New network that takes on Facebook is project of 'casual' angel investment site
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Daniel Shope, a senior studying mechanical and biomedical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, works on his Cheebot robot prototype. He's seeking Kickstarter funding for the project.
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Techies and casual Web users alike are flocking this week to check out Diaspora, a new social network backed by pent-up frustration with Facebook and 6,479 investors who thought it seemed like a good idea.
Founded by four friends at New York University, Diaspora hopes to capitalize on Facebook's criticized stance on user privacy and personal control over information that lives forever on the Web.
It also happens to be the first success story for Kickstarter, a New York-based website that brings hotshot angel investing down to earth and allows anyone to contribute any amount of money to a project. Some Pittsburghers see it as a more casual method of investing, an alternative for a city with established incubators that are on the lookout for the Next Big Thing.
Pittsburgh entries on the Kickstarter website range from a catalog of our nation's great-grandparents to a robot prototype designed to mimic a cheetah. One project, Conflict Kitchen, serves up food in East Liberty from countries in conflict with the United States.
Kickstarter takes a sort of PBS "Viewers Like You" approach, expanding the usual circle of investors beyond generous parents and West Coast executives. In exchange for a contribution, investors don't receive shares but instead gifts from the project creator, ranging from a personalized thank-you note to a laptop computer.
Kickstarter projects have up to 90 days to meet their fundraising goal; no money is exchanged if the donations fall short. An Amazon.com program transfers money from one account to another and only trust ensures the investor contributions are used for the project and not, say, groceries.
As a hosting fee, Kickstarter pockets 5 percent of the donation.
Diaspora and Kickstarter have fueled each other's popularity. The social network project initially aimed to raise $10,000 on Kickstarter in 39 days. The final tally: more than $200,000.
It remains to be seen if the money translates into Diaspora members. Facebook crossed the 500-million-member mark over the summer and shows no signs of slowing despite criticism aimed at its founder and chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, over the company's confusing privacy settings.
First Published September 16, 2010 12:00 am
