What happens to those failed Kickstarter fundraisers?

Kickstarter is the internet dream many have come to know and love. Someone invents a product, launches a campaign on the site, and goes on to raise millions of dollars.

Sometimes though, those ideas never materialize -- even after the money has rolled in, reports CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller.

When Edison Junior chief inventor Jamie Siminoff pulled the plug on the Pop Charger back in 2012, backers who helped raise nearly $140,000 were outraged.

"We were shocked by the reaction of how upset some people were since we'd given them their money back. You know, no harm, no foul," Siminoff said. "They said we don't want our money back, we want the product."

Makers of the Trigger Trap Ada, a high speed camera trigger, raised over $425,000, but admitted failure following 17 months of manufacturing complications. The developers behind the video game Yogventures dissolved their partnership with backers after a two year struggle to deliver.

"I think the creator has a responsibility for what they say they're going to do," Kickstarter co-founder and CEO Yancey Strickler said. "I view our responsibility as being all the steps that we put in up front."

Those steps include a clear product definition, estimated delivery date and working prototype.

In its six-year history, Kickstarter has successfully funded some 84,000 projects, and raised more than $1.6 billion.

There's fashion, fragrance and 3-D printers, the world's first pizza museum and even an Academy Award-winning documentary.

"The money is important but it's only a small piece of what crowdfunding does for people," University of Pennsylvania professor of management Ethan Mollick said.

Mollick has published several studies on the dynamics of crowdfunding and said the findings surprised him.

"When you look at crowdfunding compared to other forms of starting companies, like venture capital, maybe three or four out of 10 survive? But I'm finding 90 percent of these survive," he said.

As for the other 10 percent, many of those projects stumble with production.

When the smartphone controlled LIFX light bulb hit the marketplace in 2013, backers blasted the creators for not delivering something that resembled their pitch. Still, it became a top seller on Amazon.

"If everything turned out in the world as planned, every movie would have a great review and every product would work perfectly. The reality is different than that. And I don't think it's unique to Kickstarter," Strickler said.

But the public doesn't have the same degree of investment in those products as they do in the crowdfunding site.

"You're supporting the creation of something new. The overwhelming majority of the time, this goes great and you're going to have a lot of fun. Sometimes that won't be the case and know that going in," she said.

Backers should also know to be patient when investing through the site.

"The more money you make and the more money you ask for, the less likely you are to deliver on time and the longer your delays," Mollick said.

Mollick found over 75 percent of tech and design projects funded on Kickstarter don't meet initial shipping date goals.

Ryan Grepper brought a prototype of the Coolest Cooler to "CBS This Morning" after his invention became one of Kickstarter's most-funded campaigns.

His initial goal was to launch in Februrary, but that deadline has come and gone.

"We are producing in July and shipping in July," Grepper said.

As for Siminoff, he's found success with a new product.

"In some ways you should be able to fail on Kickstarter and that's okay because that's what it's supposed to be," Siminoff said. "It's supposed to be like funding someone's dreams, but dreams don't always work out."

Rather than disappoint Kickstarter backers a second time, Siminoff successfully launched his doorbell, Ring, from funds raised on his own website.