Think about this, what if everyone that had a new or improved product concept was able to bring their idea to life. Sure you would have a lot of bad ideas, but there would probably be a few great ideas too, and what if there was a way to let those great ideas rise to the top and find a way to make it to market. You might be asking, what currently prevents someone from introducing their revolutionary product idea to the world? Mainly, cost. Two new services (and I imagine many more will be launching soon) have been created to help alleviate that most difficult aspect of product development, funding. Kickstarter and Quirky provide a service that generates funding for product concepts and a lot more. Traditionally someone with a new product concept would have to invest their own money (or investor’s) into the development process but also have a large investment for the first production. These services differ in their approach but they both allow the inventor to  reach a consumer base and generate capital before manufacturing molds are even made. This type of freedom to create will hopefully lead to quicker advancements in products, and new and interesting niche products.
Kickstarter
Kickstarter is the more risky option but in the long run leaves the inventor with the most control and has a greater potential for profit. To get an idea funded the inventor need only describe their product concept, however, the better the description (presentation) the more likely it is to get funding. Some of the most successful presentations are the ones where a product is presented with a prototype, branding, eye-catching images, copy, and video. However, a high quality presentation will take some initial investment. Next the inventor sets a funding goal and a time frame in which to meet that goal. Visitors to the website can then pledge an amount of money toward the project. Generally the pledge will act as a prepayment or partial payment for the product once it reaches production. If the funding goal is not reached, no one is charged and the inventor can either make adjustments and relaunch or abandon the project. If a well presented and well thought out concept fails to find an audience, the loss is relatively small compared to a product that is produced and fails to find an audience. However, if it is successful and the funding is met (you can exceed your funding goal as well) then the money can be used to build tools and begin production. Whats more is Kickstarter allows the future users of the product to give feedback during the development stage. Once everything is said and done the inventor retains all intellectual property and rights to the product and all the profits, Kickstarter receives a small percentage of the initial funding goal for helping launch the product.
Quirky
Quirky is a social based product launching service that allows its user group to vote on new product concepts for production. The key difference between Quirky and Kickstarter is that Quirky develops the products with their internal design and engineering team based on community selection and sells them through the website. Once a product is selected and eventually produced the profits are shared with the Quirky community with a larger share going to the person who submitted the idea. Quirky is probably the least risky way to get an idea out there, but it also has a lot of drawbacks. If the idea does not resonate with the Quirky community it might not get selected for production. The person with the product concept cannot build a company based on the sales of the product, and only has influence over things like naming and branding and not final say. However, Quirky takes full risk on product development, funding for production, and marketing. If someone wants to get involved with producing products or get their idea out there with an investment no greater than a lunch out, then Quirky is the way to go.
Conclusion
The most interesting aspect of these new services is that the hurdles to getting a great idea to market are a lot smaller than they used to be. Combine this new method of funding with the rise of easy and affordable rapid prototyping and CAD software (look for more on that in a later post) and almost anyone can get their ideas out there. There will still be a plethora of bad ideas, but in theory only the great ones get funded. So you have no excuses, give that great idea you have filed away in the deep recesses of your memory a chance at success, after all you have nothing (almost nothing) to lose.
