Kickstarter simplifies the path to funding... or failing

A lot of Kickstarter campaigns sink quickly, even with the help and advice of the crowd-funding giant's Community Managers. But, if you're super confident in your project you can skip that feedback period completely with a feature called Launch Now. Not every project can squeeze through, however. Kickstarter relies on an algorithm that determines if a campaign is ready to launch. Meet the required data points and you can just choose to "launch now."

Letting you skip the normally lengthy period of advice, help and tweaking is fine for the cockier would-be entrepreneurs out there, but the company is simplifying the Kickstarting process for everyone. The rules for submissions have been boiled down to three core principles:

• Projects must create something to share with others.

• Projects must be honest and clearly presented.

• Projects cannot fundraise for charity, offer financial incentives, or involve prohibited items.

That opens up the site to beauty products and software projects (other than resurrecting classic video games). So expect a deluge of exfoliating creams inspired by neighborhood inferiority complexes.