To question the merits of crowdfunding seems a surefire means of being awarded an OC – Order of Curmudgeon. Millions of person hours have been devoted to introduce it to the world and more than a few forests consumed by its advocates. There is clearly some steak, $10 million of prepaid Pebble watches being an excellent case in point. One case in point, however, does not a society reshape. In this essay, our thrust is to discern over the years to come whether the highly audible sizzle is to be matched by steak in the founders’, then funders’ stomachs.
A little historical perspective seems warranted. Few now question that society’s realization of ubiquitous computing has reshaped industries in the last two decades. Even fewer question that one of society’s core functions, the allocation of savings, will or should be exempted, particularly post 2008. Those saying that there is both sizzle and steak in deployment of the hardware and software of the Internet and mobile phone to improve the allocation of capital in society are surely on the right side of history. We will get products that otherwise would not have seen the light of day, as Kickstarter so clearly demonstrated by being the means of financing the Pebble Watch when existing sources of funds choose not to invest. The watch was bought by 68,000 customers.