The 50 Best Websites of 2011

The first thing you need in creating something cool is a good idea. The second thing, oftentimes, is a little cash. Enter Kickstarter, where anyone can post the details of a project and solicit the necessary money to make it happen. If enough people make pledges by a set deadline, the idea is funded and the donors get gifts specified by the project's creator. A Kickstarter effort can be anything from a wristband that turns an iPod Nano into a watch — which received a record $1 million in pledges — to a map of the U.S.A. made up of frying pans. Even if you never ante up any money, it's fun to see what creative people are coming up with.

See Kickstarter in TIME's list of the 50 best inventions of 2010.