Kickstarter is not just a startup— it’s part of an important shift away from the industrial manufacturing era & toward the maker economy.
excerpts below are from: http://gigaom.com/2012/05/22/kickstarter-founder-perry-chen-intervie/
People value experiences more than they value products.
When you buy local food, you’re buying both a story and a good. Also, you’re saying something about yourself and what you care about. I think that’s what you’re seeing more and more in the things that people are looking for. Often, the stuff costs a premium, and I think people are willing to pay it. It’s worth it to them.
I think Kickstarter is that platform of creativity. I think the emotional appeal of a platform is what works. I think the old-media entities still have not figured out that part of the game plan.
We take a very liberal or what I think is a more modern view of what a creative project is. I mean, for us, a lot of food projects are definitely creative projects. A lot of technology, maker/hacker projects are definitely creative projects. Video game projects are, for us, definitely creative projects.
We’re also looking at not just constraining but also expanding a little bit into urban design and things like bike lanes and bike racks and community gardens. A lot of cities have approached us, talking to us about projects in that space. And we’re just having conversations — we don’t want to do anything too quickly.
We want to see how we can bring those projects in and bring them in in a way that fits Kickstarter — so they’re creative projects, with rewards and the right structure.
See on gigaom.com
