Kickstarter (Website)
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. Andy Baio served as the site's CTO until November 2010, when he joined Expert Labs.[15] Lance Ivy has been Lead Developer since the website launched.[16]
Top projects
Vorlage:Update 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.
- TikTok+LunaTik Multi-Touch Watch Kits (6283%, $942,578) by Scott Wilson
- Capture Camera Clip System (3,646%, $364,698) by Peter Dering
- Blue Like Jazz (276%, $345,992) by Steve Taylor
- Eyez™ HD Video Recording Glasses for Facebook (624%, $343,415) by ZionEyez Team
- Coffee Joulies (3,230%, $306,944) by Dave & Dave
- Pen Type-A (11,279%, $281,989) by CW&T
- HexBright (836%, $259,293) by Christian Carlberg
- Rise and Shine: The Jay DeMerit Story (103%, $223,422) by Nick and Ranko
- Minecraft: The Story of Mojang (140%, $210,297) by 2 Player Productions
- Diaspora (2006%, $200,641) by Daniel Grippi, Maxwell Salzberg, Raphael Sofaer, and Ilya Zhitomirskiy
Overall success rate
Kickstarter has raised $75 million dollars for over 10,000 projects since April 2009. The project success rate is 44%.[17]
Other noted projects
- Coffee Joulies - metal beans with phase change material to regulate the temperature of coffee.[18]
- 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.[19][20] It is currently Campus MovieFest's most viewed and highest rated film of all time.[21] 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.[22]
- Cards Against Humanity - a politically-incorrect party game that launched as the #1 game on Amazon.com.[23]
Patent Claim
On September 30, 2011, Kickstarter filed a request for Declaratory judgment against US patent 7,885,887, “Methods and apparatuses for financing and marketing creative work”. They are asserting that the patent is invalid because the inventions it covers were not new or were obvious at the time the patent application was effectively filed (July 9, 2002). They say that the owners of the patent, Fan Funded, LLC and ArtistShare, Inc. are demanding license fees from them and threatening to sue them. [24][25]
See also
References
External links
- ↑ Shawn Levy: Kickstarter raises money online for artistic endeavors, tapping into Portland ethos In: The Oregonian, May 29, 2010
- ↑ Jenna Wortham: A Few Dollars at a Time, Patrons Support Artists on the Web In: The New York Times, August 24, 2009
- ↑ Matt Villano: Small Donations in Large Numbers, With Online Help In: The New York Times, March 14, 2010
- ↑ Gould, Emily: Start me up In: Technology Review, MIT. Abgerufen am 20. Januar 2011
- ↑ http://www.kickstarter.com/help/guidelines
- ↑ Mike Musgrove: At Play: Kickstarter is a Web site for the starving artist In: washingtonpost.com, March 7, 2010
- ↑ Randall Stross: You, Too, Can Bankroll a Rock Band In: The New York Times, April 2, 2010
- ↑ http://www.kickstarter.com/help/faq#pdAmazCharAnyFees
- ↑ Official website: Kickstarter.com FAQ.
- ↑ Kickstarter FAQ "If I am unable to complete my project as listed, what should I do?" In: kickstarter.com.
- ↑ Myles Tanzer: NYU Tisch Student Makes Plagiarized Film To Win Festival Prize After Raising $1,700 On Kickstarter · NYU Local In: NYU Local, 9 May 2011. Abgerufen im 23 June 2011
- ↑ Sam Biddle: NYU Film Student Plagiarizes His Way to Kickstarter Fame. In: Gizmodo.
- ↑ Christine Lagorio: How to Use Kickstarter to Launch a Business In: Inc., April 27, 2010
- ↑ Reed Fischer: Every You Launches Kickstarter Project to Fund Video and Studio Time In: Miami New Times, 16. April 2010. Abgerufen im 29 April 2010
- ↑ Andy Baio: Joining Expert Labs. In: waxy.org. Abgerufen am 17. November 2010.
- ↑ crunchbase.com: Kickstarter CrunchBase Profile. 30. November 2010.
- ↑ Brittany Shammas, “Funding Sites Match Entrepreneurs, Contributors”, Indianapolis Star, August 6, 2011
- ↑ http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/705847536/coffee-joulies-your-coffee-just-right
- ↑ Tick Tock – The Last Minutes of a Life. Abgerufen am 7. Juli 2011.
- ↑ Student wins Best Picture, Best Director at International Campus Moviefest. Emory University, abgerufen am 7. Juli 2011.
- ↑ Most Viewed and Highest Rated Campus MovieFest Films. Campus MovieFest, 2011, abgerufen am 27. Mai 2011.
- ↑ Guardian Viral Video Chart. The Guardian, 2011, abgerufen am 7. Juli 2011.
- ↑ http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1200751084/cards-against-humanity
- ↑ Kickstarter Inc. v Fan Funded, LLC and Artistshare, Inc., Complaint for Declaratory Judgment of Patent Invalidity and Non-Infringement, 9/30/2011
- ↑ Devin Coldewey, “Kickstarter Hit with Patent Claim over Crowd-Funding”, TechCrunch, October 3, 2011