

Kickstarter 2011: The Stats - ambirex
http://www.kickstarter.com/blog/2011-the-stats

======
lancefisher
I'm convinced that this is the future of music production. My favorite band,
just came back after 8 years. Their goal was to raise $30,000 on Kickstarter
to produce a new album on their own. They still have 11 days left, but they
have raised $182,759 from just 3,090 backers.

You can't pirate CDs that don't exist yet. You are commissioning a band to
make new music. Kickstarter does take a decent cut, but not anything like the
labels, and the band has full creative control.

Wondering what band? Five Iron Frenzy. You probably haven't heard of them, but
that's the great part. You don't have to be a band like Coldplay to make an
album like this. I've also backed small, local bands making their first album.

[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fiveironfrenzy/new-
five-...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fiveironfrenzy/new-five-iron-
frenzy-album)

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citricsquid
The downside to Kickstarter is there is no checking if the project operator
ever actually delivers. I've backed multiple projects that have succeeded to
have nothing ever happen, no product delivered and no updates, same has
happened to a friend, all on different projects, mainly creative ones. It
sucks and it really puts me off using the service. A project I backed a few
months ago delivered to me last month (Romo) and it was the first to ever
deliver, after backing 9 in total since 2010... creative people are unreliable
it seems, really put me off ever backing projects that aren't _guaranteed_ in
some way.

~~~
RandallBrown
Yeah I know what you mean. Where the hell is Robocop!?
<http://detroitneedsrobocop.com/>

I usually only contribute 1-5 dollars so I don't think I've ever even noticed
if they're follow up since I'm not going to get anything anyway.

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Game_Ender
They have a pie chart, but the elements of chart are all the same size. A
sorted list or table view would be more informative.

~~~
dekz

      Dance 1,054,763.95  
      Fashion 1,351,659.85
      Comics 1,763,628.48
      Music 19,801,685.21
      Photography 2,116,261.93
      Food 2,809,503.31
      Games 3,616,530.88
      Film & Video 32,473,790.40
      Theater 4,051,962.62
      Technology 4,673,470.41
      Publishing 5,134,388.55
      Art 5,900,166.14
      Design 9,180,637.55
    

Load:
[http://www.kickstarter.com/blog_assets/2011_stats/category_w...](http://www.kickstarter.com/blog_assets/2011_stats/category_wheel.html)

Run: <https://gist.github.com/40146d0a7afed6628f45>

------
agscala
I find it incredible that 46% of projects were successfully launched through
Kickstarter. Kickstarter is one of those fantastic services that enable people
to do cool things that normally wouldn't have been able to be done, and I love
that they are so successful at helping people follow their dreams.

------
X-Istence
Some people have been saying that they haven't received their rewards, I've
backed 9 projects, (one still in progress, but the elevation dock is going to
get funded), so far I have received 2 of the 9 rewards I had selected. 5 of
the projects have posted updates regarding manufacturing and that they are
still on track regarding getting me the reward as promised.

Only 1 project so far has me worried that I won't see my money back. Either
way, to me it is a gamble. Either I just gambled my money away and get nothing
in return or I get something before anyone else in the world is able to
purchase it.

~~~
hop
Thanks for backing. Working 24/7 now to get you your Elevation Dock ahead of
our planned ship date.

[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hop/elevation-dock-
the-b...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hop/elevation-dock-the-best-
dock-for-iphone)

~~~
X-Istence
I absolutely love the design of it, and that it fixes the issues I've had with
my Apple iPhone dock. My only wish was that I could buy more of them to give
to my dad, and my siblings, unfortunately I just don't have the money at the
moment.

I saw your post regarding the sped up manufacturing. Looking forward to having
it in my hands faster :-).

------
unwind
Quite confusing page, that one. First, before the list of stats:

 _And in October we reached $100 million in pledges and had our one millionth
backer._

Then, in the list of statistics:

 _Dollars Pledged: $99,344,382_

Which seems to contradict the statement before the stats-listing. Then in the
"analysis" section after the stats listing for 2010:

 _Total pledges were just shy of $100 million in 2011._

Confusing.

~~~
ema
> And in October we reached $100 million in pledges and had our one millionth
> backer.

probably includes 2010

> Dollars Pledged: $99,344,382

only 2011

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k-mcgrady
Does anybody know the reason Kickstarter uses Amazon Payments which prevents
anyone outside the US using the site?

~~~
k-mcgrady
Thanks for explaining, I really wish they would roll out worldwide. There are
some great things on it I would love to give money to and some projects of my
own I'd like to try.

~~~
citricsquid
Just to clarify, you _can_ back projects from anywhere in the world. I am in
England and I can successfully back projects, the only thing you need to be in
the US to do is creating projects.

~~~
k-mcgrady
When I realised I couldn't start projects I thought that also meant I couldn't
back them. Thanks for clarifying.

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zarify
One of the things I'd really like to see out of Kickstarter is some solid
information (ie more than a couple of blog posts) on failed projects, to make
room for some good analysis of why projects fail to gain funding.

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lcusack
I wonder what other areas the all or nothing funding model could be applied
to? I've been kicking around the idea of trying to use this model for NPOs
with the goal of encouraging innovation.

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OoTheNigerian
The only project I backed "The startup Kids"
[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thestartupkids/the-
start...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thestartupkids/the-startup-
kids-0/posts) has had no update since July last year.

If these uncompleted 'successful' projects continue, it will be a problem for
kickstarter. my last experience has definitely prevented me from funding
another project.

~~~
nl
According to the last comment on
[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thestartupkids/the-
start...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thestartupkids/the-startup-
kids-0/posts/99687)

Dec 1: _We have already submitted it to some film festivals so now we are
crossing our fingers and hoping it will be accepted!_

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DyumanBhatt
Glad to hear this just before I launch my campaign!

