If you’re into crowdfunding and using places like Kickstarter to fund your favorite geekstuff, you’ll want to read this mildly gruesome tale about how Chaosium almost imploded over a successful Kickstart of their Seventh Edition rule set for Call of Cthulhu. Short version: take underestimated international shipping costs and mix it with bad management, flavor to taste with extravagant promises, and then serve it up with a poor choice of corporate HQ (seriously, San Francisco is too expensive to HQ your gaming company). The company only survived because the new management loved Chaosium enough to spend the money needed to save it; great for Chaosium (seriously), but you can’t count on it for your smaller shops.
Via @jefftidball, who sardonically notes that this is why Atlas Games is charging so much for shipping Unknown Armies. Which is what you have to do, these days. Especially if you’re shipping overseas. There’s a reason why the British gaming companies try to maintain a publishing presence over here, and vice versa.
It also reminds me about SJ Games & Ogre, that thing caused them no end of headache both financial and otherwise.
I read somewhere that most successful kickstarters lose money, and the more they get past there requested amount, the more likely they are to lose money.