Ask HN: An international solution to Kickstarter? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: An international solution to Kickstarter?

8 pointsdarxius4 comments

I've learned today that you can't start a project on Kickstarter without first having a US address and credit card. This totally sucks. My buddy and I have been working on a sweet online community for the open source world and we planned on getting some funds through kickstarter for some hosting upgrades and to get some help with the python coding.

So my question is this: is there a way around the US-only kickstarter rule? I'm not talking about anything illegal, just maybe they make exceptions (I know this is a long shot).

If not, are there any other reputable alternatives which can give good results and exposure like kickstarter does and are open to international creators? How else would you recommend we look for quick community-generated funds?

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I've thought about this too. I think it's more than just a US address and credit card. I think you also have to have a social security no and state ID.

The only thing I can think of is to bring someone on board to the project that meets this criteria. You'd have to trust them completely and it would probably be wise to have a contract drawn up too

I really wish there was a trustworthy company that filled this role.

Other sites like indieGoGo are fine but they just don't attract the same level of funding.

You're right about the SSN, which makes things a lot more difficult.

I came across indieGoGo and thought about it, but it just doesn't seem like I would get the same kind of exposure as Kickstarter would give me. I'm contemplating just posting our launch page on HN and hoping for a decent amount of votes, but that doesn't solve the funds issue.

Where are you from? I've been thinking about setting up a third-party service to do just that in fact, but given my involvement in other investments the liability issue is concerning--mainly fraud and tax. I would seriously consider running through the numbers and viability of certain projects if I was made an executive partner and held a permanent accountant/consultant position for the life of the project and negotiate the terms and fees for my service accordingly.

But then I guess the allure of 'staying indie' that KS affords goes out the window, doesn't?

Tell you what, pitch the idea on HN update this thread with the links and gauge the Market; lets keep in touch. (I have an account and an open non-tech project on KS in the popular section under Design as we speak.)

No promises made, of course, and the matter is strictly discretionary on my end (I'm not going to even consider working with the relative of an alleged lost Nigerian monarch); but I'm intrigued enough to see what an idea I had in the back of mind may look like in practice.

Just as a side note: there are also further rules on KS that you aren't made aware of until you submit your project and it has been approved for the second time prior to launching. I could discuss them with you if you do the leg work mentioned above.

No, but this is one of the reasons we built http://ignitiondeck.com, and we're hearing a lot of encouraging feedback from those outside the US trying to raise money.

If something like that isn't an option, I believe Indie GoGo also offers campaigns outside the US.

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