In 2010, Time Magazine named Kickstarter as one of the ’50 Best Inventions of the Year”

Kickstarter is described as a “crowd-funding” site.  It’s a place where creative people can put their ideas out there and ask for help getting those projects funded.

In fact, KFI's own Bryan Suits, recently got his book project funded via Kickstarter!

• Charles Adler (mid 30s)
• Perry Chen, 36 
• Yancey Strickler, 33

…are the architects of Kickstarter.

In 2002, Chen, then a waiter and a Tulane Business school graduate, was trying to organize a $20,000 concert, but couldn’t afford to assume the risk on his own, so the concert never happened. 

He started thinking of ways to make sure that this wouldn’t happen to him again.

In 2005, he approached, Yancey Strickler, music journalist and the editor-in-chief of the website, eMusic, with the idea for Kickstarter.

They went to Charles Adler, a tech designer and fleshed out the idea for what they called a “marketplace for creativity” and a place where people who needed money for a project could get it. 

To date:

• more than 84,000 projects have been posted to Kickstarter
• more than 35,000 of those projects have been fully funded
• the website has raised nearly $500 million for projects with more than 3 million people pledging money for projects
• Most successfully funded products raise less than $10,000 but to date, 22 projects have raised more than $1 million
• 17 Kickstarter financed films have appeared at the Sundance Film Festival….FIVE of those won awards

There are many categories of projects.  For example: 

• Music
• Film
• Art
• Design
• Food
• Publishing
• Technology

According to Kickstarter’s guidelines: 

• Funding is for projects only, and projects have to have a clear goal. A project will eventually be completed, and something will be produced by it. A project is not open-ended. Starting a business, for example, does not qualify as a project. 

• Kickstarter does not allow charity, cause or ‘fund my life projects’

There’s also a list of ‘prohibited’ things you can’t start a project for. 

If you don’t fall into one of the prohibited categories, it’s simple and free to POST your project. 

You go to Kickstarter and: 

• Describe your project with a video or description
• Set a target amount of funds to raise
• Set a deadline to raise the funds

Then you send out the link to friends, family, or via social networks and wait for the donations to come in!

If you get enough donations in your allotted time, then: 

• Kickstarter takes 5% as their fee
• You pay 3-5% to Amazon.com’s credit card service
• You get the rest and you move your project forward.

If you don’t raise the money by the deadline: 

• the deal is off
• your contributors keep their money
• Kickstarter takes NOTHING

Critics say there is one worrisome part of Kickstarter. 

What if a project that was fully funded is never completed?  After all, when a project is funded, the creator gets their money minus the fees.

Because of that, can Kickstarter be liable if a project isn’t completed?

Kickstarter says NO, their Terms of Use require project creators to fulfill ALL rewards of their project (for example if they were offered a signed photo for a donation) or refund any backer whose reward they do not or can not fulfill.

Since creators receive their money after their project is funded, Kickstarter can not issue refunds.

Kickstarter says that creators of projects that are fully funded are expected to keep those that donated to them up to date on the status of the project through completion.

If a funded project isn’t completed, the creator of the project needs to find a resolution, such as offering refunds or detailing exactly how funds were used to satisfy those that backed the project.

Here’s one thing to remember, this is not an investment.  You’re basically giving your money away.  So if you invest in a movie that makes a HUGE amount of money, you get nothing but the pleasure of knowing that you helped make it possible and whatever little trinket they offered you for contributing.

Sandy Stein had a dream. In it, her deceased father showed her a simple design for a product and told her to get out there and sell it!

At the time Sandy was 52, a career flight attendant, and mother of a 10 year old boy.  Her husband had been out of work and the airline industry was suffering due to 9/11.

Using her natural sales ability and experience gained from selling lipstick (a side job), she put together the most unusual sales plan the gift market had seen.

Then, using her life savings, launched Finders Key Purse® in December 2004. She and her team sold 1 million pieces in her first year of operation!

Over 9 million Finders Key Purse® have been sold to date and Alexx, Inc. has 12,000 customers throughout the United States, Australia, Canada, Middle East, & New Zealand.

Find out more at the Finders Key Purse website or at Isn't This Clever

Listen to Bill's interview with Sandy Stein!

Part 1

Part 2

When you get engaged or married, you usually create a Registry, so people know what kind of stuff to buy you. 

Now, you can go to high end retailers like Nordstrom’s, Saks 5th Avenueor Barney’s…..or you can create a registry at Target, Bed Bath & Beyond or K-Mart.

You go in, scan a bunch of stuff you want people to buy you and they can access this information via a website or at the store when they’re ready to purchase you a gift.

Registries are designed to make sure you get the stuff YOU want, instead of the crap that people want to buy you sometimes.

Well, what if you want a NEW CAR?

There’s a registry for that too!

You may have recently seen this 30 second Dodge Dart commercial on TV…it’s everywhere.

In January, Dodge introduced the Dodge Dart Registry.

This allows you:

• to build and customize your Dodge Dart (MSRP for the Dart starts at $16,000)
• set a goal for the amount of money you want to raise to fund it.  (For example, your goal can be for the full amount of the car, up to $30,000, or just a portion of the cost, say $10,000.)
• You set a timetable for that goal (3 months, 6 months a year, etc)
• Tell family and friends why you want the car sponsored….like you’re graduating, or getting married, etc.  

You can also upload pictures or a video about why you’re asking people to sponsor your car, some which involve sob stories.  

Then, the registry itemizes the components of the car like:

• steering wheel
• tires
• engine
• Seats
• Nuts and bolts
• Speedometer
• Headlights
• Rear view mirrors
• Leather interior

….then those items are listed so that people can BUY them for you.

Once the registry is complete, you spread the word about it via email, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

They go to the registry and click the ‘Fund a Part’ link and using a credit card, they sponsor those specific parts based on how much they want to spend.

The funds raised on the registry, MINUS A FEW FEES, are used to purchase your Dodge Dart.

Yes, there are fees involved, and these fees apply whether or not you reach your goal.

There is a:

• 5% commission fee
• 4% payment-processing fee

That’s $90 for every $1000 raised.  So, if you’re trying to raise funds for a $20,000 car, that would be $1,800 in fees!

The fees go to RocketHub, to cover the cost of running the registry for Dodge.

When your pre-determined timeline is up, you see how much you have and then ‘withdraw’ the money (minus the fees) and put it toward the cost of the car.

OR…you can ‘withdraw’ the cash and keep it, which would seem to be counterproductive since you still have to pay the fees anyway.

Even though Tyler Perry earned a slew of “Razzie” nominations this year, including “worst actor” for his role in ‘Alex Cross’ and “worst actress” for “Madea’s Witness Protection.” There is no denying he’s an entertainment juggernaut.

He’s an:

• Actor
• Director
• Producer
• Playwright / Author

He has written and produced:

• 17 plays
• 15 films
• 5 TV shows

He also has a 200,000 sq ft production studio, Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, Georgia.

And he did all of it in just EIGHT years.

That itself is an amazing thing, but Tyler did all of it after surviving two suicide attempts after a childhood filled with brutal physical abuse and molestation.

Read Tyler Perry's story

Here's Tyler talking about success.

When Jerry Buss bought the Lakers in 1979, he wanted to build a championship team. He also wanted to put on a show.

The new owner gave courtside seats to movie stars. He hired pretty women to dance during timeouts. He spent freely on big stars and encouraged a fast-paced, exuberant style of play.

As the Lakers sprinted to one NBA title after another, Buss cut an audacious figure in the stands, an aging playboy in bluejeans, often with a younger woman.

"I really tried to create a Laker image, a distinct identity," he once said. "I think we've been successful. I mean, the Lakers are pretty damn Hollywood."

Buss, 80, died Monday of complications of cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Read more at LA Times

Listen to this segment HERE

The very first female self-made millionaire in the United States is one who created a product for herself.

In the late 1890s, Sarah Breedlove developed a scalp problem that caused her to lose a lot of her hair.  She was very embarrassed by her condition.

She says that in a dream one night, she saw different products that when mixed together, could help her condition. So she gave it a try and for months experimented with a combination of home remedies and store bought products until she found a combination that worked.

She called it "Madame C.J. Walker’s Wonderful Hair Grower”,  and from then on, that's how she was known. 

She traveled the country giving lecture demonstrations of the ‘Walker Method’ using her own pomade formula and the use of heated brushes and combs to help straighten the hair of African American women. 

It was a HUGE hit and her company ultimately created employment for more than 1,000 African American women.

Madame C. J. Walker died of kidney failure and other complications due to hypertension on May 25, 1919 at her home in New York.

She was 52 years old.

At the time of her death she was the sole owner of her business which was valued at more than $1 million.

In just 15 years, Madame C.J. Walker achieved success through perseverance, hard work, and faith in herself.

She once said:

“I got my start, by giving myself a start. 

There is no royal flower-strewn path to success.  And if there is, I have not found it, for if I have accomplished anything in life it is because I have been willing to work hard.

I had to make my own living and my own opportunity.  But I made it!  Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come.  Get up and make them!”

Read more at Business Insider

Sometimes success is not about how much money you’ve made.

Sometimes it’s about the legacy you leave behind.

This is the case with Jessica Joy Rees.

We want to thank Yahoo Sports for making us aware of Jessie's story.

Listen to Bill tell Jessie's story

In February 2011, 11-year-old Jessie started complaining of headaches.  After things got worse, Jessie went to see the doctor, who ordered an MRI. 

The result was unimaginable.  Jessie had cancer.  Two malignant tumors in her brain stem.

The news got worse.  It was inoperable and incurable. She had a 1% chance to live 18 months.

One day in the spring of 2011, Jessie was getting into the car after a round of chemo and radiation, and she asked her parents why she got to leave the hospital after treatment but other kids didn't.  Her dad explained to her about in-patient and out-patient treatment, and that's when Jessie asked a question that her mom and dad say changed their lives.

“What can we do for them?”

Well, Jessie figured out what she could do for them.  That same afternoon, she found some paper lunch bags and filled them with toys and trinkets she found around the house and brought the bags to the kids who were in the hospital.  They were a hit!

Her parents suggested she use 64 oz. plastic jars instead and call them "Joy Jars," (Joy is Jessie's middle name) Jessie LOVED the idea and a legacy was born.

Sadly, Jessie lost her corageous battle with cancer in January 2012, but before she did, she had filled and distributed 3,000 Joy Jars, and while she's not here with us anymore, her effort lives on.

In 2012 Jessie was one of three 'Young Wonders' honored at the CNN Heroes Tribute.

Jessie's Motto, "Never Ever Give Up", spawned an organization of the same name NEGU, that is almost entirely volunteer staffed.  (NEGU is a 501c3 pediatric cancer charity)

To date, NEGU and their "Joy Mobs" has distributed 47,000 Joy Jars to kids in 50 states and 11 countries at more than 125 Children's Hospitals.

It costs about $20 to stuff a Joy Jar, that includes the cost of the jar, the toys, activities and other items stuffed to the brim inside, and shipping. The jars are 100% free to patients and hospitals.

If you would like to help fund Jessie's effort please visit the NEGU organization to donate money, items or to arrange an appointment to help volunteer to stuff Joy Jars for children.

Visit the Jessica Joy Rees website

Visit the Never Ever Give Up Foundation

Visit the Jessie Rees Foundation page on Facebook

Follow Team NEGU on Twitter

Maybe you didn't notice it in the Christmas crush, but a huge shift took place this holiday shopping season: merchants changed the price of goods online more quickly than at any other time in retail history. How often? According to Eric Best, CEO of Mercent, a Seattle firm that creates and manages automated pricing programs, the most aggressive sellers were jiggling prices in 10-to-15-minute windows. That's why they call it dynamic pricing.

You're probably most familiar with dynamic pricing from buying airline tickets. The model, introduced by American Airlines in the '80s, is designed to shift capacity risk (i.e., empty seats)...

Read more at Time Magazine