I know this is HN, but not everyone is trying to "make a business" from his hobby project. Couldn't you consider that the campaign author is just an engineer that wish he could afford to spend more time on something he likes to do and is passionate about? That's why he is able to offer a year of work on undercompensated rate. The same moment when he tries to "do it like a business", the fun is over, the joy is over, and it's just a work. And I doubt any remotely competent software engineer needs to bother with kickstarter to do the boring worky thing.