Engineers are innovators: They are regularly designing something new, fixing things already built, or testing things and processes to ensure they work as expected. Complicated projects that engineers typically work on often require large capital investments, forcing engineers to work for investors and managers instead of directly for customers.
Crowdfunding is changing all of this. Now engineers can describe their idea to the public and raise funds directly through pre-orders and cash grants from their future customers. Consider projects on major crowdfunding sites which have raised millions of dollars to build products that once could only have been built by major corporations—projects like the Ouya gaming console, which raised 8.5 million dollars in 31 days based on just a few CAD drawings from an established product development team.
For the first time in a century, a large number of engineers have a chance to start working directly for their customers. Today, million-dollar projects are getting funded, but crowdfunding is just in its infancy. Soon we may see ten-million dollar and hundred-million dollar projects receiving funding. What once could only be built by giant companies or governments may soon receive funding directly from the people who want it most.
The most popular thought for engineers now is to stay with a good day job and consider using some spare time to join currently crowdfunded projects. These teams need all of the affordable help they can get, and each project could allow for a real opportunity. When customers succeed—with engineers’ help—the engineers gain reputations of working on successful projects, which gives technical experts the experience and credentials needed to launch their own crowdfunding projects.
Thanks for reading,
Jeanie
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