Kickstarter

A pivotal moment in the company's history was its reincorporation as a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) in 2015. This legal status obligates the company to consider its social impact alongside shareholder profit, hard-coding its mission to "help bring creative projects to life" into its charter. As a PBC, Kickstarter commits to not selling user data, donating 5% of its after-tax profits to arts education and organizations fighting inequality, and avoiding loopholes to reduce its tax burden.

The platform's business model is built on an "all-or-nothing" funding system. Project creators set a financial goal and a deadline. If the goal is reached within the timeframe, the project is funded; if not, no money is exchanged. This reduces risk for both creators and backers. Kickstarter generates revenue by charging a 5% fee on the total funds of successfully funded projects. An additional payment processing fee of 3-5% is applied by third-party processors. The company serves a wide range of creators across sectors like film, music, games, technology, and publishing, connecting them with a global community of backers. Backers are not investors but receive tangible rewards or experiences in exchange for their pledges, a model rooted in arts patronage.

Creators use the platform to build a dedicated page for their project, detailing their idea with videos, text, and prototypes. They offer tiered rewards to incentivize different levels of financial backing. Upon a successful campaign, creators are responsible for producing and delivering these rewards to their backers. This direct-to-community model allows creators to validate their ideas, gain market feedback, and build an audience without relying on traditional gatekeepers of funding. Keywords: crowdfunding, creative projects, public benefit corporation, reward-based crowdfunding, project funding, artist funding, film financing, game development funding, independent artists, product launch, startup funding, all-or-nothing funding, Perry Chen, Yancey Strickler, Charles Adler, PBC, creative economy, design projects, publishing funding, tech gadgets, community-backed projects, social enterprise