Then there was a colleague of mine, who wanted to launch a food cart in Portland, Oregon. He, too, opted for Kickstarter, but was much more methodical about it. Yes, he created a video, but a solid ...

As Kickstarter has grown over the past few years into the Internet’s go-to crowdfunding platform, it’s been tempting to try to apply the model to anything and everything in need of cash – to products, ...