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Kickstarter

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Kickstarter
Type of site
Crowdfunding
Available inEnglish
Headquarters
New York City, New York State
,
U.S.
URLhttp://www.kickstarter.com
CommercialYes

Kickstarter is an online threshold pledge system for funding creative projects. Kickstarter has funded a diverse array of endeavors,[1] ranging from indie film and music to journalism, solar energy technology and food-related projects.[2]

Model

One of a new set of fundraising platforms dubbed "crowdfunding",[3] Kickstarter facilitates gathering monetary resources from the general public, a model which circumvents many traditional avenues of investment.[4] People must apply to Kickstarter in order to have a project posted on the site, and Kickstarter provides guidelines[5] on what types of projects will be accepted. Project owners choose a deadline and a target minimum of funds to raise. If the chosen target is not gathered by the deadline, no funds are collected (this is known as a provision point mechanism).[6] Money pledged by donors is collected using Amazon Payments,[7] and initiating projects requires a U.S. bank account.

Kickstarter takes 5% of the funds raised; Amazon charges an additional 3-5%.[8] Unlike many forums for fundraising or investment, Kickstarter claims no ownership over the projects and the work they produce. However, 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.[9]

There is no guarantee that people that post projects on Kickstarter will deliver on their projects or use the money to do their projects. Kickstarter advises sponsors to use their own judgment on supporting a project. They also warn project leaders that they could be liable for legal damages from sponsors for failure to deliver on promises. [10] In May 2011 a New York University film student raised $1,726 to make a film, but plagiarized the French film Replay instead. The student publicly apologized and the issue has since been settled. [11][12]

History

Kickstarter was founded in April 2009 by Perry Chen, Yancey Strickler, and Charles Adler.[13] The Miami New Times jokingly proclaimed "Kickstarter.com is one of the smartest ideas for a website since Al Gore invented the Internet."[14]

The startup is based in Manhattan's Lower East Side at 155 Rivington Street.[15][16] Andy Baio served as the site's CTO until November 2010, when he joined Expert Labs.[17] Lance Ivy has been Lead Developer since the website launched.[18]

Top projects

As a sample of the type of projects funded by Kickstarter, the following are the top ten projects from the site's most funded projects circa July, 2011.

Overall success rate

Kickstarter has raised $75 million dollars for over 10,000 projects since April 2009. The project success rate is 44%.[19]

Other noted projects

  • Coffee Joulies - metal beans with phase change material to regulate the temperature of coffee.[20]
  • Tick Tock - a short film by Korean American filmmaker Ien Chi which won Best Picture and Best Director at the International Grand Finale of Campus MovieFest, the world's largest student film festival.[21][22] It is currently Campus MovieFest's most viewed and highest rated film of all time.[23] The film went viral and collectively has approximately 1.7 million views online and has been featured on The Guardian and in other media sources.[24]
  • Cards Against Humanity - a politically-incorrect party game that launched as the #1 game on Amazon.com.[25]

References

  1. ^ Levy, Shawn (May 29, 2010). "Kickstarter raises money online for artistic endeavors, tapping into Portland ethos". The Oregonian.
  2. ^ Wortham, Jenna (August 24, 2009). "A Few Dollars at a Time, Patrons Support Artists on the Web". The New York Times.
  3. ^ Villano, Matt (March 14, 2010). "Small Donations in Large Numbers, With Online Help". The New York Times.
  4. ^ Gould, Emily. "Start me up". Technology Review. MIT. Retrieved 2011-01-20.
  5. ^ http://www.kickstarter.com/help/guidelines
  6. ^ Musgrove, Mike (March 7, 2010). "At Play: Kickstarter is a Web site for the starving artist". washingtonpost.com.
  7. ^ Stross, Randall (April 2, 2010). "You, Too, Can Bankroll a Rock Band". The New York Times.
  8. ^ http://www.kickstarter.com/help/faq#pdAmazCharAnyFees
  9. ^ Official website (Retrieved 2010). "Kickstarter.com FAQ". {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ "Kickstarter FAQ "If I am unable to complete my project as listed, what should I do?"". kickstarter.com.
  11. ^ Tanzer, Myles (9 May 2011). "NYU Tisch Student Makes Plagiarized Film To Win Festival Prize After Raising $1,700 On Kickstarter · NYU Local". NYU Local. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
  12. ^ Sam Biddle. "NYU Film Student Plagiarizes His Way to Kickstarter Fame". Gizmodo.
  13. ^ Lagorio, Christine (April 27, 2010). "How to Use Kickstarter to Launch a Business". Inc.
  14. ^ Fischer, Reed (2010-04-16). "Every You Launches Kickstarter Project to Fund Video and Studio Time". Miami New Times. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  15. ^ Copyright notice Kickstarter Newsletter #41
  16. ^ Shafrir, Doree (April 18, 2010). "Tweet Tweet Boom Boom". New York Magazine.
  17. ^ Andy Baio. "Joining Expert Labs". waxy.org. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
  18. ^ crunchbase.com (November 30, 2010). "Kickstarter CrunchBase Profile".
  19. ^ Brittany Shammas, “Funding Sites Match Entrepreneurs, Contributors”, Indianapolis Star, August 6, 2011
  20. ^ http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/705847536/coffee-joulies-your-coffee-just-right
  21. ^ "Tick Tock – The Last Minutes of a Life". Retrieved 2011-07-07.
  22. ^ "Student wins Best Picture, Best Director at International Campus Moviefest". Emory University. Retrieved 2011-07-07.
  23. ^ "Most Viewed and Highest Rated Campus MovieFest Films". 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-27. {{cite web}}: Text "Campus MovieFest" ignored (help); Text "publisher" ignored (help)
  24. ^ "Guardian Viral Video Chart". The Guardian. 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-07.
  25. ^ http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1200751084/cards-against-humanity

See also

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