Perry Chen
Chairman, Kickstarter. On 1 show, 4 appearances. The Shows tab opens the full record on each.
founderexecutiveentertainer@perrychen ↗perrychenstudio.com ↗Wikipedia ↗
Perry Chen conceived and co-founded the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter in 2009, twice serving as its CEO (2009–2013, 2017–2019) and guiding its transition into a Public Benefit Corporation. Beyond his continuing governance role as Kickstarter's chairman, he works as an artist exploring technology, society, and generative systems.
1shows
4appearances
36statements
10resolved
10supported
0contradicted
100%fully supported
4said about them ↓ Everything Perry Chen said on any show that made the record, most notable first. Each card names its show and opens the statement there.
Chen: Pure shareholder profit maximization is unfit for humans
“If underneath the mandate is, at the end of the day, make the most money for shareholders, it's a really, it's not really a good fit for humans, and I don't think it's, It portends very well for society if this is what we accept as the only way to do it.”
Perry Chen: Many founders work years in misery just to avoid failing
“I think so many entrepreneurs just drive themselves to not fail their employees, not fail their investors, not fail, you know, success, and will add years and years and years onto businesses that they're running, 70, eighties hours a week that they really wish…”
Chen: Early-stage founders must be deluded and ignore the odds
“I think it's just that you do have to be deluded when you're in those stages. You have to not think about the odds. You know, you have to have just incredible belief that it is worth it.”
Chen predicts corporate governance will become the primary differentiator for companies
“I mean, at the organizational governance level, the corporate governance level, I think that's a big thing that people are going to start paying more and more attention to. We've been running so much on this kind of totally profit-centric system in the U.S., a…”
Kickstarter's founders told early investors they would never sell or IPO
“Going into it, we knew that we weren't building this to sell this, and we weren't trying to create a public company. And when we went out for investment, this was, you know, one of the first things we discussed with people.”
Perry Chen: Maximizing shareholder profit is a poor fit for human society
“But really, if underneath the mandate is, at the end of the day, make the most money for shareholders, it's a really, it's not really a good fit for humans. And I don't think it's, It portends very well for society if this is what we accept as the only way to …”
Perry Chen: Future common sense might have stopped me founding Kickstarter
“The delusion that I had, and I think the delusion that we all have as entrepreneurs, if I cut through that delusion with some common sense from the future, to be honest, who knows if I would have gone through with it.”
Perry Chen: Founders are far more likely to succeed solving their own problems
“You're so much more likely to be successful if you're solving a problem that you have, so you know when you're really solving it. You don't have to focus group it.”
Chen: Day traders provide no value beyond shuffling numbers
“The traders like to think that they're providing liquidity, like some great service, but, you know, it's, you're doing nothing. You're shuffling some numbers from one computer to another.”
Kickstarter explicitly told early investors it would not IPO or sell
“I think going into it, we knew that we weren't building this to sell this, and we weren't trying to create a public company. And when we went out for investment, this was, you know, one of the first things we discussed with people.”
Kickstarter rejects special promotional deals for big companies
“If you want, like, some special stuff from us or whatever, I mean, that's just not what we do. It's a relatively open door, but you're not any better than some young creator who's working on their first idea.”
Perry Chen: Day trading provides no meaningful service despite liquidity claims
“At best, what I'm doing is neutral. I mean, I'm not selling somebody on anything, so the traders like to think that they're providing liquidity, like some great service, but you know, it's, you're doing nothing. You're shuffling some numbers from one computer …”
Perry Chen: Traditional funding models force creators to compromise their vision
“So many things don't have access to funds. There aren't industries or investors or whatever set up around to fund things because the market might not be sizable enough. And then even the things where the market might be sizable enough that the deal you have to…”
Kickstarter refuses to offer special promotional partnerships or perks to large companies
“I think a lot of times big companies, they want to do a partnership, they want to sign a contract. That's, you know, we're like, listen, if you want to go do it, go log on the site. But if you want, like, some special stuff from us or whatever, I mean, that's …”
Crowdfunding removes the social friction of directly asking friends for money
“There was this social friction before that existed, and the model has been able to eliminate that, or even put it in a way that's socially positive.”
Kickstarter reincorporated as a Public Benefit Corporation in 2015 to protect stakeholders
“And then two years ago, we became a public benefit corporation, which is still a for-profit company, but it means that the obligations of the board and the executives and the company is to balance the shareholder interest with greater stakeholders, including t…”
Kickstarter originated as an all-or-nothing funding model for concerts
“I thought, what if the people that, Would want to come to the show could have a say in that, and if enough people could do that before a certain point, then the show could happen, and if not, then it doesn't.”
Kickstarter founders wrote a 100-page spec before writing any code
“I think at the end we produced a document over a hundred pages about how the site would function, with zero code written, mind you.”
Comedian David Cross was Kickstarter's first angel investor
“I had a friend of mine, and her cousin is David Cross, the comedian from Arrested Development, and many other, Mr. Show, and great stuff. And so she connected us, and we went and had a drink at a bar, and I talked to him about the idea, and, ah, a few months l…”
Andy Baio screened early Kickstarter developers because founders couldn't review code
“One of the people we met was Andy Baio, who really helped us kind of figure out what kind of technology we should be using, and helped us interview the developers that we Would hire, and he eventually became our first CTO. That was tremendously helpful because…”
Kickstarter reached profitability within 18 months of launch
“I think, you know, the first six months, not at all, no revenue. I think within a year after that, so probably within the first 18 months, we got in the black.”
Kickstarter has surpassed $3 billion in total project pledges
“Recently, we passed the three billion dollar pledge mark.”
Kickstarter's core model originated from a canceled New Orleans concert
“I thought, what if the people that, Would want to come to the show could have a say in that. And if enough people could do that before a certain point, then the show could happen. And if not, then it doesn't. So that, that was it. That was the beginning.”
The other half of the tape: Perry Chen's own voice is left out of every number here. Other people bring the name up 4 times in 3 episodes across the shows. every mention, with the transcript →
Who brings them up most Guy Raz 4
Every mention by year
tap a year for its mentions
How I Built This 4
2021 4 mentions in 3 episodes 1 per episode
One line per show, most statements first. The link opens Perry's full record on that show: the calibration, argument clarity, speaking style and every statement made there.
| Show | Role there | Eps | Statements | Record | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HOW I BUILT THISLEDGER | Chairman, Kickstarter | 4 | 36 | 100% 10/10 | full record on How I Built This → |