Kickstarter Investment Participation

[chiefbaron]

Has anyone every participated in "Kickstarter" campaign?

I read a review on a piece of gear I am very interested in. They are close to full scale production. If you pledge x$ now you get a 40-50% off a production model and get prioritized for first release production.

Other than the obvious "buyer beware" issues of first run production of relatively new technology, have you had any experience with Kickstarter? What are the pro & cons? The buy in risk is ~$1K.

 

[ucfireman]

My question would be, if they don't raise the funding needed to produce the products, do you get your money back?
You are basically paying for the product first. but what happens if there is no product?

 

[chiefbaron]

That is some of the feedback I received from the same query on another forum. In some instances the company folded and the money disappeared - very good input. Of course, not all Kickstarter campaign are frauds or fail - if they did, Kickstarter would fail.
https://www.failory.com/blog/kickstarter-fails

In this case I was looking at a new company producing a new generation minimal exo-skeleton that makes hiking, climbing, & running easier. The technology is already developed and marketed by other companies. This version weighs 3.5 lbs with a range of 50km and outsets 38kg of load.
https://dnsys.ai/

As senior hunter I was considering if it would help with hunting in the north GA mountains. Getting up and down the ridges, help with dragging a deer or bear out of the woods.

Similar to an electric bike in principle, but not limited to trails or roads.