>why would I donate to someone who's trying to start an enterprise or a product?
In order to bring to market a product you want that is not currently available and would not be feasible to bring to market without first knowing there is a sufficient market for it.
Kickstarter is the ultimate fail-fast, it cuts out a huge chunk of market-research when trying to build a business around something. If people don't want to kickstart it, others are unlikely to buy it.
Well, that's my point: I want that product on the market because I want to own it. So why would I donate first and then pay up again to buy it? I want to shell out money now, get the product in return at some point and run the risk of the whole transaction failing since the product cannot be produced at a reasonable price (at least not by that company). If that happens, I'm down the money I paid, that's my risk.
In order to bring to market a product you want that is not currently available and would not be feasible to bring to market without first knowing there is a sufficient market for it.
Kickstarter is the ultimate fail-fast, it cuts out a huge chunk of market-research when trying to build a business around something. If people don't want to kickstart it, others are unlikely to buy it.