bartjacobs

I agree, but this is a necessary drawback in my opinion. Kickstarter has a good reputation in terms of the quality of the projects and this is mainly due to the review process. As you say, the downside is that some projects don't make it in spite of their potential.

The same is true for Apple's App Store. Their review process has received a lot of criticism, but the advantage of Apple's filtering process has proven itself when compared to the Android Marketplace.

Indeed. Great screencast to get you started with Backbone.js.

The real value that a community like this could provide is the creation of what Justin calls mastermind groups. It reminds me of Sprouter.com but on a much more personal level. The latter is very important in my opinion. Starting a business is something you experience on a very personal level and these groups could provide the help/advice (and possibly support) that a (new) entrepreneur needs to succeed. I do wonder what the "mentors" gain from this time investment.

I like most of the idea and am looking forward to how it grows and develops.

I agree with Marco Arment and Jeff Rock in that it is perfectly understandable that Twitter wants to monetize their business if they wish to do so, but based on their recent decisions it seems that they are taking a path that will damage their business along the way. Also, I have never understood the value of trending topics. It is just one of the many metrics inherent to how Twitter works, but it is far from the most useful metric since Twitter is so full of spam and people that have nothing useful to say (which is their good right of course).

Anyway, all this does make me curious to see how Twitter is going to change in the next few months and I hope for the best - for them and for the users.

Absolutely agree. Earning that first dollar is much harder than the next thousand. The reason is that it is a major mindset shift. It's a hurdle that quite a lot of people underestimate.