing, isn't it? Apparently, there are people who don't obssess over the typically small individual amounts involved in crowdsourcing.