Prompt Cast
The Story of Kickstarter and its Co-founder Perry Chen
TLDR Perry Chen, the co-founder of Kickstarter, struggled to find work after college before eventually launching the platform in 2009. Despite facing skepticism and challenges, Chen and his team persevered, creating a crowdfunding platform that prioritized enabling people to bring good ideas to life.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
Kickstarter was founded by Perry Chen in 2009, eventually becoming one of the best inventions of the year according to Time magazine.
05:08
Perry Chen, co-founder of Kickstarter, initially struggled to find work after college and ended up day trading in New York before eventually returning to New Orleans to focus on music and where the idea of Kickstarter began to take shape.
09:17
Perry Chen had the idea for Kickstarter when he questioned why he needed to front the money for an event, leading to the concept of crowdfunding events based on interest.
13:53
Perry Chen spent years developing the concept of Kickstarter with his co-founders, including creating detailed mock-ups and securing early investments before launching the platform.
18:22
Despite facing skepticism and challenges, Perry Chen and his co-founders persevered with the idea of Kickstarter due to their belief in providing access to funding for ideas that may not fit traditional investment models, especially as the web landscape evolved in the mid-2000s.
23:12
Perry Chen and his team persevered through years of ups and downs, learning from mistakes and finding crucial support from experienced individuals like Andy Bao, eventually launching Kickstarter with an initial outreach effort to fund a variety of projects.
27:12
Kickstarter's growth was steady and diverse, with a wide range of projects funded, leading to a deliberate approach to investment that prioritized maintaining control and avoiding pressure for a quick exit strategy.
31:50
Kickstarter implemented a process to differentiate between product design projects and creative projects to clarify that it is not a store and to manage consumer expectations.
36:21
Kickstarter's model focuses on enabling people to bring good ideas to life, maintaining a balance between profit and social impact.
41:28
A former engineer at NASA partnered with Dustin to design a survival belt with custom miniature gadgets that doesn't weigh a ton.
46:05
Dustin and his company, Wazoo Survival Gear, faced manufacturing challenges but eventually fulfilled all pre-orders, receiving positive reviews from customers who found the survival belt worth the 17-month wait.
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