Stretch Goals and Crowdfunding Success: The Trade-off between Likelihood to Invest and Contribution Amount (ERF)

In order to help campaign creators collect more funds beyond their initial target, crowdfunding platforms provide mechanisms that allow them to adopt more goals, stretch goals, beyond their original target. Our study investigate how stretch goals affect potential backers’ decision-making process. Drawing on the literature on goal setting and decision under uncertainty, we propose that stretch goals are perceived differently during the funding decision process, and thus may lead to opposing effects at each stage of the process. We leverage granular data on funding decisions from a leading crowdfunding platform in Southeast Asia, and our preliminary results show that stretch goals are negatively associated with likelihood to fund while they are positively associated with contribution amount. Our study has the potential to offer a more nuanced understanding of how stretch goals affect crowdfunding performance by unpacking their influence on the funding decision-making process.

More Goals, More Money? An Investigation of Stretch Goals on a Crowdfunding Platform

An increasing body of entrepreneurship research highlights the prevalence of effectuation as an effective strategy in uncertain environments, yet little is known about how investors react to entrepreneurs’ effectucation strategies. In this study, we examine how stretch goals, an effectuation strategy where entrepreneurs adaptively adopt new goals on top of the initial and predetermined goal, affect investors’ decisions. On the one hand, stretch goals may mitigate perceived uncertainty by demonstrating an entrepreneur’s continuous commitment and sharp sense-making of the changing opportunities and whereas, on the other hand, it may raise questions about the entrepreneur’s ability to reach the target, thus increasing uncertainty. An analysis of data from one of the largest crowdfunding platforms in Southeast Asia shows that stretch goal adoption has an instantaneous negative effect on fundraising performance. However, as the fundraising unfolds, entrepreneurs can mitigate, and even reverse the negative effect. Moreover, further exploration demonstrates mechanisms that can worsen or alleviate the initial negative effect. Our study highlights the countervailing effects of stretch goals and has important implications for entrepreneurs that use stretch goals as a strategy to optimize the chances of success in resource acquisition

Exact Boundary Derivative Formulation for Numerical Conformal Mapping Method

Conformal mapping is a useful technique for handling irregular geometries when applying the finite difference method to solve partial differential equations. When the mapping is from a hyperrectangular region onto a rectangular region, a specific length-to-width ratio of the rectangular region that fitted the Cauchy-Riemann equations must be satisfied. In this research, a numerical integral method is proposed to find the specific length-to-width ratio. It is conventional to employ the boundary integral method (BIEM) to perform the conformal mapping. However, due to the singularity produced by the BIEM in seeking the derivatives on the boundaries, the transformation Jacobian determinants on the boundaries have to be evaluated at inner points instead of directly on the boundaries. This approximation is a source of numerical error. In this study, the transformed rectangular property and the Cauchy-Riemann equations are successfully applied to derive reduced formulations of the derivatives on the boundaries for the BIEM. With these boundary derivative formulations, the Jacobian determinants can be evaluated directly on the boundaries. Furthermore, the results obtained are more accurate than those of the earlier mapping method

Prevention of Dental Damage and Improvement of Difficult Intubation Using a Paraglossal Technique With a Straight Miller Blade

Patients with diseased teeth, or those who are difficult to intubate, have a higher risk of dental injury during laryngoscopy. We report 3 cases of smooth endotracheal intubation using a paraglossal technique with a straight Miller blade in patients with poor dentition. Three patients with poor dentition were scheduled to undergo surgery under general anesthesia. All patients presented with extremely loose upper central incisors and had lost the other right upper teeth, while micrognathia and prominent, loose upper incisors were noted in 1 case. We elected to use a straight Miller blade using a paraglossal approach. A nasopharyngeal airway was inserted after induction of general anesthesia to facilitate mask ventilation and prevent air leakage from the mask. The Miller blade was then inserted from the right corner of the mouth, avoiding contact with the vulnerable incisors, and advanced along the groove between the tongue and tonsil. The endotracheal tube was subsequently smoothly inserted after obtaining a grade 1 Cormack and Lehane view without dental trauma in all 3 cases. Direct laryngoscopy using the paraglossal straight blade technique avoids dental damage in patients with mobile upper incisors and no right maxillary molars. It is a practical alternative method that differs from the traditional Macintosh laryngoscope in patients with a high risk of dental injury during the procedure. This technique, which provides an improved view of the larynx, might also be helpful with patients in whom intubation is difficult

Simulation of 2D Free-surface Potential Flows Using a Robust Local Polynomial Collocation Method

Abstract In this paper a mesh-free numerical model for simulating 2D free-surface potential flows is established. A Lagrangian time-marching scheme is chosen for the boundary conditions of the moving and deforming free surface while a local polynomial collocation method is applied for solving the Laplace equation at each time step. The collocation method is developed in a way that the governing equation is satisfied on boundaries as well as boundary conditions. At any free surface node, this gives accurate estimation of the derivatives of velocity potential, which represent components of the velocity vector at that specific node. Therefore, trajectories of the free surface nodes can be predicted precisely. The numerical model is applied to the simulation of free surface waves in the liquid sloshing of a swaying tank. Present model is verified by comparing the numerical results with experimental data. Fairly good agreements are observed

Study on the continuous phase evolution and physical properties of gas-atomized high-entropy alloy powders

In this study, AlCoCrFeNi high entropy alloy (HEA) powders were fabricated by gas atomization process, and the effects of annealing heat treatment on phase evolution and mechanical properties were investigated. The as-atomized powders have pure BCC phase with a spherical shape and equal composition distribution, and then the FCC and sigma phase sequentially generated after annealing. The mechanical property such as hardness was evidently enhanced, which was caused by precipitation hardening effect. After the raw powders were annealed at 600 °C, the FCC (Al-Ni) phase began to precipitate, the its phase intensity raised with the annealing temperature. Then, the sigma phase (Fe-Cr) formed as the annealing temperature reached 800 °C. Both mechanical properties and lattice constant were influenced by heating effect. According to the results, the lattice became loose with the increasing temperature. In summary, the mechanical properties and phase constitutions of gas-atomized AlCoCrFeNi HEA powders can be adjusted via annealing process, resulting in precipitation hardening effect