Thanks for sharing this, I'm hoping it gets some traction on HN. It seems like a great place to not only vet your idea but to also build a diverse goal-oriented team and I look forward to posting my side-projects on it.
I'd also recommend cross-posting it over on ProductHunt and BetaList.
Hey, thank you kindly for this. I hope so too! I need to do a relaunch on Product hunt actually, did one a while ago and it kind of flopped. Need to get into that routine of constantly launching (rather than doing just one big launch.)
If you ever do decide to post a project on there, get in touch and I can try to help out where I can.
I’d considered it and partially done it. The issue is that we don’t really fit our own criteria. Without a widget to sell quickly or relying on growth to make profit, it’s a big ask to expect that contributors will wait potentially years for a payout. I see it being a valuable route to take once we’ve matured a bit though.
I'm not the creator but I think I can answer this.
With Kickstarter you are trying to raise funds usually in exchange for a product or aesthetic cause. With Crowdsourcer you are actually trying to acquire the talent to launch a software project.
1. You don't have to do a massive marketing campaign to raise finance, because you're not raising finance.
2. It's not an everything or nothing roll of the dice.
3. You don't even need to raise finance - the investment of expertise and time by you and your contributors should remove most (most) of what you'd normally spend money on.
4. You don't have take on any financial risk - the risk comes to you and your fellow contributors in the form of wasted time if your product flops.
5. You get help actually building your product - from contributors who you find or find you.
6. It creates an equitable payment structure where you and controbutors get paid based on how much everyone contributes.
Hope this helps to explain the concept a little better.
It’s based on a bounty system for tasks, each of which have a value. With value localised to every project, the value can be a function of anything (though likely time and difficulty) as long as it’s consistent throughout the project’s life. When people are content with the amount of value a task will reward, they can begin working on it and as they complete these tasks and they’re peer reviewed and accepted, their value in the project grows.
Hope that goes some way to explaining it. Let me know if it needs more clarification.
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[ 2.8 ms ] story [ 43.2 ms ] threadI'd also recommend cross-posting it over on ProductHunt and BetaList.
If you ever do decide to post a project on there, get in touch and I can try to help out where I can.
With Kickstarter you are trying to raise funds usually in exchange for a product or aesthetic cause. With Crowdsourcer you are actually trying to acquire the talent to launch a software project.
https://www.producthunt.com/posts/crowdsourcer
1. You don't have to do a massive marketing campaign to raise finance, because you're not raising finance.
2. It's not an everything or nothing roll of the dice.
3. You don't even need to raise finance - the investment of expertise and time by you and your contributors should remove most (most) of what you'd normally spend money on.
4. You don't have take on any financial risk - the risk comes to you and your fellow contributors in the form of wasted time if your product flops.
5. You get help actually building your product - from contributors who you find or find you.
6. It creates an equitable payment structure where you and controbutors get paid based on how much everyone contributes.
Hope this helps to explain the concept a little better.
There's a video here which explains it well I think: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHHvJzUGpCM
Hope that goes some way to explaining it. Let me know if it needs more clarification.