As a backer and project creator who's running a Kickstarter funded startup, I couldn't agree more.
I love your example but I want to point out that the same obstacle you mention with games is applicable to most of the other industries that are funded on Kickstarter. The root problem in all cases lay in a startup's:
1) need for an audience
2) need for capital
What kickstarter has successfully done is build a loyal audience that's massive in size. I came to really appreciate this after seeing more than 80% of my funding come from people visiting kickstarter.com who didn't know about my project beforehand. This was huge. And not only does it give you the visibility and the capital required to execute, it validates your idea to a large extent.
Good luck with your campaign! If you don't mind I have a few questions if you happen to know the answers:
1. Did those 80% of people see it through a "featured campaigns" thing or was it totally organic?
2. How did the remaining 20% find your campaign?
3. Can we see the campaign page? :)
Thanks. The campaign ended a while ago but here are the answers:
1. We weren't featured by KS but it was on the "popular projects" page throughout the life of the campaign. It initially got there by a combination of backers finding it through "Recently launched projects" + backers who signed up on our website to be notified of the launch (the former being the majority). By the end of Day 1, it was #1 in its category and stayed there for a while. Here is a link that shows the trend of the project funding if you're interested: http://www.kicktraq.com/projects/yathletics/silverair-odorle...
2. Remaining 20% found it through our own marketing efforts + other websites/blogs writing about the project
I love your example but I want to point out that the same obstacle you mention with games is applicable to most of the other industries that are funded on Kickstarter. The root problem in all cases lay in a startup's:
1) need for an audience
2) need for capital
What kickstarter has successfully done is build a loyal audience that's massive in size. I came to really appreciate this after seeing more than 80% of my funding come from people visiting kickstarter.com who didn't know about my project beforehand. This was huge. And not only does it give you the visibility and the capital required to execute, it validates your idea to a large extent.