Ask HN: Will the Oculus acquisition dampen funding of tech Kickstarter projects?
Given the negative reaction of Facebook's acquisition of Oculus (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7469115), would you be less likely to fund tech-based projects on Kickstarter in the future? What if the project's creators pledged a no acquisition policy? How could that even be enforced?
5 comments
would you be less likely to fund tech-based projects on Kickstarter in the future?
No. Why in the heck would I do that?
What if the project's creators pledged a no acquisition policy?
No, that would be stupid.
How could that even be enforced?
More to the point, why would anybody even think to do that?
What, is everyone who contributes to a Kickstarter supposed to be operating under the belief that Real Life is some anti-capitalist-hippie-commune-love-fest where the companies that raise on Kickstarter ha ve to forevermore forswear the profit motive? Bollocks.
OK, I know nobody (where by "nobody" I mean "all the hipster wannabes") likes it when their favorite indy band signs with a major record label, or when their pet Open Source project becomes the seed of an evil capitalist for-profit enterprise. But ya know... they'll get over it.
No. Why in the heck would I do that?
What if the project's creators pledged a no acquisition policy?
No, that would be stupid.
How could that even be enforced?
More to the point, why would anybody even think to do that?
What, is everyone who contributes to a Kickstarter supposed to be operating under the belief that Real Life is some anti-capitalist-hippie-commune-love-fest where the companies that raise on Kickstarter ha ve to forevermore forswear the profit motive? Bollocks.
OK, I know nobody (where by "nobody" I mean "all the hipster wannabes") likes it when their favorite indy band signs with a major record label, or when their pet Open Source project becomes the seed of an evil capitalist for-profit enterprise. But ya know... they'll get over it.
Kickstarter backers are going to get everything they paid for.
What did backers think was going to happen? If the project succeeded, it was going to make money. Should they be prohibited from making money?
What did backers think was going to happen? If the project succeeded, it was going to make money. Should they be prohibited from making money?
Kickstarter projects will go on to be successful and may get acquired in the future, so you bring up a good point. The negative reaction seems to be at the particular acquirer (Facebook) and not the acquisition itself. Unless backers have an actual equity stake, they have little say in the future of the projects they fund.
I am an idealistic sucker who feels that the more people create the more people can be inspired to create. So I don't think this will stop me.
Oculus VR talked a lot about how it was going to be an open platform. A place where people could make what they wanted. What seems to be a big part of the concern for most people is that Facebook will aggressively tie the hardware to their platform in order to regain that 400 million cash that they laid down.
Oculus VR talked a lot about how it was going to be an open platform. A place where people could make what they wanted. What seems to be a big part of the concern for most people is that Facebook will aggressively tie the hardware to their platform in order to regain that 400 million cash that they laid down.
A lot of the people who got one wanted to do VR projects on it that they could conceivably sell to many platforms. Maybe make some cool worlds that they could share with others and maybe make a little bit of money off of down the road.
A number of these people have also worked with the Facebook platform to make apps and games. They found it difficult and maddening when Facebook would suddenly make changes to how people found their apps or games.
People aren't mad because they get no money from the sale of the company, they're worried Facebook will ruin the vision of VR that the project aimed to achieve.
For example, if Valve had bought the company instead of Facebook, I'm pretty sure the reactions would be quite different than what we're seeing now.
For example, if Valve had bought the company instead of Facebook, I'm pretty sure the reactions would be quite different than what we're seeing now.
The bottom line with the anger about this isn't that Oculus was aquired, it is that Oculus was acquired by Facebook
Had id Software or someone else acquired it, people would be happy and congratulate them on the influx of money.
Had id Software or someone else acquired it, people would be happy and congratulate them on the influx of money.