It is like a Kickstarter campaign. You have "investors" and for their part they receive product/service in return. Or as mentioned it's like gift certificates where the odds of every single person actually redeeming are low so there is always that added "bonus" to the business or better yet they do show up to redeem and spend more on top with their own $$ because the gift certificate was a gift. Soggy Dollar has had a version of this business model with their drink board.
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