butcher. more than 200 people showed up on a wednesday night to watch fad imand boston area chefs break down a pig. it s good to get the name out there, keeping up the buzz, the anticipation. the anticipation is over the butcher shop vadim hopes to open by the end of the year featuring locally owned, sustainable meats but raising money has been a challenge. financing has been hard. after liquiding a 401(k) he connected with a site called kickstarter.com. send an idea. if it s approved you set up a page with a fund-raising goal. backers, every day internet users donate cash and receive rewards in return. here is the co-founder. it s not charity. it s not charity. it s somewhere between patronage and commerce.
more than 200,000 people from all over the world have given $20 million to projects since kick-starter has been around. there s another one going crazy. it s called glif, a clever iphone stand. themakers raised $36,000 the first day on line. what do they get in return? the stand for 20 bucks. vadim raised $16,000 from 200 backers online, enough to secure a five-year lease from the shop. the majority is from boston. but we ve got people as far away as finland. it s really humbling to see that many people want to have your idea. sites like kick-starter, pier to pier lenders like prosper, virgin money and lending club are intriguing alternatives when banks and private investors aren t handing money out. these can be great in terms of truly kick-starting the
business. that was never available before. you were spending most of your time wandering down dark alleys trying to find someone to give you money. it s not for everyone. borrowers and lenders should do homework. vadim needs a few more investors by september but he hopes crowds like this one will help. [ advisor 1 ] what do you see yourself doing one week, one month, five years after you do retire? client comes in and they have a box. and inside that box is their financial life. people wake up and realize i better start doing something. we open up that box. we organize it. and we make decisions. we really are here to help you. they look back and think, wow. i never thought i could do this. but we ve actually done it. [ male announcer ] visit ameriprise.com and put a confident retirement more within reach.