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The Wisdom of Yoda takes over the 3D Printing market

The Wisdom of Yoda takes over the 3D Printing market

By: Robert Mullins, CFB Sr. Staff Writer Startups in the 3D printing space advertise their device capabilities with samples of products like smartphone cases, gears, or replicas of the Eiffel Tower, but if you want to be taken seriously as a printer maker, you’ve got to give people Yoda. “For some reason, the Yoda head is kind of the symbol of what your 3D printer can do,” said Braydon Moreno, CEO of the crowdfunded startup RoBo 3D. “Everyone across the board is saying ‘Let me see your Yoda.’” A review of crowd-funded sites on Kickstarter reveals at least five companies seeking funding for their startups that…

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Don’t Let Criticisms Of Music Crowdfunding Stand In Your Way

Don’t Let Criticisms Of Music Crowdfunding Stand In Your Way

Though a variety of people, some of them undoubtedly well-intentioned, have criticized music crowdfunding over the last few years, their criticisms generally fall flat. Ranging from namecalling to misrepresenting financial reality, such criticisms indicate objections that are fairly limited and fail to recognize crowdfunding’s emergence as a legitimate approach to funding. One could simply reject all criticisms of music crowdfunding as beside the point as does Bemuso below. And the bottomline is that no one’s required to pledge to a campaign. But criticisms do represent claims that may pop up randomly in the course of crowdfunding and it’s nice to know why they don’t represent a…

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Omate TrueSmart watch beats Kickstarter goal in a day

Omate TrueSmart watch beats Kickstarter goal in a day

As Samsung prepares for its long-anticipated smartwatch launch, New York-based Omate has smashed the funding target for its own TrueSmart wrist-mounted device. Omate Truesmart, a water-resistant smartwatch with a built-in 5-megapixel camera, reached its $100,000 (£63,700) crowdfunding target in less than one day, and has now raised more than double its original goal, with $232,317 (£149,000) pledged and 28 days of the campaign remaining. Most of the smartwatches launched to date have been intended as Bluetooth companion accessories to a smartphone, but TrueSmart claims to be “a new generation of Smartwatch 2.0,” operating both independently from the smartphone, thanks to its 3G capabilities, and as a…

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Unlocking Your Crowdfunding Campaign’s True Purpose

Unlocking Your Crowdfunding Campaign’s True Purpose

Guest blog: We as filmmakers must strive to create something more experiential than another movie campaign Everywhere you turn, it’s as though everyone, and I mean everyone – from indie film pioneers to Hollywood’s household names — is raising funds online for a new film or video project. A mere three years ago, crowdfunding was in its infancy and just learning how to walk. Now, it’s on its feet, running and moving faster month after month affording artists, entrepreneurs and conscientious individuals and institutions the ability to more easily fund the things that matter most to them. More easily, but by no means easy, of course. Because of…

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Byco micro-financing platform is crowdfunding Fashion’s Next Big Designers

Byco micro-financing platform is crowdfunding Fashion’s Next Big Designers

Jesse Finkelstein has created an online “one-stop-shop” for designers that facilitates production, with a little help from investors large and small Fashion design schools teach their students how to sketch a design, drape or tailor a piece of clothing, sew it together, and, eventually, create a coherent collection. What’s less taught are the nuts and bolts of what happens after the design process: sampling, production, distribution and financing, all of which can delay (or halt completely) the debut of a designer’s pieces. One way to correct this barrier, thought entrepreneur Jesse Finkelstein, was to create an online “one-stop-shop” for designers, fashion and otherwise, that facilitates the production parts, letting them…

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