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Kickstarter

URL	http://www.kickstarter.com
Commercial?	Yes
Type of site	Crowdfunding
Available language(s)	English
Launched	2008 (previously known as KickStartr)

Kickstarter is a crowd funding website for creative projects.^[1] Kickstarter has funded a diverse array of endeavors,^[2] ranging from indie films, music and comics to journalism, video games, and food-related projects.^[3]

Model[link]

One of a new set of fundraising platforms dubbed "crowd funding,"^[4] Kickstarter facilitates gathering monetary resources from the general public, a model which circumvents many traditional avenues of investment.^[5] People must apply to Kickstarter in order to have a project posted on the site, and Kickstarter provides guidelines^[6] 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).^[7] Money pledged by donors is collected using Amazon Payments.^[8]

Kickstarter takes 5% of the funds raised; Amazon charges an additional 3–5%.^[9] 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.^[10]

There is no guarantee that people that post projects on Kickstarter will deliver on their projects, use the money to implement their projects, or that the completed projects will meet backers expectations, and Kickstarter itself has been accused of providing little quality control. ^[11][12][13] 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.^[14] In May 2011 a New York University film student raised $1,726 to make a film, but plagiarized another film instead. The student publicly apologized and the issue has since been settled.^[15][16] Projects can also fail even after a successful fund raise when creators underestimate the total costs required or technical difficulties to be overcome. ^[11][17]

Kicking It Forward[link]

During the campaign for Wasteland 2, developer Brian Fargo developed the Kicking it Forward program.^[18] Under this program, Fargo's inXile Entertainment pledged to use 5% of post-launch net profits to back future Kickstarter projects.^[19] Many other projects have joined the program, such as Shadowrun Returns and Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded.^[18]

History[link]

Kickstarter was founded in 2008 by Perry Chen, Yancey Strickler, and Charles Adler.^[20] The Miami New Times jokingly proclaimed "Kickstarter.com is one of the smartest ideas for a website since Al Gore invented the Internet."^[21] Kickstarter raised $10 million funding from backers including NYC-based venture firm Union Square Ventures and angel investors such as Jack Dorsey, Zach Klein and Caterina Fake.^[22] The company is based in Manhattan's Lower East Side.

Andy Baio served as the site's CTO until November 2010, when he joined Expert Labs.^[23] Lance Ivy has been Lead Developer since the website launched.^[24]

As of April 2012, Kickstarter had more than $175 million dollars pledged and more than 20,000 successfully funded projects.^[25] The project success rate was 44%.^[26] The business has grown quickly in its early years. In the year 2010, Kickstarter had 3,910 successful projects, $27,638,318 dollars pledged, and a project success rate of 43%. In 2011, the corresponding figures were 11,836, $99,344,381 and 46%.^[27]

February 9, 2012 saw a number of landmarks set by Kickstarter. A dock made for the iPhone designed by Casey Hopkins became the first Kickstarter project to break a million dollars pledged. A few hours later, a drive by computer game developers Double Fine Productions to fund a new adventure game reached the same figure having been launched less than 24 hours earlier. This was also the first single day in which Kickstarter raised over a million dollars in pledges.^[28]

On February 19, 2012, The Order of the Stick Reprint Drive became the third Kickstarter project to exceed one million dollars. It was the first in a book publishing category and the first by a single creative artist (as opposed to a company) to reach that level of funding. On February 20, Double Fine Adventure was the first to reach two million,^[29] and on March 13, fewer than 24 hours before close, the Double Fine project was the first to reach three million dollars pledged. ^[30] The same day, another computer game project, Wasteland 2 launched with a $900,000 goal, the highest up to that point. Its goal was reached in 42 hours, and on March 21 it surpassed the Elevation Dock as the second most funded project.

On May 18, 2012, The Pebble E-Paper Watch raised more than $10,000,000 to become the most funded project in Kickstarter history. In fact, the Pebble achieved this only six days after launch (April 17, 2012) as it surpassed Double Fine Adventure, which only raised a little more than $3 million.^[31]

Top projects by funds raised[link]

Project cancellations[link]

Both Kickstarter and project creators have cancelled projects that appeared to have been fraudulent. Questions were raised about the projects in internet communities related to the fields of the projects. The concerns raised were: apparent copying of graphics from other sources; unrealistic performance or price claims; and failure of project sponsors to deliver on prior Kickstarter projects. Cancelled projects include:

• Eye3 camera drone helicopter for unrealistic performance promises, photos copied from other commercial products, and failure of creators to deliver on an earlier Kickstarter project.^[32]
• ”Mythic” adventure game for copying graphics from other games and unrealistic performance promises. ^[33]
• Tech-Sync Power System for failing to provide photos of the prototype and sudden departure of project creator.^[34]
• Tentacle Bento, a card game intended to satirize Japanese school girl tentacle rape comics, after being criticized in the online media for having inappropriate content.^[35]

Patent dispute[link]

On September 30, 2011, Kickstarter filed a request for declaratory judgment against ArtistShare and Fan Funded which owns U.S. patent US 7885887 , "Methods and apparatuses for financing and marketing a creative work". Brian Camelio, the founder of ArtistShare, is named as the inventor on the patent. KickStarter said it believed it is under threat of a patent infringement lawsuit by ArtistShare. Kickstarter asked that the patent be invalidated, or, at the very least, that the court find that Kickstarter is not liable of infringement.^[36][37][38] In February 2012, ArtistShare and Fan Funded responded to Kickstarter's complaint by filing a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. They asserted that patent infringement litigation was never threatened, that "ArtistShare merely approached KickStarter about licensing their platform, including patent rights", and that "rather than responding to ArtistShare's request for a counter-proposal, Kickstarter filed this lawsuit."^[39] The judge has ruled, however, that the case can go forward. ArtistShare has since responded by filing a counterclaim alleging that Kickstarter is indeed infringing its patent.^[40]

See Also[link]

• Assurance contract

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• 37 Saddest Failed Kickstarters at Buzzfeed

Ze Frank
Ze Frank hosting the web awards at SXSWi 2007
Born	Hosea Jan Frank (1972-03-31) March 31, 1972 (age 40)
Nationality	American
Known for	Comedy
Notable work(s)	the show
Spouse	Jody Brandt (2003-present)
Website
zefrank.com

Ze Frank ( /ˈzeɪ/; born Hosea Jan Frank on March 31, 1972) is an American online performance artist, composer, humorist and public speaker based in Los Angeles, California.^[1]

Personal life[link]

Frank was born to German-American parents and raised in a suburb of Albany, New York. He graduated from Brown University in 1995 where he studied neuroscience.^[1] Information given in the show indicates that he was educated at a Montessori school and also has a sister, who is a painter^[2] .

Beginning at Brown, Frank played guitar and sang lead vocals for a funk/jam band called Dowdy Smack, along with Blues Traveler bassist Tad Kinchla, until its dissolution in 1998.

Frank married his longtime girlfriend Jody Brandt in 2003. They met at Brown University and dated for five years before getting married. Jody is a licensed psychologist. She also officiated at the wedding ceremony of Frank's band mate Tad Kinchla in 2009. Frank and Brandt moved from Brooklyn Heights, NYC, to Westwood, Los Angeles, CA, at the end of 2008.^{[citation needed]}

Career[link]

In 2001, Frank created an online birthday invitation and sent it to seventeen of his closest friends. Forwarded wildly, the invitation soon generated millions of hits and over 100 gigabytes of daily web traffic to Frank's personal Web site.^[3] The site grew to include interactive group projects, short films, animations, and video games, many Flash-based, including children's educational videos featuring handy tips such as "Don't vacuum your face".

Frank won a 2002 Webby Award for Best Personal Website and in 2005, he was featured in Time Magazine's "50 Coolest Websites".^[4] Frank debuted onstage at the Gel conference in 2003, and later spoke at the TED Conference in 2004 and 2005.^[5]

Frank has served as an adjunct professor at ITP/NYU, Parsons School of Design, and SUNY Purchase.

Discussing his work in the digital medium, and the potential of new platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, Frank said, "For me, experimentation is not about the technology. In an ever-changing technological landscape, where today’s platforms are not tomorrow’s platforms, the key seems to be that any one of these spaces can use a dose of humanity and art and culture.”^[6]

[edit] the show

On March 17, 2006, Frank launched the daily video program the show with zefrank. The format of the program combined commentary on media and current events with viewer contributions and activities. Each tightly edited three-to-five-minute episode combined Daily Show-style commentary on world events with songs, observations, and occasional games or challenges for his viewers to participate in. Thousands of photos, videos and music files were contributed by the audience, including over 1,000 photos in one 20-hour period.^[7] The show appeared each weekday until its final episode on March 17, 2007, exactly one year after its start. Following the success of the show, Frank signed with the United Talent Agency of Beverly Hills, California for representation. The Show's style has influenced many popular video bloggers today, such as Philip DeFranco,^[8] John Green ^[9] and Craig Benzine ^[10].

[edit] a show

On February 27, 2012, Ze Frank announced that he was going to do a thrice-weekly show, that will be "same same but different" from The Show. Similar to his other projects, Frank's new venture will be a collaboration between him and his audience. ^[11] The show debuted on April 9, 2012 with an episode titled "An Invocation for Beginnings". ^[12]

Appearances[link]

• In February 2004 Frank appeared on the TED Conference with a talk titled What's so funny about the Web?
• On May 18, 2007, Frank spoke at the Ruby on Rails conference, RailsConf, in Portland, Oregon.^[13]
• Frank was a substitute host on the July 23, 2007, edition of the PRI public radio show Fair Game with Faith Salie.^[14]
• Frank spoke at Rochester Institute of Technology as part of the monthly Caroline Werner Gannett Lecture Series on October 3, 2007.^[15]
• On March 2008, Frank MCed the Graphex Gala Awards Ceremony in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.[1]
• Frank was a featured guest on The Sound of Young America on July 17, 2008.^[16]
• On 6 October 2008, Ze was the keynote speaker at the Kalido User Conference.
• Frank presented at the 3rd Webstock conference in Wellington, New Zealand, on February 19, 2009.
• Frank is currently featured in a weekly webseries for Time Magazine Online.
• Frank was re-invited to the TED Conference in February 2010 to give a comedic wrap-up of the conference.
• Frank appeared at VIDCON on July 9, 2010.
• Frank spoke at TEDGlobal conference at Oxford (UK) on July 16, 2010.
• On April 11, 2011, Frank hosted an online streaming benefit concert with Imogen Heap to raise funds and inform viewers regarding the plight of the Japanese people following the devastating earthquake and tsunami. Frank conducted interviews with experts such as James Kondo, adviser to the Japanese Prime Minister, and architect Mark Dytham, as well as an assortment of musicians including Amanda Palmer, Ben Folds, Jamie Cullum, Imogen Heap, and KT Tunstall. The event was called Live 4 Sendai (part of the Live 4 X series) and it raised funds for UNICEF, The Red Cross, and Oxfam to further their restorative efforts in the region.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Ze Frank

• Ze Frank's site
• zefrank.com wiki
• Ze Frank at the Internet Movie Database
• Warren St. John interviews Ze Frank (June 18, 2006) for The New York Times (video)
• Interview: Ze Frank, performance artist by Mark Hurst of goodexperience.com on December 4, 2002
• "Ze Frank, YouTube, and Making Money" by Heather Green, BusinessWeek, July 28, 2006
• TED Talks: Ze Frank's nerdcore comedy at TED in 2004
• Ze Frank on creativity, an interview with about-creativity.com March 29, 2007
• Zefrank's postings on Buzzfeed.com