The most valuable part of crowdfunding is not the “funding” part. As more innovators are coming to realize, an enormous benefit of crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter is proving product viability.

But why isn’t funding still the most important?

Because if you had the proof-of-concept or viability alone, you can use that to get funding. And the product development funding or investment you would receive can be better than supporter pledges. That’s because Kickstarter pledges lock you into a specific concept and create a potential public relations nightmare if you are not able to develop the product, fulfill pledges on time, and have the product meet supporters’ expectations.

Publishing product ideas so visibly is also unappealing to many inventors and product developers. It’s been widely reported now that other product companies browse crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter for product ideas, sometimes beating the campaign to market with the same idea. The “knock-off” companies realize that the proof of viability is very valuable, and use that information to fund product development in other ways.

Inventors and marketers should also realize that crowd funding is not an ideal method of product testing to begin with. While better than nothing at all, a successful campaign only means that the product (or the specific pledge reward) was appealing to the crowdfunding platform’s members.

Those members are clearly not representative of the mass market. So while a product may attract supporters on Kickstarter when it’s promoted as an innovative idea, there’s no reason to believe it will sell when displayed on the average Walmart shelf.

A better alternative for many inventors and marketers is to prove their product viability using private methods including survey-based research (simulated test marketing), which are also more valid than public crowdfunding. The results can then be used to raise funding as required, without compromising the product by disclosing your ideas so publicly.