"We'd turn to Kickstarter: The people's N.E.A.!"
August 7, 2011 3:58 PM Subscribe
Rob Walker has written in the New York Times and elsewhere about many topics that have appeared in Metafilter: cool collections of things online, geography as entertainment, the much reviled mommyblogger, and even the vuvuzela. This week, he explores the structure and order behind KickStarter and shares the experience he had using it to fund a project in New Orleans. Also...
It's interesting that to be successful, it seems you need three things:
1) A project that will be approved (least important)
2) Cool loot for people who fund (medium importance)
3) A good, entertaining pitch (most important)
Unfortunately, #3 means that a big bunch of awkward introverts and uglies aren't going to get their project off the ground.
What percentage of projects fail to meet their goals?
It also seems to me to be a lost opportunity here for funding overages to not be redistributed to less popular projects. After all, if you ask for $10,000 and get $25,000, odds are very good the extra $15,000 isn't going into the project but into savings, car payments or whatever, eh?
posted by maxwelton at 5:10 PM on August 7, 2011
1) A project that will be approved (least important)
2) Cool loot for people who fund (medium importance)
3) A good, entertaining pitch (most important)
Unfortunately, #3 means that a big bunch of awkward introverts and uglies aren't going to get their project off the ground.
What percentage of projects fail to meet their goals?
It also seems to me to be a lost opportunity here for funding overages to not be redistributed to less popular projects. After all, if you ask for $10,000 and get $25,000, odds are very good the extra $15,000 isn't going into the project but into savings, car payments or whatever, eh?
posted by maxwelton at 5:10 PM on August 7, 2011
It also seems to me to be a lost opportunity here for funding overages to not be redistributed to less popular projects. After all, if you ask for $10,000 and get $25,000, odds are very good the extra $15,000 isn't going into the project but into savings, car payments or whatever, eh?
If you're trying to raise money, why would you use a site that exploited your popularity and took thousands of dollars that were meant for you?
Donors are welcome to redistribute their money to less popular projects if they want to.
posted by grobstein at 6:03 PM on August 7, 2011 [1 favorite]
If you're trying to raise money, why would you use a site that exploited your popularity and took thousands of dollars that were meant for you?
Donors are welcome to redistribute their money to less popular projects if they want to.
posted by grobstein at 6:03 PM on August 7, 2011 [1 favorite]
Fun fact about Kickstarter. When you fund something and it fails, it sours you completely on the entire site.
posted by chairface at 6:38 PM on August 7, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by chairface at 6:38 PM on August 7, 2011 [2 favorites]
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1) when people reflexively start using it as a crutch
2) when corporations/big media start subverting it to their own ends
posted by Renoroc at 4:40 PM on August 7, 2011