It's not. Its more like a loan (well, actually, its more like a sale: the creators are obligated to provide the rewards offered to backers or to refund any backers to whom they cannot provide the rewards.)
Which, if you think about it, makes sense -- fixed rewards (the loan/sale model) come with obligations to provide the reward, equity stakes carry more risk.
It wouldn't make much sense for Kickstarter to use a worst-of-both-worlds equity-like downside risk with loan-like upside reward.
Which, if you think about it, makes sense -- fixed rewards (the loan/sale model) come with obligations to provide the reward, equity stakes carry more risk.
It wouldn't make much sense for Kickstarter to use a worst-of-both-worlds equity-like downside risk with loan-like upside reward.