
The Best of Kickstarter 2012 - sethbannon
http://www.kickstarter.com/year/2012
======
evoxed

      TEXT-ONLY VERSION FOR MOBILE BROWSERS &C;
    

\-----

From groundbreaking projects to inspiring stories, 2012 was a year of many
memorable moments on Kickstarter.

To celebrate the year that was, our team put together this look back at some
of our favorite projects and moments. We hope you enjoy!

\-----

Let's begin with some numbers

In 2012 2,241,475 people

pledged a total of $319,786,629

and successfully funded 18,109 projects

Backers pledged $606.76 per minute to projects in 2012

\-----

Of the 2.2 million people who backed a project in 2012

570,672 people backed two or more projects

50,047 people backed ten or more projects

452 people backed 100 or more projects

\-----

People in 177 countries backed a project in 2012

That's 90% of the countries in the world

\-----

Of Kickstarter's 13 creative categories

Music had the most funded projects with 5,067

Games had the most money pledged at $83 million

Art, Film, Music, Publishing, and Theater each had more than 1,000 funded
projects

\-----

17 projects raised $1 million+ in 2012

~~~
evoxed
_January_

10% of the films at Sundance are Kickstarter-funded

19 films selected; four win top prizes
(<http://www.kickstarter.com/pages/Sundance2012?ref=yir2012>)

FUBAR hits the New York Times Best Sellers List
([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1607639297/fubar-2-empir...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1607639297/fubar-2-empire-
of-the-rising-dead?ref=yir2012))

The Kickstarter Popsicle Little Bee Pops celebrates backers with a new flavor
([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/730155451/little-bee-
pop...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/730155451/little-bee-
pops/posts/160739?ref=yir2012))

Incident in New Baghdad nominated for an Oscar Second Kickstarter-funded film
to be nominated ([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1941167757/incident-
in-n...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1941167757/incident-in-new-
baghdad-oscar-qualifying-la-releas?ref=yir2012))

\-----

 _February_

Double Fine Adventure ([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doublefine/double-
fine-a...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doublefine/double-fine-
adventure?ref=yir2012) ) kicks off a huge year for games

Games in 2012: 561,574 backers $83,144,565 pledged 2,796 projects

\-----

 _March_

Backers make Chattanooga the first US city with its own font Font integrated
into bike lanes, billboards, and even the public library, then released online
for free ([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/chatype/chatype-a-
typefa...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/chatype/chatype-a-typeface-for-
chattanooga-tennessee?ref=yir2012))

Stanford teaches Kickstarter for class credit (Our Kickstarter School is still
free) (<http://www.kickstarter.com/pages/storyviz?ref=yir2012>)

A Kickstarter-funded bus stop in Georgia Athens artist spices up the morning
commute ([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1016187241/the-love-
shac...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1016187241/the-love-shack-bus-
stop?ref=yir2012))

\-----

 _April_

Google Maps integrates images from DIY mapping project
([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1775485688/balloon-
mappi...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1775485688/balloon-mapping-
kits?ref=yir2012))

Dark Sky app predicts the weather
([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jackadam/dark-sky-
hyperl...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jackadam/dark-sky-hyperlocal-
weather-prediction-and-visuali?ref=yir2012))

Air Quality Egg makes fighting pollution awesome
([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/edborden/air-quality-
egg...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/edborden/air-quality-
egg?ref=yir2012))

Kickstarter turns three ([http://www.kickstarter.com/blog/happy-3rd-birthday-
kickstart...](http://www.kickstarter.com/blog/happy-3rd-birthday-
kickstarter?ref=yir2012))

\-----

 _May_

Classical music goes open source Musopen and Open Goldberg Variations release
recordings to the public domain
([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/Musopen/record-and-
relea...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/Musopen/record-and-release-free-
music-without-copyrights?ref=yir2012))
([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/293573191/open-
goldberg-...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/293573191/open-goldberg-
variations-setting-bach-free?ref=yir2012))

Cards Against Humanity tops the Amazon charts Friends make irreverent card
game, sell 100,000+ copies, ruin family gatherings forever
([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/maxtemkin/cards-
against-...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/maxtemkin/cards-against-
humanity?ref=yir2012))

\-----

 _June_

A Kickstarter-funded opera premieres at the Kennedy Center 188 backers help
produce Paola Prestini’s Oceanic Verses
([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/MexicoSings/oceanic-
vers...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/MexicoSings/oceanic-verses-an-
opera?ref=yir2012))

MaKey MaKey inspires the world’s first banana piano One project, infinite
possibilities ([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/joylabs/makey-makey-
an-i...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/joylabs/makey-makey-an-invention-
kit-for-everyone?ref=yir2012))

Open source geiger counters measure radiation levels in Japan
([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/seanbonner/safecast-x-
ki...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/seanbonner/safecast-x-kickstarter-
geiger-counter?ref=yir2012))

Musician writes songs for backers, including his grandma The cutest thing we
saw all year ([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2031742392/he-said-
she-s...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2031742392/he-said-she-said-
thats-what-she-said/posts/239704?ref=yir2012))

\-----

 _July_

Kentucky sixth-graders send a camera to space
([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/scifres/the-edge-and-
bac...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/scifres/the-edge-and-
back?ref=yir2012))

Design firm Final Frontier develops a civilian space suit
([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/872281861/final-
frontier...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/872281861/final-frontier-
designs-3g-space-suit?ref=yir2012))

Publisher's Weekly calls Kickstarter the #2 publisher of graphic novels
([http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-
news/co...](http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-
news/comics/article/52925-is-kickstarter-the-2-graphic-novel-publisher.html))

Kickstarter gets parodied The New Yorker, The Daily Show, Portlandia,
McSweeney's, The Onion, Funny or Die, and others make us laugh
([http://www.newyorker.com/humor/issuecartoons/2012/07/30/cart...](http://www.newyorker.com/humor/issuecartoons/2012/07/30/cartoons_20120723#slide=17))
(<http://www.kick-stopper.com/>)
(<http://www.ifc.com/portlandia/videos/portlandia-kickstarter>)
([http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/welcome-to-the-
official-k...](http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/welcome-to-the-official-
kickstarter-page-for-greece))
([http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/70f7ef3d34/bar-refaeli-s-
se...](http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/70f7ef3d34/bar-refaeli-s-sex-tape-
kickstarter))

\-----

 _August_

T-Rex wins Olympic gold Boxer Claressa Shields, subject of the doc T-Rex,
triumphs in London
(<http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zcdc/t-rex/posts/286163>)

87 projects go to Burning Man Art cars, bathroom beacons, laser lights, oh my!
(<http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/search?term=burning+man>)

Kickstarter-funded journalists cover the world
(<http://www.kickstarter.com/pages/journalism?ref=yir2012>)

\-----

 _September_

Amanda Palmer debuts in the Billboard Top Ten Thanks 24,883 backers with a
block party ([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/amandapalmer/amanda-
palm...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/amandapalmer/amanda-palmer-the-
new-record-art-book-and-tour?ref=yir2012))

The world's first pizza museum Philadelphians pay tribute to the glory that is
pizza ([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2023690459/pizza-
brain-t...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2023690459/pizza-brain-the-
worlds-first-pizza-museum-and-rest?ref=yir2012))

Kindergarten class launches experiments into space
([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1569698176/1000-student-...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1569698176/1000-student-
projects-to-the-edge-of-space?ref=yir2012))

XOXO Fest explores the creative universe Kickstarter-funded festival unites
artists, creators, and technologists
([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/waxpancake/xoxo-
festival...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/waxpancake/xoxo-
festival?ref=yir2012))

Projects transform public spaces The Lowline, Kulturpark, and Logan Parklet
create new urban environments
([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/855802805/lowline-an-
und...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/855802805/lowline-an-underground-
park-on-nycs-lower-east-sid?ref=yir2012))
([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1353197694/kulturpark?re...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1353197694/kulturpark?ref=yir2012))
([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/122241678/lets-build-
the...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/122241678/lets-build-the-logan-
parklet?ref=yir2012))

\-----

 _October_

The first hackerspace opens in Baghdad
([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bilal/baghdad-
community-...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bilal/baghdad-community-
hackerspace-workshops?ref=yir2012))

Kickstarter opens to UK creators Picade first to launch, Chime Pavilion first
to succeed ([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pimoroni/picade-the-
arca...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pimoroni/picade-the-arcade-
cabinet-kit-for-your-raspberry-p?ref=yir2012))
([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/georginanaishmsa/the-
chi...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/georginanaishmsa/the-chime-
pavillion?ref=yir2012))

Photography exhibition travels across Afghanistan
([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/52943134/streets-of-
afgh...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/52943134/streets-of-afghanistan-
exhibition-hits-the-streets?ref=yir2012))

\-----

 _November_

OpenROV sends underwater robots around the world
([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/openrov/openrov-the-
open...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/openrov/openrov-the-open-source-
underwater-robot?ref=yir2012))

Atlanta's first squirrel census Turns out, there are even more squirrels than
we thought ([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jamiewashere/inman-
park-...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jamiewashere/inman-park-
squirrel-census?ref=yir2012))

Windowfarms grow in the American Museum of Natural History
([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/windowfarms/learn-to-
gro...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/windowfarms/learn-to-grow-and-
share-with-new-windowfarms?ref=yir2012))

\-----

 _December_

63 Kickstarter-funded films
(<http://www.kickstarter.com/pages/filmsintheaters?ref=yir2012>) open in
theaters

The first marriage proposal via Kickstarter project
([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1042570429/the-last-
door...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1042570429/the-last-door-
episodic-horror-adventure/posts/366903?ref=yir2012))

The Griz Coat ([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hansr/griz-
coat?ref=yir2...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hansr/griz-
coat?ref=yir2012)) makes bear hugs even better (Aaron's dancing skills not
included)

~~~
evoxed
_2012: The Stats_

    
    
      Total pledged
      $319,786,629
      +221% from 2011
      
      Total collected
      $274,391,721
      +238% from 2011
      
      Total backers
      2,241,475
      +134% from 2011
      
      Pageviews
      709 million
      +279% from 2011
      
      Unique visitors
      86 million
      +252% from 2011
    

\-----

    
    
      Category      Launched        Successful      Pledged         Pledges
      Art           3,783           1,837           $10,477,939     155,782
      Comics        1,170           542             $9,242,233      177,070
      Dance         512             381             $1,773,304      23,807
      Design        1,882           759             $50,124,041     536,469
      Fashion       1,659           434             $6,317,799      83,067
      Film & Video  9,600           3,891           $57,951,876     647,361
      Food          1,828           688             $11,117,486     138,204
      Games         2,796           911             $83,144,565     1,378,143
      Music         9,086           5,067           $34,953,600     522,441
      Photography   1,197           427             $3,283,635      46,550
      Publishing    5,634           1,666           $15,311,251     262,738
      Technology    831             312             $29,003,932     270,912
      Theater       1,787           1,194           $7,084,968      95,225
    

\-----

Thank you!

Thanks to everyone for making 2012 an unforgettable year. Here's to an amazing
2013!

Love, Team Kickstarter Perry, Yancey, Charles, Lance, Cassie, Fred, Andrew,
Brett, Cindy, Daniella, Cedric, Samuel, Kendel, Mike, Justin, Meaghan, Tieg,
Elisabeth, Jed, Jared, Cooper, Nicole, Aaron, Zack, Stephanie, Aurora, Callan,
Jessica, Alex, Chris, Andrew, Dan, Brandon, Tomasz, Katherine, Bridget, Erik,
Emily, Shannon, Niina, Bethany, Ian, Luke, Michal, Aaron, Eli, Chris, Leland,
Michael, Ellen, Shayne & Jake (<http://www.kickstarter.com/team?ref=yir2012>)

P.S.: We're hiring! (<http://www.kickstarter.com/jobs?ref=yir2012>)

------
edw519
Slightly off-topic, but not really...

That design is gorgeous. Maybe not the most practical, but I couldn't stop
clicking the arrow to see more. I don't remember being this excited about eye
candy since the first time I saw Flash.

Is this a trend or an outlier?

~~~
guelo
Awful design. It would be much more digestible as a single page of data that
didn't screw up your back button.

~~~
moistgorilla
I liked it, but I agree, not being to back into the hacker news comments in
one click is frustrating.

~~~
marknutter
I'm surprised there are people who don't open their links in new tabs on HN.

~~~
redstripe
I find managing tabs annoying. What I would really like is for ctrl/alt
clicking the back button to take me back to the previous domain.

~~~
hnriot
How is it annoying "managing" tabs? They really aren't that difficult. If you
open the link in a new tab, then when you're done you close the tab, it will
go back to the previous domain (because they undo in the order they were
created) - in other words, exactly what you wanted.

------
andrewljohnson
All I can say is... holy cow. I had no idea Kickstarter had so much influence,
from Oscar nominations, to amazing technical products.

~~~
Posibyte
I've heard, and thought, about all the bad rap they got for the worthless
ideas that were presented. From what I've seen in the past couple years, it
looks like Kickstarter is allowing the kind of change, the avenue to enable
and realize, that was difficult or impossible to achieve in the past.

I should be more clear, I think it's good for positive change that couldn't
have otherwise happened.

~~~
InclinedPlane
I honestly think that Kickstarter and crowd funding will be one of the most
significant developments of the 21st century. It empowers individuals and
strengthens the bond between artists/fans or makers/consumers in a quite
dramatic way, and I think we've only seen the tip of the iceberg in terms of
its potential and its disruptive and transformative impact on the economy,
society, and culture.

------
ebertx
I know Kickstarter has been around for awhile, but 2012 seems like the year it
really took off. I'll be very curious to see what percentage of funded
projects see completion. I genuinely hope it's high, because I would like to
see Kickstarter be a permanent fixture in the world of project funding.

~~~
liquids
Near the end of the presentation they show the numbers on launched/successful
<http://www.kickstarter.com/year/2012#category>

Art 49% Comics 46% Dance 74% Design 40% Fashion 26% Film & Video 41% Food 38%
Games 33% Music 56% Photography 36% Publishing 30% Technology 38% Theater 67%

~~~
chas
Same data, but sorted and formatted.

    
    
      Dance         74%
      Theater       67%
      Music         56%
      Art           49%
      Comics        46%
      Film & Video  41%
      Design        40%
      Food          38%
      Technology    38%
      Photography   36%
      Games         33%
      Publishing    30%
      Fashion       26%

------
sami36
I've backed over 20 projects on Kickstarter & I check it daily for promising
upcoming projects. I know of no other use of my money that delivers a better
bang for the buck in terms of making a difference. I'm grateful it exists. I
just wish it would grow faster. Launch in more countries, accept other forms
of payment, enlarge the scope of projects it accepts. It's such an amazing
mechanism for raising money.

------
melling
I've backed almost 30 projects on Kickstarter. I managed enough diversity to
finished my pie. :-) However, I'd still like to see more projects that do big
things. Like build a rocket engine:

[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hermesspace/hermes-
space...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hermesspace/hermes-
spacecraft?ref=live)

There's another site that claims to do real science.

<http://petridish.org>

Wouldn't it be great if we could crowd source, and solve, "real" problems too?

~~~
VikingCoder
Do you mind if I ask?

Are you rich? Did you just contribute $1? Did you really "buy the thing?" How
many big, crazy perks have you bought?

I really want to know more about those 452 people that funded 100 or more.

~~~
melling
I'm not rich, but I'm old enough not to have to worry about $25 here and
there. For this project, I did give $250, which was the amount needed to get
it across the line on the last day. Most projects are only $10-$50. Here's my
list:

<http://www.kickstarter.com/profile/982897515>

Personally, I find it very satisfying to give to a worthwhile project. I live
near NYC where it costs $30-$40 for two people to go to a movie with
refreshments. In many ways, Kickstarter is money better spent.

~~~
corporalagumbo
You're amazing!

------
replicatorblog
Interesting note: There wasn't a single mention of the Pebble watch or Ouya
game console, by far their two biggest financial successes. Kickstarter is not
a store. <http://www.kickstarter.com/blog/kickstarter-is-not-a-store>

------
adambenayoun
This is amazing. By the way - it seems they did around $14M in revenues. From
their help page[1] - they state they're charging a 5% of collected money from
successfully funded projects.

Knowing that $274,391,721 has been pledged on successful projects.

[1][http://www.kickstarter.com/help/faq/kickstarter%20basics#Wha...](http://www.kickstarter.com/help/faq/kickstarter%20basics#WhatAreTheFees)

------
peterhajas
How many of the projects delivered products to their backers within 3 months
of the Estimated Delivery Date?

~~~
arrrg
You are completely wrong about what is precious about Kickstarter. If you
expect projects to be on time you couldn’t have picked a worse thing than
Kickstarter. That’s not what it’s good at. And it’s nevertheless completely
awesome.

Take the Double Fine Adventure: It will completely overshoot the estimated
delivery date by a long, long time. However, following its progress has been
one of the most awesome media consumption things I have done this year. I
don‘t even care if the game is ever released (well, I do, but only because I
want Double Fine to do well, not for my own enjoyment).

At Kickstarter you give money to something that might or might not work out in
the end, but that will most definitely overshoot its estimated delivery date –
if it doesn’t it’s a fluke. That’s how you have to see it. Maybe that’s not
something for you, but for me it’s great fun. And that’s all that matters.

~~~
peterhajas
I certainly understand the point of "crowd funding".

> If you expect projects to be on time you couldn’t have picked a worse thing
> than Kickstarter... Take the Double Fine Adventure: It will completely
> overshoot the estimated delivery date by a long, long time

This is a problem with estimation. It's way worse to overshoot a delivery time
than deliver before it. This is poor project planning. If I would have known
this, I perhaps would not have backed Double Fine Adventures.

> At Kickstarter you give money to something that might or might not work out
> in the end, but that will most definitely overshoot its estimated delivery
> date

I disagree fundamentally. If a project is funded, then _it is funded_. The
backer rewards aren't qualified with "if we're successful". They're "you will
get ___".

> if it doesn’t it’s a fluke.

If I didn't get my backer reward, then they stole from me. If I do, and I get
it late, then they poorly managed their delivery date.

~~~
manuelflara
>> if it doesn’t it’s a fluke. >If I didn't get my backer reward, then they
stole from me.

<http://www.kickstarter.com/blog/kickstarter-is-not-a-store>

------
jakozaur
Kickstartes is absolutely amazing. Any 3rd party statistics of project
deliveries after they were funded?

Delays are common, but they are acceptable (at least for me), but I wonder how
much actually never delivered anything close to the promises.

Anyway, I would guess it is still far better than most VCs.

------
eggbrain
Word to the wise -- open this link up in a new tab unless you like clicking
back more than a dozen times

~~~
bunkat
In Chrome, you can just hold down the back button to get a list of recent urls
- the referrer is at the bottom. Makes getting back to where you were after
long slide shows easy.

~~~
bobbles
Right clicking on the back button will also perform this function.

------
arjn
I've backed several projects on Kickstarter and Indiegogo over the last 1 year
and am happy with them. Most of the projects were successfully funded and I
have received the products. Sometimes I wish there was more.

------
niftylettuce
If you plan to launch a Kickstarter in 2013, then get in touch with the
Teelaunch team; we'd love to work with you.

<https://teelaunch.com>

We print and ship your t-shirt rewards.

------
egypturnash
"In 2012 2,241,475 people pledged a total of $319,786,629 and successfully
funded 18,109 projects"

Kickstarter and Amazon Payments both took 5% of that, for a total of
$15,989,331 apiece.

Not that I'm complaining; $5,928 (before KS/Amazon's cuts) of that $320k was
for one of my own projects.

------
danieldrehmer
18k projects?? Think of all the ukulele players needed to create the bg music
on all those pitch videos!

------
hawkharris
Kickstarter is a great organization and I think that this page, for the most
part, nicely showcases its impact in 2012. That said, they might some lose
viewers' attention by opening with several pages of stats.

As a public relations student specializing in social cause-related campaigns,
I learned that it's usually most effective to choose a "killer fact" (or 1-3
facts) and to tether those facts to a memorable short story with visuals.

To be fair, the stats interest me and I'm sure that they appeal to other HN
readers, who probably have an above-average ability to appreciate data. Just
saying that all this info, when presented to a broader (non-technical)
audience, is probably too much of a good thing.

------
Mz
I wish I knew how to do the kickstarter thing. And thank you to those folks
who reposted some of the info here. My Android isn't coping so well with it.

It makes me grateful to be alive in the Internet era and reminds me of all the
ways in which my life has been made infinitely better by the Internet and
technology and the infofmation age.

~~~
egypturnash

      1. make a cool thing[1]
      2. make a pitch video
      3. launch kickstarter campaign
      4. promote kickstarter
      5. make and ship the final products and various higher-tier perks
      6. profit![2]
    

[1] alternatively:

    
    
      0. spend a decade or two building up a reputation
      1. promise to make a cool thing
    

[2] assuming you don't end up eating all your profits and then some on
manufacturing and shipping those perks.

~~~
Mz
I have spent a decade or more building up a reputation. Part of that is a good
thing. Part of that, I am still trying to live down.

If "make a cool thing" were easy, I wouldn't need to ask. I have done some
very cool things. I don't know how to turn that into some kind of "product"
(for lack of a better word, because it galls me to use that one since it was a
favorite of someone incredibly disrespectful who liked spitting in my face
about how my work is "worthless" and "not monetizable", though they found it
personally life changing).

I am still trying to wrap my brain around a few things and I am very clear
that there are logistical challenges inherent in some of my goals. In other
words, some of this is not me, it is the nature of the beast of what I wish to
do. I sometimes wish to god I could stop being me and just become some money
grubbing type, and to hell with my personal values, etc. But after 47 years of
being me, it seems I am very unlikely to stop being me. Besides, it seems sort
of boring to take that approach. I think it would be fun to pull off my goals.
:-)

But thank you for replying.

------
lazerwalker
Of everyone who backed a project in 2012, only around 25% backed more than
one. That seems kinda low to me.

~~~
robryan
Many people are being drawn to a particular project on kickstarter rather than
the brand as a whole. Given that it doesn't seem unusual.

------
acremades
Check out the kickstarter for startups here <http://www.rockthepost.com>

------
ceautery
That popsicle sounds pretty damned good.

------
DocG
Not readable on nexus 7:/

~~~
evoxed

      I'll post a text only version in a sec.

~~~
npsimons
Thanks; even some of us on full computers don't like to have to disable
flashblock and noscript just to view what is essentially a list.

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evoxed
Warning, it's a long one! Refresh and you'll see it, but I'll try and fix up
the formatting too. Seems I mussed my double returns and a few other things.

Whole thing: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5028958>

The list (month-by-month): <http://news.ycombinator.com/edit?id=5028959>

Stats overview: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5028961>

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nhangen
They are certainly great at self-promotion, I'll give them that.

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wissler
Congress needs to allow "poor" people to become investors, that'd make
Kickstarter 1000X more effective because you'd be able to purchase shares in
these companies rather than merely being promised a one-time thing.

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nakedrobot2
from this article: [http://allthingsd.com/20121105/kickstarter-ceo-no-ipo-for-
us...](http://allthingsd.com/20121105/kickstarter-ceo-no-ipo-for-us-and-no-
equity-crowdfunding-either/)

" Kickstarter has no plans to get into equity crowdfunding — where small
backers would get a piece of the companies they fund — despite legislative
efforts like the JOBS Act to make such investments more accessible and legal.
“We think the most disruptive aspect [of Kickstarter] is the removal of the
investment component,” Chen said. “People are supporting projects because they
want to see them happen. It’s so different than giving money because you want
to make a profit.” "

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zanny
I think they are right, that is where all information based media needs to
head. It is a bygone concept to keep charging per unit for something infinite
and have it funded by people trying to make money off the sales. Makes much
more sense for people to put money into what they want and directly fund it.

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FredBrach
Sincerely amazing. It's just unbeleivable. For me, Kickstarter is the startup
of the year 2012. They did amazingly well as a company _and_ by the way make
possible so much good things for people and creators.

Thanks so much Kickstarter.

