4 ms·

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

by ebertx 14y ago

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.

InclinedPlane 14y ago
I don't think it matters if it's high, I think what's more important is that it's comparable to other forms of funding. I'd rather see a few amazing non-traditional projects come to fruition and a high failure rate of funded projects than a high-success rate of mediocre and low-risk projects, though I suspect that's not a true dichotomy.
TillE 14y ago
It was certainly a big year for Kickstarter videogames, with Double Fine starting a major trend early in 2012 that just grew and grew. I don't think it makes sense to consider "Kickstarter projects" as a whole when looking at success rate. Hardware projects are very different from software projects, which in turn are entirely unlike most tabletop RPG books which have been funded. The method of funding is the same, but the paths to completion are nothing alike.
DavidChouinard 14y ago
I've been curious about percentage of success as well. I've seen numbers on this for the first time in this slideshow. See this slide: http://www.kickstarter.com/year/2012#category http://www.kickstarter.com/year/2012#category (Note that Kickstarter has a fairly selective application process, these figures pertain only to projects accepted on the platform. No idea what percentage of projects are accepted on Kickstarter)
liquids 14y ago
Near the end of the presentation they show the numbers on launched/successful http://www.kickstarter.com/year/2012#category 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%
- ebertx 14y ago
  Thank you for pointing out the numbers. I guess I should clarify: I wonder if the spike in the volume of Kickstarter projects has any impact on the percentage of successfully completed projects. My prediction would be that the percentage of finished projects declines a bit in 2013. Again, I hope I'm wrong.
- chas 14y ago
  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%
- mxxx 14y ago
  I assumed that in this context 'successful' just meant 'met their funding targets', as opposed to 'successfully delivered the promised product/service in a timely manner'.
poub 14y ago
The page http://www.kickstarter.com/year/2012#category http://www.kickstarter.com/year/2012#category might be confusing Kickstarter (KS) always defined on their pages that a successful project is a "successfully funded" project. It’s hard to know how KS can calculate a successful project by the way we understand it : a project that have at least delivered all its rewards and "shipped" the product advertised. "KS's terms of use require creators to fulfill all rewards of their project or refund any backer whose reward they do not or cannot fulfill." But KS do not track those data. They are the responsibility of the creator. Hence the column "successful" just mean "successfully funded". And the column Launched just mean "launched on KS and asking for funding".
shloime 14y ago
You can check out Outgrow.me, a marketplace I created for successfully funded Kickstarter projects. While I haven't featured every project, I'm working on it!
- poub 14y ago
  Your website Outgrow.me is a very good idea. Bravo! I wish you a lot of success and certainly redirect my friends to it. I always thought a real shop was the missing link at KS. I understand KS concern to stop their "service" at the funding level, but from a user point of view, it’s a bit short. And from a creator point of view, KS fees of 5%+taxes+etc. might be a bit steep. One example is once the project has been funded, KS could at the very least display the link of the website creator without "nofollow". To me it looks like KS is missing tools to help creators to really understand how they can manage their backers and their fulfilment after the funding. It would give KS so much data in this critical phase. But it looks like KS is already working addressing this issue. In 2012 they’ve implemented the deadlines for creators and made clearer the refund for failed rewards. On any case there is an opportunity here for third party services to KS projects that have been funded (and maybe failed as well).

by ebertx 14y ago

InclinedPlane 14y ago

I don't think it matters if it's high, I think what's more important is that it's comparable to other forms of funding. I'd rather see a few amazing non-traditional projects come to fruition and a high failure rate of funded projects than a high-success rate of mediocre and low-risk projects, though I suspect that's not a true dichotomy.

TillE 14y ago

It was certainly a big year for Kickstarter videogames, with Double Fine starting a major trend early in 2012 that just grew and grew. I don't think it makes sense to consider "Kickstarter projects" as a whole when looking at success rate. Hardware projects are very different from software projects, which in turn are entirely unlike most tabletop RPG books which have been funded. The method of funding is the same, but the paths to completion are nothing alike.

DavidChouinard 14y ago

I've been curious about percentage of success as well. I've seen numbers on this for the first time in this slideshow. See this slide: http://www.kickstarter.com/year/2012#category http://www.kickstarter.com/year/2012#category (Note that Kickstarter has a fairly selective application process, these figures pertain only to projects accepted on the platform. No idea what percentage of projects are accepted on Kickstarter)

liquids 14y ago

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

ebertx 14y ago
Thank you for pointing out the numbers. I guess I should clarify: I wonder if the spike in the volume of Kickstarter projects has any impact on the percentage of successfully completed projects. My prediction would be that the percentage of finished projects declines a bit in 2013. Again, I hope I'm wrong.
chas 14y ago
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%
mxxx 14y ago
I assumed that in this context 'successful' just meant 'met their funding targets', as opposed to 'successfully delivered the promised product/service in a timely manner'.

poub 14y ago

The page http://www.kickstarter.com/year/2012#category http://www.kickstarter.com/year/2012#category might be confusing Kickstarter (KS) always defined on their pages that a successful project is a "successfully funded" project. It’s hard to know how KS can calculate a successful project by the way we understand it : a project that have at least delivered all its rewards and "shipped" the product advertised. "KS's terms of use require creators to fulfill all rewards of their project or refund any backer whose reward they do not or cannot fulfill." But KS do not track those data. They are the responsibility of the creator. Hence the column "successful" just mean "successfully funded". And the column Launched just mean "launched on KS and asking for funding".

shloime 14y ago

You can check out Outgrow.me, a marketplace I created for successfully funded Kickstarter projects. While I haven't featured every project, I'm working on it!

poub 14y ago
Your website Outgrow.me is a very good idea. Bravo! I wish you a lot of success and certainly redirect my friends to it. I always thought a real shop was the missing link at KS. I understand KS concern to stop their "service" at the funding level, but from a user point of view, it’s a bit short. And from a creator point of view, KS fees of 5%+taxes+etc. might be a bit steep. One example is once the project has been funded, KS could at the very least display the link of the website creator without "nofollow". To me it looks like KS is missing tools to help creators to really understand how they can manage their backers and their fulfilment after the funding. It would give KS so much data in this critical phase. But it looks like KS is already working addressing this issue. In 2012 they’ve implemented the deadlines for creators and made clearer the refund for failed rewards. On any case there is an opportunity here for third party services to KS projects that have been funded (and maybe failed as well).