Kickstarter's Poor Track Record in Tech
Of the 21 "most funded" projects in Kickstarter's tech-heavy "design" category, a grand total of four appear to be currently available for sale. Of the top 12 "most funded" in Technology, four are available. Yes, many are available for "pre-order," which is another way to say "we'll take your money for a product that doesn't exist yet."

These projects aren't all new, either. ZionEyez took in $343,415 starting a full year ago and still hasn't delivered a pair of heads-up camera sunglasses. Plenty of the projects have little updates explaining that oops, the products are taking longer to make than expected.

Yes, this is heartbreaking, because many of the products look gorgeous. Many have prototypes. Many have had demos. I want some of them. I want to review some of them. But. They. Don't. Exist. Just because you can build one of something doesn't mean you can get proper quality control out of a factory line.

A success rate of 33 percent is good for a venture capitalist, because actual investors expect to hit it big often enough to offset other losses. But when you give money to Kickstarter for a tech product, you're not a real investor. Investors have equity. You're just a buyer who isn't getting your gadget for who-knows-how-long. The longer you don't have the product, the less value your money had - and if you never get that product, well, remember, they don't have to refund your money.

Printrbot: Your First 3D Printer
Deliverables: Brook Drumm, a web designer in Lincoln, California, wanted to make cheap 3-D printing kits.

Funding goal: $25,000

Amount received: $830,827

Complications: The IRS immediately smacked him with a $330,000 bill. "To be honest, there's very little money left," Drumm says. But try telling that to backers: "There's a crushing amount of customer support needed; they're just calling all day long."

End date: Pushed from January to summer.

Pebble: E-Paper Watch
Deliverables: The Palo Alto company offered smart watches that paired with iOS and Android phones. Custom watchfaces were promised for pledges of $1,250 or more.

Funding goal: $100,000

Amount received: $10,266,845

Complications: "We would have been more than happy to make a thousand watches," cofounder Eric Migicovsky says. They had orders for 85,000. The company went from three staffers to 10 and had to hire outside customer support.

End date: September ... maybe.