Millionaire idea #824 - Kickstarter authenticated fabricator
1You've seen them before... first project created and they nail a great idea. The project blows past its funding goal and an ill-equipped middle-aged man who just wanted to make a better mousetrap finds that he's the mouse. His delivery estimates are wildly optimistic; he can't handle the work load... he's a tinkerer with a phone number and $10 left on his Skype account trying to call every Foxconn-wannabe in China begging them to take the Kickstarter money and end the nightmare and make his dream come true.
Here's where you come in. You work as the middle man, like the old-school eBay power sellers that take a vig for fronting another man's trash. You're an expert fabricator with connections to all the ins and outs of overseas widget making, shipping, and customs. You make a name for yourself as someone who can get it done right and on-time, the first time, every time.
Now, Joe Schmoe comes up with the idea, you launch his kickstarter for him for a healthy rake of the income and the rights to the product's future development.
And BAM! You just turned those 3d-printed prototype videos into sweet injection molded money trees.
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Millionaire idea #824.1:
Handle just the addon/extra rewards level merchandising for Kickstarter and other crowdfunded projects. Start with the standard t-shirts and schlocky merchandise and then expand into finding the niche items that fit individual projects. Expand further into cross promoting related projects so that you increase the chances of success for projects that use you as the source of merchandise.
I have to assume all Kickstarter product projects get tons of spam from Chinese manufacturing companies eager to take on their production. It'd be hard to compete there.
824.2:
Sell failed project insurance to backers. Simpler, and if terms are vague enough, you never have to pay! C'mon, these guys are backing things on kickstarter; they already look like lollipops in a Looney Tunes short.
Click here because I'm not going to turn this 6 second clip into a gif.
Not to rain on your parade but I had the same exact idea a few months ago. I talked it over with a few of my best creative thinker people (thumperchick being one of them) and we all ultimately decided it's way too much hassle... if you can find a way to make it work good luck but i'm with dave on this one.