SavasJul 13, 2023

Billion $ net worth company creating kickstarters...

https://lemmy.world/post/1445723

Billion $ net worth company creating kickstarters... - Lemmy.world

Philips has a net worth in the billions, $20.67 billion as of July 12, 2023. (Source link [https://stockanalysis.com/stocks/phg/market-cap/]) 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 ($500 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 [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.

Show threadJordan Lund
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.
Jul 15, 2023 at 6:56amWeb
Show threadLordOfTheChiaJul 15, 2023

Yup, just imagine a world where companies launch a Kickstarter for a show that is on the chopping block give fans a chance to pre-pay for an additional season (with blu-rays or something as rewards).

Same deal with some tech. Big company, lots of potential products, but many are axed if they don’t think they can market them.

Show threadViking_HippieJul 15, 2023
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.
Why prices, inflation are still soaring: corporate price gouging

Why does everything cost so much? Because businesses are "hiding behind inflation to jack up prices."

Insider
Show threadMolochalterJul 15, 2023

Of course they can, but why should they? There’s nothing to lose for them (or anyone really) if they crowdfund it instead. It’s essentially a preorder and market research.

Like, you wouldn’t catch me dead paying into it but there’s nothing wrong with this strategy, until they steal the money and run, which they won’t because companies care about PR more than KS scammers do.

Show threadJordan LundJul 15, 2023

Phillips CAN, but in a large otganization like that there are a lot of politics going on.

Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that this is someone’s pet project, but they can’t get funding for it because the higher ups don’t see there’s any interest in it…

“Well I’ll prove there’s interest!” (funded in 1 hour).