Kickstarter is an American
public benefit corporation based in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, that maintains a global
crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...
platform focused on creativity.
The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, Kickstarter has received $6.6 billion in pledges from 21 million backers to fund 222,000 projects, such as films, music, stage shows, comics, journalism, video games, board games, technology, publishing, and food-related projects.
People who back Kickstarter projects are offered tangible rewards or experiences in exchange for their pledges. This model traces its roots to subscription model of arts patronage, where artists would go directly to their audiences to fund their work.
History
![NYAP visits Kickstarter (9457966193)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/NYAP_visits_Kickstarter_%289457966193%29.jpg)
Kickstarter launched on April 28, 2009,
by
Perry Chen
Perry Chen is an American artist and entrepreneur known for being the creator and principal founder of Kickstarter, PBC, the online funding platform for creative projects. He came up with the idea for Kickstarter in 2001 and launched it in 2009 a ...
,
Yancey Strickler
Yancey Strickler (born November 4, 1978) is an American author, entrepreneur, and former music critic. He co-founded Kickstarter, the funding platform for creative projects and wrote ''This Could Be Our Future'', a 2019 Penguin Random House book ...
, and
Charles Adler Charles Adler may refer to:
* Charles Adler (broadcaster) (born 1954), Canadian broadcaster
* Charlie Adler (born 1956), American voice actor
* Frederick Charles Adler (1889–1959), usually known as F. Charles Adler, English-German conductor
* ...
. ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' called Kickstarter "the people's
NEA". ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' named it one of the "Best Inventions of 2010" and "Best Websites of 2011". Kickstarter reportedly raised $10 million funding from backers including NYC-based venture firm
Union Square Ventures
Union Square Ventures (USV) is an American venture capital firm based in New York City. The firm has backed more than 130 startups, including Twitter, Etsy, Stripe, Coinbase, Zynga, Tumblr, Stack Overflow, Meetup, Kickstarter, MongoDB, Flurry, ...
and
angel investor
An angel investor (also known as a business angel, informal investor, angel funder, private investor, or seed investor) is an individual who provides capital for a business or businesses start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or owners ...
s such as
Jack Dorsey
Jack Patrick Dorsey (born November 19, 1976) is an American Internet entrepreneur and programmer who is a co-founder and former CEO of Twitter, Inc., as well as a co-founder and the CEO and chairperson of Block, Inc., the developer of the Squar ...
,
Zach Klein
Zach Klein (born ) is an American entrepreneur and investor, and currently the CEO of Dwell. He co-founded DIY.org, and is best known for co-founding and designing Vimeo. He created the Cabin Porn phenomenon, which was initially an online project ...
and
Caterina Fake
Caterina Fake is an American entrepreneur and businesswoman. She co-founded the websites Flickr in 2004 and Hunch in 2007. Fake has been a trustee for nonprofit organizations and was the chairwoman of Etsy. For her role in creating Flickr, Fake ...
. The company is based at
58 Kent Street in
Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Greenpoint is the northernmost neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York. It is bordered on the southwest by Williamsburg at Bushwick Inlet Park and McCarren Park; on the southeast by the Brooklyn†...
, housed in part of the former
Eberhard Faber Pencil Factory
The Eberhard Faber Pencil Factory is a former pencil factory complex in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York City. Designated as a historic district by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (NYCLPC) in 2007, it is composed of nine build ...
.
On February 14, 2013, Kickstarter released an
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
app called Kickstarter for the
iPhone. The app was aimed at users who create and back projects and was the first time Kickstarter had an official mobile presence.
![Editing at Kickstarter 2017-03 jeh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Editing_at_Kickstarter_2017-03_jeh.jpg)
On October 31, 2012, Kickstarter opened projects based in the United Kingdom,
followed by projects based in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
on September 9, 2013,
Australia and New Zealand on November 13, 2013,
the Netherlands on April 28, 2014,
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
, and
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
on September 15, 2014, Germany on April 28, 2015, France and
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
on May 19, 2015,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Ă–stareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
,
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
and
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
on June 16, 2015,
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
and Hong Kong on August 30, 2016, Mexico on November 15, 2016, and Japan on September 12, 2017. In July 2017, Strickler announced his resignation.
On April 20, 2020, Kickstarter announced that it was likely going to
lay off workers due to the
coronavirus pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
causing the number of active projects to be "about 35% below what it was at this time last year with no clear sign of rebound." The layoff was reported by the union to affect up to 45% of the employees, although Kickstarter has yet to report the scale of the layoff as of May 2, 2020. The union negotiated a settlement for laid off employees including four months of severance pay and up to six months of continued health benefits for anyone who gets laid off, recall rights for a year (so that those laid off can return to job openings), and a release from noncompete agreements for those who accept severance pay.
In December 2021, Kickstarter announced they would be moving their platform to Blockchain, with the aim of making the tools required for creating a crowdfunding site available to anyone.
Model
Kickstarter is one of a number of
crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...
platforms for gathering money from the public, which circumvents traditional avenues of investment. Project creators choose a deadline and a minimum funding goal. If the goal is not met by the deadline, no funds are collected (a kind of
assurance contract
An assurance contract, also known as a provision point mechanism, or crowdaction, is a game-theoretic mechanism and a financial technology that facilitates the voluntary creation of public goods and club goods in the face of collective action p ...
).
The kickstarter platform is open to backers from anywhere in the world and to creators from many countries, including the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand,
The Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, Denmark, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Spain, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Mexico.
Kickstarter applies a 5% fee on the total amount of the funds raised. Their payments processor applies an additional 3–5% fee. Unlike many forums for
fundraising
Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...
or
investment
Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort.
In finance, the purpose of investing i ...
, Kickstarter claims no ownership over the projects and the work they produce. The web pages of projects launched on the site are permanently archived and accessible to the public. After funding is completed, projects and uploaded media cannot be edited or removed from the site.
There is no guarantee that people who post projects on Kickstarter will deliver on their projects, use the money to implement their projects, or that the completed projects will meet backers' expectations. Kickstarter advises backers to use their judgment on supporting a project. They also warn project leaders that they could be liable for
legal damages
At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognised at ...
from backers for failure to deliver on promises. Projects might also fail even after a successful fundraising campaign when creators underestimate the total costs required or technical difficulties to be overcome.
When asked what made Kickstarter different from other crowdfunding platforms, co-founder Perry Chen said: "I wonder if people really know what the definition of crowdfunding is. Or, if there’s even an agreed upon definition of what it is. We haven’t actively supported the use of the term because it can provoke more confusion. In our case, we focus on a middle ground between patronage and commerce. People are offering cool stuff and experiences in exchange for the support of their ideas. People are creating these mini-economies around their project ideas. So, you aren’t coming to the site to get something for nothing; you are trying to create value for the people who support you. We focus on creative projects—music, film, technology, art, design, food and publishing—and within the category of crowdfunding of the arts, we are probably ten times the size of all the others combined."
Projects
On June 21, 2012, Kickstarter began publishing statistics on its projects. As of December 4, 2019, there were 469,286 launched projects (3,524 in progress), with a success rate of 37.45% (success rate being how many were successfully funded by reaching their set goal). The total amount pledged was $4,690,286,673.
The business grew quickly in its early years. In 2010 Kickstarter had 3,910 successful projects and $27,638,318 pledged. The corresponding figures for 2011 were 11,836 successfully funded projects and $99,344,381 pledged; and there were 18,109 successfully funded projects, $610,352 pledged in 2012.
On February 9, 2012, Kickstarter hit a number of milestones. A
dock
A dock (from Dutch language, Dutch ''dok'') is the area of water between or next to one or a group of human-made structures that are involved in the handling of boats or ships (usually on or near a shore) or such structures themselves. The ex ...
made for the iPhone designed by Casey Hopkins became the first Kickstarter project to exceed one million dollars in pledges. A few hours later,
a new adventure game project started by computer game developers,
Double Fine Productions
Double Fine Productions, Inc. is an American First-party developer, first-party video game developer of Xbox Game Studios based in San Francisco, California. Founded in July 2000 by Tim Schafer shortly after his departure from LucasArts, Double ...
, reached the same figure, having been launched less than 24 hours earlier, and finished with over $3 million pledged. This was also the first time Kickstarter raised over a million dollars in pledges in a single day. On August 30, 2014, the "Coolest Cooler", an icebox created by Ryan Grepper, became the most funded Kickstarter project in history, with US$13.28 million in funding, breaking the record previously held by the
Pebble
A pebble is a clast of rock with a particle size of based on the Udden-Wentworth scale of sedimentology. Pebbles are generally considered larger than granules ( in diameter) and smaller than cobbles ( in diameter). A rock made predominant ...
smartwatch
A smartwatch is a wearable computer in the form of a watch; modern smartwatches provide a local touchscreen interface for daily use, while an associated smartphone app provides management and telemetry, such as long-term biomonitoring. While ea ...
.
From 2012 to 2013,
Wharton Wharton may refer to:
Academic institutions
* Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
* Wharton County Junior College
* Paul R. Wharton High School
* Wharton Center for Performing Arts, at Michigan State University
Places
* Wharton, Ch ...
professor Ethan Mollick and Jeanne Pi conducted research into what contributes to a project's success or failure on Kickstarter. Some key findings from the analysis were that increasing goal size is negatively associated successfully, projects that are featured on the Kickstarter homepage have an 89% chance of being successful, compared to 30% without, and that for an average $10,000 project, a 30-day project has a 35% chance of success, while a 60-day project has a 29% chance of success, all other things being constant.
The ten largest Kickstarter projects by funds raised are listed below. Among successful projects, most raise between $1,000 and $9,999. These dollar amounts drop to less than half in the Design, Games, and Technology categories. However, the median amount raised for the latter two categories remains in the four-figure range. There is substantial variation in the success rate of projects falling under different categories. Over two thirds of completed dance projects have been successful. In contrast, fewer than 30% of completed fashion projects have reached their goal. Most failing projects fail to achieve 20% of their goals and this trend applies across all categories. Indeed, over 80% of projects that pass the 20% mark reach their goal.
Categories
Creators categorize their projects into one of 13 categories and 36 subcategories. They are: Art, Comics, Dance, Design, Fashion, Film and Video, Food, Games, Music, Photography, Publishing, Technology and Theater. Of these categories, Film & Video and Music are the largest categories and have raised the most money. These categories, along with Games, account for over half the money raised.
Video games and tabletop games alone account for more than $2 out of every $10 spent on Kickstarter.
Guidelines
To maintain its focus as a funding platform for creative projects, Kickstarter has outlined three guidelines for all project creators to follow: creators can fund projects only; projects must fit within one of the site's 13 creative categories; and creators must abide by the site's prohibited uses, which include charity and awareness campaigns. Kickstarter has additional requirements for hardware and product design projects. These include
* Banning the use of photorealistic renderings and simulations demonstrating a product
*Banning projects for
genetically modified organisms
A genetically modified organism (GMO) is any organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. The exact definition of a genetically modified organism and what constitutes genetic engineering varies, with ...
.
* Limiting awards to single items or a "sensible set" of items relevant to the project (e.g., multiple light bulbs for a house)
* Requiring a physical prototype
* Requiring a manufacturing plan
The guidelines are designed to reinforce Kickstarter's position that people are backing projects, not placing orders for a product. To underscore the notion that Kickstarter is a place in which creators and audiences make things together, creators across all categories are asked to describe the risks and challenges a project faces in producing it. This educates the public about the project goals and encourages contributions to the community.
Notable projects and creators
![Pebble Time front](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Pebble_Time_front.jpg)
Several creative works have gone on to receive critical acclaim and accolades after being funded on Kickstarter. Others, such as the
Ouya
The Ouya ( ), stylized as OUYA, is an Android-based microconsole developed by Ouya Inc. Julie Uhrman founded the project in 2012, bringing in designer Yves BĂ©har to collaborate on its design and Muffi Ghadiali as VP of Product Management to p ...
console, have resulted in commercial failure. The documentary short "Sun Come Up" and documentary short "Incident in New Baghdad" were each nominated for an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
; contemporary art projects "EyeWriter" and "Hip-Hop Word Count" were both chosen to exhibit in the
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
in 2011; filmmaker Matt Porterfield was selected to screen his film ''
Putty Hill
''Putty Hill'' is a 2010 American independent drama film directed by Matthew Porterfield, and starring Sky Ferreira, Zoe Vance, and James Siebor. The plot focuses on friends and family who gather to remember a young man in the aftermath of his dea ...
'' at the Whitney Biennial In 2012; author Rob Walker's Hypothetical Futures project exhibited at the 13th International Venice Architecture Biennale; musician
Amanda Palmer
Amanda MacKinnon Gaiman Palmer (born April 30, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and performance artist who is the lead vocalist, pianist, and lyricist of the duo The Dresden Dolls. She performs as a solo artist and was also a ...
's album ''
Theatre is Evil
''Theatre Is Evil'' is the second studio album by Amanda Palmer, and first with her band The Grand Theft Orchestra. It was released on September 7, 2012 in Australia, on September 10, 2012 in the United Kingdom and Europe, and September 11, 201 ...
'' debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard 200; designer Scott Wilson won a National Design Award from Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum following the success of his TikTok + LunaTik project; the Kickstarter funded
GoldieBlox
GoldieBlox is an American toy company that markets interactive toys designed for girls. GoldieBlox, which pairs a construction kit with a storybook, launched in 2012 as a prototype on Kickstarter. Its Kickstarter campaign led to more than $1 mill ...
toy gained nationwide distribution in 2013;
and approximately 10% of the films accepted into the Sundance, SXSW and Tribeca Film Festivals are projects funded on Kickstarter.
Numerous well-known creators have used Kickstarter to produce their work, including: musicians
Jennifer Paige
Jennifer Paige ( Scoggins; born September 3, 1973) is an American singer best known for her international number one pop hit " Crush" (1998), as well as other charted songs including "Sober" (1999) and " Always You" (1999), from her debut albu ...
,
Paula Cole
Paula Cole (born April 5, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter. After gaining attention for her performances as a vocalist on Peter Gabriel's 1993–1994 Secret World Tour, she released her first album, ''Harbinger (Paula Cole album), Harbing ...
,
TLC
TLC may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Television
* ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2
* TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network
** TLC (Asia), an A ...
,
Amanda McBroom
Amanda McBroom (born August 9, 1947) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Notable among the songs she has written is "The Rose (song), The Rose", which Bette Midler sang in the The Rose (film), film of the same name, and which has been ...
,
De La Soul
De La Soul () is an American hip hop trio formed in 1988 in the Amityville area of Long Island, New York. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative ...
,
Amanda Palmer
Amanda MacKinnon Gaiman Palmer (born April 30, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and performance artist who is the lead vocalist, pianist, and lyricist of the duo The Dresden Dolls. She performs as a solo artist and was also a ...
,
Daniel Johnston
Daniel Dale Johnston (January 22, 1961 – September 11, 2019) was an American singer, musician and artist regarded as a significant figure in outsider, lo-fi, and alternative music scenes. Most of his work consisted of cassettes recorded a ...
,
Stuart Murdoch,
Tom Rush
Thomas Walker Rush (born February 8, 1941) is an American folk and blues singer, guitarist and songwriter who helped launch the careers of other singer-songwriters in the 1960s and has continued his own singing career for 60 years.
Life and ...
and
Disciple
A disciple is a follower and student of a mentor, teacher, or other figure. It can refer to:
Religion
* Disciple (Christianity), a student of Jesus Christ
* Twelve Apostles of Jesus, sometimes called the Twelve Disciples
* Seventy disciples in t ...
; filmmakers and actors
Kevin Sorbo
Kevin David Sorbo (born September 24, 1958) is an American actor. He had starring roles in two television series: as Hercules in ''Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'', and as Captain Dylan Hunt in '' Andromeda''. Sorbo is also known for acting ...
,
Alyson Hannigan
Alyson Lee Hannigan (born March 24, 1974) is an American actress. After starting her career at age four with appearances in commercials, she moved to Hollywood at age 11 and soon got an agent.
Hannigan began her film career with supporting r ...
,
Zach Braff
Zachary Israel Braff['Scrubs' Star Zach Braff Wows ...](_blank)
,
Bret Easton Ellis
Bret Easton Ellis (born March 7, 1964) is an American author, screenwriter, short-story writer, and director. Ellis was first regarded as one of the so-called literary Brat Pack and is a self-proclaimed satirist whose trademark technique, as a w ...
,
Colin Hanks
Colin Lewes Hanks (born November 24, 1977) is an American actor. He has starred in films including ''Orange County'', ''King Kong'', ''The House Bunny'', ''The Great Buck Howard'', and the ''Jumanji'' film series. His television credits include ' ...
,
Ed Begley, Jr.,
Gary Hustwit
Gary Hustwit is an American independent filmmaker and photographer. He is best known for his design documentaries, which examine the impact of trends in graphic design, typography, industrial design, architecture, and urban planning. He told ''D ...
,
Hal Hartley
Hal Hartley (born November 3, 1959) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and composer who became a key figure in the American independent film movement of the 1980s and '90s. He is best known for his films '' The Unbelievable T ...
,
Jennie Livingston
Jennie may refer to:
* Jennie (singer), South Korean singer of girl group Blackpink
* Jennie, a female given name, variant spelling of Jenny
* ''Jennie'' (musical), 1963 Broadway production
* ''Jennie'' (novel), 1994 science fiction thriller by ...
,
Mark Duplass
Mark David Duplass (born December 7, 1976) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and musician. With his brother Jay Duplass, he started the film production company Duplass Brothers Productions in 1996. Duplass has written and directed films, i ...
,
Matthew Modine
Matthew Avery Modine (born March 22, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker, who rose to prominence through his role as U.S. Marine Private/Sergeant J.T. "Joker" Davis in ''Full Metal Jacket''. His other film roles include the title character ...
,
Paul Schrader
Paul Joseph Schrader (; born July 22, 1946) is an American screenwriter, film director, and film critic. He first received widespread recognition through his screenplay for Martin Scorsese's ''Taxi Driver'' (1976). He later continued his collabo ...
,
Ricki Lake
Ricki Pamela Lake (born September 21, 1968) is an American television host and actress. She is known for her lead role as Tracy Turnblad in the 1988 film ''Hairspray'', for which she received a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Be ...
,
Whoopi Goldberg
Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ' ...
,
Chris Stuckmann
Christopher Michael Stuckmann (born April 15, 1988) is an American filmmaker, YouTuber, author, and film critic.
As one of the most popular film critics on YouTube, Stuckmann has over 2 million subscribers and over 706 million views on the platf ...
,
Kristen Bell
Kristen Anne Bell (born July 18, 1980) is an American actress. Beginning her acting career by starring in stage productions while attending the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, she made her Broadway stage debut as Becky That ...
,
John de Lancie
John Sherwood de Lancie, Jr. (born March 20, 1948) is an American actor, television director, director, film producer, producer, writer, and comedian, best known for his role as Q (Star Trek), Q in various ''Star Trek'' series (1987–present); ...
and
Zana Briski
Zana Briski (born 25 October 1966) is a British people, British photographer and filmmaker, best known for ''Born into Brothels'', the 2004 Academy Awards, Oscar winner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, which she directed. She f ...
; authors and writers
Brandon Sanderson
Brandon Winn Sanderson (born December 19, 1975) is an American author of high fantasy and science fiction. He is best known for the Cosmere fictional universe, in which most of his fantasy novels, most notably the ''Mistborn'' series and ''The ...
,
Dan Harmon
Daniel James Harmon (born January 3, 1973) is an American writer, producer, and actor. He is best known as the creator and producer of the NBC/Yahoo! Screen sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), creator and host of the comedy podcast ''Harmontown ...
,
Kevin Kelly,
Neal Stephenson
Neal Town Stephenson (born October 31, 1959) is an American writer known for his works of speculative fiction. His novels have been categorized as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, postcyberpunk, and baroque.
Stephenson's work exp ...
,
Steve Altes
Steve Altes (born November 13, 1962) is an American writer and former aerospace engineer. He writes humorous essays about his misadventures.
Early life
Altes was born on November 13, 1962, in Syracuse, New York. He graduated from Fayetteville-M ...
, and
Seth Godin
Seth W. Godin is an American author and former dot com business executive.
Background
After leaving Spinnaker in 1986, he used $20,000 in savings to found Seth Godin Productions, primarily a book packaging business, out of a studio apartment in ...
; photographers
Spencer Tunick
Spencer Tunick (born January 1, 1967) is an American photographer best known for organizing large-scale nude shoots. Since 1994, he has photographed over 75 human installations around the world.
Life and career
Spencer Tunick was born in Middle ...
,
Shane Lavalette, and
Gerd Ludwig Gerd Ludwig (birth name Gerhard Erich Ludwig, born March 17, 1947, in Alsfeld, Hesse, Germany) is a German-American documentary photographer and photojournalist.
Biography
Gerd Ludwig initially studied German literature, political science, and ...
; game developers
Tim Schafer
Timothy John Schafer (born July 26, 1967) is an American video game designer. He founded Double Fine Productions in July 2000, after having spent over a decade at LucasArts. Schafer is best known as the designer of critically acclaimed games '' ...
,
Keiji Inafune
is a Japanese video game producer, illustrator and businessman. Starting his career at Capcom in the late 1980s, his job was as an artist and illustrator. The first two games he worked on were the original ''Street Fighter'' and ''Mega Man'' in ...
,
Brian Fargo
Frank Brian Fargo (born December 15, 1962) is an American video game designer, producer, programmer and executive, and founder of Interplay Entertainment, inXile Entertainment and Robot Cache.
Biography
Early life
A descendant of the family t ...
, and
Rand Miller
Rand Miller (born January 17, 1959) is a C.E.O. and co-founder of Cyan Worlds ; designer
Stefan Sagmeister
Stefan Sagmeister (born August 6, 1962) is an Austrian graphic designer, storyteller, and typographer based in New York City. In 1993, Sagmeister founded his company, Sagmeister Inc., to create designs for the music industry. He has designed alb ...
; animator
John Kricfalusi
Michael John Kricfalusi ( ; born September 9, 1955), known professionally as John K., is a Canadian illustrator, blogger, voice actor and former animator. He is the creator of the animated television series ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', which was ...
; comedian
Eugene Mirman
Eugene Boris MirmanJackson, Todd (2009). Eugene Mirman. Retrieved on May 13, 2009 from . (born July 24, 1974) is a Russian-American actor, comedian, and writer, known for playing Yvgeny Mirminsky on ''Delocated'' and Gene Belcher on the animated ...
; animators
Don Bluth
Donald Virgil Bluth (; born September 13, 1937) is an American film director, animator, production designer, and animation instructor, best known for his animated films, including ''The Secret of NIMH'' (1982), ''An American Tail'' (1986), ''Th ...
and
Gary Goldman
Gary Wayne Goldman (born November 17, 1944) is an American film producer, director, animator, writer and voice actor. He is known for working on films with Don Bluth such as ''All Dogs Go to Heaven'' for his directorial debut, ''Anastasia'', ' ...
; entrepreneurs
Tim Ferriss
Timothy Ferriss (born July 20, 1977) is an American entrepreneur, investor, author, podcaster, and lifestyle guru. He became well-known through his ''4-Hour'' self-help book series—including ''The 4-Hour Work Week'', ''The 4-Hour Body'', and '' ...
, Samuel Agboola, and Craig Mod; as well as custom guitar maker
Moniker
A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...
.
The
Glowing Plant project was the first and only
synthetic biology
Synthetic biology (SynBio) is a multidisciplinary area of research that seeks to create new biological parts, devices, and systems, or to redesign systems that are already found in nature.
It is a branch of science that encompasses a broad ran ...
campaign on Kickstarter.
The
Oculus Rift
Oculus Rift is a discontinued line of virtual reality headsets developed and manufactured by Oculus VR, a division of Meta Platforms, released on March 28, 2016.
In 2012 Oculus initiated a Kickstarter campaign to fund the Rift's development, af ...
began as a 2012 Kickstarter project and became one of the most funded projects at the time. The company was then acquired by
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
two years later for $2 billion.
Top projects by funds raised
Project cancellations
Both Kickstarter and project creators have cancelled projects that appeared to have been fraudulent. Questions were raised about the projects in internet communities related to the fields of the projects. The concerns raised were: apparent copying of graphics from other sources; unrealistic performance or price claims; and failure of project sponsors to deliver on prior Kickstarter projects.
A small list of cancelled projects includes:
* Eye3 camera drone helicopter for unrealistic performance promises, photos copied from other commercial products, and failure of creators to deliver on an earlier Kickstarter project.
* ''Mythic: The Story of Gods and Men'' adventure game for copying graphics from other games and unrealistic performance promises; the creator had raised $4,739 on an $80,000 goal before canceling the project.
* Tech-Sync Power System for failing to provide photos of the prototype and sudden departure of project creator.
* ''Tentacle Bento'', a card game intended to satirize Japanese school girl
tentacle rape
is a type of pornography most commonly found in Japan which integrates traditional pornography with elements of bestiality and a fantasy, horror, or science-fiction theme. It is found in some horror or hentai titles, with tentacled crea ...
comics, after being criticized in the online media for having inappropriate content.
* Kobe Red, a project for
jerky
Jerky is lean trimmed meat cut into strips and dried (dehydrated) to prevent spoilage. Normally, this drying includes the addition of salt to prevent bacteria growth before the meat has finished the dehydrating process. The word "jerky" derive ...
made from
Kobe beef
is Wagyu beef from the Tajima strain of Japanese Black cattle, raised in Japan's HyĹŤgo Prefecture according to rules set out by the Kobe Beef Marketing and Distribution Promotion Association. The meat is a delicacy, valued for its flavor, te ...
, was canceled after raising $120,309. The project was allegedly fraudulent.
* iFind claimed to be a battery-free item locating tag. Critics of the project raised serious doubts about its viability, focusing on its claimed EM harvesting capability and the lack of a working prototype. Kickstarter suspended funding after $546,852 had been raised.
* The
Skarp Laser Razor was cancelled in 2015 by Kickstarter. It had raised $4 million in pledges, but was cancelled after Kickstarter claimed that Skarp had failed to demonstrate a working prototype.
[Vincent, James. (13 October 2015).]
$4 million laser razor campaign banned from Kickstarter is already on Indiegogo
, ''The Verge
''The Verge'' is an American technology news website operated by Vox Media, publishing news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, consumer electronics news, and podcasts.
The website launched on November 1, 2011, and uses Vox Media' ...
''. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
Controversies
In the 2015
''Huffington Post'' article "Why Kickstarter is Corrupted" Nathan Resnick blames the rise of paid advertising, investor-backed campaigns, and crowdfunding agencies for the decline of Kickstarter as a useful tool for small inventors and creators. Kickstarter's internal reports says that 9% of Kickstarter projects fail to deliver rewards.
Resnick cites Nebia, backed by
Tim Cook
Timothy Donald Cook (born November 1, 1960) is an American business executive who has been the chief executive officer of Apple Inc. since 2011. Cook previously served as the company's chief operating officer under its co-founder Steve Jobs.
...
and
Eric Schmidt
Eric Emerson Schmidt (born April 27, 1955) is an American businessman and software engineer known for being the CEO of Google from 2001 to 2011, executive chairman of Google from 2011 to 2015, executive chairman of Alphabet Inc. from 2015 to 20 ...
, as an example of a well funded, investor-backed project using Kickstarter purely for publicity, thus drawing donations from smaller teams.
In addition, many individual projects caused controversy.
*In May 2014, Kickstarter blocked fundraising for
a film about late-term abortion provider
Kermit Gosnell
Kermit Barron Gosnell (born February 9, 1941) is an American former physician and serial killer. He provided abortions at his clinic in West Philadelphia. Gosnell was convicted of the murders of three infants who were born alive after using ...
. Producer Phelim McAleer claimed Kickstarter censored the project because of its graphic content and espousing a "liberal agenda". In June 2014, the project received approval for fundraising from rival site
Indiegogo, raising more than $2.3 million.
* On November 6, 2013, writer/director
Hal Hartley
Hal Hartley (born November 3, 1959) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and composer who became a key figure in the American independent film movement of the 1980s and '90s. He is best known for his films '' The Unbelievable T ...
launched a Kickstarter campaign to produce his upcoming film ''
Ned Rifle
''Ned Rifle'' is a 2014 American drama film written and directed by Hal Hartley. It is the third and final film in a trilogy following characters introduced in Hartley's 1997 film '' Henry Fool'' and 2006 sequel '' Fay Grim''. ''Ned Rifle'' star ...
'', seeking a total of $384,000.
On November 25, Hartley added a $9,000 reward tier offering the film's distribution rights for seven years in the United States and other countries, making his Kickstarter campaign the first to propose offering film distribution rights. Subsequently, Kickstarter notified Hartley selling distribution rights is a form of investment, which is forbidden by Kickstarter's terms and conditions, forcing Hartley to remove the option.
* In June 2013, there was controversy over the book ''Above the Game'', a guidebook on seducing women. Outlets pointed out that the advice in the book seemed to encourage
sexual assault
Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...
.
Although Kickstarter received a significant alert, they failed to pull the project. The site eventually wrote a letter of apology and placed a blanket ban on "Seduction guides".
* In April 2013, filmmaker
Zach Braff
Zachary Israel Braff['Scrubs' Star Zach Braff Wows ...](_blank)
used Kickstarter to fund his film ''
Wish I Was Here
''Wish I Was Here'' is a 2014 American comedy-drama film directed by Zach Braff and co-written with his brother Adam Braff. The film stars Zach Braff, Donald Faison, Josh Gad, Pierce Gagnon, Ashley Greene, Kate Hudson, Joey King, Jim Parsons, ...
'' and raised $2 million in three days, citing the success of
Rob Thomas' ''
Veronica Mars
''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen noir mystery drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional town of Neptune, California, and stars Kristen Bell as the eponymous character. The series prem ...
'' Kickstarter as his inspiration. Braff received criticism for using the site, saying his celebrity status would draw attention from other creatives who lack celebrity recognition, the same kind of criticism regarding big figures in the gaming industry using Kickstarter. (One example is
Richard Garriott
Richard Allen Garriott de Cayeux (''né'' Garriott; born July 4, 1961) is an American video game developer, entrepreneur and private astronaut. Although both his parents were American, he maintains dual British and American citizenship by birth. ...
, who created a successful $1+ million Kickstarter despite his personal fortune.) Kickstarter disputed these arguments by claiming, according to their metrics, big name projects attract new visitors, who in turn pledge to lesser-known projects.
* Since 2013, several crowdfunding campaigns have been accused of creating fake contributors to fool the public into thinking the campaigns were successful, and to defraud potential sources of matching funds.
* In 2012,
Amanda Palmer
Amanda MacKinnon Gaiman Palmer (born April 30, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and performance artist who is the lead vocalist, pianist, and lyricist of the duo The Dresden Dolls. She performs as a solo artist and was also a ...
raised $1.2 million on Kickstarter. She was criticized for asking to have musicians play with her for free on tour, after raising such a large sum.
* In May 2011, a
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
film student, Matias Shimada, raised $1,726 to make a film, but plagiarized another film. He later apologized to the public.
Patent disputes
* On September 30, 2011, Kickstarter filed a
declaratory judgment
A declaratory judgment, also called a declaration, is the legal determination of a court that resolves legal uncertainty for the litigants. It is a form of legally binding preventive by which a party involved in an actual or possible legal mat ...
suit against
ArtistShare
ArtistShare is the internet's first commercial crowdfunding website.Crowd-Funding 101: What Every Musician Needs for a Successful Campaign It also operates as a record label and business model for artists which enables them to fund their projec ...
in an attempt to invalidate U.S. crowd-funding patent US 7885887, "Methods and apparatuses for financing and marketing a creative work". Kickstarter asked that the patent be invalidated, or, at the very least, that the court find that Kickstarter is not liable for infringement. In February 2012, ArtistShare and Fan Funded responded to Kickstarter's complaint by filing a
motion to dismiss
In United States law, a motion is a procedural device to bring a limited, contested issue before a court for decision. It is a request to the judge (or judges) to make a decision about the case. Motions may be made at any point in administrativ ...
the lawsuit. They asserted that patent infringement litigation was never threatened, that "ArtistShare merely approached Kickstarter about licensing their platform, including patent rights", and that "rather than responding to ArtistShare's request for a counter-proposal, Kickstarter filed this lawsuit." The judge ruled that the case could go forward. ArtistShare then responded by filing a
counterclaim
In a court of law, a party's claim is a counterclaim if one party asserts claims in response to the claims of another. In other words, if a plaintiff initiates a lawsuit and a defendant responds to the lawsuit with claims of their own against th ...
alleging that Kickstarter was indeed infringing its patent.
In June 2015, Kickstarter won its lawsuit, with the judge declaring ArtistShare's patent invalid.
* On November 21, 2012,
3D Systems filed a patent infringement lawsuit against
Formlabs
Formlabs is a 3D printing technology developer and manufacturer. The Somerville, Massachusetts-based company was founded in September 2011 by three MIT Media Lab students. The company develops and manufactures 3D printers and related software and ...
and Kickstarter for infringing its 3D printer patent US 5597520, ”Simultaneous multiple-layer curing in stereolithography.” Formlabs had raised $2.9 million in a Kickstarter campaign to fund its own competitive printer. The company said that Kickstarter caused "irreparable injury and damage" to its business by promoting the Form 1 printer, and taking a 5% cut of pledged funds. A six-month stay was granted by the judge for settlement talks in which Kickstarter did not participate.
* On January 23, 2015, Alphacap Ventures LLC filed a
patent infringement
Patent infringement is the commission of a prohibited act with respect to a patented invention without permission from the patent holder. Permission may typically be granted in the form of a license. The definition of patent infringement may v ...
lawsuit against multiple crowdfunding platforms, including Indiegogo, CircleUp,
GoFundMe
GoFundMe is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to the b ...
, Kickstarter, Gust, RocketHub & Innovational Funding, for three patents — US 7848976, US 7908208 and US 8433630. According to
Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to:
People
* Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer
* Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian
* Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and ma ...
, Alphacap Ventures provides strategic, operations, and financial advisory services in the United States along with other financial services. Elsewhere, Alphacap Ventures is described as a
patent troll
In international law and business, patent trolling or patent hoarding is a categorical or pejorative term applied to a person or company that attempts to enforce patent rights against accused infringers far beyond the patent's actual value or ...
.
Unionizing efforts
On March 19, 2019, Kickstarter's staff announced plans to unionize as part of the
Office and Professional Employees International Union
The Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) is a trade union in the United States and Canada representing approximately 88,000 white-collar working people in the public and private sectors. It has members in all 50 US stat ...
(OPEIU), which would make Kickstarter the only major tech company to have a union. Shortly after the announcement, three senior staffers released a memo dissenting against the decision, claiming that it is too extreme and that it would be a "misappropriation of unions for use by privileged workers." According to Kickstarter employees, they wanted to found a union both for enabling collective bargaining for wages and for "giving employees more clout," allowing them to work for goals that they saw in their interest and the public's interest.
In May, Aziz Hasan, then CEO of Kickstarter, announced that the company would require an election for the union rather than voluntarily recognizing it, saying that "our view is that we are better set up to be successful without the framework of a union."
On September 16, the employees filed a complaint against Kickstarter with the
National Labor Relations Board
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States with responsibilities for enforcing U.S. labor law in relation to collective bargaining and unfair labor practices. Under the Natio ...
(NLRB) after two employees were terminated. According to the workers, they were fired for unionizing, although the company says it was for "performance issues." After these allegations, some Kickstarter creators have started a campaign against Kickstarter to let its employees unionize.
On September 28, Kickstarter confirmed that it would not recognise the unionisation effort. In a statement addressed to project creators, the CEO stated that unionisation would turn workplace relations "inherently adversarial" and that it "doesn’t reflect who we are as a company." Additionally, the CEO confirmed that Kickstarter stood by its decision to fire the two employees and would be pursuing legal action to fight their claims. The statement immediately resulted in criticism and calls for boycotts from creators who had previously used the platform, while writer
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...
tweeted that he would be unlikely to post support for or links to new Kickstarter campaigns "as long as they are anti-union."
Kickstarter employees continued to file complaints to the NLRB, which forced Kickstarter to allow its employees a formal vote on unionization. The vote was held on the morning of February 18, 2020, with 46 voting in favor of joining the OPEIU and 37 voting against. The CEO at the time, Aziz Hasan, said after the vote, "We support and respect this decision, and we are proud of the fair and democratic process that got us here." With this, the OPEIU will now work with the union effort, Kickstarter United, to bargain with Kickstarter management for a contract.
As of May 2, 2020, 60% of the workforce was part of the union.
Blockchain
On December 8, 2021, Kickstarter announced a plan to develop a decentralized protocol on
blockchain
A blockchain is a type of distributed ledger technology (DLT) that consists of growing lists of records, called ''blocks'', that are securely linked together using cryptography. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a ...
platform Celo to build an open source and blockchain-based crowdfunding infrastructure and then move its own website to that system. The announcement prompted backlash from creators and backers on
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
, many of whom pledged to abandon Kickstarter if the move went forward.
On December 15, a week later, Kickstarter responded to the controversy in a blog post that clarified the company's position but did not indicate a change of plans.
See also
*
Assurance contract
An assurance contract, also known as a provision point mechanism, or crowdaction, is a game-theoretic mechanism and a financial technology that facilitates the voluntary creation of public goods and club goods in the face of collective action p ...
*
Civic crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by cro ...
* Comparison of crowd funding services
*
GoFundMe
GoFundMe is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to the b ...
*
Indiegogo
* List of video game crowdfunding projects
* Open-source hardware
* Play Business
* Tech companies in the New York City metropolitan region
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
Financial services companies established in 2009
Benefit corporations
Companies based in Brooklyn
Crowdfunding platforms of the United States
Internet properties established in 2009
2009 establishments in New York City
Kickstarter projects,
Public benefit corporations in New York (state)
Tech sector trade unions