Philips has a net worth in the billions, $20.67 billion as of July 12, 2023. (Source link) Yet they decided to create a kickstarter, charging “early bird” buyers these earphones that’s designed for wearing while sleeping, basically the same as any other earphones, just slimmed down and cables running around your head.
What’s infuriating is that there’s dumbasses who actually gave them money to make a product ($500k million in total), so Philips is most likely not taking any risk making this, but will enjoy the profits.
The kickstarter - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kokoon/sleep-headphones/posts
I thought the whole point of a kickstarter was people with a product, but lacking the funds to get the project actually going getting a kick start to get going… Not for billion dollar companies to beg for cash.
I thought the whole point of a kickstarter was people with a product, but lacking the funds to get the project actually going getting a kick start to get going… Not for billion dollar companies to beg for cash.
Yeah, that’s what it used to be. Unfortunately, there has been a concerning trend in large companies using crowdfunding platforms as a way to measure market interest in a product before putting in the effort time and money needed for the old R&D process. It pays to check on the company or business for a Kickstarter before backing. Unfortunately it seems alot of folks use Kickstarter as a sort of shopping cart for new stuff, rather then a way to fund the future additions and innovation to an industry they care about. I fell for that a bit at first, but I’ve learned to ignore the FOMO.
I thought the whole point of a kickstarter was people with a product, but lacking the funds to get the project actually going getting a kick start to get going…
I don’t think that is the point of Kickstarter anymore, people are much more wary of Kickstarters nowadays after a string of high profile failures (Arist coffee maker, Skarp shaver) and under-delivery (Star Citizen.jpeg, Coolest Cooler), so they would much rather treat Kickstarter as a pre-order system from a known brand like Phillips to minimalize risk.
Personally, the only Kickstarter I would invest in is card/board games, since these seems to be the lowest risk; Games are sometimes OK, depending on the scale, but hardware are usually way too risky because people tend vastly underestimate the amount of initial cost it takes to take an idea to a hardware prototype, nevermind from prototype to production.
Also, note to self: promote next movie on Kickstarter after strike.
As a Dutch person, Phillips used to be something to be proud of. Lately it’s mostly a source of shame.
MBAs totally ruined that company.
14 people donated without paying enough to get the reward… that’s… wow
Yeah, that I do not get. It’s basically donating money to a corporation just to receive marketing updates about a product? I don’t get it…
It’s not begging for cash, it’s seeing if there’s a market before they sink a bunch of R&D dollars into it.
Philips can afford to take a chance on a product and risk losing money much better than regular people suffering from the combination of runaway inflation mostly caused by corporate greed and stagnant wages can.
But why should they take a chance? You’re saying that like it’s surprising but I don’t think it’s unethical
They are protected from losses by their existing profitable market share ( in the billions) so it is unethical to use a tool created to help negate risk for those without the safety of an existing profitable market. There is an immense privilege in being the current dominant party in a market, and we live in a world that has put laws in place to protect companies who become the dominant party in a market instead of laws that equalize the market.
If we were all playing this game as kids, what phillips is doing would be seen as totally unfair, so why is it okay now that we are adults?
There is still risk even if you’re profitable now? If you don’t use mechanism to protect against risk you won’t be profitable for long. Nobody is harmed who didn’t consent to it by buying a Kickstarter project.
Where are you getting $500 million? This drive is only up to about $650k usd.
Oops, corrected, thanks. Was thinking half a million, ended up typing 500 and then a million.
It doesn’t even seem like a breakthrough product.
I have had a pair of super comfortable $15 earphones that I use for sleep for 6 years. They’re made of silicon and you can lay right on them and you wouldn’t notice at all.
Sounds nice, can you tell me what they are exactly?
